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Thoughts on Pulsar Plus Level 2? Amazon has them for $649, with maybe also a $50 off coupon.
lookes decent - has an app - wifi 0 9.6 kW adjustable amps via app - good reviews and can be “networked” to share load with a 2nd pulsar - it should be fine.
I have a Siemens VersiCharge 2 for my E Hybrid. Nothing fancy, no wifi on it (you can get one that way if you want) and it works perfectly. Have used it for over a year now, would buy again.
C4 (or anyone else)- What are the advantages of this newer unit versus the older one which costs $100 less? I have a dedicated circuit with an outlet but suppose I could get it hard wired if that’s materially better. If I did later want to add a second one of these units on the same circuit would they need to be hardwired anyway?
Last edited by Cajun Martyni; 08-15-2021 at 09:25 AM.
C4 (or anyone else)- What are the advantages of this newer unit versus the older one which costs $100 less? I have a dedicated circuit with an outlet but suppose I could get it hard wired if that’s materially better. If I did later want to add a second one of these units on the same circuit would they need to be hardwired anyway?
it all depends on who you go with - sharing a circuit has nothing to do with plug vs. hardwired - it has to do with the the two separate EVSE’s (chargers) co-operating to not overload the shared breaker.
it all depends on who you go with - sharing a circuit has nothing to do with plug vs. hardwired - it has to do with the the two separate EVSE’s (chargers) co-operating to not overload the shared breaker.
Dave- Thanks very much for your information and patience. i’ve already got a NEMA 14-50 plug on a dedicated circuit. I’m just trying to figure out how one would hook up two of these chargers on the same circuit? It’s hard to imagine using a 240 splitter pigtail, but maybe so? I’m getting my first EV soon so I only need to be able to charge one now. But it’s certainly foreseeable that we’ll have a second EV in the household in a year or two so I’d like to do what I can to anticipate two chargers in the future but not pay for them now, before I need them. If I can plug one in now and a second one (somehow) later, then great. But if eventually powering two chargers on the same circuit will require that they be hard wired then it seems to me that I’d probably be well-advised to make my first one hard-wired.
Dave- Thanks very much for your information and patience. i’ve already got a NEMA 14-50 plug on a dedicated circuit. I’m just trying to figure out how one would hook up two of these chargers on the same circuit? It’s hard to imagine using a 240 splitter pigtail, but maybe so? I’m getting my first EV soon so I only need to be able to charge one now. But it’s certainly foreseeable that we’ll have a second EV in the household in a year or two so I’d like to do what I can to anticipate two chargers in the future but not pay for them now, before I need them. If I can plug one in now and a second one (somehow) later, then great. But if eventually powering two chargers on the same circuit will require that they be hard wired then it seems to me that I’d probably be well-advised to make my first one hard-wired.
you would have a 2nd NEMA 14-50 installed and have the AC power line run off the “same” breaker - or splice the 3 wires (hot/hot/ground) inside a junction box - no different that how household plugs are run - multiple outlet sharing a single breaker.
the real key to this whole thing is how different EVSE manufacturers have the multiple chargers communicate with each other - in my case with the Tesla Gen2 wall chargers I have 2 units sharing a single 100 amp breaker - but they communicate with each other to avoid overloading the breaker via separate 18 gauge 2 wire thermostat wire and you configure one to be a “master” and the other to be a “slave” via dipswitches inside the units - there are screw down connections inside the the Tesla Wall Gen2 unit for this wire - each junction block has two connections - one input and one output - you can wire up to 4 units (1 master + 3 slaves) daisy chain style via 18/16 gauge 2 wire thermostat wire…you just connect the out to in on each successive unit until you have them all connected and communicating.
so it’s: one breaker - two separate full AC-wire runs to each EVSE - and 2 wire thermostat wire between the two chargers - and one charger set to master and the other charger set to slave - once it’s in this configuration the two chargers co-operate to dynamically share the available load (as set according to the master) and let’s multiple EV’s charge at the same time without overloading the single breaker.
it’s pretty slick and I routinely charge multiple EV’s at the same time with each EV getting what it needs during the charging session.
