NEMA 6-20 (220V 20 amp) charging solution?

[richl025]

New owner, first time poster...

Just picked up my Lightning, and we are living in a rental house, so my ability to install a 50-amp circuit is limited... I'm currently using the Ford Mobile Charger on a 120 V outlet with the expected trickle of 3 miles of range per hour...

The house _does_ have 3 outlets near a garage door that are 220V 20 amp outlets (the NEMA 6-20 "T" style outlets)

Do any of you have experience with aftermarket chargers that occupy the "middle ground" between the 120V 20 amp and the 220V 50 amp options I have with the Ford Mobile Charger?

I'm asking my landlord if he'll go in 50/50 with me about installing a 50 amp circuit in the garage, but I'm not optimistic...

Thanks in advance!

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[Pioneer74]

My daughter moved to the other side of the state. There is a nice Electrify America station about 8 miles from her place, but I would rather the wife not have to deal with public charging when traveling by herself in her Mach-E.

Anyways, the kid had a dedicated 20A receptacle in her garage for a freezer. She wasn't going to buy one, so I converted it to a NEMA 6-20 receptacle and bought THIS 16A EVSE. It delivers about 3kW to the vehicle. I've only used it a couple of times but it worked OK for me.

 

[cdherman]

Actually, I believe there is a way to a) tell your Lightning to pull only 16A, or b) tell the mobile charger to pull only 16A. Any number of cheap 32A portable chargers on amazon offer the ability to de-rate to whatever Amps you have available, but I don't think you need to do that.

 

[Amps]

Actually, I believe there is a way to a) tell your Lightning to pull only 16A, or b) tell the mobile charger to pull only 16A. Any number of cheap 32A portable chargers on amazon offer the ability to de-rate to whatever Amps you have available, but I don't think you need to do that.

a) no way to tell truck to request less than 80A
b) Ford Mobile is not adjustable. This is a great place to save $500 when you buy the truck.
c) cheap portable, adjustable EVSE abound. You need to get an adjustable one if its maximum offered amperage is over 16A to use a 6-20 receptacle.

Here's one that works well at max 16A and may surprise OP at how much charging you can do overnight with a 20A circuit pulling about 3.8 kW. It all depends on how many miles you need every day.

https://www.costco.com/axfast-level-2-portable-electric-vehicle-charger.product.100489580.html

Amazon sells these and many other similar. Costco's has the NEMA 10-30 adapter thrown in, all have the Level 1 adapter.

 

[hturnerfamily]

my Wife's KIA SORENTO PHEV is using a 240v 20amp EVSE, which uses approximately 16amps at 240v... they can easily be found online, amazon, walmart.com, etc.

this would work just fine for any EV, the LIGHTNING included...

of course, these make use of the special 20amp 3-prong male plug, where one of the prongs is rotated 90degrees...

 

[cdherman]

a) no way to tell truck to request less than 80A
b) Ford Mobile is not adjustable. This is a great place to save $500 when you buy the truck.
c) cheap portable, adjustable EVSE abound. You need to get an adjustable one if its maximum offered amperage is over 16A to use a 6-20 receptacle.

Here's one that works well at max 16A and may surprise OP at how much charging you can do overnight with a 20A circuit pulling about 3.8 kW. It all depends on how many miles you need every day.

https://www.costco.com/axfast-level-2-portable-electric-vehicle-charger.product.100489580.html

Amazon sells these and many other similar. Costco's has the NEMA 10-30 adapter thrown in, all have the Level 1 adapter.

This is really sad, if true. Just about every other manufacturer allows you to set the charging amperage max from inside the vehicle. Why? Well this thread is why. Because not everyone has access to a 40A service WHEN TRAVELING!!!! Reminds me why I deleted the Ford Mobile charger (as suggested, but for other reasons).

My lowly RAV4 Prime allows everything from 8A to 32A (in the XLE, my 2022 SE maxes out at 16 regardless). But the point is, you tell the vehicle what kind of service you have found.

Seriously Ford?

BTW, I picked up a 16A 240v Vevor for $80 off amazon this spring. Some sort of deal, as they went to $100 shortly thereafter. Now $120. It works fine. I have several other Vevor products that are decent. Chinese copycats, but good copiers.

$120 16A 240V EVSE

For $40 more you can step up to a 32A unit. It can be programed manually or with the app for everything from 16 to 32A. Don't own that one, so cannot vouch for its abilities.

 

[Maquis]

If you make up an adapter cord to go from the 6-20 to a 5-15 receptacle, the Ford Mobile Charger will charge at 12A, 240V, or about 2.5 KW. You’ll double the current charge rate. Just don’t use the adapter for anything else or you‘ll let the magic smoke out of what you connect to it.

