Yep, that's why I said "to get a lethal dose of current (miliamps)" ... through the heart of course. Seen many electrical safety training videos at work that show cases of people getting killed by 120v, and current travelling through path of arm & leg, which can also hit the heart. Lots of instances when water was involved, which gives better current conductivity.
Home charging 110 vs 240 - Efficiency?
- Thread starter JeffKeryk
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It's more a matter of the power level you're charging at than the voltage alone.
Certainly for the same power level 240 will encounter less straight resistive losses through the same current path that the 120 would use, given the amps are halved. But the switch-mode electronics used in on-board chargers may also be happier making the smaller jump to the DC levels needed to charge the EV battery, typically around 400 VDC.
But in the context of N. America, any 240 EVSE (the wall or cable box) will allow a higher power level and that's where the switch-mode electronics will almost certainly be more efficient.
I don't have a wall box and charge only at 230 VAC 8 A with the portable unit, 8A being only one-quarter of what the on-board charger can handle. My conversion efficiency is barely more than 83%. If I supplied the full 32 A maximum I expect I could reach Hyundai's specified 91% efficiency.
It's worth noting that the power reading on the dash of the Kona and possibly other EVs, actually refers to the DC output of the charger, not the AC in.
The conversion efficiency of the lithium-ion battery pack (energy out / energy in) as a comparison is very high, between about 96 and 98%.
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Indeed, those static electric shocks in the winter are several thousand volts. Some of them must be higher as you can actually see the spark jump a decent gap from your finger to the object.
Ahh... I did residential wiring in big money homes in the Williamsburg area in 1999 and I believe we used 10 AWG... That was the biggest wire I believe we used used in those homes. It was dedicated homerun wires for all the high amperage units in the house... Aka for the dryer, washing machine, etc etc...
12 AWG for other homeruns that branched receptacles in rooms. And 14 AWG in the rooms to lights or receptacles from that 12 AWG homerun.
The 10 AWG was black, thick and obviously quite heavy compared to 12 AWG or 14 AWG.
IF we actually used 8 AWG it would have only been for the heat pumps.
Any circuits run in my step father's house whether they were dedicated homeruns or branched the wires were 10, 12, 14 AWG wires in 1993 were copper. Not aluminum. And the residential wiring I did in the Williamsburg area in 1999 that was the case then too.
I could be wrong but the heaviest gauge wire we used was 10 AWG in those big money homes in Ford's Colony or Governor's Land etc. Maybe the heat pumps were 8 AWG ... But in the actual houses... We used 10 AWG, 12 AWG and 14 AWG. And all wires were copper.
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Electric ovens, ranges, air conditioner/heat pump condensing unit (depending on capacity, usually 3 tons or larger), heat pump air handler equipped with heat strips...all require more than 30 amp circuits and all are commonly wired with aluminum. (The ampacity of 10 awg copper is 30 amps).
Heat pumps ok I can definitely see that obviously running 8 AWG.. aka aluminum... I never fooled with them though.
10 AWG yeah... And yeah I know that is 30 amps.
12 AWG was homerun wire to rooms... Branched off with 14 AWG typically... Copper wire for those circuits.
Kschachn mentioned branched circuits... That's what I'm talking about here... Not dedicated single homeruns from the main panel to a range or heat pumps.
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OVERKILL
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I think mine, including my EV charge plug, are copper, but I'll have to check.
I wonder if charging times in the owners manual gives some indication of charging efficiency? Like 5.5 hours on 120 versus 2.5 on 240? I know my plug in tapered off the charger on 240 the last ten minutes or so. It’s good to have something to do at a ChargePoint charger stand like watch the charging rate as you wait around for charge to finish. I would assume the manufacturer would set the charging times based on the same amount of battery charge delivered for each voltage. I guess though the actual watts the charger is delivering has to be known.
This information would normally be displayed on the dash as well, as it would be calculated based on the power input at the time.
At low charging levels on an EV-sized battery the charge rate would be linear right up to full. ~2 kW is a very small charge rate for a 64 kWh pack.
In my case below the pack has an opportunity to carry out balancing after an indicated 98.5%. At 17,000 km I don't think that's ever been needed.
At low charging levels on an EV-sized battery the charge rate would be linear right up to full. ~2 kW is a very small charge rate for a 64 kWh pack.
In my case below the pack has an opportunity to carry out balancing after an indicated 98.5%. At 17,000 km I don't think that's ever been needed.
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