[US] - Over the Top - the well equipped EV home garage…for those that wish to "over do it"…

[Chedman13]

This is exactly why I went with a 14-50R outlet. I have 3 Porsche Mobile Charge Connects in my garage.

1) Outlet one = 2 AWG-> Safety Disconnect-> 4 AWG -> 14-50R
2) Outlet two = 4 AWG-> Safety Disconnect-> 4 AWG-> 14-50R
3) Outlet three = standard household outlet (this takes like 48 hours to charge if not longer).

In the future I can add a 100 amp charger to the 2 AWG setup and a 80 amp charger to the 4 AWG setup pretty easily.

I can also swap out my chargers to any one that has a 14-50 plug in case they fail or I want to try something new.

So far this setup works great for me. Don't forget to go with copper and not aluminum.

Assume your ChargePoint will be hardwired. Do you have backup if hardwired EVSE should fail? (That's why I am going with 50amp circuit and receptacle.)

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[ciaranob]

Assume your ChargePoint will be hardwired. Do you have backup if hardwired EVSE should fail? (That's why I am going with 50amp circuit and receptacle.)

Nope - its a receptacle but the ChargePoint can do 60 amp breaker charging (has variable).

PS: My car at dealership - posted pic in new thread

 

[Tooney]

Nope - its a receptacle but the ChargePoint can do 60 amp breaker charging (has variable).

PS: My car at dealership - posted pic in new thread

Just wondering. It is on a receptable on a 60 amp breaker? Or receptacle on 50 amp circuit but you could hardwire to 60 amp in the future? And good on your car at dealership, mine made it, also.

 

[ciaranob]

Just wondering. It is on a receptable on a 60 amp breaker? Or receptacle on 50 amp circuit but you could hardwire to 60 amp in the future? And good on your car at dealership, mine made it, also.

Receptacle on 60 amp breaker. Hardwiring of course always an option if desired - straightforward enough.

 

[Tooney]

Receptacle on 60 amp breaker. Hardwiring of course always an option if desired - straightforward enough.

That is interesting. So what receptacle is it? I am going to have NEMA 14-50 installed on 50 amp circuit. Electrician has told me he is installing cable that will work on 60 amp breaker, but I thought 60 amp circuits had to be hardwired.

 

[Windpower]

Receptacle on 60 amp breaker.

I'm not sure a receptacle is allowed with a 60 amp breaker (unless you can throttle the EVSE down to 40 amps). If you are using a 14-50 receptacle, its limited to a 50 amp circuit. Anything over 50 amps needs to be hard wired, and you are running a 60 amp circuit.

With a 60 amp breaker, you can only run continuously 50 amps (actually 48 amps according to the code), but everything else along the circuit needs to be speced for 60 amps: the wire and the box on the end which is connected to the EVSE.

If you are using a 14-50r receptacle, I believe this is what you need:
50 amp circuit breaker -> 50 amp wire (6 gauge THHN) -> 14-50r receptacle -> 40 amp EVSE

 

[daveo4EV]

if it's a 60 amp breaker and wire it's safe

it's probably a NEMA 14-50 receptacle - and it's probably a NEMA 14-50 EV charger (EVSE) which mean it's configured to only pull 40 amps

there is no way for the EV charger to "know" there is a 60 amp breaker/wire - and it think's it's a 50/40 amp charger (50 breaker - 40 amp current draw)

so it's only pulling 40 amps across a 60 amp breaker/wire - it's safe - but unconventional - and may or may not pass inspection

there is no safety issue with an appliance or device only pulling 40 amps across a 60 rated breaker/wire gauge - but as I said it's an unconventional setup.

it would pass a building code inspect _IF_ you downgraded the breaker to 50 amps - the wire gauge is a minimum requirement - I've never seen a failed inspection for wire gauge that is "over rated" for the circuit load

in the future you could upgrade your EVSE to a 60/48 amp EVSE and hardwire it and you'd get closer to a 10.xx kW charge rate.

 

[ciaranob]

That is interesting. So what receptacle is it? I am going to have NEMA 14-50 installed on 50 amp circuit. Electrician has told me he is installing cable that will work on 60 amp breaker, but I thought 60 amp circuits had to be hardwired.

