Every receptacle is a potential charging station...

[SpaceEVDriver]

On yet another road trip. I didn’t have a choice of hotels this time, so I couldn’t choose one with an L2 charger. No big deal, I figured I’d just charge before I hit the road home.

When I pulled into the parking spot near my room, I noticed that there was a bank of 120V receptacles along the wall. I decided to ask if I could plug in the truck. The desk manager called the owner and the owner said that was fine.

So here we are. I’m here for 34-ish hours and am unlikely to drive anywhere during that time. That translates to about 37 kWh of charge, or 28%. Some people would refuse to charge because it’s “not fast enough.” But 37 kWh is 37 kWh, and my truck doesn’t care if it sips it or gulps it.

Note: I run the extension cord into the frunk where the mobile charger is hidden. I run the J1772 plug out from the LVB panel and through the wheel well so the EVSE isn’t visible to passersby.

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[Rlevans]

Good thinking with the charger cable routing.
I charge on 110 at work all the time to top off before a trip. Any little bit helps save $

 

[RickLightning]

While worth it for a 34 hour stay, not worth it for an arrival at 10pm and a departure 10 hours later, especially when you might blow the circuit if anything else is on it.

 

[MountainAlive]

My first year of ownership was entirely level 1 at home (level 2 at work). So I concur we shouldn’t forget about level 1 as an option, especially when traveling. That’s an interesting solution to hide the EVSE in the frunk. Never would have thought of that.

 

[Grumpy2]

I run the J1772 plug out from the LVB panel and through the wheel well so the EVSE isn’t visible to passersby.

I would not have guessed you could easily push the plug through easily from the LVB access port.

 

[Madtroniks]

Very good idea and its always nice to be able to avoid an expensive level 3 charger on the go.

I even brought my Tesla / NACS to J-1772 adapter to charge while parked but the cruise parking I went to ran out of level 2 spots. They were able to position me close to a regular outlet.

This allowed me to charge the whole week while on vacation and return back to a full charge.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I would not have guessed you could easily push the plug through easily from the LVB access port.

Don't even have to push. It drops right through. Just have to pass it toward the driver seat and it slips right down between the firewall fabric to the wheel.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

While worth it for a 34 hour stay, not worth it for an arrival at 10pm and a departure 10 hours later, especially when you might blow the circuit if anything else is on it.

If it's the only solution, 13 kWh is still 13 kWh more than 0 kWh. It took five minutes to get permission and two minutes to plug in. But you do you.

 

[SunPowered]

Thanks to this thread am going to explore the cable pass through route at the wheel well as shown in pic, to see if the path is conveniently accessible. (Was totally unaware of such a possibility.). If it is, will begin carrying a 12 gauge extension cable and piece of rolled up rubber mat to lie over the cable for safety across any pedestrian path, should this opportunity to siphon a free 3mph from a nearby outlet ever randomly present itself. Placement through the frunk is a great idea!

 

[Calvin H-C]

So many pooh-pooh L1 charging it is incredible. Every little bit helps, especially if it is available for free.

Yea, it's less efficient, and yea, it won't precondition your battery, but it's still energy.

My father passed away this month, and since the beginning of the year, I've spent a lot of time at his place and have left the L1 mobile charger from my FFE there so that we could plug in either vehicle while there. Sometimes it would only be two hours, sometimes more than six.

I have a cousin that has TWO EVs and only ONE 120-volt outlet in the garage, and they've been fine with that for over a year. They are looking into getting a device that allows a 24A L2 charger to share the clothes dryer circuit by automatically disconnecting the charger when the dryer is turned on, but it's not been an urgent need so far.

For most people, their weekday driving habits can be completely charged using L1 if they have access to an outlet at home and at work. For a workplace, it costs about $1000 and 7 kW of panel capacity to add an L2 unit, though there are units that can share the circuit by limiting each. For the same $1000 and panel capacity, SIX regular outlets can be installed each on their own circuit for simultaneous use.

 

[Ragman]

EVs should come with a built in level 1 hardwired that is just a 120 plug - the old school block heater cord out the front.

Waste of space lugging the level 2 around in frunk as emergency cord

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

So many pooh-pooh L1 charging it is incredible. Every little bit helps, especially if it is available for free.

Yea, it's less efficient, and yea, it won't precondition your battery, but it's still energy.

My father passed away this month, and since the beginning of the year, I've spent a lot of time at his place and have left the L1 mobile charger from my FFE there so that we could plug in either vehicle while there. Sometimes it would only be two hours, sometimes more than six.

I have a cousin that has TWO EVs and only ONE 120-volt outlet in the garage, and they've been fine with that for over a year. They are looking into getting a device that allows a 24A L2 charger to share the clothes dryer circuit by automatically disconnecting the charger when the dryer is turned on, but it's not been an urgent need so far.

For most people, their weekday driving habits can be completely charged using L1 if they have access to an outlet at home and at work. For a workplace, it costs about $1000 and 7 kW of panel capacity to add an L2 unit, though there are units that can share the circuit by limiting each. For the same $1000 and panel capacity, SIX regular outlets can be installed each on their own circuit for simultaneous use.

May your father's memory be a comfort.

I do the same when I visit my aunt. She has a Bolt EUV in her garage that I drive when I'm there. The Lightning doesn't fit in the garage, but I can park the truck in the driveway and plug in the L1. If I'm there for a week, the truck gets back up to 100% pretty easily, even running a few errands in it.

We spent a good 18 months on L1 only before I got around to installing my L2 after we moved.

 

[CD4TNF]

The hiding the charger in the trunk is clever. I ran into a apartment dwelling EV owner who didn't feel comfortable charging their BlazerEV with level 1 charging because of the fear of someone stealing the charger.


Good use of parked time. I like the opportunistic charge. Definitely going to toss the 12gauge extension cord in the truck when I do road trips.


Did you downrate the level 1 charger so it wouldn't pop the circuit breaker? Or where you pulling the full 12 amps? That's my worry of doing something like this. Popping the breaker and being a bother.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Good use of parked time. I like the opportunistic charge.

Did you downrate the level 1 charger so it wouldn't pop the circuit breaker? Or where you pulling the full 12 amps? That's my worry of doing something like this. Popping the breaker and being a bother.

The EVSEs I have aren't adjustable. I agree that it can be a nuisance to trip the breakers. Nothing has tripped after 9.5 hours.

I do wish the truck allowed us to set max charge amps. I would set it to 10A. But it's pulling less than 1.2 kVA anyway, for whatever reason.

 

[ka-chow]

So very sorry for your loss Calvin.

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