My 2014 Outlander PHEV requires a 15Amp Australian power point to charge.Please read my message about other options

[Jimmyg68]

Hello from Australia Forum members .I have a 2014 Outlander PHEV and a 15Amp power point at my home to charge it.I understand that later models are charged more slowly using a standard Australian 10 Amp power point. I soon have to move from my house , and does anyone know if there is an adaptor. available to connect to my charging plug to use other car style plugs, as Australian EV public charging points don’t have a 15 Amp power point, or any other way I can charge my 2014 PHEV? While adaptors are available to convert from 15to 10 Amps, it isn’t possible to do the reverse. Any advice welcome, thanks, Jim

 

[antonvs]

I see you have not had an replys yet. I don't have a definitive answer, our Son has a 2014 PHEV and charges this when he visits with a standard 10A plug top on his lead. I always assumed this was standard but will ask him about it.

 

[antonvs]

Suggest you also ask here......
https://www.myoutlanderphev.com/threads/australians-down-under.459/unread

 

[themaiz]

Hello from Australia Forum members .I have a 2014 Outlander PHEV and a 15Amp power point at my home to charge it.I understand that later models are charged more slowly using a standard Australian 10 Amp power point. I soon have to move from my house , and does anyone know if there is an adaptor. available to connect to my charging plug to use other car style plugs, as Australian EV public charging points don’t have a 15 Amp power point, or any other way I can charge my 2014 PHEV? While adaptors are available to convert from 15to 10 Amps, it isn’t possible to do the reverse. Any advice welcome, thanks, Jim

JIm, do you have a 15 Amp charger? If you only have a 10 Amp charger (as supplied with the car) then plugging it into a 15A outlet won't help. The charger has no way to know it's in a more capable socket. Also - dirty little secret - a standard house outlet is claimed as 10A, but will really carry whatever is permitted by the breaker that feeds it... and that's typically 20A. A 15A plug has a bigger earth pin, but that's a physical change, not electrical as such. You're limited by the charger, and even if you put a 15A plug on a 10A charger it makes no difference.

I have a Fronius WattPilot connected to a 3-phase outlet. Theoretically, I could pull 32A per leg (ie: 23kW) BUT... my 2023 is only single phase on the Type 2 connector which would be theoretical 7.5kW. But the car will only pull 15A as far as I can see (so 3.6kW). I'd expect the car to fully charge from flat in 6 hours, but more like 7 or 8 is likely.

If you want to install a 15A outlet because you have a 15A charger (or a device with a 15A plug) then you can buy the outlet from Bunnings and a sparky should be able to install it for an hour's labour.

Maiz

 

[AndyInOz]

I have the same car (I think).

The supplied charger has a 15 amp plug, and cannot be plugged into a 10 amp socket.

The manual recommends a dedicated 15 amp line with no other appliances on the circuit.

(To ensure that the circuit is not overloaded.)

 

[HeliNurse]

Hum... 2 mins with an angle grinder? allegedly.

 

[AndyInOz]

Hum... 2 mins with an angle grinder? allegedly.

Sure.

But good luck with your insurance when the fire investigators find what you've done.

Make sure that you never tell anyone about it, especially not on the internet.

 

[themaiz]

In Oz (I can't speak for other jurisdictions) it's a relatively trivial matter to change the GPO to 15A so that you can plug in a 15A device. I agree with AndyInOz: don't screw with the plug. The cost of doing it correctly is trivial compared to the insurance risk. And, by the way, the active and neutral pins on a 15A plug are exactly the same size as a 10A plug. Only the earth is different, and no power flows through that.

I think the regulations are that a dedicated 15A circuit will be protected by a 16A breaker. It's allowable to have a 15A outlet and one other 10A outlet on the same circuit. But note that a quite large number of 10A dual outlets can be on the one 20A breaker. There's a piece of illogic there that is breathtaking, but this is not about sensibility; it's about regulations.

 

[Hhl1]

JIm, do you have a 15 Amp charger? If you only have a 10 Amp charger (as supplied with the car) then plugging it into a 15A outlet won't help. The charger has no way to know it's in a more capable socket. Also - dirty little secret - a standard house outlet is claimed as 10A, but will really carry whatever is permitted by the breaker that feeds it... and that's typically 20A. A 15A plug has a bigger earth pin, but that's a physical change, not electrical as such. You're limited by the charger, and even if you put a 15A plug on a 10A charger it makes no difference.

