So i wanted to wait until I reached 1,000 miles to post this review of MPG, or I guess MPGE. So first of all love the car, probably my favorite, and I own the 2021 LC 500 vert. I just hit the 1,000 mile mark toady and I have barely used 1/4 tank of gas. My commute is 33 miles each way. Up until today i have had just the standard charger and my car say I can go 41 miles on EV. I plug it in at night and then again at work still on standard charger. The only reason I used any gas is because the charger is so slow and wouldn’t charge the car to 100% at work. Still at this rate i could go 4,000 miles on 1 tank of gas. I always drive in the auto mode and then if the battery goes dead, I hit the recharging mode. So I love this car as is even with the slow charging, well installing the level 2 charger was a game changer. So I had a couple of issues with the level one charger, it wouldn’t charge the battery 100% in the 8 hrs at work and the battery would run out on the way home sometimes. Then once I got home and even if I was home for an HR I would have to use gas because the car charges to slow. Now comes the game changer, last night I ran a 240V 50amp dedicated circuit to my garage so I could install my Keruida Level 2 charger. I plugged my car into it and it charged in 1HR. I also had one installed at work. I may never put gas in this car, with the Auto mode I’m getting around 60 miles on EV, that is well within my driving range. Now that I have something at home and at work that can charge my car really quick is a game changer. Also now if I come home and plug it in for 1/2HR I’ll be able to jump in it and run around with out using gas. If you haven’t got a rapid charger yet I highly recommend it. So I’M a Director of Engineering and installed mine myself and I’m licensed to do so. I will say this, mine way an easy install, you don’t need a 50 amp breaker although I would recommend at least a 40 amp. The charger I listed will only do 32 amps, and that is what our car is rated for. If you are handy you can easily do this yourself. A couple of things, if you go the 50 amp route and it not a long run you can get away with #8 wire, if its over 25ft you will need #6 wire. If you decided to do 50 amps please don’t try and go with a smaller wire because it’s easier and cheaper, its not safe. If you go with a 40 amp service, you can use #10 wire, and that is what I would recommend unless your are experienced like me. I ran my connection to the panel with the panel hot, I don’t recommend this unless you have a lot of experience working on live power, kill the power if you can. If you are going to work on it live, turn the breaker you are installing to off before installing. A lot of people tend to touch the metal screws when trying to push the breaker in place, if its in the on position, those screws are hot and can get you killed. If you are using conduit you will need wire lube to pull the wires, even #10 is a ***** to pull through conduit. If any of this scares you call an electrician, its not worth your house, care, life, or your family. I don’t know what it would have cost me to pay someone to put this in but I know its a hell of a lot more then what it cost me. The level 2 charger I listed above was $299 and its a damn good one too. You will need a 14-50 plug to plug this into, it was $12. You will be shocked at how expensive wire is now. You will 8/3 or 10/3 wire, my 8/3 was $349 for 50ft. All in all, I installed this myself in about 3hrs and under $1,000. I can’t stress this enough, if you don’t know how to install to meat code, then don’t install it. If its not up to code and anything happens insurance wont cover it.
One important note I forgot to mention, your home will have to have a 200 amp service, if its lower then that you will have to upsize the panel and at that point it’s probably not worth it.
If anyone is interested in advice on how to install one hit me up. ITS A 1,000 TIMES WORTH IT.

 

Why do you need 50 amp charger? Your car has 6.6Kw onboard charger. You can get 32, 40 or 50 amp level 2 charger it will not make any difference. Your charging time will still be little over than 2 hours.

 

Thanks Mbova77.

We have been debating level 2 at home. Right now we are thinking no, but I appreciate the stories about what others are doing and if they find value.

My current thoughts, still evolving.
Using a few tanks of gas a year is a good thing. Keeps gas fresh and mechanical parts happy.
Minimizing how much time the battery is at 100% (not sure how much of a big deal this really is)

For now, we like the idea of slow charging 1x per day and having it ready to go in the morning. Simple, cheap, and balances the above 2 objectives. Based on our household usage of course.

I wish we could get some better info on the battery health over time. With Slow Timed charge we get mostly EV miles and the battery is rarely at 100%. Level 2 I think the battery would frequently be at 100%. We might squeeze out a few more EV miles per month, but not sure that balance is worth it. For us...

Still keeping an open mind on the level 2 though. Looking forward to more peoples usage stories.
We have plenty of electrical skills, so that's not really a barrier.

