Portable chargers that use 5-15 AND something better?

[MauryMarkowitz]

I just plunked my money down for the eGolf. 24 months delivery, whew!

In the meantime, I'm looking for chargers etc. Wiring a home charger is easy enough, my garage has a 100A pony panel with lots of room for a 14-50.

But what about on-the-road? The "high speed" portable chargers I find all use a 6-20. I've never seen one of those in the wild.

Does anyone know of a cUL listed portable charger that has, say, a 14-30 with a 5-15 adaptor?

 

[tbier]

In my trunk I keep the EVSE that came with my Pacifica. It can draw up to 12 amps. I built my own 5-15R to 14-50P as this EVSE can auto switch to 240. This allows me to pull up to 2.9kWh and only cost me $15.

I've spent time looking at getting a portable 7.2 kWh changer with adapters to plug it into a 5-15 outlet, but I couldn't justify the hundreds of dollars for the maybe once a year I would need it.

One suggestion I read (that I really like) was to buy the Tesla portable charger (with easy to swap 5-15 and 14-50 adapters) for only $300 and then grab a $200 tesla tap or tesla to J-1772 adapter off eBay. That way you have the adapter to use any non-supercharger Tesla plug.

 

[johnnylingo]

But what about on-the-road? The "high speed" portable chargers I find all use a 6-20. I've never seen one of those in the wild.

I received a BMW "TurboCord" with my new i3. It's a dual 240/120V, supporting a 5-20 (120V) or 6-20 (240V) connector. These are always confusing because they look similar, but I've seen both.

5-20s are typically inside kitchens or bathrooms where an appliance may pull more than 12a. The 6-20 is usually in garages or areas where someone might use a high-end power tool like a table saw. The TurboCord idea sounds great in theory, but seeing as it does 16a at best I'd look at other options.

Does anyone know of a cUL listed portable charger that has, say, a 14-30 with a 5-15 adaptor?

It would need to be dual voltage since 14-30 is 240V and 5-15 is 120V. I've yet to see something like that. Some ideas for road travel:

Home dryers are usually 240V/24A plugged in to a 14-30 (newer) or 10-30 (older). Clipper Creek has 20a or 24a chargers that do a 14-30 natively and could be paired with a 14-50 adapter should you come across its higher-amp cousin. Sidenote: the 10-30 is called the "death socket" because it lacks ground, would likely be rejected by any EV charger. I have one in my laundry room and plan to replace it during remodeling strictly for safety reasons.

Going to the other direction, RV parks are 208V with 14-50 outlet. Again Clipper Creek has a 24a option, and pair it with a downgrade adapter for the 14-30 dryer option. No need to worry about tripping the breaker in that case because it's only pulling 24a on a dedicated 30a outlet.

I work in IT and see plenty of the "twist and lock" style (L6-20, L6-30, etc) in computer server rooms, but don't think I've ever seen one in a garage or outdoors.

 

[johnnylingo]

In my trunk I keep the EVSE that came with my Pacifica. It can draw up to 12 amps. I built my own 5-15R to 14-50P as this EVSE can auto switch to 240.

Wow, wish the e-Golf came with that. What brand is it? The BMW TurboCord does 16a but is an additional $500 - really not worth it unless you're flipping back and forth between 5-20 and 6-20 outlets often.

Tesla portable charger (with easy to swap 5-15 and 14-50 adapters) for only $300 and then grab a $200 tesla tap or tesla to J-1772 adapter off eBay. That way you have the adapter to use any non-supercharger Tesla plug.

Very reasonable option for that level of flexibility. I'd add on a 14-50r to 14-30p adapter for the dryer outlet scenario, but would note in that case the draw would need to be set for a 24a limit.

 

[owo]

Your best bet is the Tesla Gen 2 Mobile Connector modified or used with a J1772 adapter, I haven't found any native J1772 EVSE that's nearly as versatile. 5-15 and 14-50 adapters are included, and there's 6 others you can purchase. Here's a chart of all the available adapters:

You can use the UMC with a TeslaTap adapter ($300+240), or purchase the Jesla Jr ($499) which is a UMC that has been permanently modified with a J1772 plug.

I've tried both options and encountered some quirks with the e-Golf, however. I wasn't actually able to get the UMC+TeslaTap combination to work, but the maker of TeslaTap said it has been tested with the e-Golf and speculated that my issue is due to a problematic UMC firmware that can be updated by plugging it into a Tesla (which I do not have at hand). The Jesla Jr did work for me, although it has the quirk of not beginning to charge until precisely 3 minutes after the connector has been plugged in, which is long enough that I assumed it wasn't working at first; that's the only issue I've encountered with it. I'm going to try get my hands on a UMC with updated firmware since I like the versatility of also being able to use the TeslaTap with destination chargers, and it feels redundant (and needlessly expensive) to own both the TeslaTap and Jesla Jr.

Sidenote: the 10-30 is called the "death socket" because it lacks ground, would likely be rejected by any EV charger.

fwiw I've been using a Jesla Jr with Tesla's 10-30 adapter to charge my e-Golf without any issue. I'm aware of the theoretical safety risk and know some other EVSE makers won't touch it, but if Tesla's willing to make the adapter, I'm willing to use it.

 

[johnnylingo]

fwiw I've been using a Jesla Jr with Tesla's 10-30 adapter to charge my e-Golf without any issue. I'm aware of the theoretical safety risk

That's interesting. I know the e-Golf's included 120v/12a charger needs a ground, because my driveway outlet originally was missing it and I got the red "fault" light. Likewise Clipper Creek doesn't offer a 10-30 version and that's probably why. I'd assume any L2 charger would have the same requirement, but perhaps 10-30s are common enough that certain manufactures didn't want to say no.

 

[f1geek]

The 2018 Nissan Leaf has an optional 120V/240V portable EVSE (available on higher trim levels with a certain package) that can charge at either 12 amps, 120V (5-15 plug) with an included adapter or at 30 amps, 240V (NEMA 14-50 plug) without the attached adapter. I don't know how to get one of these, but you could ask your local Nissan dealer. It looks a great solution for non-Tesla drivers that want a compact EVSE for both situations.

 

[f1geek]

Also just found this:

http://www.tucsonev.com/index.html


This guy cuts off the Tesla connector on the UMC and replaces it with a J1772 - today the price says $400 for a used UMC. Not a bad price, considering this can be your daily at home and portable EVSE. I think QuickCharge Power also sells their Jesla, which is the same as what is shown at this link.

 

[JoulesThief]

Going to the other direction, RV parks are 208V with 14-50 outlet. Again Clipper Creek has a 24a option, and pair it with a downgrade adapter for the 14-30 dryer option. No need to worry about tripping the breaker in that case because it's only pulling 24a on a dedicated 30a outlet.

I work in IT and see plenty of the "twist and lock" style (L6-20, L6-30, etc) in computer server rooms, but don't think I've ever seen one in a garage or outdoors.

I can assure you, NEMA 14-50 RV outlets at RV parks are all 240V, not 208. The AC's on a motorhome or 5th wheel would have a lot of problems, as would the microwaves, and electric refrigerators, that all run on 120V, not 104.