What charger do you recommend? Why?

[Mach-Lee]

If you'll need to install a 14-50 for the mobile charger, also keep in mind that the GFCI breaker required is more than $100 while the breaker for hardwired is less than $20. You'll also need to pay about $20 for the outlet, box and face plate. An EVSE can use -2 wire (no neutral) instead of -3 also saving money. Add in utility rebates, and you can get a hardwired for nearly the same cost as just adding a plug and have better future proofing.

I'd like to point out that a GFCI breaker is only required in certain areas (the EVSE has its own built-in GFCI and does not require it). Most areas still do not require 240V GFCI protection, including Oregon. It is commonly exempted from the adopted NEC.

Installing a 14-50 outlet and using the included mobile charger is the cheapest way to L2 charge at home if you are stingy.

Sponsored

 

[jonnyboy7]

My Mach E is scheduled to arrive in early November, and I am exploring charger options. I was inclined to do the Ford Connected Charge Station, but I am concerned about the 20’ cord - I’ll need to charge my car when parked on the street. I’m also considering the Chargepoint Home Flex. When I went to purchase it on the Chargepoint website, there is an option to enter a promo code. Anyone know if there is a valid code?

 

[EddieHaskell]

I'm happy with my Wallbox Pulsar Plus. A smart adjustable 6-40 amp, compact, indoor / outdoor Wi-Fi and Bluetooth EVSE. I especially appreciate the that it comes with a 25 ft cord. That will be handy for my wife's upcoming Rav4 Prime.

I had initially considered a hard-wired 48 amp unit, but I decided that if anything goes wrong with the plug in, I can unplug it and have the Ford Mobile Charger using the same outlet in less than a minute. 40amps is fast enough for my home needs.

Noise? Wallbox is completely silent. The only noise is the Mach-E internal charger hums quietly, and sometimes opens the shutters to run a cooling fan during charging. But it's not loud, you'd have to be within ten feet to even hear it indoors. Outdoors no one is going to notice.

 

[MyLittlePony2022]

Any one have any input on the Juicebox and the Grizzl-E Smart. I want a charger that is connected to WiFI and is "smart".

I was looking at the Juicebox and from what I can tell it has most of the smart features I want. I know that the car can be scheduled, but I want the option to schedule it via my charger. This way, I can easily change, stop, start, etc. via my phone. Not relying on PAAK. Also, like to the idea of knowing how much I am charging and how money it is costing me. Finally, love the fact that the Juicebox will remind me if I forget to plug in the charger. Oh, software updates.

Trying to find information on the Grizzl-E Smart charger. I may just call them to find if they have the same features. One plus on Grizzl-E side is that it OCPP 1.6J software so you can use other companies software. Grizzl-E has a five year warranty and I have seen pictures of inside their boxes, and the Grizzl-E wiring and layout looks fabulous. Love that box are made in North America. The Juicebox headquarters is in the SF Bay Area so if I have issues, I can literally knock on their door to get resolution.

Input on the smart units is appreciated.

 

[Mgmken]

I'm happy with my Wallbox Pulsar Plus. A smart adjustable 6-40 amp, compact, indoor / outdoor Wi-Fi and Bluetooth EVSE. I especially appreciate the that it comes with a 25 ft cord. That will be handy for my wife's upcoming Rav4 Prime.

I had initially considered a hard-wired 48 amp unit, but I decided that if anything goes wrong with the plug in, I can unplug it and have the Ford Mobile Charger using the same outlet in less than a minute. 40amps is fast enough for my home needs.

Noise? Wallbox is completely silent. The only noise is the Mach-E internal charger hums quietly, and sometimes opens the shutters to run a cooling fan during charging. But it's not loud, you'd have to be within ten feet to even hear it indoors. Outdoors no one is going to notice.

Thanks! I’m looking into this one. Your point about pulling it off the wall and using the Ford mobile is a good one.

The tax incentives now make it enticing as well.

the noise question was in response to earlier posts saying their car sounded so loud it was like a lawn mower while charging. These pots are months old and other have stated the issues was resolved. . There are videos on other threads.
Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[kennethjk]

1) I'm a big fan of the Ford Mobile charger that comes with the car. May not be a popular choice on this Forum but I couldn't justify dropping an additional $500+ to gain 7 miles/hr of charging time. Ford pass App works fine with it and how often are you really driving your car home with the battery completely drained thus needing the faster charge overnight. Really is about your work/home life schedule. As long as you're home by dinner and charging you'll have a full charge by the morning.

