Author Topic: Charging Empulse and Volt from ONE standard 120v Outlet?  (Read 777 times)

EmpulseRider

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Charging Empulse and Volt from ONE standard 120v Outlet?
« on: December 11, 2012, 02:28:58 PM »
Doing the math this should definitely be possible. In most cases I dont see why anyone would need to get an expensive fast charger for this setup.

Volt 120v @ 12AMP = 8 Hours from complete discharge
Empulse 120v @ 12AMP = 7.5 Hours from complete discharge (that right?)

Assuming both get plugged in by 6pm that gives us until 7:30am (13.5 hours) to charge both. Thats a little short of the 15.5 hours required, but both will not be fully depleted either.

I can setup timers on each socket to switch from the Volt to the Empulse at 2am then back to the Volt so its ready to charge when my wife gets home. BTW, the Volt is primarily my wife's car since she usually has the longer commute, so both vehicles will be getting used at the same time, especially during warmer weather... January, February, and March... not so much.

Ain

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Re: Charging Empulse and Volt from ONE standard 120v Outlet?
« Reply #1 on: December 11, 2012, 03:23:44 PM »
The ONLY issue I ran into when I was charging my Volt originally with 110v, was that my garage plugs were on the same circuit as some of the others in the house.

With the Volt 110v charger pulling 12amps, it just took my wife running an appliance or hair dryer to pop the 15amp breaker.

If you have a dedicated circuit for your garage, you can probably get away with it.

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protomech

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Re: Charging Empulse and Volt from ONE standard 120v Outlet?
« Reply #2 on: December 11, 2012, 03:56:01 PM »
Obviously this will vary from person to person, but I almost never do a 100% charge of the Zero. Typically it's closer to 30-40% charge, with longer days up to 70% charge.

I imagine the Volt will do a 100% charge (of the 10.5 kWh buffer) each day.

Seems like it'd be okay, but makes more sense just to run a second 110v circuit.

The real motivation for a J1772 charging station is to quickly top off. There have been occasional times where I've returned home, stayed for a little while, then left in the gas car because the bike had not fully charged. This would be less of a problem with a J1772 station, but I don't know that it'd be a $600 problem.
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Gavin

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Re: Charging Empulse and Volt from ONE standard 120v Outlet?
« Reply #3 on: December 11, 2012, 03:56:41 PM »
I have a dedicated 110v 30 amp line in my garage just for charging my future bikes...if I add an electric cage one day, I will likely throw another hunk of fat wire in the garage. When I had our Electric box redid I over-sized it from 100amp (small) to 200amp...so I should have space...but the solar panels on the roof and that 30 amp line did fill up a bit of that extra 100 amps...

but it's like computer memory...always want more...

Gavin

EmpulseRider

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Re: Charging Empulse and Volt from ONE standard 120v Outlet?
« Reply #4 on: December 11, 2012, 04:34:44 PM »
The ONLY issue I ran into when I was charging my Volt originally with 110v, was that my garage plugs were on the same circuit as some of the others in the house.

With the Volt 110v charger pulling 12amps, it just took my wife running an appliance or hair dryer to pop the 15amp breaker.

If you have a dedicated circuit for your garage, you can probably get away with it.

- Ain

My garage socket and the socket just outside my front door are each on the same 15amp circuit, but thats all for that circuit. So nothing to worry about there.

Obviously this will vary from person to person, but I almost never do a 100% charge of the Zero. Typically
The real motivation for a J1772 charging station is to quickly top off. There have been occasional times where I've returned home, stayed for a little while, then left in the gas car because the bike had not fully charged. This would be less of a problem with a J1772 station, but I don't know that it'd be a $600 problem.

I have run into the same issue with the Volt Proto, but its pretty rare, and definitely not a show stopper with the Volt... the Empulse would be another story, but since the Empulse has way more than enough range for my commute, I see it as a non issue in 99% of my cases.

I just find it amusing that some people think EVs will be such a huge burden on the grid when a measly 110v 15amp circuit could almost cover 2 EVs, or in my case more than cover 2 EVs for folks with average commutes.

I think once the fast chargers hit $500 (installed) then I may bite just for the convenience of being able to top off on those rare occasions where I would need want to.

I have a dedicated 110v 30 amp line in my garage just for charging my future bikes...if I add an electric cage one day, I will likely throw another hunk of fat wire in the garage. When I had our Electric box redid I over-sized it from 100amp (small) to 200amp...so I should have space...but the solar panels on the roof and that 30 amp line did fill up a bit of that extra 100 amps...

but it's like computer memory...always want more...

Gavin

Nice, so you could have 2 EVs pulling 110v/12AMP at one time... so that's another option.
« Last Edit: December 11, 2012, 04:36:46 PM by EmpulseBuyer »