At some point we will add 1-2 level 2 stations at home. Seems inevitable that we, and our guests, will benefit. Varies by region, but around here there's quite a bit of EV adoption.

 

Like to add, If I lived and/or worked somewhere where I couldn't leave it plugged in overnight I would definitely like level 2.
My previous employer had some charging stations that were heavily used. They had an app for rotating vehicles through those spots. Level 2 would be very good for that. Get in, get out.

 

If the included charger works, no need for change. You have a lot of ICE miles in case you ever need it.

You may, however, check to see if you have any local $ available for putting in a Level 2. In our area, in addition to the Federal Tax credit, we have a local programs which pays part of the charger's cost and all of the electrical work's cost (up to a max $), so I was able to put in a Level 2 for a very low cost. My charger (JuiceBox) allows scheduling the charge, varying the charge rate, and setting a max limit to avoid reaching 100%. I can aim for the best battery life most of the time but charge faster occasionally if the situation warrants it.

With the Inflation Reduction Act, I believe the tax credits get extended for 10 years, so that won't change, but if you have local incentives right now, those may be gone.

 

Interesting, I might look into that.
I heard there were tax credits and stuff.
I was not aware the charging station was able to manage level of charge.
I figured some of them would do scheduling etc, but I wasn't aware they had access to the battery charge info. If they do, or can guess it accurately enough, that's a nice bonus.

 

Mine (assuming others do as well) have full level of charge, timing, etc flexibility. They can even 'load' share a single circuit and can be set to avoid overloading your panel. I have 2 40A chargers wired from a 100A sub-panel that also runs my heat pump and furnace, and in the future an electric water heater. If both cars were pulling the full 6.6kWh then they'll be pulling about 28A each, which, if everything else was at peak load, might exceed 100A.... So I told them the circuit total was 40A, and they'll keep their combined load at or under that amount.

The functionality is intended for using a single breaker and 2 plugs, but works well for my situation.

Finally, the chargers don't read the cars' actual levels, you specify the car's battery capacity (18.1) and then the chargers report within that range. Takes one more step than full automatic as I have to check the car's final charge level each day if I want to be 100% accurate. Works well for me, but I doubt very many folks spend the time on this, so YMMV.

 

You will want to burn some fuel as it can get stale. Add to this that ethanol is corrosive (hopefully you avoid fuel that has it).

 

I got a 60 amp breaker so I can charge at 48 amps. It does not make a difference for the 450h, but this is not the last EV I'll be buying -- future proof.

In order to maximize the 6.6kw charger, you would need a 40amp breaker that can continuously charge at 32amps (80% rule) -- somebody correct me if I'm wrong?

 

I believe 6.6kw = 6,600W/240V = 27.5A max draw, so technical max would be 27.5/80% ~ 34.4A circuit....you could use a 35A breaker if you want to be different, or just go for the standard 40A. I cheapened out a little by only buying 40A chargers and 6/3 line for the 50A circuit. I'm looking at a redo of my panels in the foreseeable future before I can go higher than 40 or 50A in total draw for both cars, so figured I would just save the $.

Future proofing is always good, no downside (other than slight material cost and a little more effort wrestling larger wires) to oversizing the circuit.

 

For future use. The code requirement in many counties in MD is to have a 50 amp service in the garage for a car charger. Just had a contractor friend fail inspection in Howard county because he didn’t have a 50 amp service for the garage. Thinking about getting a Tesla at some point and they require a 50 amp service. I also wanted to be code compliant if I ever decide to sell the house.

 

Tesla does not require 50 amp service. You may have and charge Tesla with 32 amp or 20 amp… doesn’t matter. You will get slower charging rate, that’s all. As for having 50 amp, not sure about md but, here in NA the only limitation is your level 2 charger. If you want to install 50 amp level 2 charger then, your level 2 charger must be hardwired. For 40 amp or less, it can be plugged in.

As a future proofing, yes I would agree, 50 amp or more is good to have but, for Lexus nx or rx phev it is overkill.

 

One of my best friends runs the east region for Tesla, they can actually charge up to 11.5 KW/HR, that would be a 60 amp feed. The 50 amp feed charges at 9.6 KW/HR and the 40 amp feed at 7.7 KW. So with Tesla it does make a difference, and that information is straight from their sight. With the charger I listed it allows you to pick what amps you want to use. On the NX a 40 amp breaker is fine but I wouldn’t go lower then that or you wont be charging it at its full potential.