What level 2 charger is everyone purchasing for home use?

[markboris]

I have a ChargePoint HomeFlex as well, and like it for the most part, it keeps track of my charging cost accurately. Two complaints: 1) the app depends on their backend server to communicate with the HomeFlex, over the past six months I have encountered two outages (there could've been more, just not when I needed to use the app), in one case it lasted hours and prevented me from overriding the charging window (I set it on the HomeFlex rather than on the car) during those hours. I don't know about other "smart" EVSEs, but some IoT devices fall back to direct connections when there is no Internet conductivity. 2) they recently removed the ability to change breaker amperage on-the-fly from the app, so I am no longer able to reduce the maximum charging current during the hottest months.

Yeah, I wondered what that was about. I was a bit upset I couldn't change my charging from the app anymore. I had to call the 24hr hotline. I wonder if that was a liability issue. Probably had many people who have no experience with electronics, changing amperage on a whim, and causing burned out circuits or worse.

You can change the breaker amperage however in order to do so, you need to remove your charger from the account, then set it back up again. It only takes about 1-2 minutes to do. Even though I do have mine hardwired to a 60 amp circuit, I normally select the 40 amp circuit rating (32 amp charging) because I use only solar to charge. I don't need to charge in a hurry and at that rating, it uses about 7.8kW and that leaves me around 3.6kw of solar power left to run everything else in the house during the day (A/C, etc). I have run it at the 60 breaker setting, 48 amp charging a couple of times when need to charge fast but it pulls 11.5kw which is the max my solar produces at peak hours.

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[Maquis]

Yeah, I wondered what that was about. I was a bit upset I couldn't change my charging from the app anymore. I had to call the 24hr hotline. I wonder if that was a liability issue. Probably had many people who have no experience with electronics, changing amperage on a whim, and causing burned out circuits or worse.

If installed in a code-compliant manner, it would not be possible to set the current to a value (via the app) that would exceed the capability of the branch circuit.

 

[markboris]

If installed in a code-compliant manner, it would not be possible to set the current to a value (via the app) that would exceed the capability of the branch circuit.

That is why I hardwired the ChargePoint and used the maximum wire size and breaker they recommend so I can change to any setting I want without issue.

 

[Zapata]

If installed in a code-compliant manner, it would not be possible to set the current to a value (via the app) that would exceed the capability of the branch circuit.

Codes? Compliant? You understand this is America!

 

[Accord07]

Yeah, I wondered what that was about. I was a bit upset I couldn't change my charging from the app anymore. I had to call the 24hr hotline. I wonder if that was a liability issue. Probably had many people who have no experience with electronics, changing amperage on a whim, and causing burned out circuits or worse.

I agree that they changed it likely out of liability concerns. What they should have done is to set the breaker size once during installation and then allow owners to vary the maximum charging current, up to 80% of the breaker size. Instead they removed that functionality.

 

[Accord07]

You can change the breaker amperage however in order to do so, you need to remove your charger from the account, then set it back up again. It only takes about 1-2 minutes to do. Even though I do have mine hardwired to a 60 amp circuit, I normally select the 40 amp circuit rating (32 amp charging) because I use only solar to charge. I don't need to charge in a hurry and at that rating, it uses about 7.8kW and that leaves me around 3.6kw of solar power left to run everything else in the house during the day (A/C, etc). I have run it at the 60 breaker setting, 48 amp charging a couple of times when need to charge fast but it pulls 11.5kw which is the max my solar produces at peak hours.

What has prevented me from trying to remove the charger and then reinitializing it as new, is that I am afraid it may lose charging history associated with that device - that history is probably stored on their server though, I just don't know if it will be shown if the HomeFlex is set up as "new".

Having gone through the process, do you see previous charging history in the app?

 

[Maquis]

Codes? Compliant? You understand this is America!

Yep…we keep giving out Darwin awards!

 

[Zapata]

I agree that they changed it likely out of liability concerns. What they should have done is to set the breaker size once during installation and then allow owners to vary the maximum charging current, up to 80% of the breaker size. Instead they removed that functionality.

Ford should allow the Mach e to be able select max charge amps like the Teslas can. I've seen people charge their Teslas with portable solar generators because they can limit charge currents to 5AMPS.

 

[Aferreira613]

Got a Grizzl-e "dumb" charger - Avalanche edition which includes the longer cold-temp cable. Bought direct from the Canadian maker. Ran 50 feet of 6 gauge cable, installed a 50 amp breaker in the panel and a 14-50 outlet in the garage. Not difficult if you have some engineering skills. 40 Amps of charge capacity, and the factory charger stays in the car. Looking forward to the Feds picking up 30 percent of the total cost!

Can it be hard wired?

 

[Aferreira613]

Mustart unlike jiucebox is a dumb charger: no app. Does the Mach e have software enabling setting charging to start at a specific time of day?

Does juice box make a dumb charger?

 

[Aferreira613]

Yes, JuiceBox, not JukeBox.

I also can't say enough about JuiceBox Support. I documented on here my ordeal - electrician, also a dealer, put in the charger and left. I went to run the cord where I wanted it, and it was too short. Measured it, and it came up 7.5 feet short.

I contacted JuiceBox, and they didn't have a great response. I asked it to be elevated, and then their response got much better. In short, they made a bunch of chargers wrong, and ended up sending me a replacement AND paying for the electrician to come back and install it.

I chose the 48, which is hard wired, because I can get a lot more miles per hour out of it if I need to. I have it dialed down to 32amps, but can change it to 48 or anything in between (or lower) in about 10 seconds on the app.

You can buy directly from JuiceBox, and not go through Amazon. Same price either way.

Can the juice box be used without an internet connection?

 

[RickMachE]

Can the juice box be used without an internet connection?

Yes, and it will use whatever schedules you loaded into it. But no smart features.

 

[sborsch]

I have a ChargePoint Home Flex.
Check with your utility to see if they offer discounts/rebates on certain chargers.

Me too with the Chargepoint Flex. Great charger and the mobile app is decent too.

Why Chargepoint? I've had and used inferior chargers in the past and had issues. With one $400 Level 2 charger it compromised two plugin hybrid car's electronic control modules and drained their 12v batteries if the car wasn't driven and remained plugged in and a second charging session was attempted the next night. This happened several times to these cars and each time they required a jump to start.

As such, when I decided I'd be ordering the MME, I didn't want to take a chance that an inferior Level 2 charger would somehow not function correctly.

I'm in California and the utilities here have Level 2 charger rebate programs as well as other organizations like South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD). As such, my net cost on the Chargepoint Flex was:

Product SKU: CPH50-NEMA6-50-L23
Product Name: Chargepoint Home Flex, NEMA 6-50 Plug
Qty Ordered: 1
Amount: $ 699.00

Subtotal: $ 699.00
Shipping: $ 0.00

Tax: $ 54.17
Total: $ 753.17

Rebate we qualified for with SCAQMD
Rebate: -$ 250.00

Net Cost: $503.17

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NOTE: There are also many programs in CA for anything-EV, even for counties, cities and commercial entities for installing DC fast chargers (and holy crap do we need more of them already!).

LINK: Use this link to see what rebates are available at the Federal and State levels for you: https://afdc.energy.gov/laws

 

[TGIF]

My utility offered a $250 instant rebate on the CPHF. That definitely played a part in my decision to go with a 'smart' EVSE.

Mine was a $500 credit on my utilities with the CPHF. Made the decision easy.

 

[astronut325]

Question for the members here: If I get the Grizzl-E dumb charger, can I still setup my Mach-E to charge after 9PM, charge to 80%, and other charge control features?

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