I'm a poor guy in a poor part of town, woo...woo...

S

Stevious

New Member
As part of the "greening," my NH community has a program that is aimed at the poorer sections of town. In short they are wanting to upgrade houses in my area, and I'm retired and sorta' poor and so, bring it on! They are willing to kick some $ in...

I have a triplex and live in one unit. My meter and incoming is a mere 200 amps and I will change that to 400 amps, inside I do have nice new 200A panels for each unit.

I want to put a level 2 charger for each unit. But, there is no garage, just three driveways. So, I'm thinking of some sort of unit mounted on some sort of post, at the head or side of each of the three driveways.

Nobody here has any ev but the times, they are a 'changin, and it's only a matter of time.

So I'd have an electrician install them (required, though I'll dig the trench for conduit/wires?) and I imagine I'll wait until I have a tenant with an ev to actually buy a unit.

I would imagine that a line could be run to a breaker box on the pole x 3.

So, what might you guys (uh...hmm..."you theys") suggest? Any particular set-ups.

I'm in NH so a few feet of snow is the norm and no, I could not create garages.

Thanks in advance.

Steve
 
I'd recommend an all-weather, NEMA 14-50, on each pole. Then as EVs show up, bolt an L2 charger to the pole and the problem is solved. Having a separate L2 charger, replace it if it fails. The newer ones will be better.

You bury the code compliant cable and concrete the post. Then hire a licensed electrician do the plugs and grid connection for your insurance coverage. I strongly recommend getting commercial grade NEMA 14-50, all weather housing. Also, consider a phosphorescent paint or tape for the post.

FYI, my Tesla and BMW are both limited to 31-32 A and easily charge their exhausted batteries in 1-2 hours. So you build it for 50 A, circuit breaker protect at 40 A, and smart charger limit to 30 A. Problem solved.

Without diving too deep, a NEMA 14-50 to dual NEMA 5-20 adapter can be easily fabricated so corded electric lawn equipment can be used.

Bob Wilson
 
bwilson4web said:
I'd recommend an all-weather, NEMA 14-50, on each pole. Then as EVs show up, bolt an L2 charger to the pole and the problem is solved. Having a separate L2 charger, replace it if it fails. The newer ones will be better.

You bury the code compliant cable and concrete the post. Then hire a licensed electrician do the plugs and grid connection for your insurance coverage. I strongly recommend getting commercial grade NEMA 14-50, all weather housing. Also, consider a phosphorescent paint or tape for the post.

FYI, my Tesla and BMW are both limited to 31-32 A and easily charge their exhausted batteries in 1-2 hours. So you build it for 50 A, circuit breaker protect at 40 A, and smart charger limit to 30 A. Problem solved.

Without diving too deep, a NEMA 14-50 to dual NEMA 5-20 adapter can be easily fabricated so corded electric lawn equipment can be used.

Bob Wilson
Click to expand...

Thank you Bob, that was exactly what I was looking for... what sort of pole? 4x4 "poisonwood?"

I hadn't thought about corded lawn equipment, nor even about battery operated mower...

6/2 UF-B or 6/3 UF-B, I'll do this in Autumn or next year but it might be wise for me to buy some wire, watching for a sale. The price of Cu is not likely to head anyplace but up...

Also, how deep a trench?

Again, thanks
 
It may sound corny but no vandalism here. Small-town NH, we're pretty laid back, of course it could happen but heck, I just realized that I left my new Stihl weed-whacker in the back of my pickup for the last few days...
 
Stevious said:
It may sound corny but no vandalism here. Small-town NH, we're pretty laid back, of course it could happen but heck, I just realized that I left my new Stihl weed-whacker in the back of my pickup for the last few days...
Click to expand...
Vandalism is a huge issue here. EVgo just had all of their wires cut and removed. The city installed L2 public chargers and now at least half of them have had the wire cut and removed.

The state is going to have to do what they did for catalytic converter theft and have the scrap yard mail a check for copper.
 
Ah...I was thinking that they'd steal the end device. I remember this happening long ago, with a spike in copper, and thieves were cutting lightening rod protection from rooftops. Can one use aluminum wire? Either direct burial or in plastic conduit?
 
Stevious said:
what sort of pole? 4x4 "poisonwood?"
Click to expand...
Whatever post material you feel comfortable with. If wood, pressure treated. Do locate it 'away' from the vehicle paths. L2 chargers typically have a long cable. It also helps to have WiFi or cell connectivity for management and status checking.

Bob Wilson
 
The issue would be with the end device. They are cutting the black cable that goes from the charging station to the car. That's the advantage of having the user bring their own charging device or cable. The money to repair doesn't come out of your pocket.

I don't see an issue with directly buried cable or plastic conduit.

Don't use aluminum on charging stations and always use a heavy duty electric vehicle designed outlet if you are not going hardwire the charging station. Remember the car is going pull amperage for hours at a time. There isn't another device in one's home that does that.
 
Where I live the city allows you to install an outdoor charging station curbside in most locations.

This is an example of a Tesla owner's setup.They used pressure treated posts and regular ceder fencing to mount a cabinet to hold the Tesla charging equipment. They used plastic conduit to run from the house to the curb.

PXL_20240124_162648759.webp
 
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