The main problem is that people may be careless concerning which wall socket they plug it in. Not all wires and sockets in every house are suitable for such currents for so many hours. What they don't want is that by doing this your house burns down and then you ask Hyundai to pay for your new house. So check that first.

Concerning rain, in most cases, it already helps if you place the connection box under your car. If you think water will flow there, you can place it inside the car with a very small opening of the window for the cables. There are also members who build something around it.

 

To expand on what Jan Treur says, the "emergancy use only" is primarily to cover Hyundai againstfailures/fires caused by connecting the charger to unsuitable electrical outlets. Provided you connect to an outlet continuously rated at 15amp or greater protected by an earth leakage trip/ground fault circuit breaker, and if using an extension lead, that is similarly rated and fully uncoiled, then there should be no problem with frequent use and using the highest current output. There is no problem with charging at lower currents. It just takes longer. The charger is not totally waterproof so should be protected from rain/snow which can be achieved as Jan suggests. Bear in mind though that any box built to house the charger should have adequet ventilation to prevent the charger overheating.
It will be worth your while reading through the PHEV section forum especially regarding the implications of allowing the battery to fall below about 17%, as explained be S Evans, which results in the battery not regenerating above that level till pluged into a charger. If you undersyand how the PHEV works I am sure you will be very happy with it and it will give you excellent service and fuel ecconomy.
If you do "pull the trigger" please add your location and model details to your Avatar, and better still your signature block as I and others have done. This will ensure you get accurate focused answers to any questions as this is an international forum with many model, climate and equipment variations.

 

Geoffs
How does one reduce the charging current on the portable device as when I plug in it charges at full whack and
I cannot work out how to reduce it I have only had the car for a week so 2018 so early days but a fantastic car
I wired a extension socket outside and wired it to the 30amp cooker socket indoors which we no longer use as we
have a gas cooker but a pal of mine who is a Qualified Electrician came around and was not happy with that as he felt
more protection needs to be built in and my cable run was to long so he is coming round next week and is going to install a line direct from consumer unit to outside socket which will involve drilling hole through the wall which as it
happens is so close to where I want the socket on the other side.
Have charged up a couple of times with no problems but monitor carefully as the connection in the house gets a bit warm I certainly would not go off to bed and leave it not until the uprate is done.

 

Wouldn’t it be nice if Hyundai’s manual provided the actual electrical specifications for using the portable charging cable safely? If the wiring is not suitable, then even a “emergency“ charging session could cause major problems. If the wiring is suitable, in contrast, then there should be no problem with daily use, I think. (I am not an electrician and this is not professional safety advice - in fact, consulting with an electrician would probably be your best bet.)

 

Wouldn’t it be nice if Hyundai’s manual provided the actual electrical specifications for using the portable charging cable safely? If the wiring is not suitable, then even a “emergency“ charging session could cause major problems. If the wiring is suitable, in contrast, then there should be no problem with daily use, I think. (I am not an electrician and this is not professional safety advice - in fact, consulting with an electrician would probably be your best bet.)

Welcome to the forum tobulos1,

For the portable charger my advice would be (also for daily use),
Make use of a dedicated power socket on a separate breaker of 16Amp. Also add a ground fault protection of 30mA. Both should also act on DC currents. Make use of at least 2.5 square mm (14AWG) wiring and no wire nuts in between. Always connect the ground wire and make sure the grounding of your installation is up to spec.

Talk to your local electrician for advice or installation if needed. Better to charge safely because the charging of a car puts the installation under high load for prolonged periods. The portable charger runs at about 10Amps all the time unless you reduce the charge rate setting (but no need to reduce if the installation is setup safely).

The portable charger is not waterproof, so keep the module out of the rain. The end of the car is waterproof so no need to charge indoor. Making use of a waterproof power socket would only be needed if it were placed outside in the rain.

 

I use the "emergency" charger to charge my PHEV(9kWh) at 1.5, 2 or 2.5 kWh taking approximately 6, 4.5 or 3.5 hours.
The charger unit is IP55 = dust proof and can stop ingress of low pressure spray. I keep this unit under the garage roof overhang to avoid rain.
My waterproof external socket is fixed to the wall under the same overhang. The plug is pushed into a socket that is then covered with a lid that has a seal that even seals and clamps the cable as it exits the lid.
Any external socket should be capable of doing this.
The supply is taken via an earth leakage trip on 2.5mm cable direct to the consumer unit.

