The answer is mostly entirely dependent on what gauge wire you installed. There are some other factors such as what breaker you installed, plug vs. hardwire, what hardware you've got on hand, what the capacity of your home's electrical service is, limitations of the ID.4 onboard charger, etc.

But let's start at square one: what type of wire did you use?

(...and to cut to the quick if you installed 6 awg copper and a 50 amp breaker you'll set the EVSE to 40 amps, which would be the 80% continuous load value of a 50A circuit's rating.)

 

Thanks for the quick response. Not sure I know the answer to all of those questions. I've got the 2023 ID.4, AWD PRO S. It's a 14-50 plug outlet in the wall. "50 amps is the max rating for the breaker and wire" used according to the electrician who put in the outlet. And based on that you're saying it should be set to 40 circuit rating? I assumed 50 for the circuit rating, but am a little over my head.

 

Do you know which breaker in the panel is for this circuit? If so, open the panel door and look for the number on the breaker. Odds are the breaker says 50, and if so, you’ll choose 40A on the EVSE (4th row in your table).

 

Your vehicle charger is the LOAD passed through the Chargepoint connector. As @Nai3t said, the MAXimum continuous current it should be set to draw off a 50A rated circuit (as the electrician specified) is 80% or 40A.

 

 

That sticker is a simple yet really good idea

 

Your car will accept 48 amps and the Chargepoint Flex will output this but that would require a 60 amp circuit. As others have said you always set the EV Charger to 80% of the breaker. Now if your wire gauge won't carry the breaker load you'll need to adjust (you'll need to ask your electrician about this). We can help you if you let us know the type of wire used and the breaker load.

 

A 60A circuit would also be hardwired, not plug-in. To pretend we know more than his electrician, we’d need to know more than just wire gauge but also insulation temperature rating and whether the wire ran through the attic and has to be derated. We can assume the number of conductors isn’t greater than 3 but that’s also relevant.

 

Absolutely 👍🏻

 

To pretend we know more than his electrician...

100% agree, a qualified electrician ought to know best, but based on the opening post it sounded like a DIY job...

I'm going to install a ChargePoint Home Flex ... Already have the outlet installed and ready to go, so just doing the charger now.

That's interesting that Chargepoint has the owner set for the circuit rating, not the power amp limit – in theory this ought to avoid exactly this confusion. I'm a fan of just say what it is.

I suppose even my "dumb" Clipper Creek follows this convention: the 40A EVSE has "50" in the model number.

 

100% agree, a qualified electrician ought to know best, but based on the opening post it sounded like a DIY job...



That's interesting that Chargepoint has the owner set for the circuit rating, not the power amp limit – in theory this ought to avoid exactly this confusion. I'm a fan of just say what it is.

I suppose even my "dumb" Clipper Creek follows this convention: the 40A EVSE has "50" in the model number.

The ChargePoint Flex is adjustable for different supply ratings. There is no numerical model number that could accomplish this, hence the chart.

 

I have this installed in my home and I am on Xcel time of day plan. So really simple just look at the panel box and see what breaker is installed. If 50 amp then set that in the app since it will automatically set the EVSE to the correct setting. By that I mean it will actually be at 40 amps draw when the car is plugged in. Please check the actual outlet and make sure it is not one of those cheap ones and that you have a Hubble industrial one for the outlet. If not I suggest that you hard wire it. When I installed mine I spent the extra money for the high end receptacle since many reports have since shown that cheaper homedepot type receptacle cannot handle the load especially in warm weather situations.

 

Nice for you, but as titled/discussed the OP has a ChargePoint Flex and the appropriate amperage must be set via its App.

I agree that a quality end-to-end system of cable, breakers and receptacle is best. In my case electrical inspector certified to be assured of insurance coverage.

 

Sorry that this had already been discussed and I missed that. Thanks for moving it. It's very helpful either way!

 

Thanks to everyone who replied... very helpful and much appreciated. I had watched a youtube about set up and it confused me on this topic, but the app seems less confusing, and the great feedback here has me much more confident. Thank you all!

 

6-50 is preferrable so you don't have to run a neutral wire that isn't needed for a 240V EVSE. Most EVSEs give you the choice between 6-50 and 14-50.

It's against code to have a 14-50 outlet with only L1, L2 and Gnd hooked up, because someone could conceivably plug an oven/range into it expecting a neutral and needing 120V.

It seems a bit silly, but that's the rule.

 

Gotcha. Forgot where I was.

Mobile Connector

Stay charged on extended trips or when you need it most with Mobile Connector. Using a standard outlet, you can recharge up to 3 miles of range per hour with the NEMA 5-15 Adapter or up to 30 miles of range with the NEMA 14-50 Adapter depending on your vehicle. Includes: 1x Mobile Connector -...

shop.tesla.com

Edit to add: I see the VW mobile also uses 14-50:

2023 Volkswagen ID.4 2- in-1 mobile ev charge cable - 11A054410 - Genuine Volkswagen Accessory

Offering both 240V and 120V compatibility, the 2 – in-1 mobile EV Charge Cable is compact, and portable. When plugged into a 240V wall connector (NEMA 14-50 outlet), the charge cable is capable of Level 2 output to increase the speed of your vehicle charging. Slower 120V charging is also...

parts.vw.com

 

Edit to add: I see the VW mobile also uses 14-50:

I chose the Hubbell 14-50R for probably the same reason as VW's 14-50 choice. If you want to travel with the ChargePoint, or any portable unit, a 14-50R is the most common outlet at RV facilities for emergency charging when nothing else is available.

