For those considering a 100amp breaker install

[Bill55]

i see. i wonder if this can be done via the Lucid app. it shouldn't be that hard to set a peak time so it knows when to actually start charging the battery and when to stop.

Lucid app can not at this time. It is on the update list. I bought electrify America home charger for $649. I ordered it before some long time EV owners recommended some other options like Juice Box. For me the electrify America option arrived quickly and plugged into my 14-50 outlet. It can be set to do off peak. I have it set for midnight to 6am. Not knowing how long until the Lucid app will allow this, I figured it will not take long to pay for itself, plus I wanted another cable anyway.

 

[pam4_AGT]

Just curious why you would want to limit the charge?

@hydbob, my intention is not have a Lucid home charger (or any other contraption from Chargepoint/Juicebox) on my garage walls. I have a NEMA 14-30 outlet ready to go in my garage. If Lucid will not sell a 14-30 adapter, there are plenty of 14-30 to 14-50 adapters that you can buy. *But*, the sustained current drawn must be less than 24amps (24 * 1.25 = 30amps which is the breaker rating). All breakers have a 25% margin over the sustained current drawn. Hence my original question about being able to restrict that in the car itself.

 

[hydbob]

I mean, the charger they include with the car, not the Wall Charger will limit it's draw based on what your breaker can give. The home charger comes with a 5-20 plug and 14-50 plug and is rated at 40 amps. My breaker is only a 30 amp breaker and I have it plugged in without it triggering the breaker.

 

[pam4_AGT]

I mean, the charger they include with the car, not the Wall Charger will limit it's draw based on what your breaker can give. The home charger comes with a 5-20 plug and 14-50 plug and is rated at 40 amps. My breaker is only a 30 amp breaker and I have it plugged in without it triggering the breaker.

@hydbob , thanks for the clarification. I cannot comment on why it does not trip the breaker - I've no idea. But, there is absolutely no way you should have a NEMA 14-50 plug (i.e. 14-50 wall socket) connected to a 30amp breaker. That is against code (someone correct me if I'm wrong). The "50" in NEMA 14-50 refers to a 50amp peak current and hence the 50amp breaker.

 

[SaratogaLefty]

@hydbob , thanks for the clarification. I cannot comment on why it does not trip the breaker - I've no idea. But, there is absolutely no way you should have a NEMA 14-50 plug (i.e. 14-50 wall socket) connected to a 30amp breaker. That is against code (someone correct me if I'm wrong). The "50" in NEMA 14-50 refers to a 50amp peak current and hence the 50amp breaker.

My NEMA 14-50 was installed by a licensed solar installment company and it was inspected by the city. It has a 40 amp breaker.

 

[hydbob]

Yea, the plug was specifically installed 10 years ago for EV charging. At the time, Tesla was only doing 30amp Chargers so it got a 30amp breaker. All good since the Lucid home charger will only pull what it can.

 

[pam4_AGT]

My NEMA 14-50 was installed by a licensed solar installment company and it was inspected by the city. It has a 40 amp breaker.

Thanks for the clarification. I stand corrected about my comment about the breaker size. Glad to hear that it passed inspection - which means it's allowed.

 

[SaratogaLefty]

I also believe I've been reading here that even when I install the Lucid Home Charger with the 100 amp dedicated line, it should only have an 80 amp breaker.

 

[Sandvinsd]

I also believe I've been reading here that even when I install the Lucid Home Charger with the 100 amp dedicated line, it should only have an 80 amp breaker.

you will need a 100 amp breaker and wiring for the Lucid Home charger which pulls 80 amps.

 

[pam4_AGT]

Yea, the plug was specifically installed 10 years ago for EV charging. At the time, Tesla was only doing 30amp Chargers so it got a 30amp breaker. All good since the Lucid home charger will only pull what it can.

@hydbob , I don't see how the Lucid home charger (or any charger) would know the amperage of the circuit breaker it's connected to (in your case, a 30amp breaker). The most likely explanation is that it (i.e. Lucid home charger) is somehow set to 24amps which is one of the settings it supports based on this user manual that @Alex had posted earlier.

 

[Lucken]

The other thing about many EVs onboard charging schedulers is that they’re often overly complicated and fluky. Aside from that, if your utility offers off-peak discounts, the odds are that you won’t get that discount via the car’s included charger.

Most utilities will require a wifi charger so that they can be certain the drain they see is the result of an EV‘s charging. In my case our utility allows the discount if you use one of the 3 or 4 wifi chargers they recommend. To sweeten the deal, they offer a $500 discount for any of these chargers. That makes the purchase virtually free.

