Excited New Owner of Touring in San Carlos

[Katori]

Hi Everyone,

My wife and I are quite excited to be getting our Touring this week. We had been eyeing Lucid for some time before moving forward - we’ve watched the various intro videos as well as read plenty of the threads on this forum, including new owner threads.

At times it feels like information overload, but I think that’s in part because the Lucid has so much to offer.

One area where I would greatly appreciate guidance is the setup for home charging. This is our first EV, and we have just setup solar - no charging setup yet. Trying to figure out the setup for home charging is our biggest challenge. I was wondering if: (1) anyone had a electrician to recommend in the San Carlos area for setting up home charging and (2) if there were any particular threads to read on the topic, particularly for a first-time EV owner.

I know we are fortunate to live in an area where there are quite a few other Lucid owners, so we look forward to meeting up with them and learning even more. It’s great to see all the posts on here about owners meeting up and getting to know each other.

Will post a photo after we pick up our Touring this week!

Thanks.

 

[Amster]

The San Carlos area of San Diego?

 

[borski]

If it’s San Carlos the city in the Bay Area, talk to Willow Glen Electric / EVXperts.

They’re not cheap, but you’ll never have to double check their work and they will answer all your questions and get it done right, pull a permit, and so on.

 

[Negan1000]

Hi Everyone,

My wife and I are quite excited to be getting our Touring this week. We had been eyeing Lucid for some time before moving forward - we’ve watched the various intro videos as well as read plenty of the threads on this forum, including new owner threads.

At times it feels like information overload, but I think that’s in part because the Lucid has so much to offer.

One area where I would greatly appreciate guidance is the setup for home charging. This is our first EV, and we have just setup solar - no charging setup yet. Trying to figure out the setup for home charging is our biggest challenge. I was wondering if: (1) anyone had a electrician to recommend in the San Carlos area for setting up home charging and (2) if there were any particular threads to read on the topic, particularly for a first-time EV owner.

I know we are fortunate to live in an area where there are quite a few other Lucid owners, so we look forward to meeting up with them and learning even more. It’s great to see all the posts on here about owners meeting up and getting to know each other.

Will post a photo after we pick up our Touring this week!

Thanks.

Your solar installer could be a good choice to install your charger.

 

[Katori]

The San Carlos area of San Diego?

Hi, sorry should have been clearer. San Carlos in Bay Area.

 

[Andretex]

Congrats!! Enjoy the car.

 

[DeaneG]

@Katori There isn't a really clean FAQ on installing a home charger. A few bullet points:

Definitely install a home EV charger. It makes the difference between an EV ownership chore vs a pleasure.

I'd highly recommend having your electrician hardwire a dedicated EV charging station rather than using a 14-50 receptacle (outlet). It'll be much safer and can allow faster charging. This means that electrical conduit carries the charging circuit wires directly into the charging station, rather than terminating in a receptacle and having the charging station plug into that receptacle.

Depending on how many miles you drive per day, a good minimum circuit for ev charging would be 240 volts with a 40 amp circuit breaker. This will charge your EV at 80% of 40 amps, or 32 amps, and about 7.6kW or roughly 27 miles per hour.

Common EV charging circuit choices use a 50 amp or 60 amp breaker. Your Air can home charge at up to 80 amps, which would mean a 100 amp breaker, if your home's circuit breaker panel can handle it. An electrician can make that determination.

You'd want to buy an EV charging station that is sized to fit the circuit amperage (breaker size) that your electrician deems allowable.

Any J1772-type charging station, or a universal station such as Tesla's, should work with your Air. Some have reported issues with the otherwise highly rated Chargepoint Home Flex. As far as I know, other vendors' charging stations have generally worked well.

Personally I use Lucid's LCHCS on a 60 amp circuit. Many charging stations, including the LCHCS, can be set to deliver a current lower than their maximum limit, to accommodate a smaller circuit breaker.

 

[dcase99]

@Katori There isn't a really clean FAQ on installing a home charger. A few bullet points:

Definitely install a home EV charger. It makes the difference between an EV ownership chore vs a pleasure.

