My Charging Journey

[ZenSolo]

Were they all connected to the same GFI ?

It seems they must have been, but after exercising the breaker, only two of the four outlets now work. Unfortunately the one in the garage is one that does not work. Also unfortunately, it is a standard, not GFI outlet.

 

[ZenSolo]

Most folks recommend a hard wire installation rather than a plugin. I went plugin in case the EVSE failed so I could unplug it and replace it but I just leave it plugged in all the time. I think plugging and unplugging at the outlet may lead to an outlet failure.

Do you just leave the mobile charger plugged in and just unplug it from the car? Or are you unplugging it at both ends during the day?

I just unplug it from the car as well, leaving it plugged into the wall.

 

[scal_air]

It seems they must have been, but after exercising the breaker, only two of the four outlets now work. Unfortunately the one in the garage is one that does not work. Also unfortunately, it is a standard, not GFI outlet.

Did you check all the breakers? Sometimes when my breakers trips, it's just a little bit off. I then have to push it to the fully off position before resetting it. The other possibility is that the other outlet(non garage) has the GFI control and the garage outlet is wired to it....

 

[ZenSolo]

Did you check all the breakers? Sometimes when my breakers trips, it's just a little bit off. I then have to push it to the fully off position before resetting it. The other possibility is that the other outlet(non garage) has the GFI control and the garage outlet is wired to it....

I did exercise all the breakers (except Main). In the upstairs bathroom, one outlet is GFI and one is standard. I reset the GFI one, and it now works, as well as another standard outlet in the guest bathroom, but the standard in the main bath as well as in the garage are not working. When I get time later I'll go through the same process again, and --maybe-- open it up myself to see if anything looks damaged. Maybe.

 

[Darrell]

It’s been plugged into the 110 since Saturday night at 8pm, at about 210 miles. I woke up Monday morning to 77% (296 miles). So that’s 86 miles in 36 hours plugged into a 110, or 2.39 miles per hour on a brand new battery. Definitely not sustainable.

Something is wrong. I get 5 mph on 110v. Were you using an extension cord?

 

[scal_air]

Strange... why don't you have a GFI in your main bathroom?
Well, my wife would already be telling me to call an electrician instead of me burning the house down trying to fix it! Good.luck and congrats on your new Touring!

 

[ZenSolo]

Something is wrong. I get 5 mph on 110v. Were you using an extension cord?

No, directly into the wall. But if you read the rest of the thread, you’ll see that your “something’s wrong” hypothesis is fairly accurate, haha.

 

[Sandvinsd]

No one should really attempt to daily charge an EV using a 110v outlet, only the PHEVs are meant for that. It is really only for an emergency stopgap. It is unfortunate that you didn’t have a 220v outlet in the garage. I highly recommend anyone thinking of getting an EV to at least have a 220v outlet ready when the car arrives, if not a charger already installed via hardwire. The 110v just leads to headaches and frustrations.

 

[ZenSolo]

No one should really attempt to daily charge an EV using a 110v outlet, only the PHEVs are meant for that. It is really only for an emergency stopgap. It is unfortunate that you didn’t have a 220v outlet in the garage. I highly recommend anyone thinking of getting an EV to at least have a 220v outlet ready when the car arrives, if not a charger already installed via hardwire. The 110v just leads to headaches and frustrations.

I agree! The process was taking so long I didn’t want to spend money on installation so I could afford myself the opportunity to say forget it, I can drive off the lot with an Audi today.

 

[DeaneG]

I've had four home charging stations, half of them on a 14-50 and half hardwired. I wouldn't bother with the 14-50, it's less safe and slower than a hardwired circuit, and won't be cheaper. Also, you can't have both the 14-50 and a hardwired EVSE on the same circuit, so having both means installing two circuits and nearly twice the cost.

 

[ZenSolo]

I've had four home charging stations, half of them on a 14-50 and half hardwired. I wouldn't bother with the 14-50, it's less safe and slower than a hardwired circuit, and won't be cheaper. Also, you can't have both the 14-50 and a hardwired EVSE on the same circuit, so having both means installing two circuits and nearly twice the cost.

I learned today that you can’t have a 110 and a hair dryer on the same circuit either!

 

[DeaneG]

I learned today that you can’t have a 110 and a hair dryer on the same circuit either!

Exactly, any receptacle used for charging an EV must be on a dedicated, non-GFCI circuit.
The National Electrical Code, and many local codes, require that all receptacles in a garage are GFCI-protected, including 240V. So by code, in many locales, an EV charging station must be hardwired. It's just a better idea anyway.

 

[ZenSolo]

Were they all connected to the same GFI ?

I finally deciphered the hieroglyphics on the panel: “GFCI - Bath & Outdoor Outlets”. So, yes.

 

[Bill55]

It’s been plugged into the 110 since Saturday night at 8pm, at about 210 miles. I woke up Monday morning to 77% (296 miles). So that’s 86 miles in 36 hours plugged into a 110, or 2.39 miles per hour on a brand new battery. Definitely not sustainable.

From 120V x 15 amps outlet charging is capped at 1.4kW. Depending on temperatures the vampire draw and loss while charging is about 600W. Charging rate of 0.8kW. With a 14-50 plug 240V at 50 Amps you can draw 9.6kW - 600w or 9kW. Your net is 11x faster. With the Lucid charger on a 100 amp circuit you can draw 80 Amps or 19.2kW - 600W = 18.6kW or 23X the 120V.