Disclaimer: people on the Mach-E forum have done this successfully, but if there have been any subtle changes to the FMC since it was fitted to the Lightning, it may or may not work. Attempt carefully at your own risk!

 

[JL13]

New owner, first time poster...

Just picked up my Lightning, and we are living in a rental house, so my ability to install a 50-amp circuit is limited... I'm currently using the Ford Mobile Charger on a 120 V outlet with the expected trickle of 3 miles of range per hour...

The house _does_ have 3 outlets near a garage door that are 220V 20 amp outlets (the NEMA 6-20 "T" style outlets)

Do any of you have experience with aftermarket chargers that occupy the "middle ground" between the 120V 20 amp and the 220V 50 amp options I have with the Ford Mobile Charger?

I'm asking my landlord if he'll go in 50/50 with me about installing a 50 amp circuit in the garage, but I'm not optimistic...

Thanks in advance!

I recently bought a SHOCKFLO mobile charger on Amazon that lets you adjust the current limit (16, 20, 24, 32, or 40 amps under 240V) to match your home's circuit.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BR5BVZHH/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

Here is short review about the SHOCKFLO 40 amps model :


I hope that this unit can be of some help in your EV charging situation. Good luck!

 

[hturnerfamily]

If you make up an adapter cord to go from the 6-20 to a 5-15 receptacle, the Ford Mobile Charger will charge at 12A, 240V, or about 2.5 KW. You’ll double the current charge rate. Just don’t use the adapter for anything else or you‘ll let the magic smoke out of what you connect to it.

Disclaimer: people on the Mach-E forum have done this successfully, but if there have been any subtle changes to the FMC since it was fitted to the Lightning, it may or may not work. Attempt carefully at your own risk!

both of my youngest son's BOLT EVSE charger modules will do the same.... if you want 240v rather than 120v, and you have the correct adapter... TWICE the speed, and with the Bolts, the vehicle center screen allows you to switch from 8amps to 12amps... so, with 240v power, you'd get equal to '24amps' of 120v power... that's twice the 12amp option, or 3 times the 8amp speed.

 

[hturnerfamily]

I recently bought a SHOCKFLO mobile charger on Amazon that lets you adjust the current limit (16, 20, 24, 32, or 40 amps under 240V) to match your home's circuit.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BR5BVZHH/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

Here is short review about the SHOCKFLO 40 amps model :


I hope that this unit can be of some help in your EV charging situation. Good luck!

the OP states that he has access to only the 20amp 240v type outlets... you are referring to a NEMA 14-50 outlet EVSE.

 

[Maquis]

both of my youngest son's BOLT EVSE charger modules will do the same.... if you want 240v rather than 120v, and you have the correct adapter... TWICE the speed, and with the Bolts, the vehicle center screen allows you to switch from 8amps to 12amps... so, with 240v power, you'd get equal to '24amps' of 120v power... that's twice the 12amp option, or 3 times the 8amp speed.

That’s a nice, compact adapter. I wonder if those are sold somewhere?

 

[Amps]

the OP states that he has access to only the 20amp 240v type outlets... you are referring to a NEMA 14-50 outlet EVSE.

This works well. Be sure to label it "FOR EV CHARGING ONLY":

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GZBZCYS/

 

[djwildstar]

I bit the bullet and got a J+ Booster2 EVSE. It has an optional 6-20 adapter, so it will plug into the 240V 20A plug and correctly set the maximum charging power to 16A (3.84kW). This is also a good adapter for camping and road trips, since it is weatherproof (IP67) and allows you to manually set the charging current. This lets you use it with a wide variety of adapters so you can charge from 20A, 30A, and 50A plugs.

You can also get a 6-20 plug for the Tesla Mobile Connector. That plus a TeslaTap or equivalent will also let you charge. It’s less useful for camping since unlike the Booster2, it isn’t weatherproof or waterproof.

 

[BSull]

This works well. Be sure to label it "FOR EV CHARGING ONLY":

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GZBZCYS/

I don't have a 14-50 socket in my garage but I do have a 6-20 for my compressor, I bought this adapter and the VEVOR 32 amp EVSE. It has adjustable output of 10/16/20/24/32A. It worked great at 16 and 20A (circuit is 25A). FCSP is now installed so this will become my frunk traveling EVSE.

 

[Lytning]

I always look for UL or ETL listings on electrical products. Some of the products mentioned here do not claim any such electrical safety listings in their descriptions.

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