Charging station - prepare for future?

[alexecar]

Hi,

I'm about to have a charging station installed in my garage for my new 2016 e-Golf SE. The hardware I have selected is a Siemens VC30GRYU.

I need new 240v wiring from the panel in the back of the house. I'd like to see that with a few extra $$$ spent I can use this investment for some more time beyond the current generation of EV cars. One idea I had was to do the wiring for a 50A breaker instead of a 40A which the Siemens hardware requires. Tesla and a few other apparently use 50A already. I figure that I can easily replace the charging station as new cars come and sell the old one used, but the cables&labor will be a full loss if need to change it.

Any other suggestions for future-proofing your charging infrastructure?
Has anybody else done a 50A setup? Are there technical concerns to hook up 30A rated hardware to a 50A circuit? Should I put in a 40A breaker but put in the bigger cables (6-3 Romex)? The charging station needs a NEMA 6-50 receptable, can I use this with a 50A circuit?

Regards,
Alex

 

[JoulesThief]

Hi,

I'm about to have a charging station installed in my garage for my new 2016 e-Golf SE. The hardware I have selected is a Siemens VC30GRYU.

I need new 240v wiring from the panel in the back of the house. I'd like to see that with a few extra $$$ spent I can use this investment for some more time beyond the current generation of EV cars. One idea I had was to do the wiring for a 50A breaker instead of a 40A which the Siemens hardware requires. Tesla and a few other apparently use 50A already. I figure that I can easily replace the charging station as new cars come and sell the old one used, but the cables&labor will be a full loss if need to change it.

Any other suggestions for future-proofing your charging infrastructure?
Has anybody else done a 50A setup? Are there technical concerns to hook up 30A rated hardware to a 50A circuit? Should I put in a 40A breaker but put in the bigger cables (6-3 Romex)? The charging station needs a NEMA 6-50 receptable, can I use this with a 50A circuit?

Regards,
Alex

Go 6 gauge wire, 3 wire red, black and neutral white and a green 8 gauge covered ground wire, but do NOT go with Romex, that's a heat trap waiting to happen with all those wires in that bundle. Pull individual wires through 1" conduit. That should be good for a 50 amp breaker that you can recharge at a 40 amp continuous charge rate, without too much wattage loss or voltage drop, if the electrical run is short. from main panel to outlet.

 

[kirby]

With a 50A circuit breaker, you can only run 40A continuous. Your EVSE is considered a continuous load, because it runs for more than 3hours, so you have to derate the circuit by 80%.

If I was future proofing, I would look at a 60A or 100A circuit, at least running the wiring for that load, even if you put a smaller breaker and socket in for now.

 

[JoulesThief]

With a 50A circuit breaker, you can only run 40A continuous. Your EVSE is considered a continuous load, because it runs for more than 3hours, so you have to derate the circuit by 80%.

If I was future proofing, I would look at a 60A or 100A circuit, at least running the wiring for that load, even if you put a smaller breaker and socket in for now.

Not too many homes are running 200 amp or more main panels, get an electrical contractor to see what you have for a main panel first, and go from there to see how much you have left available after load calculations are done.

 

[alexecar]

Not too many homes are running 200 amp or more main panels, get an electrical contractor to see what you have for a main panel first, and go from there to see how much you have left available after load calculations are done.

I have a 200A main panel, an electrician already came by, a 40A circuit wouldn't be a problem. Not sure about 60A or 100A though. If I go with #6 wire I'll be fine with 60A, but 100A requires #4 wire.

Has anybody here wired for 100A in anticipation of future charging?

 

[miimura]

If you're going to pull a 100A circuit, put in a sub-panel. That way you can have either something like a Tesla HPWC (80A continuous) or two cars charging at 40A continuous. That would also allow using aluminum between the main panel and sub-panel for the long(er) run. I think you're a little off on the 100A copper wire size. I think it requires #3. That is what everybody uses for Tesla HPWC installation for full power.

By the way, #6 copper romex is up to code for a 50A breaker. You can also use #8 copper THHN wire in conduit for a 50A breaker according to code.