Thanks for the comment Bradford. Since the installation of this EV charger for the Chevy Bolt we now use the car charger for a Pacifica Hybrid as well. Works great to charge both vehicles.
I am jealous of the circuit breakers in the garage. :-) Mine is in the basement, but at least it is a fairly modern home with the wiring cutouts already present in the support joists. Thanks for making this video available.
A little tip for anyone installing a hardwired EV charger next to a circuit breaker box - get an AC whip. They come in 8 gauge, with flexible conduit and fittings already attached. You can also trim to size as needed. They're usually cheaper than buying the conduit, fittings and wire separately. This is only good for 32 amp chargers on 40 amp circuits, however. If you have a 40 amp charger or higher you'd need six gauge which isn't available as a whip as far as I know.
6:30 You should have used a wire clamp combination connector to run the wire through. And I hate to crap on tutorials but it would have been so much cleaner if you had just drilled through a stud and made it all in-wall.
The only charging amperage that matters with respect to the battery health is the frequency of DC Fast Charging. The 32 Amps at 240 Volts that home Level 2 chargers get you is nowhere near the charging speed that would endanger the battery health. Thanks for the video, my Level 2 charger is going in tomorrow!
Thanks for your insight regarding the lower amperage charging. I have also heard that the Bolt is designed to limit the DC fast charging amperage for battery health reasons and that some feel it is too conservative. That being said I can see how worrying about charging at 32 amps seems a bit silly.
Thanx for that vid. I'm not going to scroll down to read the comments from people telling you what you did wrong. This is the internet. ;-) That said, thanx for the comments about using an electrician! Good recommendation. When I got my EVSE, I read all about installing and watched the vids. Got all the parts. My run was almost exactly as short as yours, so I figured, why not. Cut the power. Opened the panel. Stared at it for a bit... Then closed it up and called an electrician. :-) Oh well. Great vid, and nice car. Have the 17 Cajun Red Bolt myself. You can crank you amperage up. L2 speeds are slow enough, you should be good for the Bolt. They probably give you that option if you can't run a full 40A circuit at your location for some reason (not enough power left, too long a run, etc).
Thank you D Fran. I just wanted to share how I installed this EV charger and generally explain the process. I was hoping it might help some viewers get a better idea of what is involved.
Thanks Steve, it is an awesome car. It is super cool not having to stop for fuel. We have been spoiled and now loath refueling when driving ICE cars. HAHA Safe driving and wishing you many happy miles with your Bolt.
Never, never put loose electrical wires inside a wall without proper conduit or shielding. This install would never have met the electrical code, no matter where it was installed.
Thanks for the EV car charger installation tip. Yes loose wires should be in conduit. The point of this video was just to show an overview of how electric vehicle charger might be installed. Every charger installation will be unique.
I agree. Running individual conductors inside a wall without a rated jacket or inside conduit/flex is a code violation. Even if it's only a few feet. If there were a garage fire the insurance company could use this as an excuse to not pay. I am an Electrician. Also using plastic flex fittings are the cheapest but isn't a good idea for longevity and durability.
Hello Tony and Mrkistel. I Installed my ev2 charger just like shin in the video but I’m still concerned about the cable behind the wall without conduit. Is this still applicable? It’s necessary to use Romex to the box?
Hi Joe, Low amperage (up to the max per battery design) does not have a major effect on battery life. The most impact for the number of cycles you can get out of it are: min/max state of charge and pack temperature. Clear example of these two in action are the Gen 1 Nissan Leaf Batteries who despite having limited energy/range do not have an active thermal protection system and allow full charge/discharge. Chevy's EVs protect against this by 1) not allowing a state of charge below 20% or above 80% on the Volt (a little more for the Bolt) and 2) actively controlling the temperature of the pack (Dexron fluid anyone?). What a high amperage gives you is increased energy efficiency and less wear for the battery components (plus more miles faster!) :)
Thanks for the insight. Another quick question then. Would you recommend "topping off charging" after short commutes or make several short commutes to drain the battery a substantial amount before charging for a longer duration?
