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Lucid Connected Home Charging System Installation tips!

EZEVDriver said:
I have carefully read this thread (with lots of useful information). Does anyone have a recommendation for a qualified electrician who has previously installed an LCHCS in Orange County, California?

Also, thanks for the warnings about using compression lugs and copper wire and not using a GFCI breaker, but I still have a couple of questions:
  1. Do I need to pull a permit if it is replacing an L2 charger? (SCE is the utility).
  2. I have two 40-amp breakers that are unlabeled and seemingly unused. Do I need a 100-amp breaker to replace them in order to pull 80 amps?
Thanks in advance for your recommendations and advice. My LCHCS arrived from the rewards store yesterday and I would like this to happen by end of March, at which time my free charging at EA expires.
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You will definitely find a good contractor here.
 
EZEVDriver said:
I have carefully read this thread (with lots of useful information). Does anyone have a recommendation for a qualified electrician who has previously installed an LCHCS in Orange County, California?

Also, thanks for the warnings about using compression lugs and copper wire and not using a GFCI breaker, but I still have a couple of questions:
  1. Do I need to pull a permit if it is replacing an L2 charger? (SCE is the utility).
  2. I have two 40-amp breakers that are unlabeled and seemingly unused. Do I need a 100-amp breaker to replace them in order to pull 80 amps?
Thanks in advance for your recommendations and advice. My LCHCS arrived from the rewards store yesterday and I would like this to happen by end of March, at which time my free charging at EA expires.
Click to expand...
Give SCE a call and ask about the permit. I would also ask about any rebates they might have running.
 
Thanks for all the help. I thought I would need to add a 100amp breaker, but I could always hope that someone would say, hey 80 amps is still a lot. If there is an eventual V2H function, it's probably important to have more rather than less.

Electrified said:
You will definitely find a good contractor here.
Click to expand...
Thanks, @Electrified, I'll give this a shot.
 
You need a 100amp breaker for an 80amp charger. That’s code. You can replace existing breakers but wire is likely not code for the 100amp breaker. It does not need to be GFCI which is very difficult to obtain if you’re not a contractor and also very expensive. It’s also very easy (depending on where you live) to call your local township and ask the electrical inspector on what’s required.

It’s a relatively easy installation that most licensed or experienced electricians can handle.
 
RLead8 said:
It does not need to be GFCI which is very difficult to obtain if you’re not a contractor and also very expensive.
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Not only does it not need to, but it actively shouldn’t be. A GFCI breaker would nuisance trip.
 
borski said:
Not only does it not need to, but it actively shouldn’t be. A GFCI breaker would nuisance trip.
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Some inspectors might require it but typically not, especially for a 100 amp breaker, which could cost as much as the charger. It also depends on where you’re installing the charger (inside vs. outside) Most chargers have a GFCI built in but Lucid’s (I believe) does not, at least I couldn’t find any mention of it in the manual.

Best to call your local inspector or hire a reputable electrician that’s familiar with the code requirements in your township.
 
RLead8 said:
Some inspectors might require it but typically not, especially for a 100 amp breaker, which could cost as much as the charger. It also depends on where you’re installing the charger (inside vs. outside) Most chargers have a GFCI built in but Lucid’s (I believe) does not, at least I couldn’t find any mention of it in the manual.

Best to call your local inspector or hire a reputable electrician that’s familiar with the code requirements in your township.
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Current electrical codes (NEC 2020/2023) generally require GFCI protection for all plug-in EV charger receptacles (like NEMA 14-50) in garages or damp locations for shock protection, either via a GFCI breaker or outlet, but this can cause nuisance tripping.

For hardwired units or to avoid nuisance trips, you can use an EV charger with built-in GFCI (which most have) or specify a hardwired installation.

NEC 2026 is trying to make it so you need GFCI for all installations, and I think that’s dumb, but I’m not an electrician.
 
RLead8 said:
Some inspectors might require it but typically not, especially for a 100 amp breaker, which could cost as much as the charger. It also depends on where you’re installing the charger (inside vs. outside) Most chargers have a GFCI built in but Lucid’s (I believe) does not, at least I couldn’t find any mention of it in the manual.

