80 Feet run for AWG 6/3 wire

[rajasaab]

Hello

So I am new to the EV world. Getting my truck delivered next week - I have decided to get the Chargepoint Home Flex (NEMA 14-50) EVSE installed in the garage. THe panel is on the opposite side to the garage and so we have about a 80 Feet run. The electrician is going to install a 50Amp breaker with the 14-50 outlet and 6/3 wire.

My question is - will that be too much of a drop in the voltage with the 80' run and hence extra charging time? OR is it not that big a difference?

Many thanks in advance!

THanks
RS

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[Dirty_B]

Standby, let me pop some popcorn for this one....
IMO uneducated / non electrician opinion you'll need 4awg wire.

 

[Zoidz]

This voltage drop table indicates 100 ft for 50 amp, 240 volt load on #6 wire to stay within the 3% voltage drop allowance recommended. There will be a voltage drop, but you will be ok. No harm in running #4 to reduce the voltage drop, other than the cost.

 

[Christopher]

I had about the same length run and went to 4awg. It was less than $100 extra in material and leaves me room to upgrade in the future if charging technology gets better and higher amperage chargers come out. I also ran a neutral in case that would ever be needed.

 

[Bigeasy70075]

If you are footing the cost of running the wire I would definitely pay a little extra now to save yourself a ton later. Think you are going to find charging on a 14-50 to be unacceptably slow. With the larger pack you are definitely going to want to charge at the full 48amps. That will require a 60amp circuit (and hardwired configuration for that charger). In my opinion that should be the lowest you should go. If you have the freedom of spending more may even consider a run that is capable of 100amps. Your Rivian will never use it but your next EV most likely will. (Ford already charges with 80amp wall charger requiring 100amp circuit)

 

[Dark-Fx]

You'll save money over the life of the installation for the more efficient energy transfer on 4 awg wire than the upfront cost increase of it. Go with the 4 awg as long as the charge point has room for it.

 

[ranieri]

So what is a good setup for future-proofing?

100 amp circuit and 4awg? Anything else?

 

[Blakeney]

Check out the voltage drop calculator on calculator.net

 

[electruck]

Go with the 4 awg as long as the charge point has room for it.

This detail is key for the OP. The ChargePoint Home Flex can accept a maximum of 6 AWG so 4 AWG into the ChargePoint is not an option. This is also why hard wiring the ChagePoint for 48A charging requires 6 AWG THHN instead of NM-B (Romex).

Edit: I am most definitely not an electrician so not sure about compliance on this but it may be possible to run 4 AWG to a junction box near the charger and then run 6 AWG wire to the Home Flex from there. You'd definitely still be limited to a 60 A breaker in this scenario but if you needed more in the future, it would only require rewiring between the junction and the charger (likely to happen anyway if future EVSE comes with a pigtail) and swapping the breaker as opposed to replacing an entire 80 ft run.

 

[ravian]

Not just the gauge but the material also matters. Copper is preferable to Aluminum. Also insulation material of the wire matters, even more if you are in a region where it becomes hot in the summers. I remember doing this research several years back by reading the NEC code.

 

[stynes]

6AWG is within the tolerance but I'd run 4AWG so I could upgrade from 50 amp / 40 usable to 60 amp / 48 usable in the future. Rivian will charge at 11 or 11.5kw and you need 60/48 to get that. 50/40 tops out at 9 or 9.5 (~20% slower). 20% may or may not sound like a lot but going from 9 to 11.5 is a full 2 hour difference going from 20% to 80% on a 135kw battery.

 

[nc10]

Not sure this applies to your device, but the Rivian charger manual mentions 8 AWG is typical for 50 amps (correction, meant to say 50 amp breaker), "use only copper conductors" and consult with an electrician. So based on this (and I am NOT an electrician) there's a decent chance you are ok for your case.


In my case, I get a reduced electric billing rate at night, so I always charge at night, targeting 70% per Rivian's daily use recommendation. Not in a hurry while sleeping, and it turns out whether charge at 40 amps or 48 amps hasn't mattered yet, I can easily get the charge I need over night while sleeping. That said, I still had my electrician put in a 60 amp breaker, and he put in a very short run (~10-15') of 6/3 wire from my main junction box to the charger. Maybe in a few years if we get a 2nd EV, it will matter more, or if I were to decide at the last minute to go on a long trip and wanted to start to 100% from a low charge state.

 

[Dirty_B]

Standby, let me pop some popcorn for this one....
IMO uneducated / non electrician opinion you'll need 4awg wire.

Used wrong verb... "Want" 4awg.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Not sure this applies to your device, but the Rivian charger manual mentions 8 AWG is typical for 50 amps, "use only copper conductors" and consult with an electrician. So based on this (and I am NOT an electrician) there's a decent chance you are ok for your case.


In my case, I get a reduced electric billing rate at night, so I always charge at night, targeting 70% per Rivian's daily use recommendation. Not in a hurry while sleeping, and it turns out whether charge at 40 amps or 48 amps hasn't mattered yet, I can easily get the charge I need over night while sleeping. That said, I still had my electrician put in a 60 amp breaker, and he put in a very short run (~10-15') of 6/3 wire from my main junction box to the charger. Maybe in a few years if we get a 2nd EV, it will matter more, or if I were to decide at the last minute to go on a long trip and wanted to start to 100% from a low charge state.

It's not very common for household breakers to be 90C rated though.

 

[Sconces]

unrelated to the wire - but make sure you get a high quality industrial grade outlet instead of the cheap residential ones. It will need to be able to sustain high amperage for prolonged time.

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