The car is at 100% before I wake up, so if I'm not going to drive the next day, & I want to avoid sitting at full charge*, I have to do math and set the onboard timer.
I'm also a bit concerned about the 1948 wiring in my apartment's garage, after seeing things like this on the forum:
So I shopped hard on Amazon & found a few cords that can be set to use less power. None of them had tons of reviews or a recognizable brand, so I ordered the cheapest, at $125: "GODIAG EV101" (just type that at Amazon or click here).
I can set it to 8A or 10A, depending on how long I want it to take. It can also be set for 13A or 16A, but another forum member reported the 500e won't take more than 12A on 120V.
I'll report back here once I've used it a few times.
* Battery life seems pretty good for most owners so far, but I'd rather play it safe.
Following your suggestion about partial charging, I set my timer to charge 3am to 9am, off peak rates for Xcel. and I get about 30% each morning, almost exactly what i use for my daily journey. No math needed.
That looks like one of those inexpensive outlets from Home Depot. Also, and I've also had 1948 wiring where you live, I put in a green ground wire for the outlet box.
When it's set to 8 or 10 Amps there's barely any warmth at all from any part of the Godiag. I'm no longer even the least bit concerned about melting the plug or outlet or building wires, since it's SO much cooler than the OEM.
The bad news (EDITED to add solution):
At 8 or 10A the car's charge time estimate still shows the 12A time, which is about 8 12ths or 10 12ths as long as it'll actually take.
IF you're not doing a full charge you need to check the % gauge right before & after plugging in. If it jumps up 30% like mine did the very first time*, then you need to subtract 30% from the gauge, until it resets.
Mine reset when I charged til it stopped. It's been fine ever since, including the 10 more times I've charged at 8A or 10A.
*@deftoner posted a similar experience here: (click here), but he reported a flashing odometer, & mine was flashing when I got the % glitch.
I realized the crazy-simple solution to the 1-time glitch so I added it to post #2 above:
IF you're not doing a full charge, just check the gauge right before & after plugging in. IF it jumps up 30% make sure to subtract 30% from the gauge, until it resets.
The one time it happened to me I just let it fully charge, so I don't know if there's any other way to reset it.
I've used it 7 times now on 8 amps & it's still only the ONE time that it made the % gauge read 30% high.
That happened when my odometer was flashing, & I just remembered that @deftowner who reported a % jump when charging at 8 or 10A also had a flashing odometer! So it seems reasonable to conclude that the % issue was just from that.
Used 11 times now at 8 to 10 amps. Stone cold & no issues at all, aside from the very first time when my odometer was flashing & the gauge jumped up 30% when I plugged in.
Used a bunch more times with no effect at all on the % gauge, nearly always at 8 amps but once or twice at 10 amps.
I'm now pretty confident that the one time it happened was likely due to the proxy misalignment I had at the time, indicated by my odometer flashing constantly.
I saw the price has gone up to $150 but it's still the cheapest adjustable unit I found, & a real bargain compared to burning down a building.
Bonus benefit: I can now avoid a bit of wear on the contactors*, by charging slow enough that it's not fully charged when I leave.
I've used it tons more times now without it ever altering the % gauge, so I'm 99.9% convinced that the ONE time that happened was just due to the flashing odometer glitch I had at the time.
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