Charging two i-Mievs

[TobyGadd]

I've been looking at Clipper Creek's website, and I'm intrigued by the new HCS-D40P Plug-in Dual Charger: https://store.clippercreek.com/new/dual ... -6-50-plug

I'm not impressed by the price, since it's more expensive than two chargers that do pretty much the same thing. But it's nice that it only uses one NEMA 6-50 plug.

I'm thinking of adding a NEMA 6-50 outlet near the breaker panel at the back of the garage--which we could plug into directly most of the time. We sometimes leave our cars outside of the garage, so a 40-amp extension cord would let us position the charger where it's most convenient. Seem reasonable?

[JoeS]

If you're going to be installing new wiring, I would add a NEMA 14-50 socket on the inside right of the garage, right by the entrance. That location allows for a very short charging cable to the car and also allows for easily charging a car outside the garage door. Just use a plastic hose hanger for the cable. The Neutral wire (in addition to the Ground) will have a negligible increase on installation cost. NEMA 14-50 seems to be becoming the de-facto standard for EV charging and is used in RV campgrounds with 50A service.

I would then simply find the cheapest portable 240vac EVSE you can find, but I would be tempted to future-proof it by getting one that handles 32A and has a NEMA 14-50 plug on it, recognizing that our i-MiEV only draws about 14A at 240vac. You already charge your i-MiEV at 8A using a 120v 15A outlet, so why not continue doing that and simply have a single 240vac EVSE and share it between cars when needed?

Prices keep dropping and I see that 16A 240vac EVSEs are now down to about $150.
Here's a 32A 240vac EVSE for $235 on eBay with 14-50 plug -
https://www.ebay.com/itm/EV-Charging-Ca ... 3368051084, although I personally prefer portable EVSEs to be dual-voltage and have adjustable current for versatility on the road.

[jray3]

Sounds reasonable, though you might be able to install the 14-50 outlet near the garage door and on the passenger side such that the EVSE's original cord will reach the charging inlet when the car is parked inside or outside without any extension cord. I did this, simply running the J1772 cord beneath the garage door for the last 8 years, keeping the EVSE dry while usually charging outdoors.

[Don]

A single 14-50 socket near the garage door makes the most sense, if you're going to go to the trouble to have an electrician install anything. With a proper home made wye pigtail, you could easily plug two EVSE's, either L1 or L2 or one of each into that single socket. Maximum versatility, minimum cost and you wouldn't need to spend a dime to upgrade to a 32 amp EVSE should you one day buy an EV with a larger charger

Don

[TobyGadd]

Thanks so much for the feedback, ideas, etc. This forum was one the reasons that I bought my first i-Miev. Thanks to all of the great minds who so eagerly share their thoughts!

[wmcbrine]

A single 14-50 socket near the garage door makes the most sense, if you're going to go to the trouble to have an electrician install anything. With a proper home made wye pigtail, you could easily plug two EVSE's, either L1 or L2 or one of each into that single socket. Maximum versatility, minimum cost and you wouldn't need to spend a dime to upgrade to a 32 amp EVSE should you one day buy an EV with a larger charger

...although I hope you won't try to run two 32 A EVSEs off a single 50 A outlet at the same time.

Personally I'd be more comfortable with two outlets, each on its own circuit.

[Don]

...although I hope you won't try to run two 32 A EVSEs off a single 50 A outlet at the same time.

He could even do that - Just set each EVSE to draw 20 amps, or one to draw 30 and the other to draw 10 . . . . but he'll never have to worry about that charging two iMiEv's

Don

[TobyGadd]

Have no fear, I won't put more than 40 amps through the circuit--no matter how many cars I'm charging on it. That said, circuit breakers are there for a reason!

[blackheart]

Also, you can have your OEM Panasonic EVSE 'upgraded' to 12 amps and it will do 12 amps on either 120 volts L1 or on 240 volts L2. Since the car uses less than 14 amps on L2, an upgraded EVSE will charge at better than 90% of the maximum possible . . . . and, if you need to use L1, it will provide 12 amps instead of the usual 8, which is a 50% increase. Handy even if you do eventually buy some other L2 EVSE. Check out http://www.evseupgrade.com - Lots of us have done business with them over the years

I have 5 different EVSE's, but I still use my upgraded Panasonic every single day

Don

Looks like EVSEUpgrade is no longer in business. The website is down anyway.
Anyone still have their instructions on changing the charge amperage? Thanks!

[JoeS]

Programming the EVSEUpgrade.com modified EVSE

Looking at the face of the J1772 plug you'll see three large sockets and two small ones.

Plug in the EVSE.

Get a paperclip and bend it so that it straddles (shorts out) the two small sockets.

When you do that, the EVSE red ("Fault") light flutters rapidly.

Depress (click) the J1772 release lever - the number of times you press it is equal to the number of amps you want to program. With each click the green light on the EVSE blinks once.
For 120vac it is six to twelve
For 240vac it is six to thirteen

When you're done clicking, simply pull out the jumper paperclip.

The EVSE green light will now flash showing the number of amps you have programmed.

I keep a bent paperclip permanently attached to my J1772 handle with a piece of string.

As an aside, I personally consider this programming implementation/mod of an existing product to be absolutely brilliant!