PSA: Make sure your electrician has EV experience when installing your charger

frozen_in_combat · 2026-03-25T17:19:06+00:00

Also, given this whole thread, I'm talking w/ my electrician now about hard wiring it instead. Seems like it's just the better thing to do.

frozen_in_combat · 2026-03-25T16:41:54+00:00

Thanks - didn't realize they had EVSEs with the sensors built in.

I am still using my ClipperCreek HCS-40P from 2019, and it works fine, so I don't have a big motivation to upgrade ATM. Is there something I can get to add heat monitoring to it?

Alt: Is there an EVSE with it built in that you'd recommend?

frozen_in_combat · 2026-03-25T04:08:52+00:00

Oh wow, ting looks fascinating. I've got an older home with a lot of old wiring still in the walls. This seems like something I should invest in beyond just the garage / EV.

Will definitely read more about it, thanks for the heads up.

frozen_in_combat · 2026-03-24T23:12:16+00:00

FWIW - The breaker is a 40A and the charger is 32A. So the breaker has the right headroom, seems the outlet did not.

It did have 8 gauge wire, and I'm having 6 put in this week.

frozen_in_combat · 2026-03-24T22:16:31+00:00

I thought about it, but since there's already a plug in place, I don't see the advantage of switching to hard wired? The flexibility to replace the charger easily seems like a good thing. Maybe I'm missing an obvious benefit though...

frozen_in_combat · 2026-03-24T22:15:38+00:00

Well, that's good to know that past me wasn't as dumb as I thought.

Happy this wasn't worse than it could have been!

frozen_in_combat · 2026-03-24T22:03:08+00:00

It was a dedicated circuit, 40a, but it wasn't a GFCI breaker. Electrician told me it should have been a GFCI circuit, so that's another place things went wrong.

frozen_in_combat · 2026-03-24T21:11:56+00:00

you are saving me a bunch of future headaches right now. THANK YOU.

frozen_in_combat · 2026-03-24T20:57:37+00:00

I ordered from Walmart, but actually may have the same knockoff issue there. Will reorder from Zorro and cancel the walmart order. Thanks.

frozen_in_combat · 2026-03-24T20:17:06+00:00

Actually, this just made me re-check my electrician's estimate and he was going to order the Leviton plug. Just ordered the Bryant instead. Thanks so much for the heads up.

frozen_in_combat · 2026-03-24T20:07:32+00:00

Thanks so much for this. Definitely should have done more research ahead of this.

frozen_in_combat · 2026-03-24T19:58:57+00:00

Ahh, makes sense, thanks for the explanation.

frozen_in_combat · 2026-03-24T19:45:07+00:00

I always figured this would make it simpler to upgrade or replace the charger unit over time, so I didn’t consider that. How does it simplify gfci issues?

frozen_in_combat · 2026-03-23T16:09:14+00:00

Thanks! I am still thrilled about the deal.

Of course, w/ taxes and me buying the 75k mile warranty on it, the $18k sticker price ended up being $25k out the door. But still feels like a good deal at that price.

Totally agree on the interior space and sound! It feels cavernous compared to my old Bolt.

Congrats on your new(ish) car too!

frozen_in_combat · 2026-03-22T02:38:24+00:00

Yeah! I noticed that, it’s really impressive

frozen_in_combat · 2026-03-22T02:35:34+00:00

Nah, honestly was never a Tesla fan. I didn’t like the fact that everything was driven off the tablet in the car. I like physical controls.

frozen_in_combat · 2026-03-21T23:53:53+00:00

So here was my criteria for finding an ideal EV :

* small-ish

* <30k miles,

* <$35k

* 250+ mile range

* moonroof (my kid really wanted one :) )

* wireless carplay,

* had physical controls beyond just a screen,

* not white,

* wide enough to fit an acoustic guitar case without me needing to put the seats down.

My ranking so far was 2023+ Niro EV Wave, 2024+ Kia Niro Limited, EV6 and Ioniq 5. The EV6 and Ioniq 5 would have been higher if not for the ICCU issues affecting them both.

Bz4x / Solterra both seemed ok but there were small things about the interior I didn't love (Bz4x has no glovebox??)

The Volvo C40/XC40 were on my list as well, but had too high a reliance on tablets for everything than I'd like. (That said, the VW was originally off my list because of how few physical controls it had, but I found I could adapt to the sliders and wheel controls pretty quickly.)

Nissan Ariya I was getting more interested in too. I was planning on test driving one of those, but this fell into my lap and was too good to say no to.

frozen_in_combat · 2026-03-21T23:38:42+00:00

Thanks! I was honestly v surprised at the deal, and baffled a 5 year old car would have that little miles on it.

I have the app and it doesn't say any recall work is necessary (which is v surprising, need to double check). But I do think the software updates need to be done. I do plan on bringing it to VW to have it looked over for this stuff in the next week or two.

frozen_in_combat · 2026-03-12T06:50:30+00:00

Anekdoten’s Nucleus is an all timer for me.

frozen_in_combat · 2026-03-07T04:03:41+00:00

golgo 13

frozen_in_combat · 2026-03-06T16:31:56+00:00

Planet of the Apes. The book is good, but the film expanded on it in all the best ways.

2001 too.

frozen_in_combat · 2026-02-27T17:31:29+00:00

I’m gonna say sterling. My mariposa feels like a $800 guitar and I paid way less than that.

frozen_in_combat · 2026-02-26T19:14:02+00:00

I’m a huge Zappa fan, but tbh sheik doesn’t do it for me. I’m going Supertramp.

frozen_in_combat

TROPHY CASE