4 ms·

This reminds me of my elderly parent's home 50+ years old, original 100A service and wiring, glass fuses. Built in a time when electrical devices were; washer,

This reminds me of my elderly parent's home 50+ years old, original 100A service and wiring, glass fuses. Built in a time when electrical devices were; washer, dryer, fridge, stove, TV, furnace, lights. All 15A 120V except for the stove at 30A 240V. Probably four circuits for the entire house. All homes on their street have electrical service entering from the opposite side of the driveway. So if they wanted a car charger the house would have to be rewired, service upgraded. Electric vehicles are for the young and rich.

sib 6y ago
Yup - this is very common in southern California, for example. My mother-in-law and brother-in-law's homes are both in this situation. Ours would also have been except we were lucky that the previous owner was an EV early adopter and when he did a big remodeling project, he upgraded the service panel. (We then added solar when we moved in...)
CyberDildonics 6y ago
Knob and tube wiring is outdated and very dangerous. This article is about the grid in general, not your parents' ancient fuses. 240V 30A is over 7kw. Even a 15A 120V is enough to charge a typical electric car.
- blabitty 6y ago
  The grid in general has a lot of old wiring especially in earlier settled parts of the country. I grew up in a house built in 1940 and it wasn't especially old for my area. These are real costs that affect real people when discussing a massive paradigm shift like going mainly to EV and comments like yours perpetuate the idea that EV's are for a certain wealthy disconnected from reality virtue signalling crowd.
  - smileysteve 6y ago
    Overdue maintenance for real people. Cloth and/or ungrounded wiring is a electrocution and fire hazard and should be considered unsafe for anybody using basic electrics near any water source, much more if it has any load. This warning should be more pronounced for elderly, children, or people who have not been accustomed to it. This is not much different than the Lowndes Al homes that haven't had working septic in 30 years that are bringing back hookworm.
  - jonnycomputer 6y ago
    My house doesn't even have grounded wires. I wonder if that is an issue when charging an EV.
    - speedgoose 6y ago
      It depends on the car, using the charger that you connect on a classic household plug some do not really mind a bad grounding while some other will refuse to charge. But it's not too difficult to fix that if you get a charger installed.
      - jonnycomputer 6y ago
        thanks
    - dghughes 6y ago
      If everything is working probably not. Although the EV charge port may require a ground path be present. If the neutral wire breaks the ground is for safety. Otherwise the hot needs a path and that will probably be the car itself, or most likely you.
- dghughes 6y ago
  >Knob and tube wiring is outdated ... Knob and tube was discontinued in the 1940s not 1970s.
smileysteve 6y ago
> except for the stove at 30A 240V So you're saying that your perfect example of a house that is behind on maintenance... would only require... A quick job to wire the 240 to the garage that every other house that isn't behind on safety maintenance. If you're lucky, the electrician would install a modern code compliant panel while on the job.
- dghughes 6y ago
  What lack of maintenance? The wires and panel work fine. The house is the same as it has been for years no electrical issues. That "quick job" costs a lot of money probably $15K not to mention the labour and time involved. And to a garage that doesn't exist. My point being adding modern things more power hungry like an EV are not easy for older homes. Renovating to update the entire electrical system is not cheap.
  - djrogers 6y ago
    15k? Are you buying cocaine for your electrician and his hookers, or are you hiring him to run a 240v outlet? Because the latter should cost about 1/10th of what you’re expecting..
    - dghughes 6y ago
      I was commenting to the person above who seemingly wants my parents to rewire their entire home. And to do so every few years since apparently that's what proper maintenance means.
  - smileysteve 6y ago
    The lack of maintenance is updating the circuit panel first and wires second, I believe this is the _ $15k you're referencing. Cloth wiring, no grounds, no gfi around water, and fuses create for a very dangerous fire and electrocution hazard; any electrician or home inspector would have recommended changing it out 20 years ago; without electric cars being in the conversation. You don't have to rewire the rest of the house to extend the 240 across the width of the house. 240 is the least integrated wiring. And every house (new and old) that needs a driveway or garage placement requires the same wiring change. If you wanted, the cheapest option is to move the service point (no cost)
speedgoose 6y ago
Looks like your elderly parent home is fine. Just share the 30A 240V line between the stove and the car charger. You have hardware to share the load automatically, my not so young boss has that. And most EVs will charge at 32A max on 240V so you don't really need to get more amps.

sib 6y ago

Yup - this is very common in southern California, for example. My mother-in-law and brother-in-law's homes are both in this situation. Ours would also have been except we were lucky that the previous owner was an EV early adopter and when he did a big remodeling project, he upgraded the service panel. (We then added solar when we moved in...)

