Car is throwing breaker first for outlet, then main on 110v

Tweaver500 · Sep 8, 2015

Hi.
My wife bought a new 2016 Soul ev last night. Today, she plugged it in to a 110v outlet, and it threw the breaker. I wasn't home, so I don't know exactly what she did. The only other draw on that outlet is a couple of porch lights. Is their a swith on the car that needs to be flipped?
We are fine at the breaker box, we upgraded a few years ago to handle a spa and ac.
Any help would be appreciated.

notfred · Sep 9, 2015

You are not fine on the panel if it is tripping. Get an electrician in and get it checked out.

tractioninc · Sep 9, 2015

Ditto that - this is not an issue with the car, but with the circuit.

DucRider · Sep 9, 2015

My guess would be the breaker itself is weak/defective.
This happened on the last house we had built - the garage breaker would trip every time I tried to use my table saw. Could plug it in anywhere else in the house with no problem.
Try a different circuit (use a heavy duty extension cord if needed).

Beachman · Sep 9, 2015

trace that line from your board to see if anything branches off from it other than the porch lights. make sure the porch lights are off.
not sure of the exact specs of the trickle charger but assume it's maxing out a regular line in terms of current, so anything else on it may trip your breaker. try plugging it into a neighbors garage outlet. if everything is fine it's probably your breaker needs replacing.
if you have a circuit tester (they are about $8 at home depot) you can plug it into the circuit and check its' wired properly in terms of the neutral and ground as well to rule that out.

GizmoEV · Sep 9, 2015

The EVSE that comes with the car should draw no more than 12A on a 120V circuit. That is 80% of a 15A circuit. If the circuit breaker is tripping it is either a bad breaker as some pointed out or other things are on the circuit. Definitely get it checked out and if possible install a dedicated circuit for charging your EV. You also might consider getting the Panasonic EVSE modified by EVSEupgrade.com which can be programmed down to 6A if needed and upto 20A on a 240V circuit.