Installing New Outlet for Any EV

There is no 'any' outlet.

They do not make outlets over 60 Amps and most BEVs need to be hardwired.
www.amazon.com/Leviton-9460-Receptacle-Industrial-Grounding/dp/B00271GXA6

A 50 Amp outlet called a NEMA 14-50R is very widely used in RV parks and offers you the chance to recharge there on road trips.
www.amazon.com/Leviton-279-S00-Receptacle-Industrial-Grounding/dp/B01M9FC5AR

There is a rule that for sustained use, it is only safe to use 80% of the maximum rating, so a 40 Amp EVSE would run on a 14-50R.
www.amazon.com/MUSTART-Portable-Charger-Electric-Charging/dp/B07THBGGMG

If it was me, I would use a 14-50R and 6 gauge wire, but use a 20 Amp Breaker to protect your Prime and plan to use a larger breaker when you get a newer car. The Prius Prime can charge at 16 Amps, 80% of a 20 Amp breaker.

Here is a Ford Mach E spec sheet with charging times
https://www.ford.com/ntzlibs/content/dam/bev/us/september-2020-updates/install-specs-sheet/Home_Install_Spec_Sheet_0831_FINAL.pdf

 

I had the local electrician install a ChargePoint Flex which is capable of up to 50 amps. The wiring and circuit breaker to the ChargePoint Flex was capable of supporting 60 amps. They installed a NEMA 14-50 outlet which is commonly used with electric ovens or recreational vehicles. So I could lift my ChargePoint Flex off the wall of my house and bring it to an RV (recreational vehicle) park to use it away from home for high speed charging if I wanted. There are two ChargePoint Flex models, one of which comes with a matching plug for the NEMA 14-50 outlet. Note that the Prius Prime will only draw what amperage it wants, which is much less than 50 amps.

 

A competent electrician already knows exactly what to install, which is the 14-50R outlet. The bigger question will be whether their electric service is already rated high enough for the added capacity. Again, electrician should check all that out for them.

 

Excellent point!
Keyword..... "should."
AND for what it's worth......he or she (or them or they or whatever) is VERY VERY likely to check this block if only to perhaps find something else to charge you for....


Do us (and you) a favor and let your fellow enthusiasts know what was installed and maybe snap a picture of the main breaker panel and outlet when you're done.

Me?
I KNOW I have the overhead for a 50 ampere circuit, along with the ability to wire it, and since I live where I have the right to actually do my own electrical work, I can do so a little less expensively than hiring it done......HOWEVER (comma!!!!) I also bear the responsibility to do it safely.
Competency and "qualified" are not necessarily the SAME THING, this presuming you hire a licensed and bonded electrician.

Anyway....the more people that look this over the safer you will be.

Enjoy the Prime!

 

I put in a level 2 J1772 240 volt charger. I think the charger tops out at 20 amps, however I had the electrician run a dedicated line from the breaker box that is good for 40 amps. I can easily replace my existing charger with a bigger one someday if I need to, and the line is already in place.

 

It’s true that the ANSI/NEMA WD 6 standard doesn’t define any configurations over 60 A, but there are pin-and-sleeve devices available with higher ratings, made to IEC standards but also UL and CSA listed for use in North America. These aren’t needed for EV charging, of course, unless you have a really big BEV. (Speaking of which, it’s routine to provide 400-ampere outlets for trains in shops and yards.)

 

Don't forget to check if there is enough amps left to use for EV charging. how common are 220/240v ac/applicance usage for your family's home? If theres already an AC, Dryer, Stove, Water heater, etc in use, then you might need to have the utilities upgrade the electical to pull in another 220v. That could cost a pretty penny. My bro in law has a bunch of 220 appliances so he didnt upgrade his electrical. He just set his charger to pull less amps.