Last edited by daveo4porsche; 08-15-2021 at 10:55 AM.
when doing this I highly recomend you convert over to either hardwired or NEMA 6-50 plugs - why do I recommend this? it’s un-necessary, wasteful and more work to splice 4 wire NEMA 14-50 vs. 3 wire NEMA 6-50 - EVSE’s do not use or require the 4th wire NEMA 14-50 - most EVSE’s come with 14-50 purely for compatibilityi since there are more 14-50’s in the world than other types of 240 volt 50 amp connections (thank you RV community) - but even though they come with 4 wire “plug” the neutral is dead/dummy/unused in all EVSE I’ve found to date and not part of the J-1772 AC Level 2 charging specification
suprisingly that’s 4th wire for NEMA 14-50 is just one more splice/wire-nut inside a small junctional box and just makes the job a bit harder to “fit” everything with a splice - and the 3 wire 240V 50 amp wire will be slightly cheaper than 4 wire 240V 50 amp wire - make the job easier on yourself and your wallet and just go hardwired or NEMA 6-50 - purchasing and Adapter from 6-50 to 14-50 plug types if necessary.
if you check the clipper creek site they sell 3 versions of all their chargers: 14-50, 6-50, hardwired - there is NO difference between these chargers - other than what pig-tail they are shipped with if you do not get the hardwired version.
if you own/have 14-50 EVSE’s and you’re not comfortable “cutting off the 14-50” plug and bare wiring it - then you can purchase something like this:
when splicing 240 volt wire I like to go with something a little more beefy/reliable and higher quality than a wire nut - I’ve found these to be excellent - but they take a bit more space inside the box, but are super insulated, high quality, and very very reliable:
you would purchase 3 of these for use inside a sub-panel or junction box: 1 for each hot (2 total) and 1 for ground (although with ground you can just use a wire nut for the bare wire grounds - but for each unit you would wire in the “source” from the breaker for one of the hots - and now you can have 2 “outs” on the same black splice unit shown below - this easily and reliably “splices/splits” the single source circuit wire into 2 output wires - and then each of the two wires can run to a separate junction box or NEMA plug slot…
electricians I’ve talked to agree these are high quaility excellent option, but - they don’t use them because
they are expensive
they take up a lot of room
they are overkill for most applications
not a lot demand for splicing 240V circuits
but for EVSE “sharing” and high amp 240V splicing these are the perfect and excellent choice - over the years electrician I’ve talked to all love these and agree they are a great option and have no issues with using them for this application - but they are a-typical in that they don’t need to do this a lot - but are a great choice for this specfiic application (EVSE load sharing on high amp circuits)
they make multiple types for splices from 3 to 6 branches:
when doing this I highly recomend you convert over to either hardwired or NEMA 6-50 plugs - why do I recommend this? it’s un-necessary, wasteful and more work to splice 4 wire NEMA 14-50 vs. 3 wire NEMA 6-50 - EVSE’s do not use or required the 4 wire NEMA 14-50 - most EVSE’s come with 14-50 purely for compatibilityi since there are more 14-50’s in the world than other types of 240 volt 50 amp connections (thank you RV community) - but even though they come with 4 wire “plug” the neutral is dead/dummy/unused in all EVSE I’ve found to date and not part of the J-1772 AC Level 2 charging specification
suprisingly that’s 4th wire for NEMA 14-50 is just one more splice/wire-nut inside a small junctional box and just makes the job a bit harder to “fit” everything with a splice - and the 3 wire 240V 50 amp wire will be slightly cheaper than 4 wire 240V 50 amp wire - make the job easier on yourself and your wallet and just go hardwired or NEMA 6-50 - purchasing and Adapter from 6-50 to 14-50 plug types if necessary.
if you check the clipper creek site they sell 3 versions of all their chargers: 14-50, 6-50, hardwired - there is NO difference between these chargers - other than what pig-tail they are shipped with if you do not get the hardwired version.
if you own/have 14-50 EVSE’s and you’re not comfortable “cutting off the 14-50” plug and bare wiring it - then you can purchase something like this:
which is a 6-50R (female plug) to 14-50R (female plug) adapter - this is safe and effective for EVSE use for two reasons:
EVSE’s do not use the neutral from the 14-50 plug
same amps - so it’s really just a simple bridge for the 2-hots and ground to covert the plug type
Do I understand correctly that with the Clipper Creek you’d suggest getting the 6-50 hardwired HCS-50P unit? Doing either that or swapping out my existing plug to 6-50 will mean that I need to get an electrician to come because I’m not doing it myself. But if that’s clearly the best way to go then it seems worthwhile to do it right from the start. I can wait the 12 weeks if I order soon.
I’m hoping that Dave or someone else can chime in about the Pulsar Plus and the reasons to spend more to get the newer 48 amp unit. The older Pulsar Plus unit has gotten good reviews on these threads, is a bit cheaper and should plug right in to what I have. So that sounds good, too.
Dave- Thanks very much for your information and patience. i’ve already got a NEMA 14-50 plug on a dedicated circuit. I’m just trying to figure out how one would hook up two of these chargers on the same circuit? It’s hard to imagine using a 240 splitter pigtail, but maybe so? I’m getting my first EV soon so I only need to be able to charge one now. But it’s certainly foreseeable that we’ll have a second EV in the household in a year or two so I’d like to do what I can to anticipate two chargers in the future but not pay for them now, before I need them. If I can plug one in now and a second one (somehow) later, then great. But if eventually powering two chargers on the same circuit will require that they be hard wired then it seems to me that I’d probably be well-advised to make my first one hard-wired.
