New EV charger in Moses Lake, WA

Schmitt Electric of Wenatchee installed these. I will try to determine the type. I understand they are L2 but have a fear they are 30A...

I sure wish new installs would be greater than 30A. We are going to build up a huge infrastructure of soon to be obsolete L2/30 chargers. Can someone with more electrical knowledge explain why the 30A L2's can't push 240V instead of 208V? Is that a limit of the SAE J1772 standard?

30A EVSE Units

I spoke with Matthew Hepner who installed these units. Sadly, they are 30A (to the vehicle) ChargePro uints. I have attached the specifications in the attached png file. As to why 30A is so entrenched; because in 2010 very few EVs could on-board more, so EVSE manufacturers simply built what the population called for. Now, EV manufacturers are competing on battery size and how quickly the battery can be charged, which means higher amperage chargers are required. It take time for the EVSE manufacturers to catch the curve. Plug-In NCW faced challenges when selecting the CS-90 units because many on the board of directors thought it was a poor use of money to buy the high amperage L2 units. Now they know better.



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I missed the question about the L2 standard. L2 charging is 208/240 VAC delivered at between 30 and 80 Amps. EVSE that delivers 60A or more to the vehicle is often called high amperage L2 (haL2).

Here is a confuser: The EVSE manufacturers make their model names with the level of circuit protection needed, not what amperage they deliver. As an example the "Clipper Creek CS-90" delivers 70A to the vehicle. It must be on a circuit that is protected by a 90A breaker and sized for that current. It would have been so much easier for us consumers if they had named this model: "Clipper Creek CS-70"

Well 30A @ 240V is somewhat better than 30A @ 208V - 7.2kW vs. 6.2kW respectively.

ACDriveMotor said:

I sure wish new installs would be greater than 30A. We are going to build up a huge infrastructure of soon to be obsolete L2/30 chargers. Can someone with more electrical knowledge explain why the 30A L2's can't push 240V instead of 208V? Is that a limit of the SAE J1772 standard?

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Jack and others would know better but I believe the 208V comes from one phase of 3 phase power (commercial sites) where where you are home you get 240V as single phase.

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Also for Roadster owners the ChargePro might not charge your car so don't count on it (even with the J1772 adapter of course). The Roadster asks for too much power or something at the start of charging and trips the breaker on the ChargePro. This might be fixed on newer units.

dsm363 said:

Also for Roadster owners the ChargePro might not charge your car so don't count on it (even with the J1772 adapter of course). The Roadster asks for too much power or something at the start of charging and trips the breaker on the ChargePro. This might be fixed on newer units.

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There has been a problem for roadster owners where they couldn't charge over 70amps, but there is finally a firmware fix, so that problem has gone away for roadster owners with the new firmware.

Seattle said:

There has been a problem for roadster owners where they couldn't charge over 70amps, but there is finally a firmware fix, so that problem has gone away for roadster owners with the new firmware.

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I'll try again but that fix was for a different issue on 80A stations. This ChargePro is actually a 30A J1772 EVSE and won't work on the Roadster. The company says newer versions of their product do work though.

I'm not familiar with Chargepro, but one issue that Roadsters have had with a couple of EVSE brands is tripping the GFCI. The Roadster leaks somewhere between 5 and 20mA at startup. The J1772 spec apparently (this is second hand, I haven't read it myself) says you can set a 5mA *or* 20mA trip threshold. You would think EVSE makers would use the 20mA threshold to make sure they work with all cars, but apparently a couple use 5mA to be "safer".

ChadS said:

I'm not familiar with Chargepro, but one issue that Roadsters have had with a couple of EVSE brands is tripping the GFCI. The Roadster leaks somewhere between 5 and 20mA at startup. The J1772 spec apparently (this is second hand, I haven't read it myself) says you can set a 5mA *or* 20mA trip threshold. You would think EVSE makers would use the 20mA threshold to make sure they work with all cars, but apparently a couple use 5mA to be "safer".

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That is what the ChargePro people told me when I called. They said the apartment community could mail the unit back and they would reset it but the management at the apartment complex aren't willing to send it back.

dsm363 said:

Jack and others would know better but I believe the 208V comes from one phase of 3 phase power (commercial sites) where where you are home you get 240V as single phase.

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This commercial electrical service is commonly called 208Y/120V. There are three "hot" wires (L1, L2, L3) and a Neutral. There is 120VAC between the neutral and each hot, so a circuit wired to a single pole breaker behaves the same as residential power. An EVSE connected to the same panel would use a double-pole breaker tapping two of the three hot wires and it would see 208VAC. The three phases when used together are more efficient for large motor loads such as large A/C compressors, air compressors, etc.

Thank you!

Yes, this charger will help me relieve my anxiety of getting to the Ellensburg Supercharger and Palouse, even with 85kwh battery. I came back from Bellevue after getting my Model S using the Roadster charger in Ellensburg, but that was in the summer and going downhill Vantage Grade. I wanted to have this because I was thinking of attending the Tesla rally in Olympia at 10:30am Feb 17th to help defeat HB2524 and SB6272 at 416 Sid Snyder Ave SW, Olympia, WA and with the cold and using heater, I get lower range, and I still tend to have a lead foot and its so tempting to go fast over the straight boring stretch in Eastern WA.

kazumi; you could get a faster charge at

Sunrise Resorts - Pier 4
3400 Sage Road
Moses Lake, WA 98837

They have 240V40A delivered so I picked up about 28 miles of range per hour of charge. Nice people, and facilities. Cost $5 but you get use of the club house and grounds.

JackA said:

kazumi; you could get a faster charge at

Sunrise Resorts - Pier 4
3400 Sage Road
Moses Lake, WA 98837

They have 240V40A delivered so I picked up about 28 miles of range per hour of charge. Nice people, and facilities. Cost $5 but you get use of the club house and grounds.

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JackA,
Is the 240v/40a a 1450 socket? or? Cost is $5.00 per hour? per day of charge? or what? On their website it looks very nice.

JohnMc: It is an NEMA 14-50 outlet; cost is $5 per charging session.