Unused 30 Amp Dryer Breaker/Circuit For EV Charging

[StevenC56]

There are a few really good options. To keep the list short and simple, look at these:

Tesla Universal Wall Charger — NACS connector, but includes adapter and way to dock it. Tesla also makes their wall charger with a J1772 connector, but it’s almost never in stock.

ChargePoint HomeFlex — Can order with either NACS or J1772 cord. Cord can be swapped.

Emporia 48A EV charger — Can be ordered with NACS or J1772 connector

Grizzl-E 48A Ultimate EV charger — J1772 connector


There are others that are known to be good like Autel, Wallbox and more, but those above are consistently the ones everyone goes for on all the various EV forums and I have personal experience with all of them and recommend. They each have their own strengths or advantages. Like the Tesla unit is the most ubiquitous and recognizable and it just works. The ChargePoint has good access control and is handy if you’re mounting outside or in places where others may be tempted to use it. Emporia has a nice price point and good usage/monitoring functionality. The Grizzl-E is well built and I prefer it over the Emporia at the same price point. Also has good monitoring/history.

Some can be ordered with the NACS connector, which doesn’t apply to the Lightning unless you want to also buy another $75 adapter to mess with. But I bring it up as NACS will be the connector for most all future EVs sold here. I like that the ChargePoint lets you swap out the charge cord, but it’s also a $130 cord on a $600 charger, so that’s not much of an advantage.

Trying to find out what the warranty is on the Emporia since I can't find that anywhere on the Amazon listing. I think I can get the hardwire version and just go straight to a 60 amp breaker in my service box which is directly through the wall from where the charger would be mounted. That would be really simple.

Edit: They got back to me. 3 year warranty.

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[Lightningwaiter]

Except you missed the part of my post where I say my Main box is already maxed out. And upgrading the main would be really expensive from what I've read.

When they were putting in my Ford level two charger, they were going to use a variable breaker if I didn’t have enough power in the box not sure if you can use something like that? I ended up being OK.

 

[Monkey]

When they were putting in my Ford level two charger, they were going to use a variable breaker if I didn’t have enough power in the box not sure if you can use something like that? I ended up being OK.

Variable breaker seems like overkill, or more like lazy at your expense. The purpose of variable or adjustable circuit breakers is to be able to set the circuit size at the panel or downgrade it as necessary. They can show up with a 100A max variable breaker and then if you don’t have enough available overhead, they could set it to 80 or 60, as needed. But you’re paying a lot of extra for that adjustable breaker and installing one in a residential situation seems like an opportunity for a future homeowner to make a bad decision… It might have also been a misunderstanding by the electrician as to how these EVSEs actually work, not realizing the circuit size and power draw are configured inside the unit.

 

[Madtroniks]

I did some research on the most popular and highly recommended charging stations currently available.

Emporia for $360 shipped out the door after discount is a great value.

The Emporia EV Charging Station is a Level 2 electric vehicle charger that charges any EV up to 40 amps with 22” NEMA 14-50P or up to 48 amps with hardwired installation.

Feel free to use the forum below links to save 10% on charging stations on A2Z EV website.

EMPORIA EV CHARGER WHITE | ENERGY STAR | UL LISTED | 48 AMP | 24' CABLE

Grizzl-E | Classic

Grizzl-E | Smart

Autel MaxiCharger AC Elite Home 50A EV Charger

 

[StevenC56]

I ended up ordering an Apex Charger Mach II that I'll be hardwiring direct to a 60 amp breaker in my service box.

 

[citengr]

Except you missed the part of my post where I say my Main box is already maxed out. And upgrading the main would be really expensive from what I've read.

Are you sure that you have maxed out your panel, or your panel has no more unused slot? Two different cases.

 

[StevenC56]

Are you sure that you have maxed out your panel, or your panel has no more unused slot? Two different cases.

It's a 200 amp panel, but it's been downgraded twice for solar installations. So no open slots for sure, but I disconnected the 220 dryer wiring and put a 60 amp breaker in it's place for a hardwired charger.

 

[citengr]

It's a 200 amp panel, but it's been downgraded twice for solar installations. So no open slots for sure, but I disconnected the 220 dryer wiring and put a 60 amp breaker in it's place for a hardwired charger.

Therefore you have not maxed out your panel. You just do not have open slot. I do not recommend replacing the dryer outlet because you may need that later. Just install an EV outlet in parallel. Be sure you know how do to do that and torque the screws. Very important.
Also you should not put in a 60A breaker. If the existing breaker is 30A, that should be sufficient.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Therefore you have not maxed out your panel. You just do not have open slot. I do not recommend replacing the dryer outlet because you may need that later. Just install an EV outlet in parallel. Be sure you know how do to do that and torque the screws. Very important.
Also you should not put in a 60A breaker. If the existing breaker is 30A, that should be sufficient.

You're new to the forum .... welcome.

BTW, we've gone through nearly 70 posts to help the OP optimize his requirements that has now shifted from make an FMC just work to something a little better.

 

[StevenC56]

Therefore you have not maxed out your panel. You just do not have open slot. I do not recommend replacing the dryer outlet because you may need that later. Just install an EV outlet in parallel. Be sure you know how do to do that and torque the screws. Very important.
Also you should not put in a 60A breaker. If the existing breaker is 30A, that should be sufficient.

What you are suggesting doesn't sound like it would be to code. And you won't get the full 48A charge rate or even close on a 30 amp breaker.

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