New Spark Owner! Charging Questions.

[SparkyDanilo]

Got my 1st 2016 Spark EV 2LT a couple days ago. Really digging it! Except a rock hit my windshield this morning! boooo.
I have some basic charging and power questions.
I'm looking at getting an EVSE, my work commute is about 40 miles, so I'll definitely need the faster charge.

1) Is there a downside, in safety or charging power, to getting a portable EVSE like this one (https://www.amazon.com/Duosida-Portable-Electric-Vehicle-220V-240V/dp/B01HH1Z3DS/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1477344694&sr=8-9&keywords=electric+vehicle+charger) versus the standard Bosch or GE mounted EVSE

2) Can I use a 30 amp EVSE on my car? Will it hurt it?

3) Can I use a 7.7kW portable charger safely?

That's probably it for now. I'm open to specific product recommendations to!
I'm probably going to go with a NEMA 14-50 plug since my work might be able to install one for me.

Thanks!

 

[Taxman]

You can plug in any SAE J1772 EVSE, but the car's onboard charger will only take 3.3kW, so having a 30 amp EVSE won't be any faster than a 16 amp.

If you bought the car new, you might as well contact Bosch for your $500 discount, which amounts to basically free for the 16A EVSE with 12 foot cord. [email protected]

 

[NORTON]

^ +1.

And just to be sure,,,,, Do you know about the 8A or 12A setting for 120V charging on the 'Leaf' page?

If not,,,, might I suggest RT*M.

 

[SparkyDanilo]

You can plug in any SAE J1772 EVSE, but the car's onboard charger will only take 3.3kW, so having a 30 amp EVSE won't be any faster than a 16 amp.

If you bought the car new, you might as well contact Bosch for your $500 discount, which amounts to basically free for the 16A EVSE with 12 foot cord. [email protected]

That's a great tip. Thanks so much! Just emailed them.

 

[stk123]

You can plug in any SAE J1772 EVSE, but the car's onboard charger will only take 3.3kW, so having a 30 amp EVSE won't be any faster than a 16 amp.

If you bought the car new, you might as well contact Bosch for your $500 discount, which amounts to basically free for the 16A EVSE with 12 foot cord. [email protected]

Does it hurt to buy a 30AMP charger for SPARK EV?

 

[SparkyDanilo]

You can plug in any SAE J1772 EVSE, but the car's onboard charger will only take 3.3kW, so having a 30 amp EVSE won't be any faster than a 16 amp.

If you bought the car new, you might as well contact Bosch for your $500 discount, which amounts to basically free for the 16A EVSE with 12 foot cord. [email protected]

Does it hurt to buy a 30AMP charger for SPARK EV?

My understanding is that it can only pull as many amps as it needs. So having more amps won't hurt it. Having too few amps will trip your breaker, and maybe blow it.

 

[NORTON]

The Spark EV sucks it up at a max of 3.3 kW.
This is the smallest 16A L2 EVSE, correct?
Go cheap now.
Or future proof with a bigger than needed EVSE.
But if you get a 6.6kW Bolt in the future you may want one of each for both BEV's.

 

[SparkE]

You can plug in any SAE J1772 EVSE, but the car's onboard charger will only take 3.3kW, so having a 30 amp EVSE won't be any faster than a 16 amp.

If you bought the car new, you might as well contact Bosch for your $500 discount, which amounts to basically free for the 16A EVSE with 12 foot cord. [email protected]

Does it hurt to buy a 30AMP charger for SPARK EV?

My understanding is that it can only pull as many amps as it needs. So having more amps won't hurt it. Having too few amps will trip your breaker, and maybe blow it.

Let me go into a little more detail.

An EVSE tells the car how much energy it can provide, and then the car pulls what it pulls (not to exceed the rate the EVSE specified). So it is (theoretically) fine to plug *any* EVSE into *any* EV. If the car can pull at a max rate of 3.3kW, then the car will pull the lower of : (a) 3.3kW, (b) what the EVSE is its max. If you plug a 3.3kW car into a 6.6kW EVSE, the car pulls 3.3kW (the car's max rate). If you plug a 6.6kW EV into a 3.3kW EVSE, the car pulls 3.3kW (the EVSE's max rate). If you plug the EVSE that came with your Spark into a Tesla that would prefer 10 kW, it would pull about 1.2 kW (110V @ 12A).

The "Having too few amps will trip your breaker, and maybe blow it" concerns the relationship between the EVSE and the fuse/breaker, NOT the car per se. You must never plug an EVSE in to a circuit that can not provide the max current the EVSE can draw. So if you take your 40A/7.2kW EVSE and use 'extension cords/plug converters' that allow you to plug it into a wall socket that can only supply 20 amps, you are asking for trouble. At best, you would probably trip the circuit breaker. At worst, you could set the house on fire.