J1772 Extension Cable

[chrislittle]

Has anyone had experience using J1772 extension cables? how was the experience? I have a Mustang Mach-E & will have an F150 Lightning Pro soon. My F150 won't fit in our garage so I wanted to leverage my existing Ford Connected Charge Station and pass an extension cable via a pass-through (Cable Hatch) to the outside to charge my truck when required (2 times per week max). This would allow me to keep a single charge station for both vehicles (no issue based on my schedule) and reach the truck external to the garage as the existing cable is only 20ft. I noticed some cables max out at 40A which is still acceptable for my use, however, I'm soliciting feedback as I truly wonder if this is a wise idea (i.e. perhaps quality of cables are poor).

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[jefro]

The people on the Bolt forums have used them due to the Bolt fire issue. Some chargers have limits on length and most say to connect cable then attempt to charge. All of them have a current rating, if not then don't buy it. Not sure it should be much more than a temporary use device. Better to move line voltage supply. I had to move my evse to change from i3 to Bolt. Pretty easy DIY.

If you don't drive much it might be possible to use one on 120VAC charger?

 

[VTbuckeye]

One evse in my garage is setup to charge inside or outside (there was an existing cut in the bottom gasket on the door). It will easily do front right or left rear right inside and front right outside without blocking the garage. Evse is on the right wall near the back of the car. Other garage bay can do anything on the left side of the car and it can reach outside if necessary. It is easy to move the evse to a new location in the unfinished garage if needed.

 

[vandy1981]

I have a 40 foot Lectron extension cable that I take on road trips as an insurance policy against level 2 ICEing.

Lectron is more expensive but I wanted the peace of mind that UL listing* offered.

Edit: the cable uses UL-listed parts but the cable itself isn't UL listed. Lectron is one of the EV suppliers that's been around the longest and seems more reputable than the random supplier cables available on Amazon.

 

[shutterbug]

I have a 40 foot Lectron extension cable that I take on road trips as an insurance policy against level 2 ICEing.

Lectron is more expensive but I wanted the peace of mind that UL listing offered.

Are you sure? I was under impression that none of J1772 extension cables were eligible for UL listing.

 

[rdr854]

I have a 40 foot Lectron extension cable that I take on road trips as an insurance policy against level 2 ICEing.

Lectron is more expensive but I wanted the peace of mind that UL listing offered.

Will we be able to use the Lectron Tesla to J1772 adapter?

 

[rdr854]

I have a 40 foot Lectron extension cable that I take on road trips as an insurance policy against level 2 ICEing.

Lectron is more expensive but I wanted the peace of mind that UL listing offered.

Where would you use the 40 foot cable when you are on the road?

 

[vandy1981]

Are you sure? I was under impression that none of J1772 extension cables were eligible for UL listing.

I was wrong. The Lectron uses UL-listed parts, which is very different than UL listing for the entire product. I updated the post to reflect that.

 

[vandy1981]

Where would you use the 40 foot cable when you are on the road?

I've used it at my parent's home which doesn't have an easily accessible 240v outlet to extend the reach of my EVSE.

It would also come in handy if I was planning on charging overnight at a hotel with an ICE'd level 2 charger. Haven't had to use it yet, but it's nice to have it as a backup.

I also have the Lectron adapter that lets me use the Tesla destination chargers. It should work well with the Lightning since it has a standard J1772 port.

 

[rdr854]

I was wrong. The Lectron uses UL-listed parts, which is very different than UL listing for the entire product. I updated the post to reflect that.

Does anyone make a UL listed adapter? Have to keep my engineer wife happy!

 

[chrislittle]

Thank you for the many replies. Based on the feedback I think its probably worth the extra money to relocate my existing Ford Connected Charge Station to a different part of the garage, pairing that with a cable hatch to the outside. This avoids any component that isn't UL listed & allows me to push the full 48A that I have today to my vehicles. My local installer for EV stations also indicated this is the more ideal path and gets me the outcome I want (internal & external charging options)

 

[RickLightning]

As a note, many charging stations aren't UL listed.

Nor is the TeslaTap that many use.

 

[Amps]

I also have the Lectron adapter that lets me use the Tesla destination chargers. It should work well with the Lightning since it has a standard J1772 port.

I have a Lectron 40 Amp, also. Beware Tesla Generation 2 Wall Connectors that can deliver the full 80 Amps that Lightning will be requesting. I had a brief email back and forth with Lectron about their 40 Amp rating. I pointed out that it is very common that hard-wired Wall Connectors are delivering 48 Amps. A year ago, they had no plans to introduce a product with a higher rating.

This would all be moot if the vehicle can be set to limit its AC charging. ID.4 has a setting, but it sets charging at a single low charging rate. (ID.4 has 48 Amp AC charging.) Ideally, the setting would be adjustable. I understand manufacturer thinking on this–"There will be fires."

 

[vandy1981]

I have a Lectron 40 Amp, also. Beware Tesla Generation 2 Wall Connectors that can deliver the full 80 Amps that Lightning will be requesting.

That's an excellent and very important point. Overloading the cable hasn't been a possibility for me until now--my garage EVSEs are limited to 40 amps and my current EV's on-board charger can't draw more than 32 amps.

I should be fine charging with an extension cord at at home with the Lightning and my existing EVSE, but I could run into trouble if I use it with on the road since the Lightning can draw up to 80 amps.

 

[Maquis]

I have a Lectron 40 Amp, also. Beware Tesla Generation 2 Wall Connectors that can deliver the full 80 Amps that Lightning will be requesting. I had a brief email back and forth with Lectron about their 40 Amp rating. I pointed out that it is very common that hard-wired Wall Connectors are delivering 48 Amps. A year ago, they had no plans to introduce a product with a higher rating.

This would all be moot if the vehicle can be set to limit its AC charging. ID.4 has a setting, but it sets charging at a single low charging rate. (ID.4 has 48 Amp AC charging.) Ideally, the setting would be adjustable. I understand manufacturer thinking on this–"There will be fires."

I believe the gen 2s could be throttled down via the app. You’d have make sure it was set back whenever using the extension.
No difference if the limit is set in the vehicle vs the EVSE.

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