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Emergency charge using portable generator

2149 Views 16 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  Henry Ford
Has anyone tried to use say like a portable 6k watt or so generator to charge truck say like in emergency situation yet ?
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It would almost certainly trip a 30 amp breaker. It charges at 32 amps so you'd be a 40 amp breaker minimum. I'm not familiar with home generators but I'd guess they put a 30 amp outlet on them because they are 30 amp breakers. YMMV.
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35 amps still isn't enough. The max you ever want to stress an electrical circuit is 80%, hence a 40 amp breaker for a 32 amps charger. This is especially important for an EV charger that will be drawing max amperage for extended periods. Maybe 35 amps would work but my guess is it would be very unreliable.
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The photo of the panel shows a 35 amps main breaker.

I did a quick search and was able to find an RV ready generator that would work.

If you put ohm's law to work; 32 amps * 240 volts = 7680 watts. That is the minimum continuous running wattage generator that would work. Yes, it has to be running watts. EV chargers create A LOT of heat. Anything less would certainly cause a trip.

To be clear, I'm talking about the Mobile Charger with the 240 volt adapter. You can use the 120 volt adapter with any 15 amp outlet, it just charges very slowly.
I Googled "RV ready 50 amp generator." There's a 12500 watt Westinghouse generator on Amazon that would work. I'm sure there are more.
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