Yeah, I feel like EVs reveal more about our home electrical systems than the grid, sometimes! We spent in the $10,000 range to do a massive overhaul of our outdated electrics. We had an old panel and wanted to get a heat pump. So we had to get the city utility to agree to move a power feed from the back of our house (low amperage) to front (much more amperage!) and allow the electrical contractor to run a conduit from the feed about 30 feet to the panel. The utility agreed! That cascading set of effects let us get the heat pump and have capacity for a future EV. But we foolishly didn’t have the EV plug installed when the electricians were here for cost reasons. Now it costs more!
Your garage has 50 amp service? What for? If it includes an electric clothes dryer, there are inexpensive (under $200?) plug-and-play devices that will let you share a single 50- or 30-amp dryer receptacle between your dryer and your EV. Basically, it’s just a relay that disconnects power to the EV whenever the dryer is running. You’d have to dry a lot of clothes to noticeably affect your EV charging performance. You can do the same thing with an electric hot water heater circuit, though that usually involves doing some actual wiring.
A search for “EV dryer circuit splitter” should show you some options.
I read Adam’s post as the main panel is in the garage and it only has 50 amps coming in…but maybe that’s an incorrect assumption.
That would make it a very old home, and, IMO, something that should’ve been upgraded a long long time ago. My previous home, built in the 1960’s, had 200A service. (My current home is twice the size, has two HVAC systems and has two panels of 200A each.) I’d personally consider 150A the absolute minimum for a small house, and at least 200A for a larger house.
I assumed that Adam has a branch circuit delivering power to a secondary panel in his garage, which is 50A. But if that’s the case, it should have no problem adding a 30A circuit to the panel for EV charging, unless he’s using that power for something else (a workshop with large power tools, perhaps?)
Maybe we can wait for @ace to weigh in?
Adam,
Wrong direction 
. We’re north of Harrisburg; halfway between there and Williamsport, where the Little League World Series is played. Middle of nowhere, thus the dearth of charging opportunities.
Knew it was Mission. First time? Hope you liked it. As a veteran and a 911 dispatcher, I appreciate their devotion to service.
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I’m far from an electrical expert, so I hope this makes sense. Our garage has its own electrical panel and 50A service from the house because there’s a studio apartment with a small electric range, apartment fridge, and microwave on the second floor, plus the outlets in the garage itself, which run a 20 cubic foot chest freezer and charging for the Leaf, plus whatever random power tools I need to plug in.
It has never been an issue before, but when I had both cars plugged in, the IONIQ 5 set to 12A charging, and something else happened (the freezer came on?), the circuit breaker in the house to the entire garage panel flipped. Dropping the IONIQ 5 down to 8A prevents that.
My long-term desire, and part of why I don’t want to spend a lot of money on wiring right now, is to have bidirectional charging so that the massive battery an electric car can power the house in the event of a power outage. It isn’t usually a problem, but two summers ago, we lost power four times in two weeks, once for a day and a half, which got old fast. Our solar panels were generating power, so I could use them (outlets on the inverters) to run the freezer during the day and charge stuff.
Wallbox was advertising their Quasar 2 system with the Kia EV9, but it’s too large of a car for us to consider. I think this information may be dated now.
Yes, first time, and I had no idea before Chuck mentioned it. It was an impressive commitment to the theme, and the food was very good.
Ah. That makes sense. An electric range/oven can draw a lot of power when it is on. The other appliances won’t draw as much, but the current inrush when motors cycle on (e.g., in the refrigerator or freezer) can be significant.
It would be necessary to take measurements, but if you’ve got two cars charging at 8A each (16A total), that leaves 34A for the rest of your appliances. If the range was in use at the time, then you may have been running close enough that an additional 4A from the car, combined with the startup surge from the freezer was enough to briefly exceed 50A.
It sounds like your electrician is asking all the right questions. Hopefully, your existing branch circuit has wiring with sufficient capacity for a simple upgrade. Best of luck.
The main purpose of breakers is to cut the power if a spike in current occurs, such as a short-circuit or (with modern breakers) there is earth-leakage.
An issue with EV charging is that it usually goes on for several hours. if the wiring and connections are marginal (eg old) for the current draw then they could overheat, even at currents somewhat below the breaker amperage. So it is good practice to ensure that the total load on a circuit is below the breaker amperage. In Australia the usual practice is to install a separate circuit for level 2 EV chargers.
