Questions and Answers for GE EV Charger Indoor/Outdoor Level-2 DuraStation Wall Mount with 18 ft. Cord

A:  Yes, it works fine with mine

A:  I feel certain it can. If your Volt has a regular J1772 plug than this EVSE will work on it.

A:  Yes. I have a 2013 volt

A:  yes

A:  Yes, works great with my new 2017 Volt

A:  Your proposed modification can be done. However, because of safety issues, this is not for a beginner. If someone tries this, they will have to make or buy the plug/wire to match the dryer receptacle. A strong enough gromet would be needed to secure the cord to the GE unit. The connections to the terminals inside the GE unit box are straight forward. Since the GE unit requires a proper ground wire/connection, that is the only issue that might arise. If the above makes sense, then you are advanced enough to make the dryer connection work. This is a high amp and voltage unit, so safety precautions are required for all connections.

A:  Update - after some researches online, here's the connection I come up using the dryer cable specified. Basically, the middle wire (neutral) of the dryer cable goes to lower one of the two power connectors and the left and right of the wires go to the top power connector then run a ground cable to the circuit panel's GND. Can anyone confirm this connection is correct?

A:  This is definitely feasible, whether it's up to code in your locality or not, I couldn't say. It also shouldn't be dangerous, since the dryer cord is definitely made for that much amperage, but if it were me, I'd probably just disconnect the dryer line and hard-wire it to the unit either right where it is, or a bit higher up the wall if you wanted it in a different location. The fewer parts involved in electrical things, the safer it will be. Anyway, if you wanted to do it this way, the hardest part would probably be finding a way to elegantly get through the unit's outer wall. It's designed, more or less, to host a conduit with bare wire. For that matter, it's generally only about $100 more to get a unit that is pre-made to be plugged in, and for the effort you'd expend converting this one, it's probably better to get a plug-in unit instead.

A:  Yes. The wires will be color coded on the hook up end. Follow the instructions in the manual for installation and you will be fine.

A:  A NEMA 10-30 plug does not have a ground, rather it has two hots, and a neutral (which on a dryer is usually shared as a ground) So the answer to your question is NO, by the electric code, you cannot do this because you don't have a dedicated ground.

A:  Call your local electrician. Explain what model it is. I emailed them a photo of my garage to show where my fuse box is located and then one of the open fuse box to show its layout. If it's a good, close up detail photo they can tell if there is room for another breaker.

A:  I feel certain your house has a 240v service, which is typically split into 120v for most household devices. The EV charger requires a 40 amp 240v circuit. If you don't have such a circuit in your garage/carport/wherever you plan to install the EVSE, then a circuit will have to be added.

A:  Yes, it has options for 20 and 30 amp.

A:  The Durastation will work on 120V to 240V and 15amps to 40amps. 208V should not be an issue.

A:  The GE Durastation has a jumper that can be installed on the circuit board inside to downgrade the output capabilities of it, so yes, it can be operated off a 20 amp 208 or 240 volt circuit. It will output 16 amps when set up this way. Electric code limits EVSE output to 80% of its input current, thus the 16 amps on a 20 amp circuit.

A:  cap it off and put electrical tape on it (white wire) for added safety.

A:  Sounds like you are using 6/3 Romex. You only need 6/2 Romex (black/white/green, no red wire). If you pulled the wire already, the 4th wire is not necessary and you should cap it, tape it, and ignore it, As you described your usage, the Black and Red wires need to be connected to the unit and the breaker. The green needs to be attached to the ground. The white needs to be capped, taped, and ignored. I do not recomend you snip it unless it is a code requirement. But be sure to cap it and tape it to avoid concern among anyone working on it in the future.

A:  Cutworm is correct if I were running a new 3 wire line to the durastation. I stated the question incorrectly trying to keep it simple. My actual situation is one others may want to exploit and I now know the right answer! I was repurposing an existing unused 40 stove circuit which had a 3 wire+ grd running to and unused 240 outlet. The Durastation only has connectors for the L1 and L2 (black and red) , but does not have a neutral bar since it only uses the full 240 across the 2 lines. So I wasn't sure what to do with my existing white. Turns out I can just cap it and not run a white the rest of the way to the durastation. Thanks Cutworm, appreciate the quick response.

A:  The neutral goes back to the box to enable the unit to use lower voltage for it's computer. Attach it with all the other white wires. I assume you are using cable with three wires plus ground.

A:  You don't need it. I think you must have gotten 8-3 wire instead of 8-2. I'd just leave it unconnected (but not dangling.)