I want to re-emphasize the following:
it farily easy and straight forward wiring 101 to simply split AC wire into “n” separate plugs - you can easily do this for NEMA 14-50/6-50 plugs
for an EV charger (EVSE) to “share” a circuit the EVSE manufacturer has to have some separate method (wire or otherwise) for the two EVSE’s to communicate with each other so they can co-operate with each other and not overload the single breaker/circuit
unfortunately to date there is NO standard among EVSE’s as to how this is done - so how this is done and how you configure and “tell” the EVSE’s they are sharing a breaker entirely depends on your specific EVSE vendor and their setup instruction
SIMPLY WIRING UP TWO EVSE’S TO THE SAME CIRCUIT WILL _NOT_ - I REPEAT _NOT_ MAGICALLY MAKE THEM CO-OPERATE TO SHARE THE CIRCUIT AND SPLIT THE LOAD
normally there is additional wiring and configuration required when using EVSE’s and sharing a single circuit breaker - in the case of the Tesla Gen2 Wall Chargers there is additional low voltage wire between the units and specific setting switches inside the unit that must be set.
consult your specific EVSE installation instruction for additional installation requirement to configure unit to share a circuit. Normally it’s pretty easy and straight forward, but it is slightly more work than simply wiring them together on the AC circuit - most I would guess/imagine have some non-AC low-voltage wire between the units for communication and load sharing.
Do I understand correctly that with the Clipper Creek you’d suggest getting the 6-50 hardwired HCS-50P unit? Doing either that or swapping out my existing plug to 6-50 will mean that I need to get an electrician to come because I’m not doing it myself. But if that’s clearly the best way to go then it seems worthwhile to do it right from the start. I can wait the 12 weeks if I order soon.
I’m hoping that Dave or someone else can chime in about the Pulsar Plus and the reasons to spend more to get the newer 48 amp unit. The older Pulsar Plus unit has gotten good reviews on these threads, is a bit cheaper and should plug right in to what I have. So that sounds good, too.
Thanks.
do what’s best for you - I’m simply pointing out that NEMA 14-50 is overkill (4 wires) and the 4th wire is un-necessary in north america for EV charging - it only becomes tiresome and obvious when you end up setting up 3 or 4 EVSE’s to share a single ciruict - but the time you’re splicing that 4th wire for the 4th time and trying to “fit” into that now tiny juncitonbox you think to yourself “why am I splicing” this wire when it is completely unused??? and how much extra did I pay fo rthe high quality copper 4 wire vs. 3 wire @ home depot…
the only reason to go with a plug vs. hardwire is for easy of installation/swapping/removal - but since these are fixed wall hung units in a garage - electrically there is no difference - and hardwired units are fairly easy to wire into a single juncitonbox - NEMA plugs are an un-necessary convenience if you are never “moving” the units.
this is all pretty straight foward once you understand it’s only 3 wires - thick wires because of the high amps - but a very very simple wiring setup - but if you’re not comfortable by all means hire an electrician and get it done right - however I’ve found most electrician’s barely understand EV chargers and when you’re asking them to wire multiple EV chargers to teh same circuit it overwhelms their experience base and they don’t understand how the EVSE’s can “share” a single 240v circuit.
splitting 60 amp breaker - 48 amp charging rate - will charge most EV’s faster than NEMA 14-50/6-50 plug - because 48 amps is more power than 40 amps - the Taycan will charge at 11 kw on a 48 amp charger vs. 9.6 kW on a 40 amp charger (50 amp breaker)
when you eventually obtain 2 EV’s it becomes even better because now each EV will get 24 amps vs. 20 amps - which starts to make more sense when you want both of them to finish in the 6-10 hour low cost “off peak” billing window some power companies offer residential customers.
and 80 amp circuit and 64 amp charger will _NOT_ charge your Taycan faster because the Taycan is limited to 48 amps - but when you’re splitting an 80 amp breaker (64 amp charge rate) you are now charging 2 separate EV’s at 32 amps each…ahhhhh now the 80 amp circuit makes more sense - and incrementally isn’t that much more money to install - the cost is the electrician to visit and add any 240 volt cirucit the amount of amps you’re adding only affects the cost of the wire, labor/equipment is largely the same cost and dominates the invoice vs. wire cost…
install the biggest baddest most amps your home can handle - then when you’re charging two EV’s that have both been driven 150 miles each in separate directions on day of the month they will both finish charging overnigth in the the 11 pm to 7 am off-peak $0.11/kwh rate window because you installed the 80 amp breaker and each vehicle sucked down 32 amps (64 amps total) each for 6 hours overnight to replenish the battery - and it’s still cheaper than $5.299/gal gasoline.
08-13-2021, 04:28 PM