I'd highly recommend having your electrician hardwire a dedicated EV charging station rather than using a 14-50 receptacle (outlet). It'll be much safer and can allow faster charging. This means that electrical conduit carries the charging circuit wires directly into the charging station, rather than terminating in a receptacle and having the charging station plug into that receptacle.

Depending on how many miles you drive per day, a good minimum circuit for ev charging would be 240 volts with a 40 amp circuit breaker. This will charge your EV at 80% of 40 amps, or 32 amps, and about 7.6kW or roughly 27 miles per hour.

Common EV charging circuit choices use a 50 amp or 60 amp breaker. Your Air can home charge at up to 80 amps, which would mean a 100 amp breaker, if your home's circuit breaker panel can handle it. An electrician can make that determination.

You'd want to buy an EV charging station that is sized to fit the circuit amperage (breaker size) that your electrician deems allowable.

Any J1772-type charging station, or a universal station such as Tesla's, should work with your Air. Some have reported issues with the otherwise highly rated Chargepoint Home Flex. As far as I know, other vendors' charging stations have generally worked well.

Personally I use Lucid's LCHCS on a 60 amp circuit. Many charging stations, including the LCHCS, can be set to deliver a current lower than their maximum limit, to accommodate a smaller circuit breaker.

Echoing the above. Hardwire it, every electrician I spoke with said the same thing. I went with a ChargePoint charger and it works but wifi is finicky. Could be my wifi but I have another device on the other side of the wall that works just fine.

 

[Andretex]

Echoing the above. Hardwire it, every electrician I spoke with said the same thing. I went with a ChargePoint charger and it works but wifi is finicky. Could be my wifi but I have another device on the other side of the wall that works just fine.

I had a problem with the chargepoint wifi and after calling chargepoint, they sent a new piece which I stalled. Since then I have had no issues.

 

[DeaneG]

Our Chargepoint's wifi has no issues. Some have reported that the Air's scheduled charging doesn't work well with it, but I haven't tried.

 

[Amster]

Our Chargepoint's wifi has no issues. Some have reported that the Air's scheduled charging doesn't work well with it, but I haven't tried.

The Air's scheduled charging doesn't work well with my Juicebox either. I turned off the wifi on the charger and let the car handle the scheduling and it works great.

 

[Katori]

@Katori There isn't a really clean FAQ on installing a home charger. A few bullet points:

Definitely install a home EV charger. It makes the difference between an EV ownership chore vs a pleasure.

I'd highly recommend having your electrician hardwire a dedicated EV charging station rather than using a 14-50 receptacle (outlet). It'll be much safer and can allow faster charging. This means that electrical conduit carries the charging circuit wires directly into the charging station, rather than terminating in a receptacle and having the charging station plug into that receptacle.

Depending on how many miles you drive per day, a good minimum circuit for ev charging would be 240 volts with a 40 amp circuit breaker. This will charge your EV at 80% of 40 amps, or 32 amps, and about 7.6kW or roughly 27 miles per hour.

Common EV charging circuit choices use a 50 amp or 60 amp breaker. Your Air can home charge at up to 80 amps, which would mean a 100 amp breaker, if your home's circuit breaker panel can handle it. An electrician can make that determination.

You'd want to buy an EV charging station that is sized to fit the circuit amperage (breaker size) that your electrician deems allowable.

Any J1772-type charging station, or a universal station such as Tesla's, should work with your Air. Some have reported issues with the otherwise highly rated Chargepoint Home Flex. As far as I know, other vendors' charging stations have generally worked well.

Personally I use Lucid's LCHCS on a 60 amp circuit. Many charging stations, including the LCHCS, can be set to deliver a current lower than their maximum limit, to accommodate a smaller circuit breaker.

I was planning on installing the Lucid charger - should I consider a different option?

 

[DeaneG]

I was planning on installing the Lucid charger - should I consider a different option?

It's a reasonable choice. Though the Lucid charger's software is non-existent, the unit works well with the car.