In my garage I have an RV TT-30 outlet rated 125V/30amps. I can get an adapter to either NEMA 5-15 or 6-20 to use with an enhanced Level 1 16 amp charger. Would this be any faster than the stock 110V charger that came with the car? Here's the charger I was thinking about, but I don't know if it would help, or even be safe! Has anybody done this sort of thing? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Q5RD5TL/ref=ask_ql_qh_dp_hza
Perfectly safe. It would reduce the time for a full charge from ~12 hours to ~8 hours. You will have to decide whether it is worth it.
Normally it might not be, but I'll be moving in about a year and when I get to my final destination I can take the charger with me and use as a Level 2. It's not worth paying to upgrade to 220 for a year, but in my next home it will be and I'll already have the charger. And Maryland will rebate 40% of the cost, so it's a good deal to get it now. And in the meantime I get about 33% faster charging, so that sounds good all the way around.
If / when you get configured for 16A @240V, a full charge will drop to 4 hours. The best that the Clarity can do is 30A @ 240 (needs a 40 Amp circuit) is around 2 hours.
This circuit breaker for the RV outlet is rated for 30 amps, would it be safe to use a charger with a higher amp rating, or will it not matter with the 125 rating on the RV outlet?
You could theoretically go up to 24 amps (80% of the breaker). I am not certain I have seen Level 1 that can use 24A, and I am not sure the Clarity could even do that. One thing that many HAVE done, quite successfully - If this is a dedicated outlet (the only receptacle on the circuit), it is very easy to just have it re-wired to 240V in your panel. This would support a Level 2 @ 24A without changing any wiring (just the breaker and the receptacle). This would yield a charge time of 2.5 hours. Very close to the best you could do.
Yes, it's a dedicated receptacle and dedicated 30 amp fuse, so that sounds like the answer! Assuming the Clarity can do 24 amps with the rewiring to 240 volts.
You must have a fairly new vehicle. Mine may have been 2.5 initially, but I think with some battery degradation, it holds less energy and thus doesn't take as long to charge.
I've found a 24-amp charger and have the choice between a 14-30 or 10-30 plug. Is there any reason why one would be preferable to another?
Yea, maybe. My EVSE shows particulars such as time, voltage, amps etc…. Time to charge is 2.4-2.6 hours……it’s a 2018, but only has 10K on it.
I am not an electrician, but will express a thought. A 14-30 receptacle supports 4 wires (2 lines, a return, and a ground). A 10-30 receptacle only has 3 wires (2 lines and a ground). I think both would be OK for the EVSE, but I would install whatever is appropriate for your house (ie: if you have 4 wires, then use the 14-30... If you have 3 wires, then use the 10-30). You wouldn't want a receptacle that 'looks' like it supports 4 wires, but really only has 3. I think it is most likely that you have 3 wires. There are some real electricians here, and maybe one would weigh in !
Ok, that's a good input. I have an electrician coming tomorrow so I'm sure he'll know once he looks at everything.
I purchased a Grizzl-e evse that is often advertised on this site. I've been happy with it (build quality seems really good). It has dip switches that allow you to adjust it from 40, 32, 24, and 16 amps. It might be good for future proofing in case you ever buy another car that can take advantage of 40 amps. I did reach out to them recently to let them know that the plug seemed to be really tight on both mine and my wife's Clarity. They ended up sending me another unit with the premium cable which fits a little better. When I bought the original one 6 months ago, there was no sales tax charged and shipping was free. Also look around on this site for a possible $25 off code.
Your TT30 will have 3 wires going to it - hot, neutral and ground. The 10-30 will be the outlet/plug of choice, or you will wind up pulling new wire. It should be 10 ga wire to support the 30A circuit.
Sounds like 10-30 for me! I think avoiding pulling new wire is the big difference between quick and cheap and long and expensive.
I'm looking for a portable so I can take it with me when I move, and it sounds like a 10-30 plug is what I need, so I'm thinking about this one: https://www.amazon.com/Splitvolt-Portable-Compatible-Electric-Including/dp/B08GP81NY1/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3959XQ8E8CE82&dchild=1&keywords=splitvolt&qid=1614873955&sprefix=split%2Caps%2C188&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzMFBWTFg3OUpHV1lSJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTQyMjQ3MTFMRUpaMUVWVUIxNyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwOTExNDI0MzZBUzNSWFlPUEwxUiZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU= It seems to be built explicitly for my situation, using existing dryer and RV plugs.
So the electrician came and checked it out and you all were right on. He estimated $100 for reconfiguring the cb box for 240 and installing a 10-30 receptacle; said the whole thing would take 30 minutes. Now I'm kicking myself for not doing this before but I had no idea!
I made my own adapter cable to utilize an existing 50A RV outlet we have at our GA house. Maybe $20 to $30 in parts, all readily available at Home Depot - an RV plug, several feet of cable and an in-line 120v receptacle. With the standard Honda charging cable it slightly more than doubles the charge rate to roughly 10 miles per hour, which can come in handy at times. Note: I did not bother with the neutral prong on the plug since it’s not utilized, only the two hots and the ground are needed.
