So far, the charge stations available (EVSEs) are designed to be hardwired at the house end. I believe this this is to be consistent with electrical code. The voltage and current capability available at a "dryer outlet" (the 3 prong variety) should be adequate, but the charge stations do not currently come with a plug on a cord.

I have the Voltec Charge Station from SPX and it is hard wired.

 

Yes, if you put the right plug on the Voltec unit from SPX, OR buy an upgraded Nissan unit from evseupgrade.com. I have the upgraded Nissan unit and am using it for L2 charging at home, as well as using my Grandmother's Dryer Outlet when I visit.

More info on the Nissan unit here as well http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?6903-Leaf-240V-charging-via-the-portable-120V-EVSE

Also, SPX has a plug-in version "coming soon" - https://www.homecharging.spx.com/volt/Display.aspx?id=6&menu=2

 

The 240v EVSE from Voltec is designed to be hard wired, but there is no reason you could not hook up a pig tail with a plug that would work with the dryer outlet.

I have considered doing this to have a "portable" 240v solution when traveling.

 

We had an unused dryer circuit in the garage (gas dryer). We basically did away with the dryer receptacle and hard wired the SPX unit in its place. The circuit was plenty robust for the L2 charger. On my electrician's advice, and that of several posters here as well, we changed the 40 amp breaker in the panel to a 20 amp. Works fine.

BTW, there was another product I saw which claimed to plug into a dryer socket, but it had a 4 wire plug and our older dryer circuit was only 3 wire. So that's a potential issue. My electrician recommended adding a ground. Rather than pull another wire into the conduit or some such, we just drilled a hole in the garage floor and drove a ground rod. Not the prettiest thing, but better safe than sorry IMHO.

 

My electrician recommended adding a ground. Rather than pull another wire into the conduit or some such, we just drilled a hole in the garage floor and drove a ground rod. Not the prettiest thing, but better safe than sorry IMHO.

My understanding is that an isolated ground is not allowed and is a potential shock hazard. See NEC 250.54 which says "the earth shall not be used as an effective ground-fault current path".

Also check: http://ecmweb.com/grounding/avoiding_confusion_helps_customers_0109/

And see: http://www.psihq.com/iread/strpgrnd.htm

which contains the following:

"A common mistake in both the computer and telecommunications industries is to drive separate ground rods as an attachment point to earth for an "isolated ground" with no connection back to the building service entrance neutral to ground bond point. This lack of bonding is a clear violation of the NEC and actually significantly increases the risk of damage due to lightning."

 

The Voltec EVSE requires the protection of a 20A circuit breaker per the install instructions, so it would be unwise to simply wire a NEMA 10-30P or NEMA 14-30P to it. I would put a small enclosure with a 20A breaker between such a pigtail and the Voltec...

 

I also support the change to 20A breaker at the panel to protect the car and SPX, otherwise your warranty on the SPX may not be honored. I see no problem in putting a plug and appropriate receptacle on the panel and SPX since the SPX is an appliance.

Pat

 

Discussed previously in this thread, with a pointer to the NEC code:

http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?5587-Charging-with-220-240

The language used is "permanently connected" and not "hard-wired".

 

It effectively prohibits portable Level 2 chargers.

I have to disagree with this conclusion. The way I read it, and the commentary that appears in the NEC Handbook, is that non-portable equipment must be mounted and permanently wired.

That is very different from saying that Level 2 EVSEs (not chargers) are not allowed to be portable.

625.13 prohibits adding a plug to a Voltec L2 EVSE and carrying it around, but it does not prohibit purpose built portable L2 EVSEs.

625.13 states that in order for an EVSE to be portable (cord and plug connected), it has to either:

1. Be rated for 125 V, 15/20 A

OR

2. Be listed as suitable for the purpose, i.e. listed as portable.

 

Ah, interesting. I misread the "or" in 625.13 as "and".

Thanks!

 

portable 220v charger



Isn't there a new portable unit out there?

 

Isn't there a new portable unit out there?

No there's not because of NEC 625.13 (see above). You will find plenty of portable L1 EVSEs such as the Leviton unit. Your options right now for L2 are either the SPX Power Xpress or the Upgraded Panisonic Nissan Leaf EVSEs. The SPX unit is advertised as "transportable", not "portable" meaning it can be moved from one location to another but is not intended to be used as a portable EVSE the same way the L1 EVSEs that come with the Volt or Leaf are used. The upgraded Pansonic Nissan unit is portable but only because it was built new as a L1 EVSE and later modified by a 3rd party. Technically it's not NEC compliant because it's a cord-and-plug device used outdoors at 240V.

I don't expect this to disuade people from using L2 EVSEs outside with a plug, but they should at least understand it is not NEC compliant which is why I posted the reply above - to help create informed EV users.