A:  Just put a wire nut over the end of the wire and fold it back in the box. The neutral is not needed and should not be connected to anything at the EVSE. DO NOT connect it to the ground, you already have a ground wire for that purpose.

A:  If you need to ask, you should probably hire an electrician to do the work. That said, this unit only needs 240V, so you only use the black and red feeders. The neutral isn't connected to the charger. Do not connect it to ground. The neutral is used for appliances like ovens and dryers that need both 240V and 120V.

A:  The neutral or white wire should go to the neutral bus at the breaker box. Where the other white wires also connect to.

A:  I just installed my Durastation a few weeks ago and had the same question. You only need the two hot and ground wires for this product. The neutral wire is not needed. I'd recommend capping off this wire inside the Durastation.

A:  I have not found a longer cord available for this unit.

A:  Not with this model. The GE wattstation is the upgrade from this Durastation for $300.00 more.

A:  It would cost more to buy a 25 ft cord and change it out than it is worth. You need to seek out a EVSE with the longer cord. Eaton, Leviton,and several other EVSE manufacturers make models with 25 ft cords (the longest allowed by the electric code). Typically the cost is nearly double a EVSE with a 18 ft cord.

A:  You can find them on eBay for $180 or so. Search for "j1772".

A:  There are other models that have longer cables. If you want this model only, you can buy a longer cable from ebay. Not cheap $100 to $200 for 30A cable plus the plug. You may sell the short one on ebay also to get some compensation though. The overall cost may be more than to buy a model with longer cable.

A:  Here is the picture of my box I installed three days ago. I used 10 Ga wire, though my volt only takes 16Amp. It can be used for feature EVs. An inexpensive power meter ordered from Ebay is used to indicate voltage, ampere and power. The station is configured to 25A.

A:  Shades, I am going to assume (hate that word) that you are using 8-3 wire with a 40AMP breaker. The red wire goes to either the top lug (fuse) or the bottom one. The black wire then goes to the other lug (fuse). The white wire goes to the ground bar, along with the ground wire. Let me know if you need more help.

A:  Your picture is enough information to answer this question. Yes, your highlighted areas are correct. The golden bar is the "ground bar" and you can choose any open spot there to connect. The red highlighted areas are the "line side" of the fuse box, you can see the two cylindrical fuses in the middle of that part. One of your wires should have a red stripe on it, or should be red, that goes on the top connector and the all black wire goes to the bottom. The color diagram in the GE instruction manual sort of illustrates this, albeit extremely poorly... Their color diagram shows a red wire going to the top terminal of the fuse box (in the actual unit it's black and identical to the other) and a black one going to the bottom terminal in the fuse box.

A:  The answer to my own question is YES. I spoke with GE industrial solutions a few days ago and they confirmed what is outlined in the photo/diagram attached. I hooked up my station and it is working just fine.

A:  It stays on all the time.

A:  No switch, but the light does not even come on when it is not plugged in.

A:  Basically it stays in standby all the time. Probably uses a minute amount of power but not much. Mine is next to my breaker panel in my shop, so I just trip the breaker if it will not be used for a couple of days. There are no switches, buttons, or other controls on it, just the red/green LED and the J1772 cord and plug.

A:  No. It does not have a power switch. In my case, the dedicated circuit breaker is nearby, so I could throw that to off if were to be away a long time . . .

A:  If you need a picture to hook up 3 wires, you need to hire an electrician. For the second hole, simply mirror the existing one so it looks symetrical.

A:  No, It's always on. It can be turned off at the circuit breaker if needed.

A:  There is no exterior on/off switch.

A:  It stays on all the time. A switching power supply is used, the standby power is less than 2W as measured. For large current devices, a switch consumes electricity too (very possible more than 2W) so add a switch may not save very much if you charge every day.

A:  No, it stays on all the time. But I called the company and they said power use is minimal. Only the LED draws power.

A:  It is turned of/off by the vehicle that it is plugged into. That is part of the function of the multiple conductors in the cable and connectors to the car and the reason for all the complicated electronics in the unit. Mine doesn't use a measurable amount of energy when it isn't actively charging the car.

A:  IT WILL CHARGE A CAR IN 4 TO 6 HOURS .....10 TO 12 KW BATT

A:  I have been impressed by the unit. Connected to a 40 Amp breaker, it has been doing a full recharge in about 2 hours.

