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The "standard" car charger is usually overkill—but your electrician might not know that [32:26] (www.youtube.com)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 3 points 1 year ago (4 children)

The way I explained it to my brother:

  • technically just plug in to an existing outlet will work. Even if you didn’t keep up every day, you would get tot the weekend and make it up then
  • but your garage already has a dryer outlet. Adapters are cheap and it will charge 4-5 times as fast
  • but 50a level 2 charger is the same size as a stove outlet. Maybe a little longer wire run, and the “outlet” is more expensive, but it’s well worth the cost for the freedom, the flexibility, the convenience … and may even add to your house value
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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    As explained in the video you can't run 50 amps ona dryer outlet. It's 42 amps max.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    Can you cite a time stamp? I don't want to watch a 30 minute video.

    I'm very curious where "42 amps max" comes from, as NEMA outlets are rated for 15A, 20A, 30A, 50A, or 60A. 42A is a rather oddball number; I'd like some context for it.

    Most dryer outlets are rated for 30A, NEMA 10-30, or 14-30.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago

    Not the same person and cba to get a timestamp right now, but it's the 80% rule - the electrical stuff isn't designed to deliver the rated amperage continuously for hours on end, so for car charging, you're apparently supposed to limit it to 80%. Now, 80% of 50 isn't 42 but 40, so not sure if it's a case of 80% not being a precise number or a mistake here, but it roughly checks out.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago*

    I believe dryer outlets are typically 30a@240v. That’s a nice step up than a standard outlet and simple math shows 4x the power of 15a@120v

    If you have one in your garage, then you already have an outlet that can do faster charging than a standard outlet.

    Just like you technically don’t need a 50a level 2 charger, you may not have to settle for a standard outlet. I bought a heavy duty extension cable with adapters for several different outlet types.

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