Originally Posted by daveo4porsche

if you intend to put the charger outdoors I beliefve the PMC+/PMCC will need to be a water proof enclosure/box - the charging cable itself is fine for outdoor use - one of the teh EVSE’s safety features is the the charging cord is not electrified unless it’s actually plugged into a vehicle - and NEMA plugs are not water rated.

while I believe teh PMC+/PMCC could be make water proof - you best choice will be a water proof install - hardwirted/water tight - so clippercreek or some other outdoor EVSE would most likely be your best bet.

Originally Posted by daveo4porsche

the complexity of adding an EVSE to your home isn't really the EVSE - it's the building codes for any 240 volt circuit and the fact that residential home vary wildly in their existing electrical setup and capacity - so it comes down to:

• you most likely need an electrician
• you need a permit
• you need to see if there is physical room in your homes main panel to add another high amp 240 volt circuit
  • adding an EVSE to your home is no different than adding a hot tub to your home - can your home handle another 240 volt 50 amp circuit?
• if there is physical room for a new breaker - there may be not "capacity" in your panel to add another 240 volt circuit (local building codes require certain ratios of AMP's vs. the main feed from your power provider)
• once you find room and AMP capacity in your panel - you now have the labor/materials cost to "install" the new circuit
  • high amp wire and labor to pull the wire are the majority cost - the NEMA plug type and EVSE are the cheap part of the equation - NEMA plugs are $12 + the $12 box to put them in.
  • if your panel is "full" and you have to "upgrade" - 70% of the total cost will be the panel upgrade and labor to do the panel upgrade - again the EVSE cost will melt away vs the cost to upgrade your home's main electrical panel.
• most electricians don't know how to advise clients in this space
• all dealers are clueless in this space
• and people don't know what to ask for

but really installing an EVSE is like any other 240 volt appliance - it's a big deal - but at the same time it's not.

how do you decide what to "ask" for from your electrician?

well that depends on what EVSE you're going to use.

so the process in my opinion is:

1. Decide which EVSE vendor you are going to go with.
2. Review the EVSE vendors options for AMP requirements - Porsche supports 30 or 50 amps via 4 NEMA plug choices (2 50 amp plugs and 2 30 amp plugs)
   1. more amps = faster charger - up to the limit of the EV you plan to purchase
   2. for home use it doesn't matter which plug you specify
   3. the only reason plug type matters is if you want to use the Porsche EVSES while away from home - and that requires you to "guess" what type of plug you might encounter in your travels
      1. you might for example get a NEMA 6-30 plug because you know your Uncle Mark has one of those at his cabin, and you use the cabin twice a year - so it would be good if you had that type of plug so you could charge the Taycan at Uncle Mark's cabin.
   4. But really the plug type doesn't matter for your home charging - you will tell the Electrician what plug type you want to match what you order from Porsche - they do not electrically matter - and the only difference between the 4 plugs is 30 vs. 50 amps - 30 amps is slower, 50 amps is faster
   5. NEMA 14-50 is the most common choice (50 amps 240 volts)
3. while there are a wide range of choices - 4 240 volt breaker sizes are the most common
   1. 30/40/50/60
4. Have your electrician review your home's existing electrical configuration - they will advise you on if your home can handle your requested 240 volt circuit based on their knowledge of local building codes
   1. install cost will be heavy variable based on your existing home's electrical system and the distance from the main panel to your requested charger location (normally in your garage)
      1. home's on a slab - no crawl space - and there is no good "path" from the main panel to the garage…{sigh} this is going to be costly.
   2. sometimes adding the capacity is trivial - but running the wire form the main panel to the garage is just ridiculous expensive
   3. other times it's trivial to add a circuit form the main panel to the garage because the main panel is like 6 ft away form the garage and shares a wall
   4. some times the main panel is "full" both physically and capacity wise - and it requires you to install a whole new home panel an possibility upgrade your home's 100 amp service to 200 amp service to meet local building codes to add a new 40 amp circuit
      1. bonus cost up the wazzooo if your electrical service is underground and therefore requires trenching to add a 60 amp circuit which required upgrading from 125 amp service to 200 amp service…
      2. if you live in California and PG&E is your power provider - good luck getting PG&E underground service division to respond to your request for service upgrade in less than a decade - they studied at the Soviet Beaucratic School of Customer Service, and they graduated top of their class for Soviet era style customer service focus - really really awesome to deal with these folks.
5. If the electrician can install your requested 240 volt circuit then you need to make a choice with regards to hardwired or plug type
6. Mostly you're going to request a NEMA 14-50 or 6-50 plug type
7. if you're going with 60/80 amps or more you'll be going hardwired (clipper creek HCS-60 or HCS-80 for the win)

