I'm a few weeks away from buying a 2020 Clarity PHEV. I'm having some ceiling fans installed and I asked the electrician about EV charging. He pointed out (remarkably quickly) that I had an unused 240V outlet near my clothes dryer and suggested it would make a good L2 EV outlet. The outlet is probably the wrong type (house built in 1974) and it's behind the dryer which is too far from the driveway. I'm going to have him run some conduit inside the garage so that I can charge my car from outside the garage. What outlet type do I need...assuming the electrician doesn't already know?
Adding to what DucRider said, outlet type depends on the type of 240V circuit. With an older circuit from 1974 you may have some limitations unless you upgrade the circuit. But for Clarity those limitations will likely not be an issue.
But first things first - the best thing to do is to not rush into a decision, because you will really benefit from doing some research on what is available, and what are your options with your existing circuit. Trying to decide in a short period of time (i.e. days or even a few weeks) will likely be stressful and can also lead to less than ideal choices, or spending more money than you really need to. Much better to take your time, which is not hard to do because realistically the 120V EVSE that comes with the car will work fine for the Clarity. The battery holds approx 50 miles of charge (depending on the time of year) and with the level 1 charger that comes with the car you can fully charge in about twelve to thirteen hours. There might be times when you don't have enough time to fully charge, but when that happens that's the beauty of having a PHEV, you just wind up burning some gasoline at 40 mpg so it's really not a big deal.
This will also allow you to spend time shopping for an EVSE, because EVSE's have plugs for various outlets, you want to get an EVSE that has the right plug to match your outlet, you don't want to use adapters as that is not as safe. But as you will find out there are many brands of EVSE, some have features you may or may not want such as tracking how much charging you do (something the car does not do for you). You will also find that not every brand supports every type of outlet, so shopping for EVSE's also gives you an idea what type of outlet you may or may not want, which can affect your decision on whether to stick with the existing circuit or have it upgraded.
For 1974 it will possibly be an older three prong outlet like 10-30. If so you can find EVSE's that come with that type of outlet but they are harder to find. And anyway there is safety reason why four prong outlets have been required for almost thirty years, so since an electrician will be involved anyway, you will also want to discuss with them how hard it is (and expensive) to upgrade the circuit to four prong, to something like 14-30. You can then use a 16 amp EVSE and charge in about four hours. As DucRider mentioned maximum on that type of outlet is 24 amp and will probably bring charging time closer to three hours. You can also get estimates for upgrading to 14-50, which is way overkill for Clarity but maybe you will get a full EV one day and make use of it, and it will also allow you the option of buying a 32 amp EVSE and charge your Clarity in just over two hours.
We may have totally confused you, that wasn't the intention, instead it is to make it clear it's not a decision to rush into if you don't have to, shop around for EVSE's, get advice from the electrician on options for circuit upgrades, drive your new Clarity for a while to get a feel for your charging needs, then get something installed only when you are ready.