@@MrKistel - Actually, you needn't worry too much about charging EVs with what is essentially a trickle charge in residential applications. It won't hurt to maintain the battery at a set percentage, nor will it hurt to wait awhile before you charge. Do be wary of charging the battery too high or too low. Try to keep the charge between 20 percent and 80 percent. This will give you the most longevity.
Hi, I just bought a Volt and will be picking it up today. It is a 2017. I am unclear about all these charger units. The Volt from my understanding will use a maximum of 240 Volts and 16 Amps. Therefore a simple $ 200 dollar charger cable and a NEMO 6-20 plug at 20 AMPs would suffice, wouldn't it? I understand that if you are paying an electrician many people want the 40 AMP wire and hook-up to future proof there set-up but with 40 AMPS or 32 AMPS the volt will only draw its maximum of 16 AMPS. Installing a NEMO 6-20 only would cost me $ 275.00 including material and the electrician said no EV Charger City Inspection is required since this is a standard plug for tools or other things. The cost of a 16 AMP charger on e-bay is between 200-250.00. Am I missing something here? Please comment.
Peter, thanks for commenting and congratulations on your 2017 Volt purchase. I am not familiar with the Volt charging specifications but would rely on the electricians input as he/she should know what is required on the house electrical end. One note of caution: if the charger were to draw 16 amps you would want to draw off a 20 amp isolated circuit. Many home outlets are wired with 15amp circuits so modifying an existing outlet on a 15 amp circuit would not be wise. In addition to a 20 amp breaker the circuit should have appropriate size wire (likely 12 gauge for modest wire lengths). Best of luck, please let me know what you decide to install to charge your new electric car.
For this particular EV charger the 40 AMP breaker was preferred. A 50 amp breaker would functionally work however it might not meet local building code approval. There is some risk if running thinner wire on larger amperage breakers. The wire could potentially melt , spark, and create a fire risk before the larger amperage breaker would trip. I would use the recommended breaker the electric car charger manufacturer suggest as well as the recommended size wire.
Bruh you have to put a connector on the end by charger you can't just Jam the liquid tight in the thing also you can't bury the thhn in the wall it's made to go in a conduit
Why didn't you just add the 240 plug and add wires from base to 240 and plug it in... Then if you move it could attract some EV owners since it's ready to go.
The charger that comes with the Chevy Bolt is stated to be compatible with a 240 volt source input, however it charges at a reduced amp rate than the 32 amps capable when using a dedicated 240 volt charger similar to the EV charger shown installed in the video.
I did exactly this setup before I bought a level 2. It worked but plugging the level 1 charger into my dryer outlet only gave me 12 miles per hour of charge. My siemens versicharge at 240V puts 25 miles per hour or double my old setup. Be careful plugging a level 1 charger into 240v as it only works on certain models, plug in the wrong one and you'll toast it.
Multiple code violations. You shouldn’t post a video if you don’t know what you’re doing. You could burn your house down or electrocute yourself or a future homeowner. INCLUDING CHILDREN. TOTALLY IRRESPONSIBLE.
internetpolification Noseygoò Running wire through a wall without conduit, improperly attaching wire without clamps, some communities REQUIRE a licensed inspector to check the work. Anytime you install a car charger more than 3 or 4 feet from the panel there should be an emergency cut off box like the type you would see on an exterior A/C condensing unit.
Wow this guy has so many mistakes I can’t list them all how many people are going to do this and have their house burned down if I were you buddy I’ll take this video down it’s a horrible demonstration read the other comments or maybe you can’t handle the truth
It would cost a fortune in wire for me to install a charger; my breaker panel is at the opposite end of the house in my bedroom closet. I would have to use my clothes dryer outlet which is closest to the garage.
Ya the heavy gauge wire is pricey. Hope you are able to run your electric car charger where you would like to. Keep me posted with what you decide. thanks
DAM8658 you can put an outlet next to it using the dryer circuit so u don’t have to unplug every time. Just don’t use the dryer and charger at the same time or it will trip. And yes I’m an electrical contractor.
