Breaker sizes for install

[e92er]

My Taycan is waiting for a ship to bring it across the pond but in the meantime, I figured get the charging stuff done. I went with a Chargepoint EVSE since my power company was giving a great rebate on it.
For the install, my panel was in the basement on the opposite side of the house but thankfully had some rafters. My electrician ran a 125a cable to the garage and added a subpanel. Then for the EVSE, he connected it to a 50a breaker, but in the app, put in he put in a 60a breaker to ‘enable’ 48a charging. His reasoning was, if there’s a problem, he’d rather have it trip the breaker sooner if there’s a problem rather than later. Does this sound right? He’s willing to swap out the 50a breaker for a 60a but kept saying it’s safer to put 50a and let it trip than waiting for the 60a to trip.

Sponsored

 

[daveo4EV]

get a new electrician.

breakers are matched to appropriate wire gauge - if he installed appropriate wire gauge for 60 amps then put in a 60 amp breaker.

also have him install a nema 14-50 or 6-50 plug socket for emergency use - specify the hubble commercial socket that porsche/tesla/rivian/lucid recommend

but honestly get a new electrician

 

[e92er]

get a new electrician.

breakers are matched to appropriate wire gauge - if he installed appropriate wire gauge for 60 amps then put in a 60 amp breaker.

He actually did say something about how 50a and 60a wires are the same gauge…

 

[daveo4EV]

He actually did say something about how 50a and 60a wires are the same gauge…

ummm not normally - see table below

6 gauge is not rated for a full 60 amps

and 50 amps can pass inspection with 8 gauge - so that won’t handle 60 amps

in the 10 years i’ve been doing EV’s 4 gauge is normal for 60 amp loads

but i’m not an electrician - id consult with a 2nd licensed/bonded source

 

[Tooney]

ummm not normally - see table below

6 gauge is not rated for a full 60 amps

and 50 amps can pass inspection with 8 gauge - so that won’t handle 60 amps

in the 10 years i’ve been doing EV’s 4 gauge is normal for 60 amp loads

but i’m not an electrician - id consult with a 2nd licensed/bonded source

My electrician put in 6 gauge on a 50 amp breaker for a 40 amp Wallbox. Idea was that if I ever wanted to go to larger EVSE on 60 amp breaker, 6 gauge would handle it.
Does the length of run make a difference as to acceptable gauge for 60 amp breaker?
By acceptable I mean complies with code.

 

[outie]

My electrician put in 6 gauge on a 50 amp breaker for a 40 amp Wallbox. Idea was that if I ever wanted to go to larger EVSE on 60 amp breaker, 6 gauge would handle it.
Does the length of run make a difference as to acceptable gauge for 60 amp breaker?
By acceptable I mean complies with code.

If your electrician thought about upgradeability, why didn't he do 100A breaker on a 3Ga wire?

 

[e92er]

So if the wire is 6 gauge, then it can support both 50a and 60a?

 

[daveo4EV]

So if the wire is 6 gauge, then it can support both 50a and 60a?

please consult with local licensed builders/electrician as to what will and will not match/exceed local building codes - I do not think anyone on this thread (including myself) is a licensed electrician and I'm 100% certain no one here is familiar with your particular local regional requirements.

that being said - 4 gauge wire will certainly exceed requirements for 50/60 amp usage, 6 gauge _MIGHT_ pass code/inspection for 60 amp loads

@Tooney length is a factor as well - which is why I recommend using a qualified electrician to recommend and make these decisions.

 

[e92er]

please consult with local licensed builders/electrician as to what will and will not match/exceed local building codes - I do not think anyone on this thread (including myself) is a licensed electrician and I'm 100% certain no one here is familiar with your particular local regional requirements.

that being said - 4 gauge wire will certainly exceed requirements for 50/60 amp usage, 6 gauge _MIGHT_ pass code/inspection for 60 amp loads

@Tooney length is a factor as well - which is why I recommend using a qualified electrician to recommend and make these decisions.

Thx! Will call around and see if I can find someone to do an ‘inspection’ of the work mine had done.

 

[miami_sunshine]

The 60A breaker should be able to handle the load at 48A better than the 50A as the temperature will be high after charging for a while.

 

[SergeyIndy]

My EVSE is installed with 60Amp in with 48Amp out, but I cannot test it since the car is still a month away. Is the general consensus, that the max is 9.6kW that the car can accept, or it can reach beyond that on the 48Amp output to the max of 11kW rating of the charger?

The reason I am asking is because, Standard Equipment states the following that On-board AC-charger with 9.6kW (AC), did not option the 19.2kW as I do not have 100Amp ability nor that I need to charge that fast.


I decided to go with next to the panel location (after installers starting bending long and thick metal tubes to reach to the front of the garage), so I have no wires running from the panel to the charger, not ideal location but reaches to the car ports fine, since will be charging at night, but tucks away nicely when not in use, and can be covered by hanging coats and such.

 

[daveo4EV]

My EVSE is installed with 60Amp in with 48Amp out, but I cannot test it since the car is still a month away. Is the general consensus, that the max is 9.6kW that the car can accept, or it can reach beyond that on the 48Amp output to the max of 11kW rating of the charger?

see this link

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/t...-charger-48-amps-not-max-9-6-kw-40-amps.1793/

standard north american taycans max charge rate is 48 amps or 11-12 kw raw from the EVSE - not 9.6 kw as indicated on porsches website - the maximum charge rate of a MOBILE EVSE in north america is 9.6 kw or 40 amps - i believe this is the source of the confusion - since to get the 48 amp charge rate you have to purchase a hardwired non-mobile EVSE probably not from porsche.

 

[SergeyIndy]

@daveo4EV, you are the best, makes sense and you would think it could be more precise as Standard Equipment belongs to the car and they should list it as 11kW but then in E-Mobility next to the charger state max rate of 9.6kW.

 

[ciaranob]

I would just add a slight clarification in that my ChargePoint HomeFlex unit when purchased was technically a 'plug-in' wall unit (i.e. essentially could act as a portable unit but not really designed as such imo) built to handle a range of input/output power - I had it converted to a properly wired 60A setup (they simply removed the plug and hardwired it in) to avail of the full 11kW (10.5 or so at car) which works like a charm and is truly noticeably faster than a std 9.6 kW setup.

 

[daveo4EV]

@daveo4EV, you are the best, makes sense and you would think it could be more precise as Standard Equipment belongs to the car and they should list it as 11kW but then in E-Mobility next to the charger state max rate of 9.6kW.

i agree 100% - but it’s a awkward message to say that and then direct customers to a non porsche solution EVSE to achieve that - at least that is my theory

these specs also predate the existence of the Porsche Wall charger which can do up to 80 amps but is not mobile

so they “simplified” the message

just a guess

the alternative is they don’t understand their product

Sponsored