Welcome to the wonderful world of EV’s. I bought my first Nissan Leaf in 2013 - with a rated range of 80 miles. It was our only car, but we made it work. Heat was non-existent (an issue living in Michigan) but we loved never having to stop for gas. They take more planning for these kinds of trips, but so worth it.
People will ask what we do if we want to go on these long trips, and if we don’t have the time, I rent a IC - Pay for it with the money I have saved not buying gas AND oil changes, mufflers, coolant… no maintenance at all. If fact, the only money I have spent on my cars ( I am on my 4th EV - 3 Leafs and an Ioniq 5) other than payments and insurance is Tires. Generally keep our cars for 3-4 years.
Biggest issue with these kinds of trips is the chargers not being in service, even though the app may not be updated. I have pulled up to a couple of them to find them out of service. This is hardly ever an issue with the Tesla’s - and now that new EVs are using the NACS plug, we can finally tap into that network.
As stated above - Teslas are the best for software and charging - only thing I am jealous of my Tesla friends is the navigation and charger dependability.
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I will also add that our local power company helped pay for the purchase and install of our charger. I think there was up to $2500 in cash back (not account credit) for the purchase and install. We spent $2300 back in 2013 if I remember correctly. Worth checking with your electric provider if they have a program.
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Could be…but that’s the way I interpreted it. I’ve no idea when his house was built but an attached garage seems unlikely to have 59 amp service to it and he said that the option was running new cable from the main line if it could even support the additional load. When I was growing up in AL in the 60s we had a detached garage and it had a single 20 or maybe 15 amp fused line from the house panel to the garage…house was built in the early 50s IIRC. Ithaca is not what one would call a modern metropolis so maybe 50 amp service is what they have…especially if it is put in the boonies a little.
We won’t know unless he weighs in with more info. I
He did, in fact, weigh in with more info. 
Im on my second Tesla Model S (2012 and now 2017). Both were nominally 300 mile cars. The Ioniq might be different, but the key factor with Teslas is that they charge much faster when they are empty. The initial charge rate at 0 miles is about 500mph, but at 100 miles it is 200mph, and at 200 miles it is 100mph. I think this type of curve is characteristic of all EVs.
If you are just having a relaxing trip, sure, charge to 100% at each stop. But if you want to have the highest average speed, you should charge much less and much more often. With my car the optimal is charging to just 122 miles before heading to the next stop, assuming a 10 minute overhead for each stop. That means I charge for 18 minutes - total stop time 28 minutes - and if I drive 80 mph it gives me an overall average of 62 mph.
Of course, this strategy requires a lot of chargers - Tesla has a lot of them, and I think Ioniqs can use them now? - and it requires stopping every hour and a half, which is maybe not as relaxing as longer drives with longer charge stops. But it is the most efficient.
Cheers and see you on the road 
You need to look into load management. It allows the EVSE to pay attention to what the panel is using and drop down or off if the house is pulling too much. But on a 50 amp panel you should be able to do 40 amps, maybe 50 with load management.
I have my EVSE set to 20(16) amps at 240 volts. I looked into load management but my panel is way too old, and has no physical space inside of it for the LM clamps. So swapping out my panel just to get faster charging on a house that will likely be torn down in 5 to 10 years just doesn’t make sense. $5K to $10K. Even with the 2 hour window of $0.05/kwh or so each night. But on a new build or just house that should be standing for years it can make sense. I still get 120 miles or so back in 8 hours in the summer.
Welcome aboard. I got my 2025 KONA EV last June when that GMC truck decided I didn’t want to keep driving my perfect condition 2016 Civic Touring with a 1.5L turbo.
To some of your points. I drove from Central NC to State College PA each of the last 3 summers. First in a rented Tesla, second in a rented KIA, with the trip last summer in my new KONA.
Tesla has the best built in navigation and charger planning. Bar non. But I didn’t like it as a car. Dash layout in particular. And no Carplay.
ABRP paid is fantastic. Especially pair with an OBD-2 bluetooth reader. I liked while driving 75 in a rainstorm how it told me to slow to 70 to make the next planned stop. Then 65. Then 60, 55, 50. We kept going 75 and just stopped early when out of the rain to charge up.
To some of your main points in the article.
My electrons at home cost about $0.15. And after 9 years with the Civic I had good data on mileage I was getting locally and longer trips. Gas would have to be about $0.90 / gal to match my home electrons. On the road was about even based on public charging.
