Login
Open Mike: My New Not-a-Charger (OT)
[Note: The third incarnation of this website, which will be at theonlinephotographer.com and will launch in October, won't publish on weekends, or during August, as Yr. Hmbl. Ed. continues the Battle Against Burnout. But it also won't have off-topic posts on specific enthusiasms, such as WFPB diets and electric cars. Those will spin off to different sites, eventually. But as long as this version of the website endures, you are not yet safe!
My readers are very indulgent. :-) ]
Woo-hoo! The day finally came. I got my 240-volt AC Level 2 EVSE installed. Level 2 is overnight charging, used by the vast majority of EV owners who charge at home.
The thing that says "LENZ" is not actually a "charger." (It's not a lens, either. Although it is named for a physicist—Emil Lenz.) It's a supply box. Technical name EVSE, for "electric vehicle supply equipment." EVs—electric vehicles—don't use external AC chargers. The AC charger is in the cars. For a month now I've been using Level 1 (standard 120-volt outlet) with the portable cable that came with the car. Honestly, it's almost good enough for me to use permanently. Not everybody needs all that much charging.
But it's nice to have a little more. Level 1 supplies about 1.2 kW of continuous power. My new circuit is an AC 240V, 50-amp circuit. The maximum it will supply is 40 amps. My car's maximum acceptance rate is 30 amps (it's more in European versions of my car, a Nissan Ariya. Don't ask me why). I had Richard Bruno, the electrician, set my EVSE at 24 amps. That's 5.8 kW, so it'll be almost five times faster than the Level 1 cable I've been using.
So what you're seeing in the picture is a 14-50 outlet, the EVSE plugged into it, and the cable and cable holder. The electrical box (pre-existing) is on the wall in front of the car. Total cost of installation, about $790, including the EVSE, the receptacle (outlet), the wall plate for the outlet, and the plywood.
With most EVs, you let the car tell the supply box how much power it wants. With most cars you can choose a percentage of full—I normally charge to 80% or so. But for some reason the Ariya doesn't let you do this—all you can set is the time of day and the length of time you want it to charge. So you do have to kind of estimate how long you're going to need to charge. Funny thing is, though, the MyNissan app does tell you to the percentage of charge—for instance, I just unplugged from my new EVSE's maiden voyage, and the app looks like this:
More weirdness, though—the apps lets you start charging remotely, but it doesn't let you stop charging remotely. I read the reason for this somewhere but I don't remember it now.
Once I get use to it, though, this is going to be very easy. And fast. It takes me about a minute to program the charging time on the screen in the car, and then no time at all, really, to plug in. After that there's nothing—you just come out in the morning, unplug, and off you go. With a "full tank" by whatever your own definition of "full" happens to be. Did I mention I haven't been to a gas station in a month? I wave as I glide silently by, though.
Level 2 charging just means that you're plugging in to a 240-volt circuit instead of 120V. The outlet looks like the one for your dryer or range (but it had better be better quality—cheap 14-50 receptacles aren't designed and built for continuous current. This is the one I bought. It's expensive, but worth it unless you want your outlet to melt or, in rare cases, your garage to burn down).
Fun fact: Volts are named for Alessandro Volta. I don't know if you learn something new every day, but I do.
Many sizes all fit all
There is no single power level for Level 2 charging. You can set yourself up for a variety of levels of power and the associated charging times. Here's a brief look at the circuit breaker you need, the EVSE amperage it supports, and the power expressed in kilowatts for the various levels of level 2 charging:
100-amp circuit: charger amperage 80; continuous power 19.2 kW.
60-amp circuit: charger amperage 48; continuous power 11.5 kW.
50-amp circuit: charger amperage 40; continuous power 9.6 kW.
40-amp circuit: charger amperage 32; continuous power 7.7 kW.
30-amp circuit: charger amperage 24; continuous power 5.8 kW.
20-amp circuit: charger amperage 16; continuous power 3.8 kW.
All these are compared to Level 1, which requires a 15-amp circuit and supplies 1.2 kW continuous power.
It's worth noting that it's not entirely up to you what you get. All EVs—the cars themselves—have a maximum acceptance rate. It does no good to get a charger that's faster than your car allows, except if you're future-proofing your setup for your next car.
The thing is, though, for AC charging, it really doesn't matter how fast your car charges. All Level 2 charging is essentially overnight charging. It takes no time at all because you're not waiting for it—you're inside, sleeping.
Mike
Coda: This is the post I was working on when the line went dead on Sept. 4th. It's now the 13th, and in those nine days I've only had the car hooked up to the electricity four times, for a cumulative grand total of about 12 hours—two hours the first night, four the third night, and so on. My best estimate of the cost for that is somewhere between $3.16 and $3.89. I didn't need to charge yesterday, for instance. The SoC (state of charge) has only been below 30% once, and the highest SoC I've charged up to is 85%. It almost seems like it should be more difficult.
If my usage for the first nine days is typical, and the cost estimate is correct, then my electricity cost for the car for this month should be between $10.43 and $12.84. In a typical household with an EV, the car is not the biggest user of electricity—it comes in third, after heating and hot water.
Original contents copyright 2025 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)
Featured Comments from:
