30A vs. 40A charger

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o1owest

New member
Joined
Aug 22, 2013
Messages
2
Hello all,
Can someone tell me how long it will take to charge Rav in normal mode with 30A EVSE?
Want to make sure I can fully charge it during 6 hour super low peak hours.

Also 40A EVSE worth more money?

Thank you.
 
My Rav charges in less than 5 hours with the 30A. No need to go to 40 unless you need to charge on quick notice during the day.
 
If you took your battery all the way down to empty it would take you just a few minutes over 6 hours to charge @ 240V and 30A. Your voltage is probably a little bit less than 240V while charging though, but on the other hand you'll probably almost never actually take it all the way to empty. So you should have no problems at 30A except perhaps for the occasional extended charge. The real difficulty with charging in the super off peak window is getting your Rav to charge when you want it to, which is the reason I created RavCharge.

That said, you needn't pay much (or anything) more for a 40A-capable EVSE. Here's a good deal on one right now. Other low-budget options are openEVSE or Juicebox. The only reason I'd suggest anyone get a 30A EVSE is if they're plugging it into an already-installed 40A circuit. If you have to install a new circuit anyway, make it 50 or 60A (at least) and go ahead and get a full-power EVSE.
 
Turtle to normal took about 6 hours on mine with 30 amp Schneider. Timer starts a bit early. I set departure one hour after TOU cut off and works fine most days. May need to delay the programmed departure time by an additional 1 to 2 hours if you get into the bottom 1/3 of the battery. Or there is an app around to have better control.
 
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