CyberDildonics 6y ago

Knob and tube wiring is outdated and very dangerous. This article is about the grid in general, not your parents' ancient fuses. 240V 30A is over 7kw. Even a 15A 120V is enough to charge a typical electric car.

blabitty 6y ago
The grid in general has a lot of old wiring especially in earlier settled parts of the country. I grew up in a house built in 1940 and it wasn't especially old for my area. These are real costs that affect real people when discussing a massive paradigm shift like going mainly to EV and comments like yours perpetuate the idea that EV's are for a certain wealthy disconnected from reality virtue signalling crowd.
- smileysteve 6y ago
  Overdue maintenance for real people. Cloth and/or ungrounded wiring is a electrocution and fire hazard and should be considered unsafe for anybody using basic electrics near any water source, much more if it has any load. This warning should be more pronounced for elderly, children, or people who have not been accustomed to it. This is not much different than the Lowndes Al homes that haven't had working septic in 30 years that are bringing back hookworm.
- jonnycomputer 6y ago
  My house doesn't even have grounded wires. I wonder if that is an issue when charging an EV.
  - speedgoose 6y ago
    It depends on the car, using the charger that you connect on a classic household plug some do not really mind a bad grounding while some other will refuse to charge. But it's not too difficult to fix that if you get a charger installed.
    - jonnycomputer 6y ago
      thanks
  - dghughes 6y ago
    If everything is working probably not. Although the EV charge port may require a ground path be present. If the neutral wire breaks the ground is for safety. Otherwise the hot needs a path and that will probably be the car itself, or most likely you.
dghughes 6y ago
>Knob and tube wiring is outdated ... Knob and tube was discontinued in the 1940s not 1970s.

smileysteve 6y ago

> except for the stove at 30A 240V So you're saying that your perfect example of a house that is behind on maintenance... would only require... A quick job to wire the 240 to the garage that every other house that isn't behind on safety maintenance. If you're lucky, the electrician would install a modern code compliant panel while on the job.

dghughes 6y ago
What lack of maintenance? The wires and panel work fine. The house is the same as it has been for years no electrical issues. That "quick job" costs a lot of money probably $15K not to mention the labour and time involved. And to a garage that doesn't exist. My point being adding modern things more power hungry like an EV are not easy for older homes. Renovating to update the entire electrical system is not cheap.
- djrogers 6y ago
  15k? Are you buying cocaine for your electrician and his hookers, or are you hiring him to run a 240v outlet? Because the latter should cost about 1/10th of what you’re expecting..
  - dghughes 6y ago
    I was commenting to the person above who seemingly wants my parents to rewire their entire home. And to do so every few years since apparently that's what proper maintenance means.
- smileysteve 6y ago
  The lack of maintenance is updating the circuit panel first and wires second, I believe this is the _ $15k you're referencing. Cloth wiring, no grounds, no gfi around water, and fuses create for a very dangerous fire and electrocution hazard; any electrician or home inspector would have recommended changing it out 20 years ago; without electric cars being in the conversation. You don't have to rewire the rest of the house to extend the 240 across the width of the house. 240 is the least integrated wiring. And every house (new and old) that needs a driveway or garage placement requires the same wiring change. If you wanted, the cheapest option is to move the service point (no cost)

speedgoose 6y ago

Looks like your elderly parent home is fine. Just share the 30A 240V line between the stove and the car charger. You have hardware to share the load automatically, my not so young boss has that. And most EVs will charge at 32A max on 240V so you don't really need to get more amps.