[surely]

Are there reputable EVSEs that I can plug into a NEMA 6-20 or a NEMA 10-30 outlet? L1 or L2 is fine with me.

6-20 would be my preference, since my house has a dedicated circuit just for this outlet, which is not in use (working properly per my multimeter, though). Sounds perfect, right? Meanwhile, the 10-30 is in a slightly less desirable location and has my dryer connected to it.

Lots of forum posts on this subject seem to just say "Your best bet is to replace your outlet with a XYZ outlet," but I'm a renter, so I can't make modifications to the property. My house has only 1 standard 3-prong outlet (NEMA 5-15) that can reach my car using the OEM EVSE, but it's unfortunately on a circuit shared with my basement lights, a deep freezer and, weirdly, the GFCI outlets in our only bathroom, which is on another floor entirely. Found this out the hard way when I ran a hair dryer while charging the car I was test driving. Declined to buy the car for other reasons, so I'm not quite stuck yet, but now I'm nervous because I'm having a tough time finding an EVSE that'll work with my preferred outlets...

There are pictures of the NEMA outlets on Wikipedia if you're interested. I can't post a link because my post count is too low to bypass the spam protection on this forum, haha.

Appreciate any help - I've been searching the forums fruitlessly. Renting stinks sometimes!

 

[edk-austin]

You could get the Clipper Creek LCS-20 model and just add a 6-20 plug.
https://store.clippercreek.com/level2/level2-12-to-15/lcs-20-lcs-20p-16-amp-level-2-ev-charging-station
10-30 outlets aren't to code anymore, so not as desirable.

 

[surely]

Thanks! But...I'm nervous about doing the work myself. Any commercially available ones that don't require that I add a plug myself? Or extremely idiot-proof guides to doing it properly?

 

[4regt4]

I have a 6-20 plug in my garage as well. Been contemplating getting that CC charger and adding the plug, but I'm having trouble justifying the cost. I mean, the level 1 is doing fine in my use case. I nearly always have 12 hours or so for the level 1 to work, and since the electron tank is never completely empty when I plug in, a full charge usually results on the 8 amp setting.

But the level 2 charger could be handy at times. Perhaps if it were just a bit cheaper..........

(Sidebar: "Electron tank". I actually had a dream the other night that the battery was empty and I needed to recharge. But there was no charger available. In the dream, there was an access panel on top of the battery. I opened it and started dropping in electrons one at a time to fill it up. Took a really long time. And the electrons were really tiny.......)

 

[DonC]

You just need an adapter for the outlet. It also would not be a big deal to swap out the outlet and then switch it back after you left.

EVSEupgrade will upgrade your existing Volt 120v to a 240v for less than a couple of hundred bucks. The resulting EVSE is auto sensing and will work with either 120v or 240v. Plus they have adapter cords. http://evseupgrade.com/?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=31

Also note that a hair dryer can pull a lot of watts.

 

[surely]

Sadly, my Volt will be a Gen 1, and the link you sent is for Gen 2 only...

 

[freshcut]

I actually just bought a 220 evse from vegasbrad which I received a few days ago and have been happy with so far. I went with the Dostar unit with a 6-20 plug. The nice thing I liked about the unit is that it will apparently do either 120 or 240 with an available adapter making it an ideal travel charger. The price was right too at less than $300 for such a versatile piece of equipment. Might be worth a shot to look into his products. https://bsa-electronics.myshopify.com/

 

[surely]

I actually just bought a 220 evse from vegasbrad which I received a few days ago and have been happy with so far. I went with the Dostar unit with a 6-20 plug. The nice thing I liked about the unit is that it will apparently do either 120 or 240 with an available adapter making it an ideal travel charger. The price was right too at less than $300 for such a versatile piece of equipment. Might be worth a shot to look into his products. https://bsa-electronics.myshopify.com/

Excellent!!! Exactly what I was looking for, thank you so much! I emailed vegasbrad about this one and asked if he can lengthen the short end of the cord before the brick so I can more easily stash the brick up where my dog can't get to it. Even if he can't, sounds like a great deal. https://bsa-electronics.myshopify.com/collections/charging-stations/products/16a-3-84kw-portable-charging-station-25-length-evse-d25-16a

 

[turboguy327]

You can change the outlet and change it back when youre done. Or ask the landlord about it and he can in the future list a EV ready receptacle in the garage.

 

[freshcut]

He might be able to (I got it standard), but at 25 ft. total length, it's quite long already. I went with that unit because the factory 22ft evse was just barely long enough to reach from my outlet to the car. The extra couple feet give me a little extra slack on each end. How much extra length are you needing from the 220 input side? You might be able to just make up an extension cord to give you that extra if its not too much (a few feet).

 

[surely]

He might be able to (I got it standard), but at 25 ft. total length, it's quite long already. I went with that unit because the factory 22ft evse was just barely long enough to reach from my outlet to the car. The extra couple feet give me a little extra slack on each end. How much extra length are you needing from the 220 input side? You might be able to just make up an extension cord to give you that extra if its not too much (a few feet).

I only need the 220 input side to be be a couple feet longer - Say 5' instead of 2'. Just long enough so that the brick can be placed on a glass table without placing tension on the cord. My dog doesn't chew cords, but she's damaged some hard plastic stuff in the past, and I don't want to risk her hurting herself. Finding a heavy duty 3' or 5' extension cord could be tough, but that's what I'll do if need be.

 

[freshcut]

True, if you planned to buy one, but I was thinking about getting the necessary length of 3 wire cable 12 gauge and putting appropriate ends on it. On a side note, the box for the EVSE does have a tab that allows for it to mount on a wall. So if the vehicle side is long enough, that might be an option. I'm sure that Brad will come up with a reasonably cost effective solution for you if it does need a longer input side though.