Ground fault protection a new complication for EV charging?

[mswlogo]

I just talked to an inspector. No. He said,"...unless the charger has a built in GFCI protection..." So, no. As long as it is GFCI protected, either in the unit or from the breaker or from a GFCI outlet, it's protected.

No. You should not depend on your inspector for advice. Many inspectors and electricians don’t know the new requirements yet. And not all towns have adopted the new code yet. But if they have not adopted the new rules are you really gonna try to save $100 to avoid adding a bit of safety that is now the rule?

If it’s hardwired and protected your fine.

If it’s “portable” then you need to cover anywhere the user might get exposed that’s not GFCI.

Do you think a hair dryer with GFCI on the cord eliminates the need for GFCI in the bathroom outlet? And you promise to only ever use a hair dryer with GFCI.

Part of the argument is how often will you be plugging into the wall outlet. For some folks not at all, they will dedicate their UMC. So it becomes like an appliance (like a dryer). Others will plug in daily. And it can easily be wet conditions.

Problem is, you are not the only person that will ever use that outlet. And you can’t control future applications if that outlet. The code looks at it from a worse case point of view.

It’s now, correctly IMHO, required by code. It’s a no brainer and I put GFCI in before the obvious change.

 

[DogBird]

...but there's no incentive now since the NEMA 14-50 is operational, delivering 29 mi/hr.

Does the NEMA 14-50 also have a GFCI breaker at the load center? I guess what I am asking is whether the UMC that trips the 120V GFCI circuit works well with a 240V GFCI circuit.

I have a house with new wiring (less than 2 years old) and my UMC trips every 120V GFCI protected circuit that I was able to plug it into. Some circuits are protected at the outlets and others protected at the load center, so I don't think it is a wiring issue. I am currently making do with an unprotected NEMA14-50 receptacle but am considering swapping out the 50A breaker with a GFCI breaker. But I don't want to spend $100+ on the new breaker just to find out that it also trips during the leak test.

 

[davewill]

Does the NEMA 14-50 also have a GFCI breaker at the load center? I guess what I am asking is whether the UMC that trips the 120V GFCI circuit works well with a 240V GFCI circuit.

I have a house with new wiring (less than 2 years old) and my UMC trips every 120V GFCI protected circuit that I was able to plug it into. Some circuits are protected at the outlets and others protected at the load center, so I don't think it is a wiring issue. I am currently making do with an unprotected NEMA14-50 receptacle but am considering swapping out the 50A breaker with a GFCI breaker. But I don't want to spend $100+ on the new breaker just to find out that it also trips during the leak test.

Your UMC shouldn't have tripped all those GFCIs, so it's hard to say what will happen if you install one on your 14-50 circuit. If it's some sort of fault in your UMC, it might well trip the new one, too. It could also be that the GFCIs the builder used are too sensitive, so that if you install a new/different one, everything will work fine.

 

[DogBird]

Your UMC shouldn't have tripped all those GFCIs, so it's hard to say what will happen if you install one on your 14-50 circuit. If it's some sort of fault in your UMC, it might well trip the new one, too. It could also be that the GFCIs the builder used are too sensitive, so that if you install a new/different one, everything will work fine.

Thank you for your input. Upon further investigation it appears like like all the GFCI breakers in my house are actually combination AFCIs. Since they all trip when my model X makes the initial "thunk" at the start of charging, it could be that the AFCI functionality is the thing that is causing the tripping. I've decided to satisfy my curiosity and went ahead and ordered a plain old GFCI for the 14-50. I will update this thread when I get it installed.

 

[stevie B]

I installed 110 and 220 V GFI protected outlets in different locations to charge 2022 Ford PHEV escape.
220V GFI works fine.
120V GFI -- it depends on whether the GFI itself is old enough to have been made before 2018 ANSI GFI spec changes reached shelved, or a newer (2020 or later manufacture). THey are not marked, but 2020+ manufacture has "self-test" in addition to the test button.
OLD 120V GFIs work fine with the car
NEWER 120V GFIs always trip within a few hours--sometimes seconds.
Dealer is NO help

 

[Cosmacelf]

I installed 110 and 220 V GFI protected outlets in different locations to charge 2022 Ford PHEV escape.
220V GFI works fine.
120V GFI -- it depends on whether the GFI itself is old enough to have been made before 2018 ANSI GFI spec changes reached shelved, or a newer (2020 or later manufacture). THey are not marked, but 2020+ manufacture has "self-test" in addition to the test button.
OLD 120V GFIs work fine with the car
NEWER 120V GFIs always trip within a few hours--sometimes seconds.
Dealer is NO help

Huh, that’s a new one to me. What EVSE are you using to charge the Escape?

 

[Operator64]

I installed 110 and 220 V GFI protected outlets in different locations to charge 2022 Ford PHEV escape.
220V GFI works fine.
120V GFI -- it depends on whether the GFI itself is old enough to have been made before 2018 ANSI GFI spec changes reached shelved, or a newer (2020 or later manufacture). THey are not marked, but 2020+ manufacture has "self-test" in addition to the test button.
OLD 120V GFIs work fine with the car
NEWER 120V GFIs always trip within a few hours--sometimes seconds.
Dealer is NO help

are They new circuits or old circuits that you are upgrading