 

[mac26mac]

Is there a timeline for the lucid charger? And, the bidirectional idea is nice, but your home has to have that capacity first, no?

 

[pam4_AGT]

Is there a timeline for the lucid charger? And, the bidirectional idea is nice, but your home has to have that capacity first, no?

@mac26mac, this bidirectional idea exists with solar+battery installations. I can explain how that works. I have one in my house that is about 3 years old. The battery is charged fully during the day and at night it discharges. The idea is that during peak times (4pm-9m in my area), I draw practically zero power from the grid. How does it know how much to discharge? There are two small transformers (about the size of my palm) that are wrapped around the two wires/leads coming into my house from the street. The SolarEdge inverter is constantly monitoring my house's power usage and adjusts the amount of battery discharge. That way it will not export any power to the grid at night (especially at peak times). How is all this going to happen with the car? I have no idea but the fact that this functionality is there is good to know. I have a 10kWh LG battery and my annual electricity costs is ~ $20-30 (practically nothing). Now imagine, if you have a 110kW battery in the garage.

 

[Sandvinsd]

@hydbob , I don't see how the Lucid home charger (or any charger) would know the amperage of the circuit breaker it's connected to (in your case, a 30amp breaker). The most likely explanation is that it (i.e. Lucid home charger) is somehow set to 24amps which is one of the settings it supports based on this user manual that @Alex had posted earlier.

For the ChargePoint Flex one sets the amperage in the app, up to 50 amps max. If you have a 50amp with a NEMA 14-50 plug as I do, you set the charger to only draw 40 amps. If you have a 40 amp circuit, set it for 32. On the Lucid charger, it appears that the plug connector will determine the draw. If you have a NEMA 14-50 plug attached to it, the charger will draw 40 amps. A 14-30 plug will draw 24.

 

[hydbob]

For the ChargePoint Flex one sets the amperage in the app, up to 50 amps max. If you have a 50amp with a NEMA 14-50 plug as I do, you set the charger to only draw 40 amps. If you have a 40 amp circuit, set it for 32. On the Lucid charger, it appears that the plug connector will determine the draw. If you have a NEMA 14-50 plug attached to it, the charger will draw 40 amps. A 14-30 plug will draw 24.

Yea that's my point about the Lucid charger though. I don't know the technical details behind it, but I have the charger plugged into my 14-50 outlet on a 30amp breaker and it hasn't tripped once. I just plugged in and let it do its thing. Never had to set anything.

 

[dawktah LucidGT]

I have to look this up as I'm not an electrician, but 14-50 is only a plug type. Doesn't mean anything else. It will allow a device that CAN draw up to 50 amps through it. Usually motors. A dryer draws more power when it's initially turned on and then drops after it's running. I would think an EV charger not being a motor would only draw the amps of the circuit unless you connect a device to it that acts like a motor and tries to draw more amps than the circuit will allow. Thus tripping the breaker. As long as it's the supplied plug which is a dumb device, breaker won't trip.

 

[idiot900]

For the ChargePoint Flex one sets the amperage in the app, up to 50 amps max. If you have a 50amp with a NEMA 14-50 plug as I do, you set the charger to only draw 40 amps. If you have a 40 amp circuit, set it for 32. On the Lucid charger, it appears that the plug connector will determine the draw. If you have a NEMA 14-50 plug attached to it, the charger will draw 40 amps. A 14-30 plug will draw 24.

As per someone on the charging team at Lucid, the maximum amperage draw by the Lucid home charging station is selectable by DIP switch.

 

[pam4_AGT]

As per someone on the charging team at Lucid, the maximum amperage draw by the Lucid home charging station is selectable by DIP switch.

Awesome! That is precisely the information I was looking for. I pretty much suspected there was a manual setting - based on what @hydbob posted in this thread. Any idea if this DIP switch is inside the "home charger" or easily accessible outside?

 

[hydbob]

If there is, I didn't even look. Is that the home charger or the wall charger? I don't think the home charger you can open. I'll check later.

 

[idiot900]

Awesome! That is precisely the information I was looking for. I pretty much suspected there was a manual setting - based on what @hydbob posted in this thread. Any idea if this DIP switch is inside the "home charger" or easily accessible outside?

I don't know. As this setting would only be changed when wiring and/or breaker are physically modified (it governs the maximum draw), and they'd want to avoid this switch being exposed to the elements, it's probably not easily accessible, and shouldn't be.

Anyway, it was really easy to get this information - I just called Lucid, stated I was a reservation holder, and was quickly introduced by email to the right person. They are now in contact with my electrical contractor so my wiring installation is done to spec.