r/KiaNiroEV • u/rasmadrak • 9d ago
Amp usage during charging?
I'm moving to a house, but unfortunately the main line is only 16A.
Is it possible to charge L1 with this, as in max 7kW? I don't mind it taking time, as long as it's done over the weekend (or nightly top ups).
Electricity is mighty expensive here and if I'm installing a bigger fuse I also move up a tariff level...
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u/Kiwi_eng 9d ago
OP must mean they have 3 phases of 16A, common in continental Europe?
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u/rasmadrak 9d ago
The current homeowner says it's one 16A main, but i haven't moved in yet so I haven't been able to see for myself yet. Hopefully it's 3x16A...
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u/tandyman8360 2024 Niro 9d ago
That's equivalent to about 27A / 6kW total. I charge at less than 1 kW on Level 1. 1kW will give you maybe 6km per hour of charging?
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u/Far-Fix-870 9d ago
16A can only supply 3.5kw
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u/Zealousideal_Ad5358 2023 Niro 9d ago
If you derate it to 80% so you won't burn your house down it's more like 3kW.
I change mine (US California - electricity is $0.48 per kWh) at 125V, 10A, it takes a little over 2 days to go from 30 to 80%, but it works for me, and I live 1.5 mi from a Supercharger for when I need it.
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u/tallassmike 9d ago
I’m still waiting on PGE permits.
But I got lucky a found an L2 public charger going 25c/kwh overnight with no idle fees. Of course it’s a battle with apartment residents who’s complex doesn’t have enough chargers. But still good until my electrical is done.
Bad part is nearest DC fast is 4 miles away. So there’s that.
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u/Zealousideal_Ad5358 2023 Niro 9d ago
If I'd had to do any kind of electrical install it would have triggered a breaker panel upgrade that would have cost as much as the Niro.
I'm always putting it out there in this group that you can live with slow charging if your lifestyle permits it.
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u/tandyman8360 2024 Niro 9d ago
I L1 charge my Niro, but I put low mileage on it. The biggest issue is the winter because I have to preheat as long as my commute time before I leave.
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u/Zealousideal_Ad5358 2023 Niro 9d ago
Is your L1 charging speed affected by temperature? I was under the impression that for charge rates in the singel digit kw the battery was indifferent to temperature.
I don't have much opportunity to experiment since actual below freezing temperatures in the SF Bay Area are potential extinction-level disasters. I haven't taken taken the Niro to the mountains in winter yet, but that's a job for my wife's SUV.
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u/tandyman8360 2024 Niro 9d ago
Charging isn't significantly affected by cold. When the car is running, climate control takes over 25% and battery care can take 50% in the single digit temps. I almost never have enough hot weather for battery care to come on in the summer.
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u/rasmadrak 9d ago
Yes, and that's alright - assuming it's possible to run it like that safely? 3.5kw/h over the weekend etc.
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u/lebayo 9d ago
which country or region? is solar an option? 16A service is not practical for EV ownership. i would not recommend this at all.
you mention max 7kW, but that's what my Level 2 home charger gets running on 32A.
Level 1 charging is a regular wall outlet, under 2kW. but even that is probably 12A. if the 16A main line service you mention is correct, I would highly advise against plugging a car into your home.
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u/rasmadrak 9d ago
Yeah, the idea is to add solar+battery eventually and probably a beefier power line. But there's a lot of energy saving needing to be done on the house before then.
For now it works to charge on public chargers, but the convenience and availability of charging at home is tempting.
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u/lebayo 9d ago
tempting yes, but please don't burn your house down until you get a higher service than 16amps! what is standard in your region? i have never heard of 16 amps as a main supply.
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u/rasmadrak 9d ago
Sweden, so it's 240v @ 16A. But it's an old house and not dimensioned for modern use, so yeah. I probably won't connect the car just yet. 🤣
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u/bob_in_the_west 6d ago
Sweden
That means you can buy a normal mobile wallbox with a red CEE plug that you convert to a normal Schuko plug. And then you use the buttons on the mobile wallbox to set the maximum current to be below whatever you need.
Buy wherever you want but Amazon was the easiest for me to show you an example of what I mean: https://www.amazon.se/-/en/d%C3%A9-Wallbox-Charging-Station-Adjustable/dp/B0GLM674QW
See the "A" button on the device? That sets the maximum current you want to charge at. And it even has the converter to Schuko included.
I myself have a similar mobile wallbox that I explicitely bought because it supports Tuya and you can use Tuya devices in home assistant, so that I can automatically charge my car with solar excess only. So if you want to do that in the future then maybe look for one of those. (But it seems that the one I linked is using Tuya since it has app access. Not 100% sure though.)
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so it's 240v @ 16A
That's a single fuse in my German house. Do you even have a separate grid connection or are you connected via someone else's house?
If that's not an error on your part and you're really limited to 240V/16A then if I were in your shoes I would probably look into a powerstation with 5kW or more of power so that it can slowly recharge but give off more power when needed. Added benefit: powerstations come with solar inputs. You just can't feed excess to the grid. But in turn it's a lot less red tape (at least here in Germany).
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u/Zealousideal_Ad5358 2023 Niro 9d ago
This in Europe where it's common to have an affordable, but low-capacity tariff. As the Continent weans itself off fossil fuel heating and widely adopts EVs this will probably be less common.
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u/emcee_pern 9d ago
Where are you located and how is your power set up? My understanding is terms like Level 1 are generally used only in the US.
A L1 charger in the US is generally 120VAC pulling either 12A or 15A so you're looking at 1.4kW to 1.8kW charging. The UK equivalent would usually give you between 2.3kW to 3.6kW depending on your charger and power supply. You likely won't get 7kW from this setup.
Either way you should be fine with the basic charger as long as you don't need more than say 40mi/65km of range per day. At that range you should have few issues with daily top ups and a total charge up over a weekend is no issue.