Best to call your local inspector or hire a reputable electrician that’s familiar with the code requirements in your township.
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All EVSEs that meet current UL standards have built-in GFCI functionality, and are not designed to work on a GFCI-protected circuit.

If your locality requires a GFCI breaker for a plug-in installation, it means that you cannot use a plug in installation, and have to hardwire instead. It's safer anyway.
 
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DeaneG said:
All EVSEs that meet current UL standards have built-in GFCI functionality, and are not designed to work on a GFCI-protected circuit.

If your locality requires a GFCI breaker for a plug-in installation, it means that you cannot use a plug in installation, and have to hardwire instead. It's safer anyway.
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Thanks for confirming.
 
Btw, I was referencing that I was unable to figure out if the Lucid Home Charger has built in GFCI protection, not the mobile charger.
 
As a new EV user, may I know what basic information I should be aware of if I am planning to get a charger installed at my apartment?
 
omarabbas said:
As a new EV user, may I know what basic information I should be aware of if I am planning to get a charger installed at my apartment?
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Do you have a private parking space? Given this is an apartment, I assume you are able to have a charger. I would look at one that requires a key card or some form of security to make the charger active.
 
At my unit, we installed EverCharge--very happy with it. It operates via the key card as suggested above.
 
omarabbas said:
As a new EV user, may I know what basic information I should be aware of if I am planning to get a charger installed at my apartment?
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Also check with the apartment owner or manager to ask if they have done this before, any restrictions or ideas they may have, etc. You'll want them to be on your side.
 
Make sure it isn’t easily blocked if someone parks in your preferred spot
For example my garage install placed the charger where I could plug in in either stall or even outside
 
Mantikos said:
I have the exact same issue - what was your final resoluton?
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Sorry I had quoted this post but it didn't show for some reason. I have the same issue as @GTdreamer
GTdreamer said:
I got my lucid level 2 home charger installed 2 weeks ago (100 amp breaker). Yesterday I was excited to try charging our new gravity for the first time. I got a message charger connected then preparing to charge followed by clicking sound in the charging unit and a message charging has stopped. I called customer Service and they recommended restarting the home charger. I did that and it seemed to fix the issue. Today the same thing happened, but restating the charger didn’t seem to help. Any idea what could be the problem? Do I need to get back the electrician who installed it?
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GTdreamer said:
I got my lucid level 2 home charger installed 2 weeks ago (100 amp breaker). Yesterday I was excited to try charging our new gravity for the first time. I got a message charger connected then preparing to charge followed by clicking sound in the charging unit and a message charging has stopped. I called customer Service and they recommended restarting the home charger. I did that and it seemed to fix the issue. Today the same thing happened, but restating the charger didn’t seem to help. Any idea what could be the problem? Do I need to get back the electrician who installed it?
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I also have that issue from time to time. One thing I've noticed is that when it clicks off, it flashes red once. According to the manual, one of the reasons it could do that is for overvoltage or undervoltage. Since our town requires a switch box for an 80 amp device, I was able to open it and measure the voltage. It was 248 volts. It makes me wonder if the utility company raises the voltage on days when they expect high usage when the weather is hot. Today, it is more comfortable and it is charging without a single click.

If you are still having the issue, take a look and see if you get a red flash before the click.

I noted that you said there was a known firmware issue and if the reason I'm not having a problem today is that they pushed out a fix, then that's good too.
 
sfmillburn said:
I also have that issue from time to time. One thing I've noticed is that when it clicks off, it flashes red once. According to the manual, one of the reasons it could do that is for overvoltage or undervoltage. Since our town requires a switch box for an 80 amp device, I was able to open it and measure the voltage. It was 248 volts. It makes me wonder if the utility company raises the voltage on days when they expect high usage when the weather is hot. Today, it is more comfortable and it is charging without a single click.

If you are still having the issue, take a look and see if you get a red flash before the click.

I noted that you said there was a known firmware issue and if the reason I'm not having a problem today is that they pushed out a fix, then that's good too.
Click to expand...
I only get the red flash after the click and the manual claims red is a grounding issue which makes no sense. FYI the voltage you mentioned is well within spec for US households.

Any ideas? Perhaps @GTdreamer has an update on this issue?
 
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