Charging

[Joe.....Montana]

Having done it for some time I'm going to suggest that a 40A or smaller charger will prove inconvenient for many folks driving vehicles with large batteries. It can certainly be done with some planning but it is far from hassle-free, especially if you use the truck every day.

If a service upgrade to 200A is available it would not be a bad idea. If your charging location is near your utility service entrance it may be practical to install a new outdoor main disconnect and feed both the existing main panel and a new panel for a 100A charging circuit right from there, which would be vastly cheaper than replacing the main panel.

First question when talking about chargers should always be, what will your EV use look like? I only have a 40 amp charger installed and have never needed more. Use the truck everyday and only charge to 80%. Charge to 100% before big trips. I've never been frustrated and never stranded. Have only DC fast charged while on the road. But I would guess my usage is vastly different.

I have found it's this thinking that turns people off. Whenever I talk to someone about EV's (I live in Montana so they are still a novelty) I always start with "what does your current automobile use look like?"

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[Lucky Larry]

I have a 23 platinum as well and drive about 50 kms per day (30 miles) to and from work. i go into the office 4 days per week.

i have a 100 amp panel as well and use either my FCSP set to 40 amps or a Grizzl-E 40 amp charger. both are set up to plug into a 6-50 r receptacle on a circuit with a 50 amp breaker. I charge once per week to 80% which gives me 320 km (180 miles) of range in the summer months which is more than enough for me. You should be fine with the FCSP set to 40 amps on a circuit with a 50 amp breaker without having to upgrade your panel.

 

[Cvh8601]

It seems to me that most people miss a key piece of context when thinking about charging speed. I just picked up a 23 lariat ER a month ago and have been living off the 120v charger waiting for the electrician to be available to run my new 50A circuit out to the garage, and thats been pretty much getting the job done driving ~200 miles a week or so. Lots of people quizzing me on the truck seem put off by the ~14 hr 0-100% charge time, but that value lacks context.

but anyway, the key piece of context is to remember how many hours a day a typical car really spends parked at home. If you’re done driving for the day say by 7pm, even if youre an early bird and out the door by 6am, that was 11 hours of Potential charging time. If you’re me and the truck is usually able to be plugged in by 4pm and you aren’t leaving until 0800, thats 16 hrs of potential charge time.

unless you’re road tripping every day, there is a lot of room to balance your EVSE rating with your typical charge time to find the optimal setup for your use case.

 

[Maquis]

It seems to me that most people miss a key piece of context when thinking about charging speed. I just picked up a 23 lariat ER a month ago and have been living off the 120v charger waiting for the electrician to be available to run my new 50A circuit out to the garage, and thats been pretty much getting the job done driving ~200 miles a week or so. Lots of people quizzing me on the truck seem put off by the ~14 hr 0-100% charge time, but that value lacks context.

but anyway, the key piece of context is to remember how many hours a day a typical car really spends parked at home. If you’re done driving for the day say by 7pm, even if youre an early bird and out the door by 6am, that was 11 hours of Potential charging time. If you’re me and the truck is usually able to be plugged in by 4pm and you aren’t leaving until 0800, thats 16 hrs of potential charge time.

unless you’re road tripping every day, there is a lot of room to balance your EVSE rating with your typical charge time to find the optimal setup for your use case.

The exception to this would be if you have a relatively small window with a really cheap off-peak electricity rate.

 

[Ekiehn]

It seems to me that most people miss a key piece of context when thinking about charging speed. I just picked up a 23 lariat ER a month ago and have been living off the 120v charger waiting for the electrician to be available to run my new 50A circuit out to the garage, and thats been pretty much getting the job done driving ~200 miles a week or so. Lots of people quizzing me on the truck seem put off by the ~14 hr 0-100% charge time, but that value lacks context.

but anyway, the key piece of context is to remember how many hours a day a typical car really spends parked at home. If you’re done driving for the day say by 7pm, even if youre an early bird and out the door by 6am, that was 11 hours of Potential charging time. If you’re me and the truck is usually able to be plugged in by 4pm and you aren’t leaving until 0800, thats 16 hrs of potential charge time.

unless you’re road tripping every day, there is a lot of room to balance your EVSE rating with your typical charge time to find the optimal setup for your use case.

The key to all this is that it really doesn't matter too much what kw your charge rate is for every day users... sure we can optimize things but how great us it that if we drive short distances but have lower charging rates we can just plug in every night... a few % of use is replenished easily... set the default rate to 90% like Ford suggests and now you have plenty should you need to suddenly unexpectedly need to drive a long distance... also should you want to do a road trip, charging from 90 to as close to 100 will take less time... Yes higher speed charging gives you more flexibility, basically not plugging in as much, but how great is it if you do plug in every day and basically have an "almost" full tank every day... Just figure out what works for you and call it a day.

 

[Jake24]

Doesn't matter much what kw your charge rate is for every day users... just figure out what works for you & call it a day.

5¢kwh 11pm-7am

 

[pullinggs]

I have a 100a panel.

As others have pointed out, "it depends," but this might work well. I have limited capacity in my panel because I'm so far from the transformer. I charge at 24A most nights to go from ~40% to 80%; the truck is ready to go every morning before I am. Works perfectly for me. YMMV.

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