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Siemens’ new home EV charger adapter ends need for electrical panel upgrades

Sgt Beavis

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Now this is interesting. Instead of having to upgrade your home's electrical panel, you can modify the the electric meter. This allows the charger to be plugged directly into the modded meter for a much simpler install.
https://electrek.co/2022/07/27/siemens-home-ev-charger-adapter/

Personally this is a double bonus for me since my power meter right outside my garage wall.
 

CommodoreAmiga

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This does seem like an excellent solution for many homes where upgrading the panel would be a considerable expense. I'm thinking of all the 100A panels in older homes. I wonder if this would also be usable in newer 200A homes that want to go multi-EV and only have capacity in their existing panel for 1 EV circuit?

Although, the panel is only one part of the problem... I wonder how often the drop from the utility to the meter is not sufficiently oversized compared to the panel? And you'd still need to ensure there is sufficient capacity on your neighborhood transformer.
 

Zoidz

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Personally this is a double bonus for me since my power meter right outside my garage wall.
It's a great solution, with a few caveats that the article didn't mention.
1) Electric companies are not known for being tech early adopters. I anticipate some electric companies will take forever and a day to approve this device for use on their customers.
2) Most/all utilities have some sort of security lock/seal on the meter. It will almost certainly need a visit from the utility company to lock/re-seal it. In my area that's $110 (not a big deal) but scheduling them is ridiculous.

At my residence, it's not a useful option since my meter is 90' from the garage. At my vacation home, it's perfect.
 

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My meter also on opposite side of house than garage.....would be interested to see how I could incorporate.
 
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MIG

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It's a great solution, with a few caveats that the article didn't mention.
1) Electric companies are not known for being tech early adopters. I anticipate some electric companies will take forever and a day to approve this device for use on their customers.
2) Most/all utilities have some sort of security lock/seal on the meter. It will almost certainly need a visit from the utility company to lock/re-seal it. In my area that's $110 (not a big deal) but scheduling them is ridiculous.

At my residence, it's not a useful option since my meter is 90' from the garage. At my vacation home, it's perfect.
My link above identifies utilities that have adopted this technology and can install these collars. Not a huge list but shows that it's not an impossibility.
 

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The new adapter will enable electric car owners to charge their EVs by connecting chargers directly through the meter socket, which is on every home. It provides more useable capacity by monitoring total load and controlling the EV circuit to ensure the total capacity rating is within the limit.
Can someone explain this in layperson's terms? How does it provide more useable capacity exactly? Does it mean that if you have a panel that isn't maximizing your service level, this can make use of that capacity, or does it mean it somehow manages to get extra capacity from the grid?
 

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This would be pretty cool! My house was built in the 70s and it has a 100A panel. I currently have a 32A Siemens EVSE so if I can upgrade to a 48A one that connects directly to the meter that would be nice. Also I was thinking about the costs to install a second meter to be used just for EV charging.
 

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If you have a 100A panel you probably also have an undersized feed as well. I don’t see this really catching on. Going to 200 or 400 amp service usually requires retrofitting the entire drop.
 

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kurtlikevonnegut

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This is Siemens second significant move in the EV charging space in the last month. Very interesting indeed.
 

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Avoids the need to upgrade amperage in older homes on order to install home chargers. To be ready in 1st quarter 2023.
 

Sierra7117

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Bummer this company isn't certified across the whole country. Checked and no go for WA state =\
 

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Can someone explain this in layperson's terms? How does it provide more useable capacity exactly? Does it mean that if you have a panel that isn't maximizing your service level, this can make use of that capacity, or does it mean it somehow manages to get extra capacity from the grid?
If you want to put in a home charger and your panel doesn’t have the space for it you can use this instead. As others pointed out it’s not a guarantee but it is a possible way to add a charger without having to get an entirely new panel.
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