In this scenario it makes no difference how long the run is there's no way in h*** you're going get voltage drop lol, amperage is what will decide wire gauge
Thomas J - If there is no current passing thru the wires, then you are right - there will be no voltage drop. As soon as current starts flowing, there will be a voltage drop from the panel to the charger, although likely not significant on shorter, standard residential cable runs. One does need to consider voltage drop on very long cable runs, however.
Thanks a ton for taking the time to make this video! Great angles and editing.
Awesome! Thanks for commenting and sharing your appreciation.
Nice demonstration of roughly what an electrician will do when installing a Bolt charger in my house - thanks!
Thanks for the comment Bradford. Since the installation of this EV charger for the Chevy Bolt we now use the car charger for a Pacifica Hybrid as well. Works great to charge both vehicles.
I am jealous of the circuit breakers in the garage. :-) Mine is in the basement, but at least it is a fairly modern home with the wiring cutouts already present in the support joists. Thanks for making this video available.
Thank you for the kind comment. That is nice that you already have cutouts present.
Nice looking Bolt EV
Great explanation, I might use 6 gauge wire as I have a long run from my panel.
Lol Doesn't matter how far you are from the panel whatsoever
Holy Electrical Code Violations Batman! 😳 ⚡️🔥
A little tip for anyone installing a hardwired EV charger next to a circuit breaker box - get an AC whip. They come in 8 gauge, with flexible conduit and fittings already attached. You can also trim to size as needed. They're usually cheaper than buying the conduit, fittings and wire separately. This is only good for 32 amp chargers on 40 amp circuits, however. If you have a 40 amp charger or higher you'd need six gauge which isn't available as a whip as far as I know.
Thanks for sharing
Great instructional video and easy to follow. Thank you!
Thanks for watching the EV charger install video.
6:30 You should have used a wire clamp combination connector to run the wire through.
And I hate to crap on tutorials but it would have been so much cleaner if you had just drilled through a stud and made it all in-wall.
Good tip!
The only charging amperage that matters with respect to the battery health is the frequency of DC Fast Charging. The 32 Amps at 240 Volts that home Level 2 chargers get you is nowhere near the charging speed that would endanger the battery health. Thanks for the video, my Level 2 charger is going in tomorrow!
Thanks for your insight regarding the lower amperage charging. I have also heard that the Bolt is designed to limit the DC fast charging amperage for battery health reasons and that some feel it is too conservative. That being said I can see how worrying about charging at 32 amps seems a bit silly.
Thanx for that vid. I'm not going to scroll down to read the comments from people telling you what you did wrong. This is the internet. ;-) That said, thanx for the comments about using an electrician! Good recommendation. When I got my EVSE, I read all about installing and watched the vids. Got all the parts. My run was almost exactly as short as yours, so I figured, why not. Cut the power. Opened the panel. Stared at it for a bit... Then closed it up and called an electrician. :-) Oh well. Great vid, and nice car. Have the 17 Cajun Red Bolt myself. You can crank you amperage up. L2 speeds are slow enough, you should be good for the Bolt. They probably give you that option if you can't run a full 40A circuit at your location for some reason (not enough power left, too long a run, etc).
Thanks for watching and the comment. Sounds like you have a nice car as well. I have only seen two other Bolts on the road in 6 months.
I really appreciate this video. Screw all of the haters.
Thank you D Fran. I just wanted to share how I installed this EV charger and generally explain the process. I was hoping it might help some viewers get a better idea of what is involved.
@@MrKistel It definitely helped me. Thanks
David Gilde I’m a electrical contractor I can assure u it’s not a hazard. I would be ok with that that installation at my house
Nice job, we love our Bolt EV too!
Thanks Steve, it is an awesome car. It is super cool not having to stop for fuel. We have been spoiled and now loath refueling when driving ICE cars. HAHA Safe driving and wishing you many happy miles with your Bolt.
Never, never put loose electrical wires inside a wall without proper conduit or shielding. This install would never have met the electrical code, no matter where it was installed.
Every house has " loose wires" in the wall, but they are secured with proper staples or equivalent, at proper intervals.
@@sweetkellymay You are probably thinking of Romex cable when you say "loose wires"
That was exactly what I was thinking
Awesome video. Very helpful and good idea. Thank you very much.
