JuiceBox installed Horizontally
I decided to upgrade to a Level 2, 220v EV charger in order to charge faster during the highest solar production time of day. After researching various options, it appeared the JuiceBox delivered the most bang for the buck. Some caution against over-installing amperage capability as this one does for our Volt, but others seem to think that the higher capacity delivers the least resistance for a quick charge. Of course I love the app and wifi capability too. The JuiceBox is made by Emotorworks and they provide plenty of documentation and great support which makes it much easier for the do it yourself person.
We had most of the house rewired in the summer of 2016. They updated several of the circuit breakers and most of the circuits in the house. But they didn’t touch the 220v 30 amp outlet in the garage.
This outlet was an old style “welder” 30 amp configuration.
Old style 5 30 straight plug
When I took it apart I pulled enough wire down to see that it was labeled #8 wire. So that allowed me to upgrade the circuit to 40 amps. I used a circuit breaker that the electricians left in the box–they had pulled out a 40 amp during their work and replaced it with a 30 amp.
Circuit box with 40 amp installed–lower left
The EV charger draws up to 40 amps of charge on a 50 amp breaker, but I only had the wire size for a 40 amp. The breaker is supposed to be 125% of the constant draw amperage. So it is OK in this instance to put in a 40 amp breaker for a 30 amp outlet. The 2014 Volt only charges at a maximum of 15 amps but it limits its input internally. I upgraded the outlet to the new 14-30 type.
I had a little trouble getting all the circuit breakers seated. I had to pull some out to make room for the 40 amp and then didn’t realize that two double breakers could not go next to each other. A google search let me know to drop the breaker down one slot and I finally got everything seated. Of course I had the main breaker off during these changes.
The original wiring did not have much slack in the box, so installing the new outlet was a gyration of cable and screwdriver but I got it connected and back into the box.
Tight wiring connections to outlet
I ordered an extension cord “dogbone” from Emotorwerks but decided to buy an adapter from Amazon because they took so long to ship my order. I guess I’ll have duplicate hookups. Just in case.
In the JuiceNet app I added my car type, and set the time zone. It also allowed me to enter my address and set the maximum charging amps. I set this to 24 amps on the advice of the emotorworks representative who also said the horizontal installation was OK. I had a shelf above the outlet and not enough room to install the bracket vertically with the size of the attached cord.
 Juice Net Settings |
 Juice Box on Standby |
Of course I’m expecting this setup to work flawlessly with our solar photovoltaic system.