Recommend EV Level 2 Charger for home (US)

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Brian Beuchaw said:
Yes, in this specific case that's true. And it may be technically true that there are no 48A rated outlets, I'd think a 50A could be substituted without real danger.
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Not at all. Outlets and wiring/breakers are only rated for 80% with continuous loads. As someone already stated you would need a 60A circuit and outlet (which do not exist) so hardwiring is the only option.
 
Clipper Creek /very good support /build in California/ Model HCS -40PR with rubberized plug you drop nothing happens/plug in or hard wired /32 AMPS that’s what SE takes /Plug NEMA- 50 P . 5 years Warranty. I was used for 6 years with BMWI 3 and now I’m using with SE no issue .Have to be protected with 40 AMPS double breaker in a panel .My house have only 100 AMPS panel no issues.Good unit I highly recommend .25’ of wire very flexible no kinking good quality very flexible.38D46FC4-9197-4E21-BE16-3ECA122C57BF.webp42E908FD-61C2-4BB6-82FF-1A913A355658.webpCE299F16-2B08-47CB-A9EF-42AED7CC1334.webp
 
Brian Beuchaw said:
Tried that today, and no go - charger ramped up to 7.5A and stayed there when it was set to "reduced" for 240V, no error messages. Changed setting back to "max" for 240v and charger still stayed at 7.5A with no error messages. It's going in to MINI Thursday and it'll either be a really quick or really long appt. Plan to plug my MINI into their level 2 charger and let's see if it goes to really, truly max charging of ~30A, and if so, then I need to test my charger somehow with a circuit somewhere else, and then go from there, depending on results. If it doesn't go to ~30A, then they need to fix the MINI.
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If you try to read mypost from February I have the same issue dealer did not found nothing wrong with car and I was really piss of but i email UK Germany and NJ headquarters My garage L 2 charger was working correctly bc I charged my BMW I 3 correctly and suddenly two weeks later miraculously everything start at fine without any dealer interference since February I have no issues charging on my L2 charger at my garage using Clipper Creek for I3 for 6/1/2 year 32 amps and now for SE240volts
 
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Your SE charge at 7.4 KW at home L2 charger in USA They send those cars here with UK setting when you read that crab they saying you can charge a crab with 11 KW is not through . My dealer send me to DC charging station bc he said is nothing wrong with car . Those dealers at list some of them don’t no much about SE . My preferred charging is my garage only bc owning a solar panels cost me $0 to charge
 
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methorian said:
Not at all. Outlets and wiring/breakers are only rated for 80% with continuous loads. As someone already stated you would need a 60A circuit and outlet (which do not exist) so hardwiring is the only option.
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Yes, for this situation. I'm saying that in general, the statement that there are no 48A outlets is semi-wrong, there are 50A outlets that could most likely be used if you had a whateverA circuit that only used 48A. That would be a weird situation, and wouldn't apply in this case, and might not be code-compliant, but I'll bet it's being done out there by somebody (just not for a car charger). :-)
 
Rexsio said:
If you try to read mypost from February I have the same issue dealer did not found nothing wrong with car and I was really piss of but i email UK Germany and NJ headquarters My garage L 2 charger was working correctly bc I charged my BMW I 3 correctly and suddenly two weeks later miraculously everything start at fine without any dealer interference since February I have no issues charging on my L2 charger at my garage using Clipper Creek for I3 for 6/1/2 year 32 amps and now for SE240volts
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I did read your posts and that all does sound strange, glad yours is working now, for whatever reason. We'll see how mine turns out once the dealer gets someone knowledgeable from the main BMW/MINI tech support working on it.
 
Brian Beuchaw said:
I did read your posts and that all does sound strange, glad yours is working now, for whatever reason. We'll see how mine turns out once the dealer gets someone knowledgeable from the main BMW/MINI tech support working on it.
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I hope after more SE is on market the dealers and technical support learn something what is wrong with SE and they solve your problem to me mine SE is still mystery why start working correctly without interference from anybody maybe was fix over an air just getting into computer in my car .
 
Brian Beuchaw said:
Yes, for this situation. I'm saying that in general, the statement that there are no 48A outlets is semi-wrong, there are 50A outlets that could most likely be used if you had a whateverA circuit that only used 48A. That would be a weird situation, and wouldn't apply in this case, and might not be code-compliant, but I'll bet it's being done out there by somebody (just not for a car charger). :)
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Gotcha. Yes, I'm sure many folks do things like this, but it's dangerous.

I always tell folks who want a bit more future-proofing to just use larger wiring. Much easier to move to a hardwired EVSE and change the breaker if you already have the appropriate gauge wiring in place.
 
One other thing I wanted to mention about 50A outlets is that they are not all made equally. Most of your "builder grade" 14-50 outlets (IE the Leviton branded ones) are not really robust enough for constant plugging/unplugging. I believe this was all brought to light early on by many Tesla owners. If you're going to be using a 50A receptacle with a mobile charger that you consistently plug and unplug, I would HIGHLY recommend you go with a commercial-grade receptacle (IE Hubbell brand).
 