2) Whisper quiet...shocked to hear that any aftermarket Level2 charger is that loud that a neighbor could hear it. I actually can go in the garage and other than the neon blue flashing cylinder around charge port on the car I can't tell if the car is even charging.

3) If you're lucky enough to have a breaker box in the garage or even a short run from your basement up to the garage you are looking at a simple affordable install. Ask around and find an electrician who can swing by after hours and knock it out. My job took 1 hour and looks professional and cost me $170 from a licensed electrician. I almost let myself get sucked into the thinking that I needed 28 miles/hr charging and spend $1000 total for Charger and install but 21/hr and $170 worked just fine for me. Enjoy your car. I can't even begin to tell you how fun this car is to drive.

Generally you are correct but the charger after a credit of 450 from my utility company comes to $200.

you never know when it might be important. We had just taken a trip in our ice car, came home and it was low on gas. My daughter called a few hours later and said her son had to be taken to hospital for emergency and can we come down and watch our other grandchild. She lives 50 miles away. First hospital and then her home and then our home. We were able to fill up car with gas right away and leave. Not so easy with electric. Would an extra 14-20 miles have made a difference in two hours time. Who knows but a little peace of mind does help.

granted this is rare but can happen and I can’t even tell you all the times my wife had to run down to our daughters house to watch a child when he got sick, and he always got sick. This was so my daughter could go to work.

If you have second ICE car then not as big a deal maybe but our second car is basically a two seater.

I do not have the MME yet but I plan to get a charger just in case and the extra cost is only $200. Well worth it.

plus there are federal tax credits that further reduce the cost.

 

[GW Shark]

I used the charger that came with the car for awhile, then upgraded to a Grizzl-E Refurbished unit. Ran about $400 shipped. Love it so far. It charges at about 30 miles of range per hour. Very quiet and can be mounted outside.

https://grizzl-e.com/product/usa/refurbished/grizzl-e-refurbished-2/

Just installed the same unit (Classic) yesterday. 20% discount for the refurbished unit plus 30% tax rebate. Heavy duty, easy to install and faster than the included Ford charger (40 amp setting). Got the optional $15 lock kit (outdoor installation) and optional 24 foot cable. The "regular" cable is much thicker than the Ford charger. No need for the premium cable unless you are in the far north. No noise when charging. The Ford app doesn't notice any difference and updates charging status just fine. All in all, great quality at a very reasonable price.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

I don’t mind answering this question again.
I’m using the Grizzl-E Classic.
I like it because it is a nice simple no frills charger that I can adjust the dip switches myself if I need to move it / change locations/ change wiring.

I don’t need a fancy smart EVSE as I can do scheduling and limiting within the car itself.

I initially was using a 240V 30 amp circuit that the mobile charger would have tripped the breaker on. No problem. Set the dip switches to 24 amps. Plug in. Charge.
I then had a new circuit run in the garage. I wanted 50 amps but only had a 50 amp sub panel feeding the whole garage. So the electrician ran wire for 50 amp but only placed a 40 amp breaker until I could get the panel upgraded. No problem. Set the dip switches to 32 amps. Plug in. Charge.
I then got the panel upgraded and was able to swap the breaker to 50 amps. Set the dip switches to 40 amps. Plug in. Charge.
If I move, or go for a longish vacation at a place with a 240 socket, I can unplug it and take it with me minding what the amperage will be on whatever new circuit I plug into

The other things I like about the Grizzl-E classic is that it is rugged with a solid metal enclosure and a good rubber seal keeping the elements out. No buttons or screens to cause more openings for water intrusion. Also I ordered it with the longer deluxe cord that remains flexible when it’s -20° F.

I almost wish I had a smart version of a charger. With some of the limits to the charging logic within the car, it might almost be easier at times to set limits on the charger instead of the car. And I like to play with numbers. If I had a charger that told me how much juice the car was taking and when, I’d probably be calculating charger efficiencies and cost per mile at different outside temps. But that would be points of curiosity for me and not all that useful in the real world.

 

[OldEVGuy]

Any one have any input on the Juicebox and the Grizzl-E Smart. I want a charger that is connected to WiFI and is "smart".

I was looking at the Juicebox and from what I can tell it has most of the smart features I want. I know that the car can be scheduled, but I want the option to schedule it via my charger. This way, I can easily change, stop, start, etc. via my phone. Not relying on PAAK. Also, like to the idea of knowing how much I am charging and how money it is costing me. Finally, love the fact that the Juicebox will remind me if I forget to plug in the charger. Oh, software updates.

