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Want To Charge Your Electric Car From Two, 110-Volt Sockets? Think Again

 
2,040 views Jun 27, 2012
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2011 Chevrolet Volt 240V charging station

2011 Chevrolet Volt 240V charging station

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In our modern world, electricity is literally everywhere, easily assessible from a 110-volt outlet. 

That’s fine for running things like laptop computers and televisions, but when it comes to electric cars, charging at 110-volts takes forever. 

One solution, as some electric car drivers have discovered, is to use a product that combines two, 110-volt outlets to provide 240-volts of electricity that can power a modified, portable level-2 charging unit. 


But as a friend who recently sold a 240-volt air conditioning unit discovered, powering a 240-volt device from two 110-volt sockets is normally a really, really bad idea. 

As the friend explained, the couple who purchased his air conditioner didn’t have a suitable 240-volt, high current outlet to plug the unit into. Instead, they purchased a 110-volt bridging converter, designed to combine two separate 110-volt supplies with different phasing to provide 240-volts. 

Charging Cable and Socket

Charging Cable and Socket

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They phoned him up a little while later, complaining the unit wasn’t working and that there was a burning smell coming from the converter unit. Essentially, they had tried to draw more power from the combined sockets than they were safely capable of. 

In a home, most outlets are rated to provide between 10 and 15 amps at 110-volts, while specialists 240-volt outlets for driers and kitchen appliances may handle 30 amps or more. 

Electric car charging stations with dedicated electrical wiring or dedicated sockets will have been fitted with suitable grade wire that can handle the high current that level 2 charging stations demand. 

A bridging converter on the other hand, isn’t designed to supply the high currents that electric car charging stations require for long periods of time. 

Not only that, but in older houses with smaller gauge wiring, pulling a constant 15 amps or more from multiple wall outlets could overheat the wires in the wall, causing more than just a funny smell. 

Our advice? 

Where possible, use a dedicated charging station and/or wall outlet dedicated to safely providing the right power to charge an electric car. 

And if you’re away from home?

Always. Plug. Your. Electric. Car. Into. An. Outlet. You. Know. Is. Rated. To. Take. The. High. Current. Of. Charging

Thanks for listening. 

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Comments (10)

  1. jeffhre avatar Jeff Hre Posted: 6/27/2012 3:38pm PDT

    Have your electrician check your outlets and wires. Not just for older homes. Low cost stab in outlets coupled with smaller gauge wires often equals a fire under long periods of electrical loads.
     
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  2. fb_599454693 avatar Jan Durzynski Posted: 6/27/2012 3:43pm PDT

    It's all good but there's no such thing as 110 volts in the US; only 120... We also use gas instead of kerosene.
     
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  3. fb_1559222512 avatar Xiaolong Li Posted: 6/27/2012 11:24pm PDT

    120V/15A is the peak rating. If you charge your EV on it or use a sustained load, it better be derated to lower setting, 10-12A for a newer outlet. Wiring is rarely the problem if NO multiple load is running on the same wire. Typically for outlets, it is the contact surface of the outlet that is the issue.
     
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  4. drowan avatar Dennis Rowan Posted: 6/28/2012 1:33pm PDT

    "But when it comes to electric cars, charging at 110-volts takes FOREVER" Actually it only takes the average EV driver who is charging at home about 7 hours to replace the 9kWh used to travel the national average of 36 miles per day. This is assuming there is no workppace charging or transit charging. This is hardly 'FOREVER' and fits just well with the average 7.5 hours that people sleep. Leaving every morning with full charge.
    Over 77% of charging to date is Level 1.
     
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  5. fb_599454693 avatar Jan Durzynski Posted: 6/29/2012 7:56am PDT

    Agreed. Our LEAF has driven over 8K miles in the past seven months charged at 120 volts in my garage supplemented by occassional opportunity charging. 100 miles a day would come out to 36K/year and, call me crazy, but that's just not very common :-)
     
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  6. fb_501837305 avatar Keith Kemp Posted: 6/28/2012 10:45pm PDT

    Could you explain how you came to the conlusion that the Quick220 (A "bridging converter") "isn’t designed to supply the high currents that electric car charging stations require for long periods of time."? For that matter could you reference some specific "bridging converters" that you are familiar with which would not be suitable for using in conjuction with you a 240 volt EVSE? What was the model of the "bridging converter" used in the story about the AC unit?
     
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  7. fb_100000473084758 avatar Joe Tomicki Posted: 6/28/2012 11:17pm PDT

    also u will pay 2 the amount as if u were using a 240 outlet.
     
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  8. fb_501837305 avatar Keith Kemp Posted: 7/25/2012 3:21am PDT

    Nikki, is it true that you attempted to add a battery pack to your Prius but you did it in an unsafe manner which caused the pack to explode and catch fire, totally your car? If so that would explain why you have a fear of electricity and insist on spreading unsubstantiated and out right false FUD.
     
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  9. fb_535830066 avatar Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield Posted: 7/25/2012 4:52am PDT

    Keith,

    Thanks for the comment.

    You're right on one part: back in 2009 I had the unfortunate experience of having a Prius battery pack run into thermal runaway on a self-converted plug-in Prius due to inadequate cooling.

    And yes, I accept responsibility for that incident. We learn from our mistakes.

    However, I'm curious: what exactly is false about the story above?

    In all houses, especially older houses with older electrical wiring, plugging any high-current appliance into the wall outlet comes with its own risks.

    Unless you are absolutely sure that the electrical sockets in your home share an equal load, plugging a bridging converter into two 110-volt sockets to charge an electric car isn't a great idea.

    Regards
    Nikki.
     
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  10. nomzam avatar Empire Designs Posted: 11/1/2012 4:44am PDT

    But in my country we have 220 volts but we have electric cars how is this possible? Even the car Sockets are same.
     
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