My L2 Clipper Creek 32amps charger is plug permanently .I ask manufacturer if this could effect live of a charger they say no and is pulling only minimal current .After over 6 years is working good and a plug is Nema 14-50
 
methorian said:
One other thing I wanted to mention about 50A outlets is that they are not all made equally. Most of your "builder grade" 14-50 outlets (IE the Leviton branded ones) are not really robust enough for constant plugging/unplugging. I believe this was all brought to light early on by many Tesla owners. If you're going to be using a 50A receptacle with a mobile charger that you consistently plug and unplug, I would HIGHLY recommend you go with a commercial-grade receptacle (IE Hubbell brand).
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I ended up getting the $50 Eaton 5754N off Amazon, and it’s similar to the Hubbell. It almost looks to be twice the volume — and heft! — of the Leviton I picked up for $11 at HD (and soon returned). I don’t intend to frequently unreplug the Flex, but for Δ$39 it seems like a no-brainer.
 
SameGuy said:
I ended up getting the $50 Eaton 5754N off Amazon, and it’s similar to the Hubbell. It almost looks to be twice the volume — and heft! — of the Leviton I picked up for $11 at HD (and soon returned). I don’t intend to frequently unreplug the Flex, but for Δ$39 it seems like a no-brainer.
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Yea - I work for an electrical supply distributor and there's a big difference between the Leviton and Hubbell (we don't typically stock them from Eaton, but Eaton would be just as good as Hubbell). I started telling sales folks to ask contractors who purchase them if they're for an EVSE install and recommend the upgrade from Leviton.
 
Brian Beuchaw said:
It's the MINI. Dealer's level 2 charger also stalled out at ~7.5A. They're currently investigating codes, etc. and have opened a TSR (Technical Service Request?) with BMW. They had to escalate because they're not sure what's wrong, mine's only the 2nd MINI SE in OKC, so they might've worked a bit on BMW's EVs, but never a MINI, so they're pretty in-the-dark...
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According to the TSARA (not TSR) system and the techs, they say it's a 95% chance it's the KLE (which is apparently the charging module). Part's in Germany, so it'll be here whenever it gets here (they estimate 3 weeks).
 
Brian Beuchaw said:
According to the TSARA (not TSR) system and the techs, they say it's a 95% chance it's the KLE (which is apparently the charging module). Part's in Germany, so it'll be here whenever it gets here (they estimate 3 weeks).
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Oh, forgot to post this article that I found when searching for KLE info. This was 8 years ago and sounds very similar to my problem, (almost) unbelievable...

https://insideevs.com/news/324899/b...rger-to-restore-promised-74-kw-charging-rate/
 
SameGuy said:
I’m likely ordering the the Grizzl-E Smart EVSE this week, I’ve asked my MA and F&I guy if the Flex is included up here and Salesdweeb has ignored the question in his replies so far, and F&I guy doesn’t ever get back to me smh.

Any current coupon codes available for Grizzl-E? Mods, if that request is verboten I apologize, and please advise.
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The GrizzlE has dip swiches inside to change the charge level from 16A, 28A, 32A, 42A and 48 A.
 
Brian Beuchaw said:
Hi, new guy here, thought I'd chime in on this thread because I'm having problems with mine. Had my MINI since Feb, but just had a dedicated circuit with a 35A breaker installed, charger is a Lefanev 32A portable chargebox, have set both Level 1 and Level 2 to "Max" in the MINI's Settings -> Charging Current menu, but it throws 2 errors when I plug it in. Tried to get a video today, but it took longer than expected to get the errors so I stopped recording thinking they weren't going to show up, but they did. :-( Anyway, the chargebox ramps up to about 7A and it's fine, then it goes up to about 14-15A and the MINI pops up with a "Charging has been reduced to prevent harm to components" type of message (didn't get a pic of that one, unfortunately), and then a "Drivetrain: Contact MINI...Please go to the nearest service center to prevent further damage" message. I thought the MINI was supposed to control the charging, and it could handle pretty close to what the 32A chargebox can put out, and they would handshake and sync and give the proper level 2 charging power. Anybody know what's happening? Also, if there's a troubleshooting thread this should be in, let me know and I'll go there. Thanks....
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After reading all the post on this, be aware that the J1772 has heat sensors in the vehicle receptacle that go to the charging control. Some manufacturer's also have them in the EVSE supply 14-50 plug. I know that there has been a need to replace the socket in some vehicles due to high resistance. Usually caused by dirt or corrosion of the high amp pins from dirt or chemicals. Chemical fumes from things like Clorine or acids play hell on them.
 
Frank Pierson` said:
After reading all the post on this, be aware that the J1772 has heat sensors in the vehicle receptacle that go to the charging control. Some manufacturer's also have them in the EVSE supply 14-50 plug. I know that there has been a need to replace the socket in some vehicles due to high resistance. Usually caused by dirt or corrosion of the high amp pins from dirt or chemicals. Chemical fumes from things like Clorine or acids play hell on them.
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Thanks for the info, but I doubt mine has any dirt or corrosion, it's only been in the garage charging and out driving normally, nowhere there is enough dirt/chemicals to get into the charging area/socket, and has only been charged less than a dozen times. MINI says it's pretty sure it's the KLE, so I'm going with their recommendation for now...
 
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