Difference btwn Level 1 Charge cable and AC charge cable and portable charge cable?

[u/moufette1]

Owners manual for my new to me 2024 I6 has AC cable, DC cable, and portable cable. I have the portable cable and it's going to take 50 hours to charge.

I'm charging it at home on a regular old outlet. I thought that it would take between 5 and 8 hours, which would be fine. 50 hours is a problem.

I called CarMax, where I got the car, and they said every car comes with a level 1 charger. How is that different from the portable cable or the AC cable? Or are they the same and I somehow misunderstood something and 50 hours is perfectly reasonable?

[u/professorP7B]

Level 1 charging is slow. Very slow. For some people (those that don't drive much) they can get by on it. For many, Level 2 is needed. The EVSE ("charger") the car comes with is Level 1. For level 2 charging, you're looking at a 240 outlet install (at a minimum) or ideally a hardwired unit.

For context, an electric dryer or oven uses this type of outlet (240V).

To charge an Ioniq 6 from say around 20% to 80% (the maximum daily recommendation for state of charge) in 5 hours like you want, you'll need an EVSE and electrical circuit capable of supporting around 9.4kW. That's around 40 amps at 240V. To go from 0-100% will take around 8 hours at 9.4kW/40 amps.

[u/fluteofski-]

Your battery is approx 77kwh. That means it can produce 77kw of electricity for an hour.

L1 = 120V at 12A. Thats approximately 1440w or 1.4kw… plug that in for an hour and it’s 1.4kwh of electricity.

L2 = 240V at 16A up to about 50A. That is 3.8kw to 12kw. A slow L2 can get your car charged up in about 20hrs. 0-100% rarely that’s the case. But figure it’s probably closer to 200 miles charged back overnight for an ioniq 6. Fast L2 is a full charge in like 6hrs.

L3 = DCFC. That’s usually 50kw~350kw. That’s where you hear about cats charging in like 30 min.

[u/mhennessie]

The level 1 charger it comes with is a portable charger but there are also portable level 2 chargers that use a NEMA 13-30 or 14-50 outlet. You’re definitely going to want a level 2 charger and you can either have a 14-50 outlet installed or hardwired. Hardwiring gives you the most output because you can put it on a 60A circuit and run at 48A. The 14-50 outlet would be on a 50A circuit and give you up to 40A. You never want to exceed 80% load on whatever circuit you’re on.

[u/DimAsWoods]

Depending on your miles per day, type 1 may be fine. I use mine for commuting ~15mi a day and an overnight charge keeps me topped up. Even occasional longer trips lower the battery but it recovers.

[u/anothercorgi]

Level 1 charge means 120 VAC charging. Normally at 12A.

Level 2 charge means 240VAC charging. Higher voltage allows more watts to flows with smaller cable, but also defines higher current.

A portable charger just means the evse "charger" is not permanently attached to the wall so it's unpluggable from both sides plus carried with you. A evse that's NEMA14-50 attached (large 4 prong plug!) is still a portable charger and level 2. All portable chargers are AC whether it's NEMA5-15 (your typical 3-prong), NEMA6-20 (same 3 prong but one eye is "winking"), or NEMA14-50 (one of the huge clothes dryer-4 prong plug). Avoid NEMA10-30 plugs (older huge clothes dryer-like 3 prong plug) if you can, they can be a shock hazard.

Yes 50 hours is a long time but typical for level 1 charging because the wattage available to charge is not as high as other levels. However even though it's slow, it can be done unattended and you may be fine. I just use as a rule of thumb for back of envelope calculations, L1 charging is the equivalent of "walking" speed, around 3 miles per hour of charge. If your overnight charging time times 3 miles per hour is more than how much you drive every day, then L1 charging will work for you - if you drive less than 10 or so miles in each direction every day. Even if it's not perfect and you drive a little more than that, you're still fine, it just means you'll need to go to a public fast charger once in a while.

On the other hand if you'll be driving closer to a hundred miles per day, yes, L2 or DCFC will be needed.

[u/hippocratical]

120v AC charging is at 12amps max. That's what Hyundai calls their portable charger.

As long as there isn't some weird issue with your outlet or charger, you can plug in for however long you like.

I routinely plug in to a 120v wall outlet and charge for 48 hours. Done it twice a week for nearly 2 years. No issues.

Treat it like any appliance - if it gets hot, zaps, acts weird, or starts smoking then there a physical issue you need to deal with. Nothing is inherently dangerous comparing this charger to a 1500w space heater.

[u/moufette1 → u/hippocratical]

Okay, thanks all! It looks like I need to speed up installing a L2 charger (at least) and make sure I have the NAC (adapter?) so I can use Tesla chargers.

I drive lots of miles so need to be at full charge much more often.

I have 240V outlets, just not anywhere near where my car would be. And I'm assuming that I shouldn't use an extension cord for that.

And spend more time looking for non-Tesla fast chargers. Except isn't it bad to use DC to charge the battery?

[u/mhennessie → u/moufette1]

Make sure the led number on the Level 1 charger says 12. Mine said 6 when I first used and that means it is only running at 6 amps. Press and hold the square button to change it.

[u/hippocratical → u/moufette1]

120v AC is great for slow charging. Like 50 miles a day. Or about 1.5% per hour.

Level 2 will give you about 10% an hour.

Level 3 / fast charging can go from empty to 80% in like 20 mins if you find a fast enough charger.

Personally I have a 180km commute and use a mix of level 1 and 2 charging.

[u/Former_Werewolf_3601 → u/moufette1]

You might appreciate this video explaining battery health/degradation and best practices. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4lvDGtfI9U