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The "standard" car charger is usually overkill—but your electrician might not know that [32:26]
Submitted 7 hours ago by FenrirIII@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W96a8svXo14
Comments
JackDark@lemmy.world 7 hours ago
Ulrich@feddit.org 2 hours ago
Mostly old-ish technology, which is far more interesting because they had to be more innovative.
blitzen@lemmy.ca 5 hours ago
I think “might be overkill” would be a better title and position than “usually overkill.”
There is absolutely a subset of EV drivers that could get by with a level 1 charger (ignoring time of day rates), but most people would fall behind anytime they drive further than the average number of miles. Sure, taking 10 hours to recharge your Chevy Bolt overnight when you’ve driven 40 miles is doable; 64 hours when you’ve returned home from a longer trip isn’t.
I own a PHEV, and installing a level 2 charge has been one of the best quality of life and financial changes.
AA5B@lemmy.world 4 hours ago
Agreed, and that headline is needlessly inflammatory . Looking at my mileage , I could almost certainly get away with just plugging into a standard outlet. However the level 2 charger means that even if I screw it up, I can be mostly charged in a couple of hours. It’s been really effective at helping me get over what range anxiety I had. It’s really helped keep car usage as a somewhat impulse thing, rather than a process: I’m ready to go anywhere anytime
RaoulDook@lemmy.world 5 hours ago
Yep the difference for our setup was going from 12-18 hour full charge times (Level 1) to about 6 hours on Level 2. L1 charger could only put out 12 amps at 120v, and while the L2 charger can do up to 50A of 240v power, our vehicle can only use about a third of that capacity at max draw.
So as the video’s topic covers, we didn’t need a 50A circuit for Level 2 charging on our limited vehicle. But I put in a full 50A circuit anyway so now I can eventually upgrade our other car to electric or PHEV and be ready for whatever those need.
Ulrich@feddit.org 3 hours ago
I think “might be overkill” would be a better title and position than “usually overkill.”
It factually is not.
most people would fall behind anytime they drive further than the average number of miles.
Assume you drive it all the way to empty, then park it and plug it back in at 7PM. Leave it for 12 hours until you leave again in the morning. A typical small EV will charge at ~5MPH on a 110V, 1.2kW connection (faster on a 20A circuit). So 5MPH x 12 hours means you already have 60 miles of range again for the next day. And I would say that’s a pretty extreme scenario.
I use L1 almost exclusively, BTW.
blitzen@lemmy.ca 3 hours ago
It factually is not.
Factually, it’s not either. Both are statements of opinion, although I’d say saying the word “usually” should have some degree of proof behind it.
My statement of “might be” recognizes that there are many instances that L1 makes sense, and I agree with the video that for those for whom it does shouldn’t needlessly install a 240v outlet. Sounds like you’re among those.
I’d say that, sadly, most EV drivers drive more than 40 miles per day on average, and that the moment you drive more than 60 miles per day you’ll have difficulty recharging to full. Most days, you’ll have no trouble recharging overnight. But if you’re like me, you might take a day trip over 100 miles away a handful of times per year. When that happens, I’d arrive home with very little battery left; am I supposed to have the ability to charge for 50 hours?
fuzzzerd@programming.dev 5 hours ago
What kind of range do you have on that? I’ve been debating installing a l2 charger because overnight charging is usually good enough. I tend to get about 15-20 miles range tops on pure electric.
blitzen@lemmy.ca 4 hours ago
30-35 miles, depending on the season.
AA5B@lemmy.world 4 hours ago
The way I explained it to my brother:
- technically just plug in to an existing outlet will work. Even if you didn’t keep up every day, you would get tot the weekend and make it up then
- but your garage already has a dryer outlet. Adapters are cheap and it will charge 4-5 times as fast
- but 50a level 2 charger is the same size as a stove outlet. Maybe a little longer wire run, and the “outlet” is more expensive, but it’s well worth the cost for the freedom, the flexibility, the convenience … and may even add to your house value
imsufferableninja@sh.itjust.works 7 hours ago
could this be an article instead of a video? I’m not spending 32 minutes watching this, tbh
entropicdrift@lemmy.sdf.org 7 hours ago
This has to be my favorite thing about Jeff Geerling vs other YouTube channels, he’ll make an accompanying blog post to go with each of his main channel videos that is effectively an annotated text version of the video with appropriately embedded images and links.
Ulrich@feddit.org 2 hours ago
Lots of them do that if you look.
entwine413@lemm.ee 7 hours ago
You should give it a shot. The dudes videos are super captivating.
three@lemmy.zip 4 hours ago
For me, they’re captivating for about 5 minutes. Then the dry humor and constant cries of outrage become irritating. He could probably make 15-20 minute, info-dense videos without all the extra “personality”.
ironhydroxide@sh.itjust.works 7 hours ago
Yes. In a nutshell it’s “if you don’t know about electric cars, here’s some information you probably don’t know as well”
acosmichippo@lemmy.world 5 hours ago
I agree with this youtube comment:
As an electrician (in Australia), I agree with your basic premise. However, if you are asking me to install an EV charger, unless you tell me “I want it to charge slowly with a limited current capacity”, I am going to assume it is to charge an EV under ALL situations - fast to slow, for whoever may drive one today or in the future, even with a potential new homeowner. We generally do our work with the priority order (1) safety - nobody gets an electric shock and nothing catches fire; (2) avoidance of nuisance i.e. the thing you just installed doesn’t work and keeps tripping the breaker 😑 (3) avoiding needing replacement electrical work for at least 25 - 50 years
Also I live in a townhouse with no garage. Our charger is between the neighborhood sidewalk and our parking spaces, so I’d prefer keeping it unplugged as often as possible to minimize any issues with foot traffic (neighbors, delivery people, garbage pickup, etc). I’ve seen other people literally run an extension cable over the sidewalk to do an L1 charge for their EV and that’s just asking for trouble.
zurohki@aussie.zone 2 hours ago
Personally, I’m on an electricity plan that gives me free usage at midday when solar is flooding the grid, so it’s useful for me to be able to charge as fast as possible in that window.
