evse recommendations?

Updates:

• I hired an electrician to install a 50 amp breaker in my 125 amp panel and a NEMA 14-50 outlet (aka dryer outlet) in my garage
• The Grizzl-E can also be hardwired, but like the flexibility of a plug
• The Grizzl-E Classic with a 24' premium cable (stays flexible in cold weather) was $649 + HST (Canadian)
• Supply and install of the electrical bits was $770 + HST (Canadian), including electrical permit and ESA inspection
• For the inspection I needed to supply my hourly consumption data for the last 12 months, which I was able to get online from my HydroOttawa account (Billing > Usage > Download my data)
• Using DIP switches in the Grizzl-E, it's possible to lower the maximum current output from its default 40A to either 32A, 24A or 16A, but since I now have a 50A breaker, I left it at its default 40A

The original delivery window for the car was April-May. The snow is melting, so hopefully I'll have something to plug into all this electrical goodness just in time for spring!

 

Your plan seems perfectly solid. One small clarification, which you probably already know:

The SE's on board charger pulls a maximum of 31Amps, so setting your EVSE to anything above 32 is overkill, for that car. Other cars you may plug in may draw more, so you have a little overhead to play with. But, if your home load calculations were getting close to maxed out, setting your box to 32A would maximize your SE charging while limiting the highest possible draw of your EVSE by 8A.

 

Agreed. My home load calculations showed that I had a lot of room to spare, so figured leaving it at 40A was the path of least resistance. HA! Electrical pun.

 

You and I had similar startup costs - after converting your numbers to USD you came out a few hundred better, but I get 30% back on taxes next year. Does Canada offer tax incentives for the charger installation? My ChargePoint glows merrily away in my garage, still patiently waiting for something to plug into!

Did you order a 2021 or 2022 Mini? I'm assuming 2022 based on your January deposit date.

 

Well, you bring up a couple of sore points:

1. Ontario used to have tax credits under our last government. Both for the purchase of the car and for the installation of the evse. Our current provincial government deleted both those soon after they got into office. I really don't want to start a political discussion, but according to the ESA inspector he has been inspecting far fewer esves since the credits were deleted. Also, the old government mandated 200amp panels for all new home builds; the new government went back to 125amp panels. Sigh. At least I still got a federal tax rebate of $5,000 on the purchase of the MINI.
2. I missed out on the 2022 by a couple months. I would have liked the heated steering wheel and adaptive cruise control! Still super excited though. I'm trading in my 2010 Nissan 370Z, which means I'm getting other nice things like Apple CarPlay, back up camera, head up display, wireless phone charging, rear visibility... Oh, and zero emissions!

 

Sorry about the repealed tax credit. Going from 2010 Nissan tech to the 2021 Mini will be amazing for you! EDIT: The upgrades in tech I'm getting just from my 2014 Santa Fe are pretty amazing (Apple Carplay, rain sensing wipers, adaptive cruise).

 

...auto high beams...

 

I just order this one:
LEFANEV 40 Amp EV Charger Level 2,(NEMA 14-50, 40A/25ft,220V-240V,9.6KW) Portable EVSE Electric Vehicle Charging Station for SAE J1772 Electric Cars (40A)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08B7WQHPZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I am having an electrician install a 14-50 plug inside the garage and outside so I can park in or out.

Thought about the Grizzle, but this was cheaper! lol
___________
Brad

 

I just got to see my in-laws new house. It’s just far enough away that I wouldn’t be able to drive there and back without charging.

Lo! On the four, I was shown the outlet the prior owner had to power his RV! A 30a outlet!

Now I’m going to consider a cheap, 20a L2 charger since I can easily plug in when visiting!

 

Oh, snap.

I just realized that’s likely to be 30a on 120v. Hm. Not sure if that gets me enough, or if I can adapt that connector to the regular L1 charge cable that comes with the car.

 

EDIT: Oops, my bad. I didn't look closely enough at your picture. It's *not* a 10-30 NEMA plug.

What makes you think it's 120V? I have an identical outlet in my house and it's 30A 240V. It's two legs of the 120V going in opposite directions plus the neutral in the middle. You can get something like this:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lectron-240-Volt-16-Amp-Level-2-EV-Charger-with-21-ft-Extension-Cord-J1772-Cable-and-NEMA-10-30-Plug-Electric-Vehicle-Charger-EVCharge10-30/305916167

It's only 16A, so it definitely is below the 80% safety threshold, and since you're likely visiting for at least a few hours this should top up nicely.

 

Only that it was described as for an RV, and my quick search on that type of outlet suggested it would be 120V. Maybe I can figure it out at the circuit box.

 

If my image searching is correct, that looks like a NEMA TT-30 socket, which supports 120V, 30A.

If you have (or can buy) an EVSE with a 14-50 plug that can support operating at 120V, 24A, you could buy an adapter like this: https://www.evseadapters.com/products/tt-30p-to-nema-14-50r-ev-adapter/

 

I found that by the dryer plug is actually better in terms of location (it’s in the garage), and I could confirm at the circuit box that it is 2x30a breakers. So, typical dryer plug and 240x30a and that prior recommendation of the $200 charger is golden!

 

Yes! That's the NEMA 10-30 dryer plug I also have! Let me know how the EVSE goes - I'm thinking of getting that exact model when my car arrives! I have a Home Depot near me so I can return the EVSE in person if it turns out it doesn't work out for whatever reason.

 

I’m jealous. I wish my mother-in-law had a similar item. She is 90 miles away one-way.

 

Yeah, I did some searching and it looks like I can get a 24a EVSE for under $300. The trade off is a shorter cable, but the in laws are willing to move a car out so I could pull the SE in and charge, for the rare circumstance that we take that car there.

It likely means I’m buying that EVSE for a “maybe” which is kind of hard to justify. I guess I need to look up the miles added per hour on the regular, L1 cable that comes with the car.

On the other hand, it does seem practical given the ubiquity of the dryer plug. I just don’t know how many places I might go where I’d need it

 

Careful, that looks like a deprecated NEMA 10-30 which lacks a ground. To quote the Wikipedia page on NEMA connectors:

NEMA 10s are classified as 125/250 V non-grounding (hot-hot-neutral), and were designed to be used in a manner that indirectly grounds the appliance frame, though not in the manner consistent with most modern practice.​

Not sure if EVSEs will be happy with no ground.

 

That’s a great thing to know. Do you think that’s why my dryer outlet is on a GFCI?

I was looking at this one:

Splitvolt Level 2 EV Portable Charger, 24 Amp, 240V, NEMA 10-30 Plug, SAE J1772, Compatible with All Electric Cars Including Tesla, 5M Cord (16.4 Foot), Fastest NEC-Safe 30A Circuit Charging https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GP81NY1/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_W7ZBR0NV44T09AKTJ4VA

Lots of claims by the manufacturer that they built it specifically for dryer outlets.

 

That looks pretty good, I wonder if it does not have a GFCI built in which would make it perfect for your outlet. Having the GFCI on the outlet should be enough protection. If you get it I'd love to hear how it works, since NEC requires GFCI on outlets now so I'm looking for a pluggable EVSE that doesn't have one built in.