I have a Fronius WattPilot connected to a 3-phase outlet. Theoretically, I could pull 32A per leg (ie: 23kW) BUT... my 2023 is only single phase on the Type 2 connector which would be theoretical 7.5kW. But the car will only pull 15A as far as I can see (so 3.6kW). I'd expect the car to fully charge from flat in 6 hours, but more like 7 or 8 is likely.

If you want to install a 15A outlet because you have a 15A charger (or a device with a 15A plug) then you can buy the outlet from Bunnings and a sparky should be able to install it for an hour's labour.

Maiz

If he values his licence he won’t do it….. a 15A outlet must have it’s own circuit back to the switchboard

 

[Hhl1]

In Oz (I can't speak for other jurisdictions) it's a relatively trivial matter to change the GPO to 15A so that you can plug in a 15A device. I agree with AndyInOz: don't screw with the plug. The cost of doing it correctly is trivial compared to the insurance risk. And, by the way, the active and neutral pins on a 15A plug are exactly the same size as a 10A plug. Only the earth is different, and no power flows through that.

I think the regulations are that a dedicated 15A circuit will be protected by a 16A breaker. It's allowable to have a 15A outlet and one other 10A outlet on the same circuit. But note that a quite large number of 10A dual outlets can be on the one 20A breaker. There's a piece of illogic there that is breathtaking, but this is not about sensibility; it's about regulations.

It’s not a trivial matter at all!

 

[Hhl1]

It’s not a trivial matter at all!

The rules actually make perfect sense if you take the trouble to understand them. You can have multiple circuits with 10A outlets and they may well draw up to 20A , but the loads would be on different power points. Mitsubishi initially supplied the charger with a 15A plug to make people use a dedicated circuit even though the charger was only pulling 10A max. They figured if people charged their car on a 10A circuit and then other loads were plugged in on different points such as a fan heater, it would trip the breaker. Having said that, you can buy an adapter that allows a 15A plug on a 10A power point, most caravan shops and mayb bunnings sell them. They have a 10A breaker in them, so they are legal. Later mitsu supplied a charger with a 10A plug but it woul only draw 8A.

 

[themaiz]

The rules actually make perfect sense if you take the trouble to understand them.

For the record: I do understand them, but most people do not. I interpreted the OP question as "can you put an adaptor on your charger and get more power from the outlet"? That's dealing with a mixture of electrical theory and regulations, but the practical answer is: no adaptor, plug or outlet is going to change the behaviour of the charger or the car.

You can have multiple circuits with 10A outlets and they may well draw up to 20A , but the loads would be on different power points.

You can indeed have multiple outlets on a breaker. The past owners who built and rebuilt my house thoughtfully installed an amazing number of outlets in truly convenient locations. The result is that a builder with a suspect saw can plug into an outside GPO and take out the kitchen, my office, and a bathroom which are in diametric corners of the house and on different levels. Very unhelpful mapping of outlets to breakers. In the last two months my electrician has finally understood that I don't run a typical house, and 4 breakers for the entire house can't cope. FWIW, our 10A outlets are now spread across 15 breakers on three boards (plus three three-phase outlets, plus six 15A outlets, plus an actual 20A GPO) and it's not quite finished. Possibly excessive, but becoming more balanced.

Mitsubishi initially supplied the charger with a 15A plug to make people use a dedicated circuit even though the charger was only pulling 10A max.

If that's the case, it's spectacularly specious logic in the part of Mitsu.

And I think you misunderstood my comment about it's trivial to change the power point (which it is). That should not be done by anyone other than a licensed sparky, who will also know the rules and who should do what it takes for that outlet to be compliant. Quite probably that would mean a dedicated breaker.

They figured if people charged their car on a 10A circuit and then other loads were plugged in on different points such as a fan heater, it would trip the breaker. Having said that, you can buy an adapter that allows a 15A plug on a 10A power point, most caravan shops and mayb bunnings sell them. They have a 10A breaker in them, so they are legal. Later mitsu supplied a charger with a 10A plug but it woul only draw 8A.

Sure. And that's one of my greatest annoyances with the Outlander PHEV. Given that it can absorb power at speed via the ChaDeMo connection, why did they limit the Type2 connector to single phase? Why not have it work with a single phase via the granny charger, but actually take lots of power if that's available (as it now is here... we have three phase outlets and a Fronius WattPilot).

Anyway, getting very OT. Maybe.