Electric Vehicle Power Outlet Question

[BigBoy99]

I'm in the process of doing some remodeling and was thinking about adding an outlet in our attached garage for recharging an Electric Vehicle. (There in no such vehicle in our future but might be good selling point for the next home owner.) Several years ago we switched from an electric stove to a gas stove. The stove circuit has a 240 volt, 50 amp. breaker (switched off) which I think would be sufficient power for an Electric Vehicle charger. To add an outlet in the garage would require extending a line about 25 feet from the old stove receptacle to the garage.

I have not researched Electric Vehicles but I'd like to know if the car companies have standardized upon a plug or does each company have their"own" plug to be used with a wall outlet? I'm assuming the actual power converter/charger is built into each vehicle and is not a device/box one hang on the wall. Appreciate any assistance.

 

[Kinman]

One of my nephews owns a Tesla, he uses the 220 dryer outlet to run his extension cord out to his charging system for the car. He hasn't the desire to run any serious electrical wiring as he doesn't know how long he is going to keep this current house. In his area there can be no new construction that uses natural gas and I would take that into consideration before I removed an outlet designated for your stove as down the line the next owner may want to "upgrade" backwards to electricity. With his system he is free to charge his car as long as he is not running the dryer.

 

[LCC]

All EV vehicles use a standard plug. There are three levels of charging, with a Level 2 charger the best one for home EV charging, requiring a 40A/240V circuit, so you should be good to go. Level 3 is a commercial setup. EV chargers are wall hung units.
[ame]https://www.amazon.com/JuiceBox-40-Next-Generation-Electric-Charging/dp/B07ZL41687[/ame]

 

[riverrat38]

They call the units on the wall chargers, but they are really just controllers. The chargers are built into the car for Levels 1 and 2. Level 3 chargers really are chargers, that is, they supply direct current directly to the battery. Levels 1 and 2 just pass the 120 or 240 volt current to the onboard charger.

73,
Rick

 

[WR Moore]

As someone else mentioned, you might want to add another 240 circuit breaker and run a new #2 wire circuit to the garage. If you're actually going to install the receptacle, I did some poking around and the standard is a NEMA 6-50 receptacle. Looks an awful lot like the receptacle my welder uses, but IIRC, that's a different NEMA number.

 

[venomballistics]

figuring perfect world and a dead battery, that'll give you about an 8 hour charge cycle running full tilt boogie.

 

[DWalt]

Just for my own edification, knowing next to nothing about EVs, are Levels 1 and 2 built-in chargers simply rectifiers to convert AC to DC? Or do they do anything else?

 

[Baxter6551]

Whatever you do be careful and hire an electrician. Firemen friends tell me there is a huge spike in residential fires due to EV chargers in garages.

 

[WR Moore]

From news reports those fires apparently aren't from/in the house/garage wiring, but the vehicles. Supposedly several manufacturers suggested charging outside the house. OTOH, that's the media.....do the fire folks have actual stats/reports?

It does dawn upon me that a DIY installation might skip the anti-oxidation paste on aluminum wiring. That has the potential to cause a problem, as do loose connections.

The built in charger would, like any house current charger, have to include a transformer to reduce voltage. Then transform it to DC.

 

[Narragansett]

From news reports those fires apparently aren't from/in the house/garage wiring, but the vehicles. Supposedly several manufacturers suggested charging outside the house. OTOH, that's the media.....do the fire folks have actual stats/reports?

It does dawn upon me that a DIY installation might skip the anti-oxidation paste on aluminum wiring. That has the potential to cause a problem, as do loose connections.

The built in charger would, like any house current charger, have to include a transformer to reduce voltage. Then transform it to DC.

Do they even make less than service entrance size aluminum cable for use in a home? I thought all the smaller aluminum and copper clad junk went away.

The oxidation product Penetrox and Noalox by trade name is important, but more so is the rating of the mechanical lugs. They must be CU/AL rated, and beyond that they should be torqued to the correct value. Tight is NOT when you put a 2 foot pipe extension on an Allen key and get a hernia tightening the connection. The 2 metals need to expand and contract together

 

[WR Moore]

Went downstairs and checked the high load entrance panel cover (400 amp service, 2 entrance panels@ 200 amp each). House built in '93, HVACs, oven, range and welder all wired with AL wiring by whatever registered electrician did the work. Used AL cable when I installed a welding outlet in the stable.

I do believe all the ~14 or so gauge AL went by the wayside sometime back.

 

[mtgianni]

I believe that most new electric stoves require a larger than 50 Amp circuit so it isn't like you can just go back with your old breaker if you go back to electric cooking.

I would not install a charger in the garage but it might be a good idea to run wire to a box and leave it disconnected but next to the 50 amp breaker. A note inside stating where the run was and that the wire was new but the circuit dead would help. I would not want something immediately recognized as old school technology for a charger.

 

[03hemi]

Not a bad idea?
Just make sure there's room enough to add a gas generator later to run the electric charger when the grid is overloaded. lol

 

[oink]

You should probably check with your insurance and see what their requirements currently for the panels. Our insurer went belly up and to get new insurance we have to replace both of our panels. They're Challenger panels which are one of the brands no longer accepted by insurers. It wouldn't make sense to do a bunch of electrical upgrades and find out later you have to replace the panels.

 

[BigBoy99]

Thanks for all of the assistance. Many good ideas, tips. Lots to consider. House was built in 2009 so electrical panel is new. Running a new separate power line will be impossible as electrical panel in located in room which has been completely finished so there is no access to the panel to run wires. That is why I was thinking of using the line for the stove because there is easy access to it.