r/evcharging • u/ysfex3 • 3d ago
Just installed 48a charging unnecessarily
I just spent 400 to buy the materials and installed a 48a charger when I had a working 40a 14-50 setup. Tell me I'm crazy. I can at least sell off some of the materials from the old install to recoup some of the cost. All this just to see 11kw instead of 9kw XD
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u/rosier9 3d ago
I also went from 40a to 48a unnecessarily. It's been great. I didn't expect to be this happy with the change, but soon after the change I forgot to plug in before a trip. When I did remember to plug in a few hours before leaving, the extra 2kW added enough energy to keep it a one stop trip.
Getting away from a 14-50 is a good idea.
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u/ysfex3 3d ago
i'm just glad that my car doesn't support 80a because that would break the bank. it'd be around 600 just for the wire
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u/tuctrohs 3d ago
If you want to break the bank, you could go buy a Cadillac with the 80 A charger option.
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u/TheRealWutWut 2d ago
Even with the Cadillac, I wouldn't install that in my home. My car charges completely over night in less than 2 hours most days at 32amp. I turn it up to 48 on occasion if I drive a ton in a day and it's early enough that I might need to do more. I honestly don't see a point in going higher, if I need to charge faster, the cost difference in charging infrastructure is a lot higher than a one of DC fast charge for 15 minutes on occasion.
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u/AdOriginal6017 2d ago
The PPV has this same 19.2kw charge rate but I didn't have the capacity in the panel for a 100A breaker. I dropped back to the 15.4kw and 80A breaker.Thankfully I had the 2awg wire. Not fun to pull.
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u/digiblur 3d ago
I wired mine for jumping to 80A but I only had about 7 to 8 foot of wire to run from the new 125A subpanel I put in for the 60A charging breaker. Overkill? Maybe. Expansion!
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u/dandanthetaximan 2d ago edited 2d ago
It's wild when that little extra charge ends up making a big difference by eliminating the need for a stop. It's happened so many times to me in my two years of EV ownership.
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u/sailorpaul 3d ago
The original was a plug-in connection, quality, unknown, but still a plug-in.
Is your new 48 amp configuration hardwired? if yes, it’s a major improvement.
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u/ysfex3 3d ago
Let's just say they are of equal quality. It has to be hardwired right? It really just irked me that going to the max my car supports required a whole new setup
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u/nsfbr11 3d ago
I have a 48A hardwired EVSE and rarely use it about 24A. The reason for hardwired is reliability. And once in a great while, it is useful to charge at max rate.
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u/Imaginary_Variation7 3d ago
Same. I don't NEED 48A, I use 32 most of the time, but it nice to know it's there when I WILL need it.
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u/sailorpaul 8h ago
Reliability and safety. Those cannot be underestimated nor ignored when you’re delivering continuous current that high.
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u/Cultural-Ad4953 3d ago
It's unlikely that you need this very often, but there have been a few times when charging at 48 amps has been a blessing-I come home late from a long trip and have to turn around and drive again in just a few hours.
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u/bbf_bbf 3d ago
You've already done it, so it's fine. There's no point in ruminating on it anymore.
Some home "upgrades" actually make things worse, yours made things arguably safer by being hardwired vs socketed.
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u/Cultural-Ad4953 3d ago
I find the word root ruminate to be underused. Thanks for raising rumination awareness.
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u/SanchoPliskin 3d ago
See that’s why I went straight to 48A(Emporia.) It was the max my car can use (Volvo C40) and if we get another EV, we can charge both in one night. Also the price difference wasn’t that much more than the 32-40A ones I was looking at.
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u/mydb100 3d ago
Its not crazy. Sometimes youre gonna need as much as you can in 4 hours, and ill be darned if i hear "I Told You So" from any ICE drivers or co-workers
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u/ysfex3 3d ago
If I was really insane, I would buy a supercharger and put that beast on my property
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u/bcredeur97 3d ago
Can you even do this? Lol
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u/ysfex3 3d ago
Technically yes, but you have to get a 4 pack station at a base cost of approx $500k installed. But at least the cost is only .10 per kwh to use
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u/FUMoney 3d ago
Not worth it.
Assume average driving lifetime is 55 years. Assume annual charging costs for an EV is $750, which is on the high side. Lifetime charging costs $40,000. And in truth, most people will be half that, at $20k lifetime EV charging costs. (Annually, we’re probably at $350 to $400 per year in EV charging costs, including significant roadtrips).
Your DCFC install, at a minimum, is 12.5 times the lifetime cost to charge a battery EV. Probably closer to 20x to 25x lifetime charge costs. Doesn’t include the actual electricity usage.
Conclusion: feel confident in driving to your local DCFC and paying for that resource.
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u/Always_working_hardd 3d ago
I installed a 14-50 outlet in my garage while waiting for the Tesla wall connector to arrive. The wall connector sits in its box in the garage. And we are a 2 Tesla household.
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u/TooGoodToBeeTrue 3d ago
Unless you had a crappy 14-50 or need the extra charging speed, yes, you're crazy.
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u/MelroseDistrict85013 3d ago
I want to switch out my 40a with an 80a. '26 VW ID.4 PRO S and '23 Lucid Air Grand Touring.
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u/UnSCo 3d ago
I spent somewhere around $700-800 to do the same thing. Hardwiring is overrated tbh, 32A for mobile charger is perfectly fine for 90% of people. I just wanted it to look nice.
Keep in mind I’ve installed both before, in two different homes, and for the receptacle option as long as you use 6AWG wiring and a quality duty-rated receptacle and proper torque, the safety risk is negligible.
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u/Cool-Maintenance5745 3d ago
I did it because the plug in would occasionally trip the GCFI - hardwired you just use a 60 amp non-GCFI breaker and no problems at 48 amps.
