Can I plug in at a NEMA 14 50 outlet?

You have to have a portable evse that charges on 240v. The factory L1 portable only delivers 120v. Presuming the neutral on that socket has a neutral, you could do a mod, to pull 120V off of it - but you have to know what you're doing - & no one's going to recommend or show you how to do that, because things could go horribly wrong. That said, there are plenty of aftermarket portable L2 EVSE's that you can pick up for a decent price.
Alternatively, if you must use your L1 evse, you can buy an adapter like this;

Right around $60 at Lowe's, Amazon Etc.
.

 

www.amazon.com/Epicord-Adapter-14-50P-Connector-50M152F/dp/B07CQKJ8M1

Is pre made, which does not make it right for you use.

amazon.com/dp/B07DVZFBPM/ref=psdc_6359402011_t2_B07CQKJ8M1

Is just the 14-50 plug

If you know what you are doing, attach it to

www.amazon.com/Century-Contractor-Extension-outdoor-extension/dp/B07M7FXQNB

 

not with the oem evse

 

see the excellent thread by @Rob43 about converting your evse for cheap

 

Smart plan. The stock EVSE works pretty much everywhere, and if you modify it, it will not work pretty much everywhere. Adapter or second EVSE is the way to go.

 

It's marginally unsafe to use. It would probably be fine 99.9% of the time, but it could be a fire hazard. Since that is a 40 or 50A circuit there is much more current available before the breaker trips. So if there is a fault the wiring in the adapter or EVSE or even the car could burn up. I'm not sure if electrical code covers this since there are not many requirements on devices that are plugged into receptacles. But here are some problems I can think of with it:

• There is probably no GFCI on that outlet. You could add a standalone GFCI in combination with the adapter, but the adapter itself won't be protected since I doubt you'll find a NEMA 14-50 portable GFCI. You should have GFCI protection since where the EVSE plugs in won't be protected from water.
• If there is a short circuit any wiring downstream of the receptacle could be overloaded since it is not designed to be used on a 40 or 50A circuit.

In general it's always OK to plug a lower amperage device into a higher amperage outlet, but that assumes pretty much all outlets are 15 or 20A. And some devices have their own protection, for example most fans have a fuse built into the plug (for some reason). And a lot of power strips have a 15A circuit breaker built in.

 

Remember: The stock OE Toyota EVSE is NOT modified in any way,

again the stock OE Toyota EVSE is NOT modified in any way.



Rob43

 

You are NOT altering your OE Toyota EVSE unit, it remains exactly the way Toyota sent it to you. If you used your OE Toyota EVSE as a Level 2 EVSE, you would need a 120v to 240v "Pigtail" which is a standalone cord.

If you knew what I know about those China built L2 units that cost roughly ~$160 to ~$200 you wouldn't buy them. After testing several EVSE units, using your OE Toyota EVSE unit at either 120v or 240v is the way to go.


Rob43

 

agree with rob^^^

 

I do not fear any damage, just no improvement in charge time.

14-50 has two 240 hot wires a neutral wire and a ground wire.

because that part has two hots, one 120v above neutral, and one 120 volts below neutral, it is 240 between them.


To use the 14-50 to get a 2.5 hour charge time, we want both hots and ground in the 5-15 receptacle. (very not standard)
But they have two 5-15 receptacles, I worry that each is one hot, neutral and ground, this is the 120 volt standard, but does not get you the 2.5 hour charge time, you would charge in 5.5 hours just like any 5-15. The $35 would be 'wasted'. (but not dangerous)

If you own a Multimeter, you can measure the resistance between each blade of the 14-50 and the two 5-15s. You want the blades X and Y to go to the slots on the 5-15s. If you know an electrician, they can make it so. They can open the 14-50 plug and rewire. (this would be more dangerous and I am not recommending you attempt it yourself)

www.amazon.com/Innova-3320-Auto-Ranging-Digital-Multimeter/dp/B000EVYGZA

 

I understand that.

 

OP,

I say buy into whatever you feel comfortable with, I'd recommend doing a little more research so that you know all the pertinent facts needed for your best decision.


Rob43

 

Can you share what's wrong with the cheap EVSEs? The duosida for example is supposedly UL listed, which I thought would indicate sufficient quality.

 

Yes, but first let me clarify that I'm not an electrical engineer.

There are 3 things that I noticed, 2 of the three are easily verified.

1) The male charge handle on the China built units are very tight fitting when plugged into the Primes chassis, in some cases they are so tight people use methods like lubrication in an attempt to aid the fitment. The OE Toyota charge handle fits perfectly every time.

2) The body of the China built EVSE units weigh roughly half as much as their Toyota EVSE counterpart, my first thought when holding the China built EVSE was that it was hollow inside. By comparison, the OE Toyota EVSE feels roughly twice as heavy.

3) Internal workmanship, the OE Toyota EVSE looks like it was made by a robot, the soldering in the Toyota EVSE is perfect. The soldering in the China built unit that I examined did not look like a robot built it, it looked like it was hand soldered. The lack of consistency of this soldering was not good, there were several "cold joints", not a good thing.


Rob43

 

Have you stayed in a Holiday Inn Express recently? If so, that is close enough...

 

You cracked me up,....I started laughing out loud !


Rob43

 

My father was a mill Electrician for Weyerhaeuser from 1957 to 1983, summers.
I was a low voltage Electrician from 1973 to 1980 off and on during school. (Smoke detectors)
I was a network administrator from 1992 to 2016, as needed.
I am retired and have not spent a Night in a Holiday Inn Express since 2009. (Ontario, OR - home of the tater tot)

So while I have spent quite some time near 120/240, it is not my field. Get a local electrician, he knows the Code where you live.