Keep 80AMP Ford Charge Station for non-Ford EV? (Not Installed Yet)

[chl]

I have an uninstalled Ford Charge Station with the 80AMP capability. I now have a GMC Sierra that I plan to keep for a while. I'm not sure whether I should sell this one and get a non vehicle manufacture (generic) 80 amp station for long term use, or whether this Ford one is fine in case I own GM, Tesla, Kia, etc in the future. Any benefits to keeping it, or should I replace; what do you all think? I'm mostly wondering if it will have Ford specific settings that will get annoying to use with a non-Ford EV.

You sell it you might get $500-$600, that's what they go for on eBay (I bought my FCSP there for that amount).

You will pay over $1000 for a decent 80A EVSE - there is a cheaper one, the Grizzl-e but the reviews of it were mixed, about 50-50 good vs bad reviews.

You can spend $200 or so and get an 80A J1772 extension cable and trim a small part of one end and it will plug into the FCSP CCS1 plug as shown below:

Alternatively, for about the same money you could buy a replacement 80A J1772 cord with plug and replace the CCS1 on the FCSP with it. If you aren't going to use the Vehicle-to-Home feature of the Lightning, you don't need the two DC pins on the CCS1 plug, as others have noted.

You might be able to sell the CCS1 cable from the FCSP - people sometimes need to replace them when they drive over them for example, and they are pricey!

Lots of different ways to go.

Sponsored

 

[VAF84]

You sell it you might get $500-$600, that's what they go for on eBay (I bought my FCSP there for that amount).

You will pay over $1000 for a decent 80A EVSE - there is a cheaper one, the Grizzl-e but the reviews of it were mixed, about 50-50 good vs bad reviews.

You can spend $200 or so and get an 80A J1772 extension cable and trim a small part of one end and it will plug into the FCSP CCS1 plug as shown below:

Alternatively, for about the same money you could buy a replacement 80A J1772 cord with plug and replace the CCS1 on the FCSP with it. If you aren't going to use the Vehicle-to-Home feature of the Lightning, you don't need the two DC pins on the CCS1 plug, as others have noted.

You might be able to sell the CCS1 cable from the FCSP - people sometimes need to replace them when they drive over them for example, and they are pricey!

Lots of different ways to go.

I've got someone local who may buy for $600. Grizzl-e is leading the pack as a replacement, but had not read the reviews. If they're that bad, I may need to look some more. I wonder if there's a way to just have an 80amp plug hardwired? In other words, why is it not possible to do at 80amps what you can do at 50 with the plug? Is the box and all that necessary?

 

[Maquis]

I wonder if there's a way to just have an 80amp plug hardwired? In other words, why is it not possible to do at 80amps what you can do at 50 with the plug? Is the box and all that necessary?

Lot of questions here and they’re not real clear. But -
1 - Currently, the NEC requires EVSEs over 40A to be hard-wired.
2 - The EVSE is setup to not exceed the allowable branch circuit ampacity. This information is relayed to the vehicle via the J1772 protocol.
3 - The vehicle will charge at its desired rate not exceeding the value relayed from the EVSE.
4 - The hardware in the vehicle determines its maximum charge rate.
5 - Combining 2 & 4 results in a maximum charge rate of the lesser of the two.

Hope this is helpful.

 

[chl]

I've got someone local who may buy for $600. Grizzl-e is leading the pack as a replacement, but had not read the reviews. If they're that bad, I may need to look some more. I wonder if there's a way to just have an 80amp plug hardwired? In other words, why is it not possible to do at 80amps what you can do at 50 with the plug? Is the box and all that necessary?

Some people have had luck with the Grizzl-e but others did not, and there were some complaints about customer service, so caveat emptor (let the buyer beware).

If you mean have an 80A J1772 plug wired to the FCSP to replace the CCS1, yes that could be done, but it is not going to help you charge faster with your truck that has an on-board charging circuit that is limited to 48A.

See, the J1772 delivers AC voltage and current to the truck, then the truck's on-board circuitry (charger) converts it to DC to charge the high voltage battery.

But the on-board circuitry has a limit of 48A in your truck.

The truck and the EVSE exchange some signalling to control the charging starting and stopping, with the truck controlling it.

But your truck cannot and will not draw more current than it can handle so you won't get 80A from the FCSP (the EVSE - Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment).