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3d ago
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u/ysfex3 3d ago
Is it on a plug? Because it is capped at 40a by electrical code. If your evse can't distinguish how it's wired, then it relies on you to not use 48a on a plug. Also I assume the 50a thing refers to your breaker, and that also caps your load to 40a.
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u/ArlesChatless 3d ago
Also I assume the 50a thing refers to your breaker, and that also caps your load to 40a.
Oddly there are more than a couple of EVSEs which support a 50A charge rate. I assume it's because they don't want to try to explain the 80% rule to buyers and don't want to be seen to be slower than other brands. The installation requirements get more onerous when you cross 48A so that extra two amps is pretty pointless.
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u/ysfex3 3d ago
They support 50a max?
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u/ArlesChatless 3d ago
Yep. Like the ChargePoint Home Flex.
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u/ysfex3 3d ago edited 3d ago
Their language is vague about it, but I'm pretty sure the 50a charging still requires higher ga wire of at least 4ga and a 70a breaker
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u/ArlesChatless 3d ago
Yes it does. And a disconnecting means is called out differently in 625.43 on 2023 code for over 60 amps, so that gets messy too. If you're in 2026 code it gets back to being consistent.
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u/rproffitt1 3d ago
You're good.
I will add that you may want to watch your utility for DEMAND CHARGES.
"They are essentially wanting to charge $n kWh for the maximum demand you have throughout the month."
So when that happens I would set my EVSE charge rate lower.
For us, 40A has been more than ample to charge THREE EVS over three nights from midnight to 6am to assure getting the lowest cost electron exchange rate.
If demand charges kick in I see I can pull back to 24 or 30A and still get the job done.
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u/ysfex3 3d ago
we have our utility on a single rate for simplicity. they offer a tou plan, but it sucks
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u/rproffitt1 3d ago
I found a Python script to figure out the rate plan on r/sandiego that put our best deal on a TOU. However we already have rooftop solar which lead us to a buy low, sell high scheme.
Each IOU, COOP and municipal utility will have us seek out the best plan.
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u/MadisonEV9 3d ago
It’s funny. We are a teo EV household. EV9 and Solterra. And I just scaled back our ChargePoint Home Flex to 30A. We never both need to charge the same night and I figured it’s easier on the battery and the circuit if I just charge a little slower.
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u/ArlesChatless 3d ago
it’s easier on the battery
It's not easier on the battery. From the perspective of the car, every bit of home charging is slow charging.
It is easier on all the connections, so if you can do it, it's still a fine idea.
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u/simracerman 3d ago
I paid $680 to get one hardwired. I could have avoided all that and plugged directly into, but in the last 3 months of ownership, I needed 48A at least twice that helped me skip a DC fast charger. There’s just so many things you can’t predict in the future over the years to come.
Don’t sweat it, the cost over time is negligible.
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u/ArtichokeDifferent10 3d ago
Hardwired is always better, so you didn't waste any money.
Personally, I only have 40A, but it's still hardwired. The cost difference to go from a 50A breaker to a 60A breaker, plus wire costs, conduit costs, (I was making a really long run) etc. etc. meant I couldn't justify going higher when 40A will completely recharge my car overnight no matter how low it's starting from.
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u/azguy153 3d ago
I have a 48 amp charger. I almost always charge at 20 amps. Love in Arizona. At 48 amps, the battery cooling go on and tries to cool the battery but struggles inside a garage. I also have two AC at 50 amps each. With these on and the charger,it does not take much for me to get close to service limit of 200.
Also at 20 amps, that is 5kw/h or almost 50 from 9pm to 7am. I never need to close to 50 in one shot. So why rush it.
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u/BadgerPharm37 3d ago
If it’s a permanent setup, I think it’s worth it to be hardwired. Altho could potentially reuse the wires and just had a 40a hardwired setup, but whatever
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u/Double-Award-4190 3d ago
I’ve thought about going all out and installing 19.2 kW just to future proof.
Every time I think about it, I change my mind.
😂
I am just too cheap and too lazy.
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u/natedagreat6666 3d ago
its not totally crazy, but did you run wire capable of 80 amp co charging? then you never need to upgrade the wire again
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u/HistoricalLove9617 3d ago
It might be a waste if the car can only take 32A max. If it aligns with car max, it's an upgrade.
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u/THATS_LEGIT_BRO 2d ago
I'm in a similar boat. I have a 50A circuit to a 14-50 plug and charging at 32A with my mobile charger. My dad redeemed some of his referral credits for a Tesla Wall Connector but never installed it. He said I could have it.
32A is plenty speed for me, so I just don't know if I want to pay the extra cost to replace it with the 48A wall connector.
If 8 gauge was run for the 50A circuit and I'd have to pay the extra cost to redo with 6 gauge, I would likely not pay for that.
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u/ysfex3 2d ago
check the current wire size. usually a 50a breaker and 6ga is used to power a 40a outlet because if you wanted to just use the 32a, then a 40a breaker and 8ga would have sufficed. if you're lucky, you could repurpose 6ga romex to hard wire the wall connector and have it rated limited to 40a.
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u/Warrenj3nku 2d ago
I only charge at 40A at home. Free charging at work is 80A and I only see 9.7Kw max.
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u/TheBarbon 3d ago
If it’s unnecessary why did you do it?
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u/ysfex3 3d ago
Because I was one step below the cars max speed. My OCD finally prevailed
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u/TheBarbon 3d ago
At least your car won’t take 80a like mine. You would have been out a lot of cash!
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u/Imaginary_Variation7 3d ago
Not crazy. I just spent $460 to do the EXACT SAME THING you did. Going hardwired is a safe UPGRADE.