120V Home Charging.

[Kitsilano]

Could the electricians in the forum please advise me on this situation? My parking space in the underground parking garage of my condominium happens to be very close to a 120V outlet. Unfortunately, it is a 2-hole female outlet and the Kona charging plug that comes with the car has a 3-prong fitting. Would it be safe for me to use a small, plastic adapter with 2-prongs on one side and a 3-hole fitting on the other side---plugging this adapter into the wall and before a household extension cord (3-prong & 3-hole) and then my Level 3 Kona charging unit?
If that is not recommended, how can I charge my car from a 2-hole wall outlet using my stock Level 3 charging unit?

 

[Fastnf]

Would it be safe for me to use a small, plastic adapter with 2-prongs on one side and a 3-hole fitting on the other side

It will work but it is probably not the safest way to go. The third prong is a ground and protects you in the case of a short circuit or malfunctioning equipment. The best thing to do would to be to have a qualified individual check if the outlet has a ground available for the third prong and re-wire the plug with a proper 3 prong outlet. Is the outlet in a metal box? If so it is probably has a ground available and the conversion would be simple. If you can you post a picture of the outlet it would be helpful.

 

[apu]

Many EVSEs will not work if they detect an open ground.

 

[Fastnf]

Many EVSEs will not work if they detect an open ground.

apu is correct. I just tested the factory 120volt charger on my work bench. I plugged it in to an adapter from 3 prong to 2 prong and it gives a fault code. It doesn't hurt the charger but it wont charge either.

You might check with you condo association and see if they are willing to change the the 2 prong outlet to a 3 prong outlet to meet current electrical code as this would eliminate a hazard for every one who uses the outlet.

 

[Grego]

It really shouldn't be an issue to switch outlet to one with a ground wire.

..........not that I am saying you should to it .......

But if you unscrew the plate you might actually see there is a spot for ground wire that's not hooked up. ON PURPOSE by the Strata so people dont use it. All it might need is a switch of receptacles and a new faceplate....cough....you in 10$ and done. 30$ if you get a GFCI Plug. That way if ever something goes wrong your can reset the plug without looking for breaker(simplified version....)

My old strata from years ago would have a hissy fit if someone touched anything in the underground parking... I still charged my electric scooter(250w if I recall lol)

 

[victor_2019]

EVSEs are not chargers, they are mainly protection and handshaking/interface devices. One of their main role is to provide ground fault protection for people. One of the first things an EVSE is supposed to do when powering up is to do a self test and verify the ground fault protection. So if there is no ground connection, the ground fault protection test should fail and the EVSE should not connect power to the output.

You might find some cheap chinese EVSE that doesn't provide this test, but then you do it at your own risk.

the chances of you getting shocked in an underground garage from a properly maintained EVSE are very small, but the portable EVSEs are not only going to be used in dry conditions.