Level 2 EV Home Charger: Electrical Wiring
(North America)

Canada/USA residential voltage is 120-240 volts
Condominium/Commercial/industrial buildings voltage is 120-208 volts
Consult local electrical codes for local requirements
For Condos - it is more cost effective in the long term to deploy EV CMS
(EV Charging Management Software)

Table 1: Level 2 EV-Chargers (EVSE = Electrical Vehicle Service Equipment)

Circuit Breaker Size


Copper wire size 

Charging Current  

@208 volts 

@240 volts

100 amp


#2 (75°C rating)

80 amp

16.6 kW

19.2 kW

60 amp

Tesla 3/Y LR, ID4

#4

48 amp

10 kW

11.5 kW

50 amp

Campground 50A

#6

40 amp

8.3 kW

9.6 kW

40 amp **

Std. Electric Range  

#8

32 amp

6.6 kW

7.7 kW

30 amp

Cloth Dryer

#10

24 amp

5 kW

5.7 kW

20 amp


#12

16 amp

3.3 kW

3.8 kW


Continuous load such as EV charging should/must only draw up to 80% of the circuit breaker's rating (to avoid overheating and circuit breaker tripping).

** Most public chargers today are ≈ 6.6 kW.

Sun Country SCH100 (Enphase.com) can deliver 80A (19 kW @ 240 volts) and they are typically found at rest areas along highways.

Power ≈ Current x Voltage. For example, 32 A x 208 V ≈ 6656 W, or 6.6 kW

DC chargers have much higher power ratings than Level 2 AC chargers.
DC charger power can be 25 kW, 50 kW, 75 kW, 100 kW, 150 kW, 250 kW, 350 kW or higher.
Newer EV equipped with 800V battery pack can take full advantage of the high-power DC chargers (>250kW).
Legacy EV battery packs are 400V.

Guestimate rule of thumb: Current generation of DC chargers can deliver 400 A or 500 A at up to 900 volts.

EVSV manufacturers and modern campgrounds are converging on the NEMA type 14-50 plug and receptacle.

Special case: Enphase LCS20P comes with NEMA 14-30 plug, which is used by electric cloth dryers.

Hardwired EVSE installations. They eliminated the need for plug and receptacle.

For EV owners doing road trips:

(1) PlugShare: Find the locations of charging stations, what type (DC or level 2) of chargers, plug type, power level, and how many chargers at each location. Sometimes PlugShare can indicate how many of the charging stations are still alive or available for use.

https://plugshare.com

(2) ABRP: For pre-trip and incident planning.

https://abetterrouteplanner.com/

ABRP is especially useful when the highway you plan to use is closed (due to incidents/natural disasters) and you must use a different highway.