Home Charging Station recommendations?

[SilverKlister]

I've been using a OpenEVSE for the past 5 years charging my Bolt EV. I also use it for my SR pro. There's a lot to like about the OpenEVSE products - mine is wired to a NEMA 14-50 and is therefore limited to 40A. You can also adjust the charging current in 2A increments, which is super handy if you ever take the charger with you on a trip. I limit it to 24A in general because that will allow me to fully charge the truck or car during my off-peak times.

I have a background in Electrical Engineering and Power Electronics. Charging at a lower amp rate means less conduction/copper loss in all the cabling from the utility, throught the EVSE, and onto the cable and J-plug to the vehicle. I like that I can change the charge rate for this reason alone.

Longer term, I'll likely get a 60A breaker/48A delivered to the vehicle charger from OpenEVSE for the truck. You can put those on a NEMA 14-60 and meet code to pull 48A at the vehicle.

You can get these EVSE for permanent hard-wiring as well.

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[duncanmaio]

I have a Grizzl-e at home (where the available circuit limits me to 24 amp charging), a ClipperCreek HCS-80 at work, and a Chargepoint Home Flex at the country place (where the local utility provides a discount for off-peak charging).

they are all great. The HCS-80 would be overkill for a home charger, but the HCS-60 would be comparable to the Chargepoint. The Chargepoint is less rugged than the other two, but is smarter and talks to the utility.

if your utility offers rebates/discounts/free chargers, that should drive your decision, at least in part. If my truck was registered in Vermont, the Chargepoint would have been free.

 

[jdmackes]

I'd check with your power company and see if they offer anything. Mine installed a second meter strictly for charging my lightning and gave me a reduced rate on the power. I had to buy the charging station they provided, but it seems to be similar to the ones they use at their pay charging stations across the state.

 

[CRAIGC540]

I went with the Emporia really because of the great reviews and I already have there home energy monitoring system. With the App you can see live kwh and track your solar, EV charger and all the power in the house down to the outlets. I replaced a old garage fridge with a smaller more efficient fridge after I tracking how much it was using in Kwh. From the App I can set the Amps I want to charge at so I will be at 100 just before my departure time. I just have to remember to hit charge to 100 in the Ford App.

 

[Maquis]

I have a background in Electrical Engineering and Power Electronics. Charging at a lower amp rate means less conduction/copper loss in all the cabling from the utility, throught the EVSE, and onto the cable and J-plug to the vehicle. I like that I can change the charge rate for this reason alone.

Don’t ignore the fixed overhead while the truck is charging. Those losses count, too, and the longer it takes to charge, the more they accumulate. That’s why L1 charging is horribly inefficient.

 

[Zprime29]

Don’t ignore the fixed overhead while the truck is charging. Those losses count, too, and the longer it takes to charge, the more they accumulate. That’s why L1 charging is horribly inefficient.

I thought the overhead losses scaled with the charge rate such that it's essentially a wash.
Tiny loss for long time == bigger loss for short time

 

[COrocket]

I thought the overhead losses scaled with the charge rate such that it's essentially a wash.
Tiny loss for long time == bigger loss for short time

Not necessarily, there is a fixed loss component related to keeping the truck "awake" to monitor the charging process.

Consider 120V outlet charging, which pulls 1,200 Watts from the wall, and it takes 300 watts of power to keep the car BMS/charging circuits/modules/J1772 comms awake. You have 900 watts of power left over, which means only 75% of the power is actually making it into the charger then battery.

Now consider the 240V Emporia (or any brand) 48A charger, which pulls 11,500 watts from the wall. It still takes 300 watts of power to keep the car awake, so the leftover 11,200 watts makes it to the charger and battery. This means you have 97% of the power making it to the charger and battery.

This is why 120V charging is seen as much less efficient than 240V charging as a long term solution. Granted, pushing 11,500 watts of power into an EV will generate more resistance/heat than a lower power circuit, but this can be mitigated by utilizing proper or stepped up wiring gauge and connections so your % losses due to heat/resistance are not any higher.

 

[Zprime29]

Not necessarily, there is a fixed loss component related to keeping the truck "awake" to monitor the charging process.

I was just thinking of efficiency losses, hadn't considered this. Thank you pointing that out.

 

[CRAIGC540]

Don’t ignore the fixed overhead while the truck is charging. Those losses count, too, and the longer it takes to charge, the more they accumulate. That’s why L1 charging is horribly inefficient.

So in terms of cost would it cost more or less to charge slow or fast considering the losses?

 

[COrocket]

So in terms of cost would it cost more or less to charge slow or fast considering the losses?

It costs more to charge slow

 

[Maquis]

So in terms of cost would it cost more or less to charge slow or fast considering the losses?

It costs more to charge slow

It certainly costs more to charge very slow. Once you get above a certain level, I suspect the curve flattens to the point it’s a negligible difference. At some point, I^2R losses catch up to fixed losses.

 

[CRAIGC540]

It certainly costs more to charge very slow. Once you get above a certain level, I suspect the curve flattens to the point it’s a negligible difference. At some point, I^2R losses catch up to fixed losses.

I charge at 48 for daily trips , for long trips with 100 percent needed I time it with the slowest rate possible to be at 100 at departure time, that might be 1-2 times per month. So I think that is best for battery and cost.

 

[Solar_EE]

You didnt tell us what your circuit limitations are. In my case I was limited to 30 amps unless I wanted to spring for a new service panel in both the house and the garage. Given my driving needs of less than 150 miles a day, a 240volt 30 amp circuit allows 24 amp charging which will top me off overnight.

So for a 24 amp charger I went with an AEFA Total EV 24 amp charger with a 14-30 plug to match the receptacle I already had. $400.

GrizzlE charger for me- it is rated for 40amps but has internal switches to set the current to 24 amps for my 30 amp circuit. That is always enough for me to fully charge overnight.

 

[Solar_EE]

I have a Grizzl-e at home (where the available circuit limits me to 24 amp charging), a ClipperCreek HCS-80 at work, and a Chargepoint Home Flex at the country place (where the local utility provides a discount for off-peak charging).

they are all great. The HCS-80 would be overkill for a home charger, but the HCS-60 would be comparable to the Chargepoint. The Chargepoint is less rugged than the other two, but is smarter and talks to the utility.

if your utility offers rebates/discounts/free chargers, that should drive your decision, at least in part. If my truck was registered in Vermont, the Chargepoint would have been free.

I had the GrizzlE already installed for my Chevy Volt and it allows the limits to be set internally- so 24 amps for my 30amp circuit. No issues for the last three years.

 

[Jarratt]

As Ford is sold out of the Connected Charge Station and I do not need a Ford Charge Station Pro since I have a whole home generator already I am looking for recommendations for what others are using. I will be direct wiring into my electrical system on a 240 line. Unless someone thinks that just adding an outside plug with 240 volts and then plugging in the Charge Station will work.

I do not have a garage so the station will be mounted on the wall of my house next to the driveway.

Thank you to all who respond.

my vote is for the Enphase HCS-80 EV Charger (https://enphase.com/store/ev-chargers/commercial-ev-chargers/hcs-80-ev-charger). Pricey, but worth it.

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