• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Level 2 car charger - how to monitor kWh used.

N

NetWareHead

THAT guy
I have a VW TDI (affected by diesel scandal) and am likely going to turn the car in at some point in the future so that leaves me on the lookout for my next fuel efficient vehicle. I am considering an electric car. Nothing full blown like a tesla but perhaps a hybrid that can be plugged in so I still have gasoline backup if needed.

If I go this route, I would want to install a level 2 car charger at home but want to know how much power I am consuming for electric vehicle purposes. Id imagine Id have to wire a monitor in series between the charger and panel. Anybody recommend something that will measure kWh used on a 240 volt circuit? Or as an alternative, a lvl 2 charger that has this reporting functionality built in natively.

A bonus would be if I can tailor the reports (e.g. pull them based on a date range) so I can match the report data to the billing cycle on my electric bill. Any recommendations?
 
A volt. We have a gen 1 and love it.
The juice box chargers have this feature, also clipper creek makes a version that uses the same app and browser based pages as the juice box. I would use one of these, and install a nema 14-50 outlet.
 
herm0016 said:
A volt. We have a gen 1 and love it.
The juice box chargers have this feature, also clipper creek makes a version that uses the same app and browser based pages as the juice box. I would use one of these, and install a nema 14-50 outlet.
Click to expand...
Agreed, on both the Volt and charger. You could rig something up with an E-Mon or some other CT based metering solution, which would be more versatile. It would also require a lot more work, and not be as elegant as the charger with it built in.
 
Clipper Creek HCS-40 Juice Box edition. I've got the dumb version of this. Most plug in cars have some built in reporting as well but the extent depends on the manufacturer.

Honestly the cost for me to charge off peak is so absurdly cheap (2-2.5 cents per kWh) I don't even bother keeping an eye on it.
 
I have a Nissan Leaf and I installed a Juice Box Charger earlier this year with a Nema L14-50 outlet.

The Juice Box has great monitoring on it and great features.

  • You can monitor your Kwh usage and time
  • You can adjust the unit to set a Amperage or Kwh limit if you choose.
  • You can get alerts when the unit stops or starts charging
  • You can schedule TOU on it. So if you don't want charging to start until after 10pm for example. You can still plug your car in at 6pm but it will not start until 10pm
  • You can setup a alert if you forget to plug in your car. For example send me a alert if the car is not plugged in each night by say 8pm
  • The unit goes up to 10kw, most L2 chargers only go up to around 6.6kw. You are still limited by the onboard charger on the car but you are future proofing yourself if you get a different EV further down the road that has a more powerful onboard charger. For example a Tesla as standard includes a 10kw charger.
  • It uses a standard plug, so you can simply take the unit off the wall and bring it with you if you need a L2 charger on the road.
The negative off the box is that it is a little rough around the edges. It doesn't have the look of say some other chargers. It is basically a simple metal box with cords coming out of it.
 
I got to wondering what the power factor is of some of these onboard chargers and did some googling, but did not turn up a lot of info. Although did find a few good reads about active PFC available for this use. Not sure if any of the car makers have it in their onboard charger.

I am assuming all the units discussed in this thread are reporting apparent power, as it seems likely the power factor of EV chargers vary from car to car.

I guess that gives an advantage to Tesla and the other cars which allow DC charging, as you could upgrade as more efficient chargers are released. Or if you already have a solar array or some other source of DC generation, you don't have to take the double loss of DC-AC-DC conversion.
 
natto fire said:
That is, thank you! Those are some amazing power factor numbers for high current AC to DC conversion.
Click to expand...

Yes, the onboard chargers are very good at converting AC to DC power to charge the power. That is why it isn't worth the effort to use direct DC from Solar Powers to charge a EV.

As far as direct DC Charging. The reason for using direct DC charging is to bypass the onboard charger and directly charge the batteries using DC power, which allows much higher charge rates. The onboard charger for a Chevy Bolt is 7.2.kw. If the Bolt is equipped with the optional L3 DC charging option you can in theory charge at rates up to 50kw.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top