Trying to find information on the Grizzl-E Smart charger. I may just call them to find if they have the same features. One plus on Grizzl-E side is that it OCPP 1.6J software so you can use other companies software. Grizzl-E has a five year warranty and I have seen pictures of inside their boxes, and the Grizzl-E wiring and layout looks fabulous. Love that box are made in North America. The Juicebox headquarters is in the SF Bay Area so if I have issues, I can literally knock on their door to get resolution.

Input on the smart units is appreciated.

I've been using the JuiceBox 40 for 5 months. It works very well, and I like the functionality of the app. It's also nice to have it update OTA, when new firmware is available. The only downside I have is the cable. If I had known it was so stiff and inflexible, I would have bought a different unit. Unless they've started using a different cable, I can't recommend it.

You should check out Tom Moloughney's YouTube channel. He's an expert reviewer of EVSE’s.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdX0BJNon1c6GfOdeS3pyDw

 

[J5hort]

1) I'm a big fan of the Ford Mobile charger that comes with the car. May not be a popular choice on this Forum but I couldn't justify dropping an additional $500+ to gain 7 miles/hr of charging time. Ford pass App works fine with it and how often are you really driving your car home with the battery completely drained thus needing the faster charge overnight. Really is about your work/home life schedule. As long as you're home by dinner and charging you'll have a full charge by the morning.

2) Whisper quiet...shocked to hear that any aftermarket Level2 charger is that loud that a neighbor could hear it. I actually can go in the garage and other than the neon blue flashing cylinder around charge port on the car I can't tell if the car is even charging.

3) If you're lucky enough to have a breaker box in the garage or even a short run from your basement up to the garage you are looking at a simple affordable install. Ask around and find an electrician who can swing by after hours and knock it out. My job took 1 hour and looks professional and cost me $170 from a licensed electrician. I almost let myself get sucked into the thinking that I needed 28 miles/hr charging and spend $1000 total for Charger and install but 21/hr and $170 worked just fine for me. Enjoy your car. I can't even begin to tell you how fun this car is to drive.

Could not agree more. Using supplied Ford Mobile charger and scheduling off-peak charge times and 80% threshold with Ford Pass app. I suppose I could get a $200 rebate for an EVSE (and spend $400 after rebate), but I installed 2 runs of 6 guage from my garage subpanel myself, so no install rebates. I guess I am cool with the $150-200 spent on wiring/breakers. No need for any add'l expense of an EVSE. The mobile charger is certainly all that is needed. Easily removable from wall if I need to plan a long trip...or just us a Level 3 along the way.

 

[Chuck]

It's funny how people spending $50k+ on a car are such penny pinchers.

 

[MyLittlePony2022]

I suppose I could get a $200 rebate for an EVSE (and spend $400 after rebate), but I installed 2 runs of 6 guage from my garage subpanel myself, so no install rebates. I guess I am cool with the $150-200 spent on wiring/breakers. No need for any add'l expense of an EVSE.

I was thinking the same thing. I am very much capable of installing the electrical for this and I am not paying an electrician more money than what I will save.

 

[J5hort]

It's funny how people spending $50k+ on a car are such penny pinchers.

Try under $36K after fed credit/rebates. Not all have deep pockets. Called smart shopping and good old yankee ingenuity. The alternative could be considered waste or unnecessity.

 

[J5hort]

I was thinking the same thing. I am very much capable of installing the electrical for this and I am not paying an electrician more money than what I will save.

I ran SIMPULL 6/3 from a box in garage to the from ot 2 bays in garage. We'll be driving over inductive charges before you know it, so I put outlets front and center. Pulling wire thru walls/studs is the hard part, tough to bend/cut. Use grinder to cut wire.

You can save a bundle if you have the aptitude and determination. If not, pay an arm and a leg, after all, you have money to burn after buying and EV, so I'm told.

 

[Lord Polymath]

None! Just use the supplied charging cable. I am charging at level 2 with 240 volt, 40 amp curcuit. Granted I only charge from about 50% to 80%, but it does it in 3 hours. Originally had my off-peak schedule from 9pm to 8am. Changed to start at midnight. I really do not see why I would need a "wall mounted" 3rd party charger. Someone talk me into it. Maybe a 2nd Ford charging cable, but can't justify the additional expense.

I’m debating a 3rd party evse as well. Don’t really need it but maybe ? would use the “smart” features some. There is a federal rebate or something for the install (might have to do that before the end of the year, not sure) and my power company will give me $250 towards the evse.

Sponsored