A:  It depends on how much current your EV can withdraw. My volt can only use about 16A, which need about 4 hours to get fully charged. The max current of this charger is programmable from 16 to 30 by a multiple position jumper.

A:  Since this is NOT a charger and the actual charger is in the car it depends on the actual charger specifications. For example, my Nissan Leaf comes with a power cord that charges at about 1.1kw and this GE station will charge my car at a maximum of 6.6kw (the maximum rating of the charger in the car), so for my actual car it charge 6 times faster than the "trickle charger" cord supplied with the car, and can charge the Leaf battery in about 4 hours if it was completely discharged.

A:  Stock answer is 6 to 8 hours. It depends on the car. My LEAF charged from 25% to 100% in just over 3 hrs the other day. This is not a charger, the charger is installed in your car. The rating of the charger in the car determines the charging speed. EVSE merely tells the car the max it is capable of supplying and the car (if necessary) steps down to the charge station output.

A:  This is not a charger. The charger is on-board the car. The GE Durastation is EV Service Equipment. It communicates with and provides safe power to your car. On a 40 Amp circuit it can provide 30 Amps continuously. It can be derated easily to operate at lower output on a 20 or 30 Amp circuit. To answer your question one needs to know the capacity of the battery and the output of the charger. In the case of my 2012 Leaf, it has 3.3 kW charger and a 24 kW hour battery. If the battery is near depleted it will take 7 - 8 hours to recharge at Level 2. Compare to Level 1 (trickle) cord at 1.2 kW where my charge time is 20++ hours.

A:  The charging time is determined by your car (size of the battery and the amp draw) - see the car manual for level 2 (220 Volt) charging time.

A:  Twice as fast as a 110 outlet.

A:  The package states that most vehicles can be recharged in 6 hours (vehicle dependent)

A:  This charging station can provide approximately 7.7Kwh per hour @ 40 amps. So, now you need to know how big your battery is, how much power it keeps in reserve, and what does your cars charger permit as far as kwh charging. 2011 and 2012 EV chargers usually were limited to 3.3Kw per hour. So you will need to know what your car accepts as far as charging goes. For example...if you have an EV, with a 24kw battery, that will never allow itself to go below 10kw's. and only lets you charge at 3.3kw's...a "depleted battery", even @ 7.7kwh...will take around 3 hours to charge.

A:  Use a fixed connection if it is outdoors. That's the safest. Use a plug if you really need it to be portable. You can use a NEMA 10-50 to charge at campsites and some places without an EVSE. This unit isn't as portable as some of the others though and GE states to hard-wire it right on the packaging, probably for liability.

A:  If you're having an electrician install it for you, he can do it either way. It will probably cost a little extra to have the plug outlet installed, just because it's an extra piece of hardware. An outlet doesn't come with the charger.

A:  In this case, this is delivered intended to be hardwired. I suppose there's nothing stopping one from wiring for a plug-in . . . Mine is hardwired.

A:  This model uses a fixed connection, like the one in a electric panel box. I saw some models have two versions, about $100 more for the plug version. If you can do it your self, or hire electrician to connect, I suggest to use a direct, fixed connection. A plug for large current is quite hot during charging, waste extra energy. The station is not portable anyway.

A:  It is designed to be 'hard wired' however I assume a suitable 'plug' could be used to feed power; 240v, 30a service.

A:  You have to hard wire it in. You could put a dryer or range cord on it and plug it in, but you still need to drill a hole for the wire in the plastic enclosure, as there is none. Then add a cord grip to the hole you drill.

A:  GE specifies on the box and in the instructions that this is a "hardwired" unit. You could easily in stall a cord and plug, but this would violate the testing laboratory certification of the unit. If you powered it off a typical 30 amp dryer circuit, you would need to install the jumper that tells the unit (and thus the car) that the car should not draw over 24 amps. (never exceed 80% of an electrical circuit capacity for continuous use (more than 3 hrs by code is continuous).

A:  It needs a fixed connection hard wired into it. It doesn't have a plug to plug into an outlet.

A:  The instructions tell you to use a fixed connection in conduit but if wired correctly you could use a dryer or range outlet. If the outlet and its circuit breaker are rated at less than 40 amps you should use the jumper supplied with the unit to reduce its amp draw so you don't overload the circuit.

A:  It is designed to be hard wired. However you could use a conventional dryer plug cable with a suitable cable clamp to make it a plug-in. If you do use a 30A dryer plug, set the J21 jumper for 24A (30A circuit) operation to meet electrical code requirements (per the instructions).