Moe, great to hear the video showing the electric vehicle charger unit was helpful. Thanks for sharing
You cannot loosely run THHN wires in the wall like that. They need to be in a conduit.
Thanks for the EV car charger installation tip. Yes loose wires should be in conduit. The point of this video was just to show an overview of how electric vehicle charger might be installed. Every charger installation will be unique.
Aka electrical hazard 🤦♂️
I agree. Running individual conductors inside a wall without a rated jacket or inside conduit/flex is a code violation. Even if it's only a few feet. If there were a garage fire the insurance company could use this as an excuse to not pay. I am an Electrician. Also using plastic flex fittings are the cheapest but isn't a good idea for longevity and durability.
This hooks up the same as my newly installed Ghost Containment Unit.
Just a couple additional Flux Capacitors and it is the same project!! HAHA
Ah, no conduit. Insurance will love this.
As an electrical contractor I approve this video. Great job
Thanks Tony
Hello Tony and Mrkistel. I Installed my ev2 charger just like shin in the video but I’m still concerned about the cable behind the wall without conduit. Is this still applicable? It’s necessary to use Romex to the box?
Hi Joe, Low amperage (up to the max per battery design) does not have a major effect on battery life. The most impact for the number of cycles you can get out of it are: min/max state of charge and pack temperature. Clear example of these two in action are the Gen 1 Nissan Leaf Batteries who despite having limited energy/range do not have an active thermal protection system and allow full charge/discharge. Chevy's EVs protect against this by 1) not allowing a state of charge below 20% or above 80% on the Volt (a little more for the Bolt) and 2) actively controlling the temperature of the pack (Dexron fluid anyone?).
What a high amperage gives you is increased energy efficiency and less wear for the battery components (plus more miles faster!) :)
Thanks for the insight. Another quick question then. Would you recommend "topping off charging" after short commutes or make several short commutes to drain the battery a substantial amount before charging for a longer duration?
@@MrKistel - Actually, you needn't worry too much about charging EVs with what is essentially a trickle charge in residential applications. It won't hurt to maintain the battery at a set percentage, nor will it hurt to wait awhile before you charge. Do be wary of charging the battery too high or too low. Try to keep the charge between 20 percent and 80 percent. This will give you the most longevity.
@@douglasbkerr Thanks for the EV charging tips
Thank you
Thanks, did you get an electrical vehicle ? If so which one?
18 Nissan Leaf s
Your electric main panel has mixed ground and neutral bus bar. It should have been separated.
they are connected in this main panel configuration
No
@@davidgilde6296 WRONG
Does this Siemens have the WIFI? if so, I didn't see it lit up. Trying to get mine working but no WIFI light... hmmm.
The electric car charger I show installed in the video did not have wifi.
Anyone notice the 2-gang box directly below the charger? Probably an old dryer box with 220 still in it.
That is an access to the house grounding rod.
they can't kill it outside if there's a main breaker on the panel
The correct way was to come out of the panel with a telephone 90 then attach your elbow connector to the liquid tight conduit.
Thank for the car charger installation tip
Hi, I just bought a Volt and will be picking it up today. It is a 2017. I am unclear about all these charger units. The Volt from my understanding will use a maximum of 240 Volts and 16 Amps. Therefore a simple $ 200 dollar charger cable and a NEMO 6-20 plug at 20 AMPs would suffice, wouldn't it? I understand that if you are paying an electrician many people want the 40 AMP wire and hook-up to future proof there set-up but with 40 AMPS or 32 AMPS the volt will only draw its maximum of 16 AMPS. Installing a NEMO 6-20 only would cost me $ 275.00 including material and the electrician said no EV Charger City Inspection is required since this is a standard plug for tools or other things. The cost of a 16 AMP charger on e-bay is between 200-250.00. Am I missing something here? Please comment.
Peter, thanks for commenting and congratulations on your 2017 Volt purchase. I am not familiar with the Volt charging specifications but would rely on the electricians input as he/she should know what is required on the house electrical end. One note of caution: if the charger were to draw 16 amps you would want to draw off a 20 amp isolated circuit. Many home outlets are wired with 15amp circuits so modifying an existing outlet on a 15 amp circuit would not be wise. In addition to a 20 amp breaker the circuit should have appropriate size wire (likely 12 gauge for modest wire lengths). Best of luck, please let me know what you decide to install to charge your new electric car.
