Heater/air cond loads vs optimal 208/240 volt charger size

[Ridfenfun]

I'm going to buy a 208/240 volt charger. Assuming car is fully charged in the morning, will going to a 32 amp vs 16 amp charger size be of benefit to avoid depleting the battery while running the heater or A/C? Or is the cars input limited to about the 2.93 KW regardless hence the larger charger is of no benefit at all?
Currently only have the 120 volt OEM charger, so want to make the right choice of 16 or 32 amps in the 220 volt.

 

[jaapv]

The car can never charge higher than 16 A, regardless of the charger, so the only advantage of a 32A charger is to be futureproof.

 

[Ridfenfun]

Thanks. I suspected as much but wanted to be sure. I thought maybe while charging, the heater would be operated directly bypassing the battery (and internal charge controller that limits to 16 amp input rate).

 

[STS134]

Thanks. I suspected as much but wanted to be sure. I thought maybe while charging, the heater would be operated directly bypassing the battery (and internal charge controller that limits to 16 amp input rate).

Well, if the OBC is generating power, then the heater would be sucking power directly from the OBC instead of the battery. But the energy still has to come from the OBC because the heater does not use AC power. So it will avoid depleting the battery but whether the heater is on or off does not affect how much energy the OBC can generate. It's a maximum 16A OBC.

In any case, I would not get an EVSE that's less than 32A, since your next vehicle will almost certainly have an OBC that's >= 32A. Some cars even have 48A OBC, and a couple models have 80A OBC (which is the max allowed by J1772 specification). I think you should at least go up to the maximum of 40A for a NEMA 14-50 outlet if you're buying a EVSE today.