Newbie questions

Discussion in 'Volkswagen' started by Nat, Oct 11, 2021.

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  1. Nat

    Nat New Member

    Hi All: I’m getting my ID4 tomorrow. Became EV owner rather spontaneously. I’ve few questions. 1) What Level 2 charger do you recommend I install at home? And how do I go about it? I’m in NC so if anyone can recommend a comment please 2) I’ve free charging station in my town. I was told it’s “general,” and just need to get adapter. Where can I purchase one, what brand do you recommend? 3) I understand the concept of efficient charging (20/80% rule) but do I have to wait to get to 20% or can I charge when I’m at 40% let’s say. I work in home health so depending on how much I’ve to drive the next day, I don’t know whether I can prep and charge overnight or go out, drive, get to 20%, charge someplace and finish my rounds.

    I hope this makes sense. Thank y’all!
     
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  3. ericy

    ericy Well-Known Member

    For Level 2, you will need a 14-50 or 6-50 outlet somewhere near where you need to install the EVSE, and that will require a 50A circuit. Which one you get depends a bit on which EVSE you end up purchasing. If you happen to have something like a welding machine in the garage, you might already have such a thing. A clothes dryer typically uses a different plug and is on a 30A circuit. There are EVSE available for that as well, but they won't be quite as fast.

    It is possible to hardwire an EVSE as well, but the circuit capacity needs to match the rating. Note that a 50A circuit can only deliver 40A continuous. A 30A circuit can only deliver 24A continuous.

    As to which EVSE, there are lots out there. I personally have a JuiceBox, but there are many others. I wouldn't touch anything that isn't UL certified, but there are plenty that are. For a while there were long lead times in buying these things - your choice may be restricted by availability. Sometimes home improvement stores have them.

    Once you have an EVSE lined up, you can hire an electrician to put in the circuit for you. In the mean time, you will have to make do with what you have available locally. You can use the L1 charger that comes with the car, of course, that plugs into a normal 110V outlet, but that's going to be pretty slow. You can check on plugshare to see what all of your local options might happen to be.

    When they say the charger that is available is general and needs an adapter, I am not sure what they mean. The car itself has a J1772 receptacle on it and supports CCS1 - those are the plugs you need to look for in plugshare. Tesla uses a completely different connector - their "destination chargers" can work with the ID.4 with something like a "Tesla Tap" - you will find such chargers at businesses such as coffee shops, and whatnot, and the "Tesla Tap" would be yet another thing that you would need to order if you wanted to try and take advantage of that. For really fast charging you should look for chargers in plugshare that have CCS. The car comes with 3 years of free charging at Electrify America - look and see where the nearest one of those is.

    You can charge any time you like, really. These days I am usually plugging in at 30% and charging to 60% - only charging more if I am making a road trip somewhere.
     

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