120V charging cord

[dumemama]

That's on my wishlist... for the remote to have a feature to tell it to charge to a percentage of capacity, not an amount of time. When the batteries are completely full, engine braking is disabled. It's quite disconcerting.

 

[Don]

FYI, I charge every single day with an extension cord: 10 gauge, 100', rated for 15a, $150 at homedepot. I only have access to 120v. I've been doing this for over a year, sometimes twice a day - I have one at home and one at work. This is of course not ideal and probably costs me a few pennies and minutes a day in voltage loss. An EV would not be possible for me otherwise. I've noted no charging or capacity issues.

If you've got a 10 gauge cord, you're not really losing anything to speak of using your 100' extension cord - It's actually a larger gauge wire than the house wire feeding the outlet you're plugging into. Computing total voltage loss in a circuit is a complex formula based on the length and wire gauge of every foot of wire between the breaker and the load, but in your case, you probably have more loss in the house wiring than in your extension cord - It's minimal in either case

Most folks would balk at the $150 price tag for such a cord, but since you're evidently forced to use a 100' cord, you definitely made the correct decision buying a very heavy duty one

I expect that the admonition in the manual is for liability purposes.

I'm certain you're correct - Electrically, there is absolutely nothing wrong with charging using 100 feet of 10 gauge cord. Keep one end of that cord locked in the car . . . . I'd worry about somebody stealing that more than I would about them taking the EVSE

Don

 

[RobertC]

FYI, I charge every single day with an extension cord: 10 gauge, 100', rated for 15a, $150 at homedepot. I only have access to 120v. I've been doing this for over a year, sometimes twice a day - I have one at home and one at work. This is of course not ideal and probably costs me a few pennies and minutes a day in voltage loss.

Your voltage drop is less than 2 volts with your 100' of 10 gauge cord, adding about 5 cents for a complete 22.5 hour L1 charge. I'm not sure if the 2 volt drop extends the charging time.

Electric utilities are required to supply your house or business with between 115-125 volts (with a little variation depending on what each state requires). The National Electrical Code allows for a maximum voltage drop in a building from the service to the receptacle to be 5% or about 109 volts. Most electrical equipment is designed to operate continuously at 87% of normal voltage, or about 104 volts for a normal 120 volt system.

When your extension cord wears out you should sell it for scrap since the copper has value.