14-50R one is $12 the other is $40 what is the difference

Fred B

Fred B

Senior Member
Location
Upstate, NY
Occupation
Electrician
Just saw on Big orange web site 2 different Leviton 14-50R with huge difference in price. One is marked with a little picture of a car on it and indicating for EV charging for $40, the other one just indicates for range hookup and is $12. Is there any real substantive difference between the two to justify the price? Or is it $28 for the little picture of the car?
 
Fred B said:
Just saw on Big orange web site 2 different Leviton 14-50R with huge difference in price. One is marked with a little picture of a car on it and indicating for EV charging for $40, the other one just indicates for range hookup and is $12. Is there any real substantive difference between the two to justify the price? Or is it $28 for the little picture of the car?
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Think there’s higher torque specs on the terminals and maybe more blade contact with the $40 model.

I use the Hubbel L14-50 for EV
 
Higher temperature plastics, different design of the terminations, additional material in blade sockets.

The 2026 code requires the use of listed EV receptacles, but at this time there no product standard to list an EV receptacle.

The Hubbell EV receptacle is just a remarking of their industrial rated receptacle that has been around for decades.
 
Those things are dumb if you do a charger just hard wire it;
All the 'EV car' ones I have seen say 'Copper Wire only', learned that when I went to replace one and there was AL SE wire, since there was no neutral I converted the setup to a NEMA 6-50.
Also note if you see a 'car' one without a neutral put a sticker on it "Not for RV use" as the installers here (not me!) run 6/2 NM or AL SE cable and leave the neutral pin floating, since neutral is never used on the 'car' chargers.
If people insist on a receptacle insist on a 6-50
 
pipe_bender said:
Those things are dumb if you do a charger just hard wire it;
All the 'EV car' ones I have seen say 'Copper Wire only', learned that when I went to replace one and there was AL SE wire, since there was no neutral I converted the setup to a NEMA 6-50.
Also note if you see a 'car' one without a neutral put a sticker on it "Not for RV use" as the installers here (not me!) run 6/2 NM or AL SE cable and leave the neutral pin floating, since neutral is never used on the 'car' chargers.
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personally would always hard wire the EV too. Was wondering if there is any justification for the difference and whether there is sufficient upgrade to the receptacle to warrant considering them for other higher demand items like a welder. Seeing the seeming degradation of the current standard product and failing much easier than before even on a range.
 
Just today I went to look at a job.
Walk in the garage and see a vehicle charging on a level 2 charger.
I asked the owner how long they had been using the charger.
She said it was put in a year and a half ago. Also said it’s used daily as they drive quite a bit.

It was a 14-50 standard Leviton device.
I put my hand on the 4” square metal box and it was rather warm.

I asked if I could remove the cover and take a closer look.

It was wired as a 4 wire Appeared to be #8THHN Cu.
I turned off the 50 amp breaker and noticed 8/3 NM connected to it. I retightened the set screw terminals. Got at least 1/2-3/4 turn on all of them.

The back of the device showed heat discoloration although the blades still seemed to fit snug in the receptacle.
Curious so I opened the j box where the transition from NM to Single conductor was.

Blue wire nuts that were also relatively loose.

It was an eye opener as to how much these charging circuits are loaded.

Charger spec was 40 amp.
 
Yeah 8/3 NM is only good for a something like 32A charge setting and requires a 40A OCPD.

As I understand it any receptacle should be able to carry its ampacity continuously without deforming, no matter what the receptacle costs.
 
There was a thread a few months ago (Dec 2024?) that discussed this. Here is a picture I posted of the 2 receptacles you mention...

1758070234041.jpeg

The new (taller) one is #14-50R-B0 (that's B-zero). It's an almost identical copy of the Hubbell HBL9450A. Much improved clamping features(s), instead of a single screw bearing into the wire. Marked for Cu only, with 75 in-lbs spec for torque (vs 25 for the old one).

The old Leviton is on the right (#279). Been around for ages and is "Value Engineered" like crazy if you get that joke.
 
Be aware, the cover plate circle is bigger for the 14-50R-B0. For a 4 & 11 square box, the RACO part# is 888 for a raised surface mount cover. My supply house does not stock this part, but had one next day from the warehouse. This cover is not commonly used.
 
pipe_bender said:
As I understand it any receptacle should be able to carry its ampacity continuously without deforming, no matter what the receptacle costs.
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That is how I read the requirements in UL 498, but that does not seem to be the case when EV chargers are cord and plug connected.
 
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