Great comments and feedback from all! Staying tuned.

 

Tom, I would like to ask about your charging circuit in your garage.What amp is it? What voltage is it?
To charge your car from say 30% to 80% how long does it take on above circuit?
Thanks

 

I have a 50-amp circuit that powers a charger that I de-rated to 40A so I didn't exceed 80% of rated capacity. It takes about 4 hours to go from 30-80% in my current car. It would take about 6 hours and 45 minutes to do the same to an Extended-Range Lightning.

 

Thank you Tom.

 

I had a bit of a sidebar discussion with Tom regarding the derating of his 50A circuit. I was confused about how he accomplished this, but this was purely due to my ignorance on the subject and equipment involved. I have wired my garage with a 150A sub-panel as I also ran a 30A circuit out to where our 5th wheel is parked. I am grateful I installed a sub-panel capable of handling the amperage as a 40A or more circuit may be in need one day.

I asked Tom how he went about derating the 50A circuit to 40A and the explanation was simple. The EV simply does not plug into the wall or a 50A outlet like a generator (provide power) or welder would. The 50A circuit has a charge controller or charging brain associated with the circuit and it's ability to charge the EV. Tom simply dialed down the charge controller output to 40A based on what he read online and from the literature published with his EV.

Makes perfect sense and this "tuning" of the amperage is a great feature available to the EV owner as long as the circuit supplying power to the EV is capable of supporting the equipment and EV draw.

EDIT: In addition... This is a great example me attempting to learn my lessons through the experiences and trials of others instead of scratching my head and figuring them out for myself. I am very grateful for this resource and hope to learn many other valuable, time and effort saving nuggets along the way.

 

If only it were that simple! Most EVs come with charging cables, which are known by the acronym EVSE in the biz. My Model 3 came with one, and they sell various adapters for different kinds of outlets. Most charging cables don’t have that kind of flexibility and are either hardwired or come with different plugs for different outlet types. The fine marketing folks at Kia didn’t think they needed to include one with my EV6, but Ford fortunately includes a 30A cable with every new Lightning. Both my Tesla and EV6 give me the option to adjust the charge current from the vehicle’s touchscreen. I can’t find anything like that in the Lightning owner’s guide, but I’d guess that is something that could be added with software updates.