 

Good advice for someone who doesn't want to future proof, but OP wants it to support higher Amperage down the road. OP would have to purchase a 16A EVSE and 20A breaker now and a higher Amp EVSE and 50A breaker later. If I was the OP, I would buy the higher Amp EVSE now and have the breaker that supports that.

 

Here is my problem: When life is good, your Prime is never gets to 20 Amps, so a 20 Amp breaker will protect you from everything abnormal. If you start with a 50 Amp Breaker, disasters that let 3 times the normal current flow, will still not trip the breaker. That makes me nervous.

By using a 50 Amp Receptacle and using 50 Amp capable wiring, you never need to go back and re-wire, you just replace the 20 Amp breaker in the Service Panel, and you are still protected from the new abnormalities at 50 Amp.

If I believed electricity was always well behaved and that every electrician was competent, I would buy into your plan. My plan is a trade off between safety and 'future proofing'.

 

Yes, but that would require him to purchase 2 EVSEs. Just purchased a well known brand that's UL listed and he shouldn't have any problems.

Plus, he is getting it professionally installed. They're going to install the breaker according to the outlet, not the device since the device is not hardwired.

 

My issue here is that I have no idea was EVSE plug he might need: CHAdeMO, CCS, Tesla, Level 2 J-1772, etc. Buying a 'Future' EVSE may in fact lock him out of his future. And, as per my example above, the Ford Mach E will come with the correct EVSE so your current one is redundant.

The reason I like the NEMA 14-50R outlet at RV Parks is that you can plan where to find those. Look at this map, see all the plugs you may search for, but 14-50 is the most searchable home outlet: PlugShare - Find Electric Vehicle Charging Locations Near You

 

Nope. The car will communicate with the EVSE to limit its output. The charger is inside the car. The EVSE is a smart power supply that communicates with the car's charger. I like the idea of 50 amp branch line limited with the 20 amp breaker. Keep things safe. Everything is subject to failure.

North America has 240 volt power to homes, not 220 or 230. I know, moot point, you'll get what is installed.

Very important point about load analysis. If the house has 200 amp service (very common in modern houses) and electric everything then there might not be enough power for the car charging and everything else that might be switched on at the same time. An electrician can install a transfer switch or an interlock so either the car charger or, say, the laundry dryer can run, but not both at the same time. You do not want any circuit breaker, especially the main panel breaker, tripping off frequently. One day it'll stay off, and you'll stay dark.

Why an outlet? Why not run the new wire to a box where the EVSE will be hard-wired. Jimbo notes that one can carry a portable EVSE with them and recharge at an RV park. Possible, and a reason for the receptacle plus plug on the EVSE power line.

 

Because you can just buy a different SVSE and plug it in yourself rather get get an electrician to hard wire it in.
But even this is over kill. Just buy a level 2 charger (EVSE) that handles up to 40 amps and every BEV is going to accept that now and for many years to come. You can get a hard wired unit or one that plugs into a 240v outlet

Mike

 

My understanding is that your power company provides 240, but your appliances can accept 220, allowing for losses in your infrastructure.

 

I hope our discussions give you (and him) pros and cons of many ideas. We all want what is best.

 

That's shocking!

Mike

 

I don't recall the tolerances we were testing to back in the first part of my career, but the first item I found online was this handy table from PG&E:



"ANSI C84 does not explain that typically, the nameplate nominal voltage is not the same as the utility nominal voltage. Refer to table 1. ANSI C84 also does not explain that in general, NEMA, National Electrical Manufacturers Association recommends that all electrical appliances and motors should operate at nameplate plus or minus 10% satisfactorily, however not necessarily at an optimum condition. The reason that the nameplate nominal is lower than the service entrance voltage is the acknowledgment that there will be a voltage drop within the electrical distribution system of the end users premise. The National Electrical Code allows up to a 5% drop. There can be a <3% drop in a feeder and an additional <3% drop in individual branch circuits."

 

What happens when his family or friends comes over and wants to charge their EV (max charging rate 6.6 kW+) or plug in an RV?