220v socket installed for car charger

[14Accent]

Not really much to brag about, but I had posted on here before asking about installing 220 in my garage to be able to charge my Volt at Level 2.

I had an electrician come out today, super cool guy. I explained to him what I was looking to do, he looked over the wiring and the panel, and basically just told me to tee a 6-20 plug off the disconnect switch that's already installed. He said at 16A there's no reason to upgrade the wiring going to the garage at this point, and that that's exactly how he would do it.

I thanked him for his time, bought him lunch with a tip, and ran to Home Depot. A couple hours later, and we're all set!



Forgive the poor cuts in the sheetrock. It's in the garage, and I eyeballed it. The new charger is on the way from Amazon as we speak, so I should be fast charging by the weekend!

 

[Kjammer]

Is that the standard receptacle for the Volt/Bolt or is that with an adapter added to the charging cord? Most of the connectors I have seen including the BEV Focus we had were quite different and required a 30A supply.

 

[edwardh1]

what does it cost to charge each cycle
and how much is a replacement battery, installed

 

[14Accent]

Originally Posted By: Kjammer
Is that the standard receptacle for the Volt/Bolt or is that with an adapter added to the charging cord? Most of the connectors I have seen including the BEV Focus we had were quite different and required a 30A supply.


The charger I ordered comes pre-wired with a 6-20 plug, so that's the socket I used. The maximum amount of current the car can pull is 16 amps, so a 20 amp socket is plenty. A larger capacity charger will require a different receptacle, but I have no use for any extra current.

Originally Posted By: edwardh1
what does it cost to charge each cycle
and how much is a replacement battery, installed


I don't have exact numbers, a typical recharge from what I've read is between 11.5 and 12kwh. I pay around $.10582/kwh, so it's about a buck and a quarter to fill it up from empty. I only fill it from empty maybe twice a week, most days my 16-20 mile commute uses around 50% of the battery door to door.

Used batteries can be had for between $1,200 and $1,500, and after digging in to it I'm quite confident I could replace it myself at the shop with little difficulty.

 

[goodtimes]

Is that a 20 A switch? I have a 14 Volt. PGE here is a pretty high rate, 20 cents/kwh, so I can't really charge at home. If I do, it can go into the higher tiers on electric if I don't watch the whole house total. I don't want to be watching the meter. I have been able to get free charging all the time though. There's a city garage, a state park, and a hardware store that have free charging. My car has logged about 22k on free electric and 5 k on gas since new.

 

[14Accent]

Originally Posted By: goodtimes
Is that a 20 A switch?


Yes, it's a 20A switch, however I wired the socket to the input side of the switch. That way, if I go on vacation I can hit the disconnect to kill the garage door opener but keep the car plugged in and charging/maintaining (plus, the alarm goes off if it's unplugged while locked).

 

[EdwardC]

Nice work! What EVSE do you have on the way?

 

[14Accent]

Originally Posted By: EdwardC
Nice work! What EVSE do you have on the way?


I'm going to give the Duosida a shot. For $200 it gets great reviews. If I'm not satisfied with that, I'll get a Clipper Creek.

 

[EdwardC]

I have a Duosida that I keep in the car. I've only used it at 120V, 12A, but it's worked great the 3 times I've used it (only use it while out at friend's houses that are further out). I got it with the NEMA 14-50 connector, but built up a few adapters to plug into 6-20 and and TT-30 to use at camp sites (which we haven't tried yet). I use the original Nissan EVSE primarily at home.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: 14Accent
Originally Posted By: Kjammer
Is that the standard receptacle for the Volt/Bolt or is that with an adapter added to the charging cord? Most of the connectors I have seen including the BEV Focus we had were quite different and required a 30A supply.


The charger I ordered comes pre-wired with a 6-20 plug, so that's the socket I used. The maximum amount of current the car can pull is 16 amps, so a 20 amp socket is plenty. A larger capacity charger will require a different receptacle, but I have no use for any extra current.

Originally Posted By: edwardh1
what does it cost to charge each cycle
and how much is a replacement battery, installed


I don't have exact numbers, a typical recharge from what I've read is between 11.5 and 12kwh. I pay around $.10582/kwh, so it's about a buck and a quarter to fill it up from empty. I only fill it from empty maybe twice a week, most days my 16-20 mile commute uses around 50% of the battery door to door.

Used batteries can be had for between $1,200 and $1,500, and after digging in to it I'm quite confident I could replace it myself at the shop with little difficulty.


Are the batteries like the prius where it's a pack made up of multiple cells? I think on those, you could just test the individual cells and just replace whichever cell is bad instead of doing the whole pack. Much cheaper that way.

Normally you wouldn't want to draw more than 80% of the rated load, even less if it's a really long run from the electrical panel. Sounds like your 16A should be fine for that outlet.

 

[henni]

Originally Posted By: 14Accent
the alarm goes off if it's unplugged while locked


What happens with a short power outage ?

 

[14Accent]

Originally Posted By: henni
Originally Posted By: 14Accent
the alarm goes off if it's unplugged while locked


What happens with a short power outage ?


The alarm goes off. Haha. I believe there's two settings, however. One for "power loss" and one for "cord removed". I would have to look at the menus again.

 

[14Accent]

Originally Posted By: wolf359
Are the batteries like the prius where it's a pack made up of multiple cells? I think on those, you could just test the individual cells and just replace whichever cell is bad instead of doing the whole pack. Much cheaper that way.

Normally you wouldn't want to draw more than 80% of the rated load, even less if it's a really long run from the electrical panel. Sounds like your 16A should be fine for that outlet.


I believe the Volt battery has 5 separate battery "modules" that can be replaced individually, inside the main battery pack.