[Otto]

My wife and I have had a smart since 2008 (gas) when they first imported them into the US. We just recently purchased our second, a use 2016 EV model. We want to upgrade the charger to a 220 40 amp charger is that OK? or should we keep it at 220 20 amp as mentioned in the manual?
Otto

 

[hallcp]

Hi Otto, there are tons of people on this list who know more than me, but I will chip in my 2-cents...

It looks like the 2016 has a 3.3Kw charger (the 2018 has a 7.2Kw charger). So in your case 220 x 40 = 4.4Kw, more than enough to charge at full speed. The additional power available with the 40 amp charger won't speed anything up for you. It'll work fine but just no faster.

On the other hand, if you have an electrician running wires for you, getting 40 amp service will be great for future EV's you may buy. The same goes for the charger, if the cost difference is not too much than getting the bigger model will be useful in the long run (when we all have Tesla Model Y's).

Charles.

 

[jimsokoloff]

Expanding on (and agreeing with) Charles said: the wall unit (EVSE, what normal people colloquially call a "charger") has a signaling mechanism to advertise how much current it is able to provide. The car then reads that advertisement of capability and the part in the car (that EV designers actually call a "charger") draws an amount of current the battery needs up to the advertised limit of the EVSE.

If I was running new service, I'd run a 50A circuit and terminate with a NEMA 14-50R.
If I already had a 240VAC, 20A EVSE, there's no point in upgrading it, since the car's charger is already the limiting factor.

In slight disagreement with Charles, to find power from voltage and current, multiple current in Amps times voltage in Volts to get power in Watts. 240V * 20A = 4800W or 4.8 kW. (From the context, I'm willing to bet that Charles knows this and just typo'd his calculation from 220V * 40A.)

 

[Otto]

Expanding on (and agreeing with) Charles said: the wall unit (EVSE, what normal people colloquially call a "charger") has a signaling mechanism to advertise how much current it is able to provide. The car then reads that advertisement of capability and the part in the car (that EV designers actually call a "charger") draws an amount of current the battery needs up to the advertised limit of the EVSE.

If I was running new service, I'd run a 50A circuit and terminate with a NEMA 14-50R.
If I already had a 240VAC, 20A EVSE, there's no point in upgrading it, since the car's charger is already the limiting factor.

In slight disagreement with Charles, to find power from voltage and current, multiple current in Amps times voltage in Volts to get power in Watts. 240V * 20A = 4800W or 4.8 kW. (From the context, I'm willing to bet that Charles knows this and just typo'd his calculation from 220V * 40A.)

 

[Otto]

Thanks for the replies. We were buying a charging "cord" to plug into the car and some have 20, 30 or 40 amps. Any suggestions on that?

 

[Yinzer]

My wife and I have had a smart since 2008 (gas) when they first imported them into the US. We just recently purchased our second, a use 2016 EV model. We want to upgrade the charger to a 220 40 amp charger is that OK? or should we keep it at 220 20 amp as mentioned in the manual?
Otto

The amperage rating of a charging station (EVSE) is jsut the maximum AC current the car can draw from the EVSE. The actual AC charging current is determined by the car's on-board charger - which for the US-based ED and EQ's is a maximum of 16 amps. If it is cheaper, get the 40A EVSE - it will be very useful if you get a larger electric car some day.

 

[Vincent Rapide]

What charger came with the car??
--

 

[Yinzer]

What charger came with the car??
--

Only the very slow 120V level 1 EVSE, presumably.

 

[Vincent Rapide]

My 2014 auction car came with that one apparently, very light weight and has velcros stuck over the data (I will remove!).
My 2016 came with the heavy charger with the round rubber push button for fast (4 sequential lights) or slow (2 lights). I found the fast problematic as it would reach 100% before I could manage to turn it off. No sense in going to 100% when all you want is 85/90%. But I'm not a daily commuter who above all would be looking for charging speed.
--

 

[mattwithcats]

I started a thread on this subject....

EV charger install

Starting a thread on how to install a 240 volt EV charger.. Some hints, tips and tricks.. A video of a basic install, note that he is installing a 40 amp 6.6 kw charger, the Smart max is 3.3 kw (actually some Smart EV's have reported 3.9 kw)... Also he is using existing 4 gauge wire, and...

www.smartcarofamerica.com