The Hubbell is the highest quality you can buy. But I had the experience that mine was miss-assembled and the ground contacts did not actually make contact with the ground lug of the plug. On the plus side the Hubbell unit is assembled with screws and can be field serviced to make the appropriate corrections. The downside is the ChargePoint unit only indicated the issue with a red light, requiring a call to "tech support" to only be told there was a "Ground Fault". It took me 3 months, 2 separate installations, 2 different ChargePoint EVSEs, consultations with electricians and power company reps, an added 8' ground rod connection to the power panel, and the purchase of another brand EVSE which finally correctly alarmed the actual problem was there was NO grounding connection (admittedly, one type of "Ground Fault").

 

The trouble with resistance testing is that 6 AWG wire loses only 0.04 Ω over 100 feet, which is impractical to measure with a consumer-grade multimeter in the field.

There's an electricians' trick to estimate the amount of Romex remaining on a spool using this same method, but for new, gauge 14 copper with no splices and at 2.5Ω over 1,000 ft., the technique is a bit more practical.

I'm not sure how an EVSE would be expected to accomplish this type of wiring diagnosis, especially since most EVSEs don't connect to the neutral. They are required to check for ground so nobody is electrocuted if there's stray voltage, but I'd guess the unit couldn't detect the difference between proper ground or neutral being used (incorrectly) for this purpose.

 

I'm not sure how an EVSE would be expected to accomplish this type of wiring diagnosis, especially since most EVSEs don't connect to the neutral. They are required to check for ground so nobody is electrocuted if there's stray voltage, but I'd guess the unit couldn't detect the difference between proper ground or neutral being used (incorrectly) for this purpose.

Exactly.

 

I'm going to install a ChargePoint Home Flex-NEMA 14-50, SKU: CPH50-NEMA14-50-L23. Already have the outlet installed and ready to go, so just doing the charger now. I'm a little confused by the below chart regarding how many amps to set the amps/app for. Is it the circuit rating or the max load? It advertises 37 mph, but it seems like I'm supposed to set it for 50 A circuit rating. Thanks in advance for any advice!


View attachment 30959

Max load can only be 80% of circuit rating. If you are using a 14-50 plug rather than hardwiring the charger, the plug is only rated at 50A thus a max load of 40A.

 

.... hence why ChargePoint, and most others, cite hardwire-only to achieve 48A throughput.

 

Re: receptacles vs. hardwire, this all goes back to the NEC as the source. I'll put the applicable sections in quotes because it's a long list, so click to expand. The very last one is the one that matters most.

625.44(A) Portable Equipment.
Portable equipment shall be connected to the premises wiring system by one or more of the following methods:

(1) A nonlocking, 2-pole, 3-wire grounding-type receptacle outlet rated at 125 volts, single phase, 15 or 20 amperes

(2) A nonlocking, 2-pole, 3-wire grounding-type receptacle outlet rated at 250 volts, single phase, 15 or 20 amperes

(3) A nonlocking, 2-pole, 3-wire or 3-pole, 4-wire grounding-type receptacle outlet rated at 250 volts, single phase, 30 or 50 amperes

(4) A nonlocking, 2-pole, 3-wire grounding-type receptacle outlet rated at 60 volts dc maximum, 15 or 20 amperes

625.44(B) Fastened-in-Place Equipment.
Equipment that is fastened in place shall be connected to the premises wiring system by one of the following methods:

(1) A nonlocking, 2-pole, 3-wire grounding-type receptacle outlet rated 125 volts or 250 volts, single phase, up to 50 amperes

(2) A nonlocking, 3-pole, 4-wire grounding-type receptacle outlet rated 250 volts, three phase, up to 50 amperes

(3) A nonlocking, 3-pole, 4-wire grounding-type receptacle outlet rated 250 volts, single phase, 30 or 50 amperes

(4) A nonlocking, 2-pole, 3-wire grounding-type receptacle outlet rated 60 volts dc maximum, 15 or 20 amperes

625.44(C) Fixed Equipment.
All other EVSE and WPTE shall be permanently wired and fixed in place to the supporting surface

 

As far as the ChargePoint Home Flex EVSE goes it can fit into each of the sections. In my mind if it has a plug it should be Portable (625.44(A)), if it is hung with one screw in the upper "keyhole slot" it is Fastened-in-Place (625.44(B)), and if the second screw in added it is Fixed (625.44(C)). I originally purchased mine for the portability aspect, but have since seen it as a Fixed unit (although it is easily unmounted to take with should I see fit - just not "grab and go"). Having a plug also allows me to easily change to another EVSE manufacturer without getting an electrician involved in the event that the CP unit become unusable.

 

I set mine to 32A because for overnight charging that’s plenty.