That said, a different truck, say a 2023 Lightning with an ER battery, WILL draw 80A - it is equipped with the 48A charging circuit and an additional charging circuit to handle the rest of the 80A, the additional 32A.

Apparently, adding that additional charging circuit would take a lot of effort rewiring things, so it is not easy to do, and Ford is not offering to do that after production of the vehicle. The two charging circuits connect to two different banks of the high voltage battery cells, so there would be a lot of rewiring to do to upgrade a truck with one charging circuit. Some reprogramming too I'd imagine.

So keeping the FCSP and wiring it for the 80A's it can deliver would only be worth it for future use with a vehicle that CAN accept the full amperage it can provide, or to use to backup your house with the troublesome Home Integration System that SunRun provides at a high price (about $4,000 equipment and a lot of labor $$).

[But you can wire it to provide the 48A max your truck can provide and use it to charge your truck at 48A.]

For 1/10th of that you could buy a Generac transfer switch and provide 30A x 240V backup from the ProPower on-board. The HIS seems to be able to provide 40A x 240V for backup.

I found that running essential circuitry in my house off a gasoline generator at 30A was sufficient the few times I needed it in the last 20 years.

Good luck, hope this makes things a little clearer.

 

[NCMike]

Some people have had luck with the Grizzl-e but others did not, and there were some complaints about customer service, so caveat emptor (let the buyer beware).

If you mean have an 80A J1772 plug wired to the FCSP to replace the CCS1, yes that could be done, but it is not going to help you charge faster with your truck that has an on-board charging circuit that is limited to 48A.

See, the J1772 delivers AC voltage and current to the truck, then the truck's on-board circuitry (charger) converts it to DC to charge the high voltage battery.

But the on-board circuitry has a limit of 48A in your truck.

The truck and the EVSE exchange some signalling to control the charging starting and stopping, with the truck controlling it.

But your truck cannot and will not draw more current than it can handle so you won't get 80A from the FCSP (the EVSE - Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment).

That said, a different truck, say a 2023 Lightning with an ER battery, WILL draw 80A - it is equipped with the 48A charging circuit and an additional charging circuit to handle the rest of the 80A, the additional 32A.

Apparently, adding that additional charging circuit would take a lot of effort rewiring things, so it is not easy to do, and Ford is not offering to do that after production of the vehicle. The two charging circuits connect to two different banks of the high voltage battery cells, so there would be a lot of rewiring to do to upgrade a truck with one charging circuit. Some reprogramming too I'd imagine.

So keeping the FCSP and wiring it for the 80A's it can deliver would only be worth it for future use with a vehicle that CAN accept the full amperage it can provide, or to use to backup your house with the troublesome Home Integration System that SunRun provides at a high price (about $4,000 equipment and a lot of labor $$).

[But you can wire it to provide the 48A max your truck can provide and use it to charge your truck at 48A.]

For 1/10th of that you could buy a Generac transfer switch and provide 30A x 240V backup from the ProPower on-board. The HIS seems to be able to provide 40A x 240V for backup.

I found that running essential circuitry in my house off a gasoline generator at 30A was sufficient the few times I needed it in the last 20 years.

Good luck, hope this makes things a little clearer.

Just an FYI, his current truck, the 24 GMC Denali EV can charge at 80 amps.


I would definitely want to retain and 80amp charger for that big battery. I have an 80amp Gen 2 tesla home charger along with a 80amp teslatap that works great for my 22 lightning ER than can accept the full 80amps. They are getting harder to find but I came out ahead money wise by selling the FCSP and buying the 80amp gen 2 tesla charger and the teslatap. Just make sure whatever J1772 adapter you buy is 80amp rated.

 

[chl]

Just an FYI, his current truck, the 24 GMC Denali EV can charge at 80 amps.


I would definitely want to retain and 80amp charger for that big battery. I have an 80amp Gen 2 tesla home charger along with a 80amp teslatap that works great for my 22 lightning ER than can accept the full 80amps. They are getting harder to find but I came out ahead money wise by selling the FCSP and buying the 80amp gen 2 tesla charger and the teslatap. Just make sure whatever J1772 adapter you buy is 80amp rated.

Oh I thought we were still talking about a 2024 Ford...sorry, nevermind...

Sponsored