Faster charging is useful for more than just finishing before your next drive.
partial_accumen@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
Good video. Accurate information.
Two notes:
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For North American homes: I agree with the overlooked value of a downrated circuit for EV charging, but I don’t think he talked about a possibly better option for downrating: Using an existing 120v circuit (at whatever current rating) already wired in the garage . Remove the outlet, install EVSE (charger), and swap the breaker for a 240v one (at a current rating matching the original. So if you have a 120v 15A circuit (white romex) you can use the exact same wire for a 240v at 15A. If you have a 20A (yellow romex) you would end up with a 240v 20A. You get more than double the speed of charging with zero new wires added, only changing the breaker and removing the old outlets. Note: If you have multiple outlets in your garage all fed from this same circuit, this would mean all of your outlets in the garage are now 240v and not usable for regular 120v items.
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He didn’t like Smart chargers. Thats a valid opinion, but smart chargers can do some nice things that I like. Some will also talk to each other if you have two chargers, such as if you have two EVs. They can be configured to share the same wire to the breaker box, so you can plug both cars in at night, one car will charge, then when that is complete, the other will charge automatically without having to unplug one car and then plug in the other. It will charge the least charged car first ensuring the best balance of charge to both cars assuming both cars can’t be charged to full in one night. If you have solar panels, some smart chargers can talk to the solar system and be instructed to only charge when there is excess power that would otherwise go to waste. It can do this automatically so if clouds go overhead and not enough juice is available from the sun, the charging stops. As soon as the clouds clear and there is an excess again, charging resumes automatically. For outdoor charging, you can also configure most Smart chargers to only charge you authorized cars. So you don’t need to worry about someone rolling into your driveway when you’re not home (or a bad neighbor) and running up your electricity bill.
IphtashuFitz@lemmy.world 5 hours ago
#1 is a terrible idea if you ever need to hire an electrician in the future, plan on selling your house, etc. The National Electric Code prohibits using white, green, or grey wire for a hot/load connection. The 120V cable will contain a black wire for the hot connection, white for neutral, and green for ground. To properly convert it to 240V you would need a cable that consists of black & red wires for the two 120V legs.
If your home ever suffered an electrical fire then this sort of jury rigging is precisely the sort of thing any competent insurance inspector would spot, and insurance carriers would deny coverage for since it clearly isn’t code compliant, which means a licensed electrician didn’t install it and it wasn’t properly inspected.
partial_accumen@lemmy.world 4 hours ago
#1 is a terrible idea if you ever need to hire an electrician in the future, plan on selling your house, etc. The National Electric Code prohibits using white, green, or grey wire for a hot/load connection. The 120V cable will contain a black wire for the hot connection, white for neutral, and green for ground. To properly convert it to 240V you would need a cable that consists of black & red wires for the two 120V legs.
I’ll be the first to admit I’m no certified Sparky, but wire relabeling is used in a number of situations fully in accordance with NEC. My understanding is that some of this is in NEC 200.7. It requires relabeling both ends, but I don’t think there’s any code violation with it. If what you’re saying was true, wouldn’t that mean any -2 NM (Romex) would be code incompatible with 240v loads? I don’t think that’s true.
Drathro@sh.itjust.works 6 hours ago
A 240V 20amp circuit I think would meet the needs of 99% of commuters in the US. If your average miles/kWh is around 3.3 and you’re charging at 80% of the 20amp breaker limit (as you should be), even factoring in 10% losses in power transmission, you’re still charging somewhere around 11 miles per hour. Easy 100+ miles overnight with zero infrastructure change outside of a couple wire nuts and a cheap charger. Hell, depending on local codes, you might get away with slapping in a nema 6-20 receptacle to make it even easier…
partial_accumen@lemmy.world 4 hours ago
Hell, depending on local codes, you might get away with slapping in a nema 6-20 receptacle to make it even easier…
If you do a receptacle, you’ve got to then do a GFCI. Check out the price difference between a GFCI breaker and one that isn’t. If you hardware the EVSE, you don’t need GFCI because GFCI is built into nearly all EVSE. If we’re doing this exercise to keep low costs, adding GFCI outside of the EVSE jacks up the price.
AA5B@lemmy.world 4 hours ago
For me the smart charger was a key feature, and I never understood why that is never talked about. I have 200a service which was plenty for one fully powered charging service, but with the likelihood of electrification in upcoming years I was hesitant to have two. It was pretty clear I needed to prioritize smart charging so I’d have that possibility.
So far my family only has the one EV, so we only need the one charger. But I like that if we needed a second charger it could be on the same circuit and they could dynamically share the power to maximize charging
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deegeese@sopuli.xyz 5 hours ago
Yeah I don’t need to refill my battery in 2 hours, but it’s nice to be able to meaningfully top off between errands to make the most of a small PHEV battery.
rumba@piefed.zip 11 minutes ago
You might not need 50 amps now. But that line is a 1 time cost and maybe you'll want to weld one day.