once you've added the breaker/wire/junction-box or NEMA plug - that actual installation of the EVSE is trivial - it's the complexity of adding a whole new 240 volt circuit to your existing home - and sometimes that's trivial - and sometimes that's just ridiculous because of local building codes, when your home was built and what existing 240 volts circuits you already have - honestly it's no different that adding a hot tub - your home either has the capacity or it doesn't - if it doesn't there are options, but it could be expensive to upgrade your residential electrical system to handle that one extra 240 volt circuit.

Sample Phone Call #1:Sample Phone Call #2:Sample Phone Call #3
you may be surprised to find out that the cost difference between phone call #1, #2 and #3 isn't all that great - which is why I recommend #3 if your home can handle it - the cost isn't the EVSE or the number of AMPS you're requesting - it's the entire hassle of adding ANY 240 volt circuit to your existing setup - but in for a penny in for pound - you should seriously consider getting a bigger circuit to the garage to make the 2nd EVSE easier and cheaper in the future. One doesn't want to pay an electrician $1000 to pull 40 amp wire form the main box to the garage - and then 2 years later when you get your 2nd EVSE pay them again to pull another 40 amp circuit for another $1000 - better to pay $1400 and pull 100 amps in the first place - then adding the 2nd EVSE won't require the 2nd visit.

Originally Posted by Drifting

I always appreciate all of your posts, dave. You really add a great deal to the forum.

Originally Posted by Archimedes

I think I would just hardwire it and weatherproof everything in conduit. I'm looking at the Clipper Creek, Wallbox, and Juicebox. I'm going to call an electrician tomorrow to see what it would take to do the install.

Originally Posted by daveo4porsche

specify the high quality Hubble NEMA 14-50 plug type - it's heavy duty and will handle years of plugging and unplugging your EVSE - it's like $90 but it will outlast the crap $12 Leviton 14-50 plug most electricians will install - if you hold both in your hands you will feel the difference in quality (weight)

240 volts @ 50 amps is a LOT of power - this is not the place to shave costs…this plug will transmit power for HOURS continuously every night while you sleep - every night - you really really don't want sone cheap plug that may melt in your garage below your bedroom shorting out a 3 am while it charges your EV - this is not the place to shave costs…

EVSE's are unique in the 240V appliance realm - few if any 240V appliances run at steady state maximum power for hours on end with NO break - if you bring your Taycan home at 5% battery and plug in - you will pull 9.6 kW (240 volts at 40 amps) for close to 10 solid hours with _NO_ break or dip in current demand - virtually no other 240 volt appliance will run at full capacity - most will cycle on/off/on/off/on/off - your oven may pull 9.6 kW but it will only do it for like 20 min - and when it reaches temp it will stop pulling power, then pull again for 2 min to maintain temp - but it will cycle on/off/on/off/on/off - EVSE's run flat line at full power until the battery reaches it's target capacity - that could take 10 hours of continuous use to fill a Taycan battery - again the is NOT the place to cheap out on wire gauge, wire quality (copper vs. aluminum other other alloy) or quality of the components - specify and demand the best…cheaping out in this area could lead to shorts and fires and melting.

https://www.amazon.com/Hubbell-Wirin...ustrial&sr=1-1





you really really don't want this thing shorting or melting - the higher quality plug will be better over time - and will need to last for years…