The forum has one emergency charger that has let water in and has died. It may be fine when first bought but after it gets thrown around, who knows how water tight it is.
My plug to socket connect feels warm not hot after use for several hours.
I have an external socket (ec/nf rated for outdoor use???) on a patio in europe... it has a lid... but no seal... not touching that in the rain!

 

Is this a US model? While I've heard people online say their manual references an "emergency charger," my 2019 PHEV manual doesn't say it's only for emergency use and just refers to "trickle charging" with the "portable charger."

US garage outlets are typically 15 amp rated on 15 amp rated circuits, the charger maximum draws 12 amps. As long as you aren't running other things on the same circuit, you're not exceeding the rating the circuit was designed for - it's no different than using a 12 amp air portable air conditioner through the day. If you are genuinely worried about it, the portable charger has adjustable power levels so you can have it draw at lower amp levels if you want - with correspondingly longer charge times.

If your home is reasonably new, you should be in good shape. If it's an old home - it's probably worth checking to make sure the circuit you are using is up to current NEC.

One thing that is definitely worth checking is making sure that wires are (and any inline if it is not a home-run to the breaker) is solidly landed on the screw terminals of the outlet you are using, and any that may be daisy chained between it and the breaker. If they are slipped into Quickwire or similar push-in connections on the back of the outlet rather than screwed down, switch them over to the screw terminals to avoid the possibility of a small contact surface that can become a point of resistance (while this is work you can DIY - if you aren't experienced at it, it's best left to an electrician).

 

As long as you aren't running other things on the same circuit, you're not exceeding the rating the circuit was designed for - it's no different than using a 12 amp air portable air conditioner through the day.

Thanks! What about garage door opener motor on the same circuit? Separate outlet for it was installed by electrician to Electrical Code standards. But if the second, open GFI garage outlet is on the same circuit, it may have been intended only for plugging in tools while garage door is open. I’ve just realized that opening door while charging might overload the 15 Amp circuit and trip the breaker. Obvious point to have almost missed, I know. Will have to check.

 

Scratch all that, I glossed right past "we live in Europe" on the first read through. Wiring and 120v outlets over here are a different animal.

 

I am in Canada, where most home outlets are also 120 V (except for special 240 V ones for ovens and clothes dryers) . When I looked for the manual for the Canadian 2019 PHEV online, the PDF that I found also talks about “emergency charging“. I’m curious to see what the actual printed manual that comes with the car will say.

 

2. Is the charger waterproof? We don't have a garage, and so I cannot really make sure the charger (whichever we end up using, being the portable charger or a charging station) doesn't come into contact with water or snow.

Definitely NOT ...
Despite having a rating of IP55, even a light spray of rain will render your emergency charger useless
(This does NOT comply with the Standards Definition - Protected from limited dust ingress. Protected from water spray from any direction )
Hyundai Australia reject any warranty claims & I'm making complaints to the various Standards Bodies here in Australia

 

Press and hold the black square button on the rear of the charge display block...
Watch the High change to Medium.... Press again for Low...

 

Press and hold the black square button on the rear of the charge display block...
Watch the High change to Medium.... Press again for Low...

From the manual:

The charging current
changes (3 level)
whenever the button
(1) is pressed for 1
sec with the charger
plugged into an
electrical outlet but
not the vehicle.

The bit about not plugged into the car had me fooled at first!!

 

My "emergency use only" charger is plugged into the outlet 24/7 for over a year now. It is plugged into the car every day and stays plugged in all night. No issues set on the highest charge rate.

 

You can also limit the charge rate from the settings in the car. From the car touch screen go to the phev area, its in there somewhere. You can set it to charge at medium rate and you don't have to push the button on the charger every time. I prefer this way because I charge overnight most of time and speed of charge is not an issue.

 

Yeap, the grannie charge cable is not a charger as such but is just a cable with a signal which tells the car how much energy to take.

Charging on tethered on non-tethered chargers are fine in the rain as the juice doesn't come on until the cable is well plugged in. The grannie charge cable has an update... A rubber cover that would keep it off the ground but I would still make sure it doesn't get wet.

 

I live in Canada, eastern remote part of Quebec province, and I only used the 120V portable charger, all winter long, during nasty snowstorms, -20 celcius temperatures and freezing rain, and I had no problem at all.