Can I use a 50 amp breaker?
For this particular EV charger the 40 AMP breaker was preferred. A 50 amp breaker would functionally work however it might not meet local building code approval. There is some risk if running thinner wire on larger amperage breakers. The wire could potentially melt , spark, and create a fire risk before the larger amperage breaker would trip. I would use the recommended breaker the electric car charger manufacturer suggest as well as the recommended size wire.
Great thank you
Billy, thanks for commenting and I hope the video was insightful for you regarding the installation of an electric car charger.
Bruh you have to put a connector on the end by charger you can't just Jam the liquid tight in the thing also you can't bury the thhn in the wall it's made to go in a conduit
So you run the wires in the wall without protection??? That’s e legal. You need a cable or flex from the box to the panel!!!
You can't screw stranded wires like this, you must use ferrules or screw terminals
Thanks for the 240 volt car charger installation tip.
Around the 7:50 mark you should have called an electrician.
Why didn't you just add the 240 plug and add wires from base to 240 and plug it in... Then if you move it could attract some EV owners since it's ready to go.
There are many ways to install an EV charger. The electric car charger installation demonstrated in this video was preferred for the application.
Are these available as a plug in unit?
Yes I believe so, there is a link to the charger featured in the video description. Thanks for watching.
God this guy is dangerous, don’t follow this guy ! Totally not to code, if your house burns down , you will not get insurance money
Why you buy this? The original bolt charger can be plug to 240v just need to buy adapter on home Depot or Lowe's to make it bro
The charger that comes with the Chevy Bolt is stated to be compatible with a 240 volt source input, however it charges at a reduced amp rate than the 32 amps capable when using a dedicated 240 volt charger similar to the EV charger shown installed in the video.
I did exactly this setup before I bought a level 2. It worked but plugging the level 1 charger into my dryer outlet only gave me 12 miles per hour of charge. My siemens versicharge at 240V puts 25 miles per hour or double my old setup. Be careful plugging a level 1 charger into 240v as it only works on certain models, plug in the wrong one and you'll toast it.
Would not recommend this video to anyone! Unsafe installation! 👎🏻
Multiple code violations. You shouldn’t post a video if you don’t know what you’re doing. You could burn your house down or electrocute yourself or a future homeowner. INCLUDING CHILDREN. TOTALLY IRRESPONSIBLE.
Specify what please
internetpolification Noseygoò Running wire through a wall without conduit, improperly attaching wire without clamps, some communities REQUIRE a licensed inspector to check the work. Anytime you install a car charger more than 3 or 4 feet from the panel there should be an emergency cut off box like the type you would see on an exterior A/C condensing unit.
Wow this guy has so many mistakes I can’t list them all how many people are going to do this and have their house burned down if I were you buddy I’ll take this video down it’s a horrible demonstration read the other comments or maybe you can’t handle the truth
It would cost a fortune in wire for me to install a charger; my breaker panel is at the opposite end of the house in my bedroom closet. I would have to use my clothes dryer outlet which is closest to the garage.
Ya the heavy gauge wire is pricey. Hope you are able to run your electric car charger where you would like to. Keep me posted with what you decide. thanks
DAM8658 you can put an outlet next to it using the dryer circuit so u don’t have to unplug every time. Just don’t use the dryer and charger at the same time or it will trip. And yes I’m an electrical contractor.
In this scenario it makes no difference how long the run is there's no way in h*** you're going get voltage drop lol, amperage is what will decide wire gauge
Thomas J - If there is no current passing thru the wires, then you are right - there will be no voltage drop. As soon as current starts flowing, there will be a voltage drop from the panel to the charger, although likely not significant on shorter, standard residential cable runs. One does need to consider voltage drop on very long cable runs, however.
WRONG IN SO MANY WAYS. TAKE THIS VIDEO DOWN BEFORE SOMEBODY FOLLOWS YOUR INSTRUCTIONS AND LOSES A LOVED ONE IN A HOUSE FIRE