Seems to be some confusion here - to be clear - my HomeFlex is setup for 50 amp circuit drawing 40 amps - the breaker size of 60 amp installed by pro electrician (West Houston Electric) - in his words when I asked him re my choosing 50 amp circuit (despite a 60 amp breaker installed) in setting up the ChargePoint via WiFi: "It’s ok that you chose the 50 amp, and not the 40 amp setting because you do have adequate circuitry for up to 60 amps on the circuits we installed for you". I am using 14-50 and 6 AWG (60 amp rated) but again a 50 amp setup drawing 40 amps w.r.t the EVSE.
IN respect using 60 amp the HomeFlex is set up fo 60 amp but of course you'd need to remove the plug/hardwire as stated by them:

"Easy for any electrician to install indoors or out. Plug-in installation with NEMA 6-50 or 14-50 outlet (14-50 currently selected) requires circuits rated 40A or 50A. For other circuit ratings, the plug is easily removed for hardwired installation. Set the charging amperage that's right for you and your home, helping to avoid electrical upgrades. See below for more installation information."

https://www.chargepoint.com/drivers/home/chargepoint-home-flex/

 

[Jhenson29]

the breaker size of 60 amp installed by pro electrician (West Houston Electric) - in his words when I asked him re my choosing 50 amp circuit (despite a 60 amp breaker installed) in setting up the ChargePoint via WiFi: "It’s ok that you chose the 50 amp, and not the 40 amp setting because you do have adequate circuitry for up to 60 amps on the circuits we installed for you". I am using 14-50 and 6 AWG (60 amp rated) but again a 50 amp setup drawing 40 amps w.r.t the EVSE.

This doesn’t sound correct to me.

210.21(B)(1)says that a single receptacle on an individual branch circuit can’t be less than the circuit rating.

Additionally, a 60A OCPD serves no purpose over a 50A OCPD in the application and allows the potential for too much current on the 14-50R.

Personally, I wouldn’t put a 60A breaker on the circuit even if it was allowed.

 

[Jhenson29]

That is interesting. So what receptacle is it? I am going to have NEMA 14-50 installed on 50 amp circuit. Electrician has told me he is installing cable that will work on 60 amp breaker, but I thought 60 amp circuits had to be hardwired.

From Chargepoint’s website:

Plug-in installation with a 6-50 or 14-50 outlet requires circuits rated 40A or 50A. For other circuit ratings, including 60A-80A for 48A-50A charging, the plug is easily removed for hardwired installation.​

https://www.chargepoint.com/drivers/home/resource/

 

[ciaranob]

From Chargepoint’s website:

​

Plug-in installation with a 6-50 or 14-50 outlet requires circuits rated 40A or 50A. For other circuit ratings, including 60A-80A for 48A-50A charging, the plug is easily removed for hardwired installation.​

https://www.chargepoint.com/drivers/home/resource/

Yep - shared this in post bef yours

But I agree re the 60 A breaker - fine for an option to a hard wired ‘upgrade’ but not what my setup is obviously - going to get that corrected regardless, doesn’t make sense as is.

 

[Tooney]

Anyway, using a receptacle, if one plug-in EVSE fails, you (and I) can easily switch to a different one.

I think I saw a photo on here of a garage installation in which a single circuit (I am assuming that is what it was) was fed via conduit along wall to a junction box that split off into conduit for hardwired EVSE, and separate conduit to a receptacle. Gave person the ability to use either one, which would be convenient. But probably not ok per code, even if you knew you could only use one at time.

 

[ciaranob]

Anyway, using a receptacle, if one plug-in EVSE fails, you (and I) can easily switch to a different one.

I think I saw a photo on here of a garage installation in which a single circuit (I am assuming that is what it was) was fed via conduit along wall to a junction box that split off into conduit for hardwired EVSE, and separate conduit to a receptacle. Gave person the ability to use either one, which would be convenient. But probably not ok per code, even if you knew you could only use one at time.

I have two entirely separate lines each to a 14-50 receptacle and with separate indep breakers in the dedicated 100 amp panel. Always the option to convert one or both to hard wired but prefer two receptacles for now.

 

[whitex]

I am using 14-50 and 6 AWG (60 amp rated) but again a 50 amp setup drawing 40 amps w.r.t the EVSE.

You might have an issue with a 60A breaker feeding a 14-50 plug. NEMA 14-50 is only rated for 50A, therefore the breaker should be 50A or less. Larger wires (rated for more) are totally fine and will pass inspection no problem.

 

[ciaranob]

You might have an issue with a 60A breaker feeding a 14-50 plug. NEMA 14-50 is only rated for 50A, therefore the breaker should be 50A or less. Larger wires (rated for more) and totally fine and will pass inspection no problem.

Decided in the end to leverage the 60A breaker capacity of the HomeFlex with a hardwire install and a 60A breaker - other 14-50 receptacle will be used separately for a different application (will be changing hard wired setup for my 4-post lift to a plugged setup - will allow me to use with a backup system in case of power outages and so can operate lift)

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