GFCI Breaker Installation

The EV Charger has built in GFCI (ground fault circuit interruption) protection, so installing on a breaker that already has GFCI protection built in can cause false-tripping. The EV Charger will induce an intentional 20mA ground fault as part of its startup sequence as per UL certification requirements and is what causes false-tripping if the breaker is also checking for ground faults.

Two solutions would be available depending on your local regulations:

1.) If possible, we recommend using a hardwire install directly from the breaker into the EV Charger as outlined on step 8 of the installation guide. This works for most installations since it'd be a dedicated circuit line exclusively to the EV Charger (which has GFCI protections) and would be allowable for many local regulations to be installed on a non-GFCI breaker.
2.) If GFCI breaker is required regardless of hardwired or NEMA plug install - then you'll want to make sure you install on a breaker with a GFCI tolerance of > 20mA, examples being 30mA or 40mA sensitivity/tolerance. As long as the breaker GFCI tolerance is > 20mA then that should allow the breaker to continue to operate whenever the EV Charger has to go through its startup sequence.

Details about the safety protections included with the EV Charger can be found on the "EV Charger Spec Sheet" PDF download available here.

Feedback and Suggestions

This knowledge base is pretty new for the Emporia team. Our goal is to provide all of the information we can to help you manage your energy in better ways. If this article wasn't helpful, or we could be more clarifying on any points please reach out to the Customer Support team and we'll certainly work to improve these guides.