Setting up regen to the best setting you are comfortable with makes a huge difference in range. We decided on full auto level 3. (Hyunday/Kia very inside the park here). This gives this means that most of the braking is done by the car by me lifting off the accelerator and the car putting the energy back into the battery. Plus it uses the radar and such to brake faster if needed. Cruise control gives even better “mileage”. I tend to get 3.5 to 4.5 miles / kwh in the summer. About 20% less in our not too cold winters. But below two if stop signing through the burbs and 6 when driving around 50 on the highway with little traffic.
State College to Lititz I charged to 100% (and also when I left home) at the hotel as Litiz seems to be a near charger desert. But Lancaster less than 10 miles away I didn’t worry about it for the 2 days there visiting some relatives and buying chocolate. Even after I gave up on the crazy drive me nuts charger at the hotel with way too much hassle to get the app installed.
I did not have ANY issues on my Tesla or KONA trip finding chargers. But with the KIA I didn’t have ABRP and the built in here’s chargers around you, well I did have some anxiety. ABRP cures that. And gives you all kinds of trip planning options. From how long you are willing to charge to minimum percentages for arriving at a stop to how long it will take you to charge to a certain percentage. I got a Tesla charger adapter to go with my CCS-2 car when I bought the KONA. And ABRP sent me mostly to Tesla on my trip.
I learned to set the max charging to 100% for most stops. Between my wife and I visiting the facility, maybe buying a snack, cleaning out any trash and empties, and just walking around for a few minutes that worked best. If below 80% we’d wait the few minutes to get there. If past 80% we’d just unplug and go.
I suspect your range differences had more to do with regen than anything else. What settings do you use?
Oh, yeah. With ABRP handling my driving / charging, my wife could switch to Google Maps on my phone (and thus the dash) to find maybe stops or alternate routes without stopping ABRP’s work. Then we’d flip back and continue with ABRP.
Anyway, likely too much typing in this comment now.
Not as much as many think. Yes there are some charging deserts. But then again, when visiting the Four Corners area a few years back, ABQ to PHX, gas stop planning was a must. Especially when the sun was going down.
I have been driving a Tesla since 2013, currently a Model Y Long Range. Am saddened to read how road trips are still so difficult in an IONIQ. How a multitude of apps doesn’t get the job done. In-car Tesla’s navigation selects charging sites and estimates time to charge before departure. Real time updates as to Supercharger availability, the number of charging bays, and whether any are out of order(rare), and cost per kWh. Perhaps try Tesla Superchargers and the Tesla app next time? There is a reason suddenly all North American EV vendors suddenly dropped CCS in favor of Tesla NACS, the size of the network and reliability.
Have driven many low stress 500 mile days on the Supercharger network.
Not mentioned is how an EV battery can not accept maximum charging power as the battery state if charge increase. It charges slower the fuller it gets. From 80% to 100% could take as long as 20% to 80%. And then for lithium-ion chemistry there is the issue of how battery wear is greater at battery state of charge extremes. More wear to run the battery down, more wear to charge to full. LiFePO4 cells do not wear faster at high state of charge, but still charges much slower as it fills.
I believe it is a mistake to drive an EV if one can not charge at home. Cost per kWh is usually about 1/3rd that of public charging. The ability to charge overnight takes about 30 seconds to plug in, 30 seconds to unplug in the morning. There is a Gas Station Fallacy purporting EVs must have gas stations because ICE vehicles have always have had gas stations. The proper use of public charging is to facilitate travel. As witnessed in Chicago several winters ago public charging for apartment dwellers falls flat.
I took my 9 years of experience with my 2016 Civic high end trim with a 1.5L turbo and did a lot of note pad calculations about 6 months in with my KONA EV. I mostly got 22 to 33 mpg in the city and 40 to 45 on the highways. (With that one conditions were perfect 5 hour drive that netted out to 50 mpg.) I pay $0.15/kwh for electrons at home. And on most drives get 3.5 to 4.5 miles per kwh.
After all of my calcuations I figure that gas would have to be $0.90 / gal for my Civic to price match my KONA in terms of cost per mile for fuel. No oil changes ($60 to $100 each at 7K miles) and the brakes should last way longer on the KONA. Aside from that I suspect costs will be about even aside from fuel.
In the US breakers are to be de-rated to 80% for continuous loads like EV. Which is why a EVSE on a 20 amp breaker should be hard set to tell the car only 16 amps. And the inspectors know to check.
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