ChargePoint Home Flex Replacement

[HuntingPudel]

If you really don’t know what your future holds I would recommend looking into a good “dumb” EVSE for now. Then you can do something different in the future and hang on to the “dumb” unit as a back-up without spending too much $$$.

Back-up? My dumb EVSE is my primary and will be for a long time to come. ??

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[RonOinAZ]

I'm very happy with my juicebox 40, at one point maybe a year ago I kept getting "charge paused" nothing I could do on the car or evse would fix it, called juicebox tech support, on to a tech in minutes, he logged on reset everything and it's been cadillacing ever since.

I will say I use it as a dumb charger, I don't use the app which I could never get to work properly so if you want bells and whistles perhaps not the best choice.

I wouldn't recommend Enel X's JuiceBox. Taking the charger offline and using it as a dumb charger seems to be the best solution. I have the same charger and starting having the Pause problem last week. It may have been corrected now but I still get false notifications that "charging has resumed" even after my car has reached the charging limit I set. Below is the graph of my JuiceBox charging experience last week. I learned from others online that removing the charger's wifi access allowed my car to charge normally. I couldn't get straight answers from their customer service contact.

 

[SSnc]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I think I’m going to go with either the Grizzl-e smart charger or the Emporia one, both around $400 on Amazon.

The ChargePoint support guy was very helpful, but ultimately I don’t want to support a company that does almost nothing for a customer when their product just dies right after the warranty ends, especially one I paid $700 back in 2021.

 

[AKgrampy]

Back-up? My dumb EVSE is my primary and will be for a long time to come. ??

I just meant if he moved on to some sophisticated solar/battery system that then required some “Smart” EVSE. Then the “dumb” one could be held in reserve. My next one, if ever needed, will be a basic unit.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I think I’m going to go with either the Grizzl-e smart charger or the Emporia one, both around $400 on Amazon.

The ChargePoint support guy was very helpful, but ultimately I don’t want to support a company that does almost nothing for a customer when their product just dies right after the warranty ends, especially one I paid $700 back in 2021.

I'd strongly recommend the Emporia over the Grizzl-E.

Also what company is going to replace parts for free after the warranty ends?

 

[SSnc]

I don’t expect anything for free, but companies that stand behind their products more provide you a replacement at a meaningful discount given the premature failure of their product. I had an ‘95 Ford Explorer that had an engine issue a few months out of warranty and Ford covered 50% of the repair under ‘goodwill’, for example.

 

[SSnc]

I took a look at Costco and they’ve got the Battery Tender 40 Amp Charger for $450 and the Wallbox Pulsar Plus 40A Charger for $500. While I know the brand from their 12v chargers, I don’t see any reviews out there for the Battery Tender model, and it looks more geared for a public installation since it has RFID cards that restrict access to it.

Would anyone with experience with both Emporia and Wallbox choose the Wallbox for $100 more or if price didn’t matter? I’m leaning towards the Wallbox just for the Costco return policy.

 

[zvez]

I took a look at Costco and they’ve got the Battery Tender 40 Amp Charger for $450 and the Wallbox Pulsar Plus 40A Charger for $500. While I know the brand from their 12v chargers, I don’t see any reviews out there for the Battery Tender model, and it looks more geared for a public installation since it has RFID cards that restrict access to it.

Would anyone with experience with both Emporia and Wallbox choose the Wallbox for $100 more or if price didn’t matter? I’m leaning towards the Wallbox just for the Costco return policy.

used battery tenders on motorcycles for decades. I had no idea they had an EVSE!

 

[AngryMan]

Black Friday is just around the corner if you can manage till then . Might find a good deal or Prime Days is Oct 8th - 9

 

[Track9979]

I have a wallbox 40a. I like it. It has a holster, comes with a plug if you need it, can be wired directly through back or bottom.

Longest charging cable as far as I know out of all the chargers too (mine is in the driveway) and you can disable it via app. I use it to set a charging schedule to stay on the cheapest time of use, and it integrates into homeassistant if you're into that.

Costco sells them and there's an occasional sale.

 

[Herbknowsit]

While Ford Pass does give you some charge session data, I relied on the ChargePoint app for a better picture of things. Until….the Wi-Fi module crapped out after 5 months. They sent replacement today and I’m doubtful they have been able to correct their connectivity issue. So it may become a “dumb charger” in the end. BTW, Tom M did give the ChargePoint Flex a good review awhile back but none now on his site.

 

[RickMachE]

I wouldn't recommend Enel X's JuiceBox. Taking the charger offline and using it as a dumb charger seems to be the best solution. I have the same charger and starting having the Pause problem last week. It may have been corrected now but I still get false notifications that "charging has resumed" even after my car has reached the charging limit I set. Below is the graph of my JuiceBox charging experience last week. I learned from others online that removing the charger's wifi access allowed my car to charge normally. I couldn't get straight answers from their customer service contact.

JuiceBox went to crap in 2023, when they redid the app and the portal, and broken many functions. They don't reliably charge, often requiring multiple unplugs and replugs. They broke load balancing, so now you blow your breaker.

Support is in Spain, but none of the support people know anything much, and their next tier of support (China?) is offline, so Support has to send them a request, and then they respond weeks later. Support gets back to you maybe 25% of the time.

Based on the load balancing danger, I filed a report with the NHTSA (I first filed with the Michigan Attorney General, who wrote to them twice, and got no response, then filed with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, but they said that it's an automotive product and outside their jurisdiction.)

Their issues are so big that Amazon had to suspend unverified product reviews because people were slamming the product. I can't recommend strongly enough to LOOK ELSEWHERE.

 

[0CO2]

I'm very happy with my juicebox 40, at one point maybe a year ago I kept getting "charge paused" nothing I could do on the car or evse would fix it, called juicebox tech support, on to a tech in minutes, he logged on reset everything and it's been cadillacing ever since.

I will say I use it as a dumb charger, I don't use the app which I could never get to work properly so if you want bells and whistles perhaps not the best choice.

My juicebox 40 has been in daily use since 2017 when we got our first Chevy Bolt & it's been rock solid these past 8 years and still in use. I recently installed two Chargepoint Flex units for the same garage because my local electric coop has an instant rebate so each cost less than $200 (I forget the exact amount - but better than the now defunct Fisker deal). It's not great hearing that these new EVSEs may not last long but at least they were cheap to get. Anyway - juicebox gets a recommendation from me as a solid piece of engineering.

 

[RonOinAZ]

JuiceBox went to crap in 2023, when they redid the app and the portal, and broken many functions.

Thank you for the background information on JuiceBox. I was aware of the app update but not the rest of their story. Mine had been working fine until last week. I'm debating whether to replace it with a different system or just leave it offline, since I don't really need anything more than a dumb charger. My impression is that the hardware itself is OK but the company has inadequate software talent.

The local power company is offering the 50 amp ChargePoint system for $309 thru Oct 7. I almost pulled the trigger but this thread has me questioning that idea. The benefit of having an online system is the power company provides a stipend for allowing them to adjust my charge times based on grid demand.

 

[Beyeg]

I took a look at Costco and they’ve got the Battery Tender 40 Amp Charger for $450 and the Wallbox Pulsar Plus 40A Charger for $500. While I know the brand from their 12v chargers, I don’t see any reviews out there for the Battery Tender model, and it looks more geared for a public installation since it has RFID cards that restrict access to it.

Would anyone with experience with both Emporia and Wallbox choose the Wallbox for $100 more or if price didn’t matter? I’m leaning towards the Wallbox just for the Costco return policy.

I'm curious about the Battery Tender charger as well, only because the Costco return policy is so good if you have any issues at all for two years.

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