Which charger would you buy today?

[RickMachE]

I agree with Rick - hardwired Juicebox 48.
I just added a 2nd Juicebox 48 and use the load share feature where the 2 Juicebox's share 1 60amp circuit and it works flawlessly.
What else do I like about the juicebox?
1) Nema 4 weather rating - important for me as both of my Juicebox's are outdoors
2) 25 foot cord - believe me, you need this even if you think you don't.
3) 48a - fastest level 2 charging
4) Load sharing as I mentioned above
5) Excellent app that alerts you when charging starts, ends, and much more.
6) If there is a power outage during charging, the juicebox will resume charging when power comes back on
7) Customer service. What used to be a negative, is now a positive. 24 HR phone tech support and the people who answer the phone (quickly btw..) know what they are talking about. I was walked thru the setup of the load share and they stayed on the phone with me until I successfully tested it.
8) Compatible with utility demand response programs

.. and I think it looks good!

Great points. Some clarifications.

2) 25 foot cord depends on WHO sells the unit. Big box store units are 20 foot cords.

5) App is excellent BECAUSE everyone on load sharing has to stay on the OLD app (or be moved back to it). New app needs a lot of work.

7) I found the load sharing support lacking, figured out the specifics myself. Their instructions are wrong (as to what will be displayed), and they make no mention of the ability to prorate the balancing. I have my truck set to 48amps, and the car to 32amps, because the truck needs more juice due to bigger battery and lower efficiency, and the car works fine at 32amps for our usage. This way the truck gets a bigger share of the load share if both are charging.

9) 3 year, 3 month warranty (extra 3 months if you register it).

10) Goes with #9, compatible with many utility rebate programs.

11) Great reporting. I can download my usage (via their web portal) from the beginning of time. Allows me to then allocate the electric bill to car, truck, and house (because I only charge during off-peak hours).

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[ARK]

My ChargePoint Home Flex has been flawless after two years. It is installed outside of my garage on a south facing wall. Absolutely no sign of weathering yet from the sun exposure.

It’s also worth mentioning, some municipalities have rebates for certain charger brands. Not sure where you live, but it’s worth researching that too before you make your final choice.

 

[VirgilBoy21MME]

I have the Grizzl-E and it has worked very well. 25 ft cord and works well in Canadian winters. It replaced my faulty Ford Mobile Charger.

 

[JamieGeek]

I'd go with a ClipperCreek. They've been around since the dawn of J1772 and the one I've had for quite some time now (going on 9 years now?) has been 100% reliable inside, outside, all kinds of weather.

 

[awp0]

Surprised about the Juicebox recommendations. I have a Juicebox 40 and thankfully noticed the feedback about the new app that they were forcing onto people with several broken features (including critical ones like changing max amperage). Mine still works well on the old version of the app but others haven’t been so lucky. This was a pretty enlightening experience and I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t buy another.

I also have an OpenEVSE which has been rock solid, but I’m not sure how alive that project is these days. If I were buying a EVSE today it would probably be Emporia. Everyone seems to like them. I have their breaker box home electricity monitoring and it works great.

 

[hprose]

I have a Canadian made Grizzl-E in my garage and I would buy it again.

I agree

 

[hprose]

I'd go with a ClipperCreek. They've been around since the dawn of J1772 and the one I've had for quite some time now (going on 9 years now?) has been 100% reliable inside, outside, all kinds of weather.

Also a good charger.

 

[hack-e]

Emporia

 

[sgriffin130]

My ChargePoint Home Flex has been flawless after two years. It is installed outside of my garage on a south facing wall. Absolutely no sign of weathering yet from the sun exposure.

It’s also worth mentioning, some municipalities have rebates for certain charger brands. Not sure where you live, but it’s worth researching that too before you make your final choice.

I agree. I have a ChargePoint hard wired. It too will do 48 amps.
From the ChargePoint Home Flex site: "A wall outlet just doesn't cut it anymore. Add up to 37 miles of Range Per Hour to your EV with ChargePoint® Home Flex, a 240-volt Level 2 home charger that delivers up to 50 amps of power. Most drivers will use 32 or 40 amps. 48 or 50 amps will give you the fastest charge, but requires hardwired installation and may require electrical upgrades. Contact a licensed electrician to set the amperage that matches your electrical panel capacity and vehicle requirements to see how fast you can charge."

I understand the Plug-in install so you can take it with you mentality, but I prefer hardwired. Also, if you leave you can still disconnect the hard wired charger and take it with you. If you are a nomad then I guess that's not too practical.

 

[Mach-E VLOG]

I'd stick with a J1772 charger for now. No reason to switch over to Tesla yet. Personally, our favorite and the one we use after testing a half dozen units is the Emporia charger.

 

[woody]

agree w/ JamieGeek
had our Clipper Creek 6 years now
Clipper Creek now owned by Enphase
All EVSEs have some Clipper Creek technology in them
the Clipper Creek will supply enough electrons to replace those you used in a few minutes or a few hours if you drive many miles (most folks do not)
should you have solar and produce enough kW for L2, charge directly from solar (we charge directly from solar 95%+ of the time, L1, 2EVs w/ one plugged in most of the daylight hours)
for me reliability is a motivating factor. More software means more time consumed and the likelihood of less reliability
However:
Clipper Creek is not fashionable
if you let your utility company dictate your charging or want to spend time w/ software, Clipper Creek does not have software you can play with - it is just a reliable EVSE
there are a bunch of good tech. guys on this forum and they have worked out most of the software kinks. Research their posts if you have the time and enjoy that stuff. Paying special attention to wall outlet brand.

 

[RickMachE]

Surprised about the Juicebox recommendations. I have a Juicebox 40 and thankfully noticed the feedback about the new app that they were forcing onto people with several broken features (including critical ones like changing max amperage). Mine still works well on the old version of the app but others haven’t been so lucky. This was a pretty enlightening experience and I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t buy another.

I also have an OpenEVSE which has been rock solid, but I’m not sure how alive that project is these days. If I were buying a EVSE today it would probably be Emporia. Everyone seems to like them. I have their breaker box home electricity monitoring and it works great.

The amperage app issue was fixed.

 

[Lathrop]

The portable charger that comes with the car works just fine. Use it until the CCS/NACS war is decided and THEN maybe buy an after market charger.

 

[ridgebackpilot]

I'd stick with a J1772 charger for now. No reason to switch over to Tesla yet. Personally, our favorite and the one we use after testing a half dozen units is the Emporia charger.

I’ve been watching my new Emporia Level 2 EVSE charge my GTPE all morning. Today is a cloudy day with intermittent direct sun.

Once my Powerwalls charged to 100%, the Emporia sensed surplus solar production being sent to the grid and began to use it instead to charge my car. When the sun came out, the charger ramped up to the full 40 amps maximum. When the clouds obscured the sun, the charger would scale back the charge rate to less current. It matched the solar production pretty well. The GTPE didn’t seem to mind the varying current coming from the charger at all.

So far, I’m impressed with the Emporia!

 

[HuntingPudel]

as was said before, your car will have a J1772 connector on it, so get your choice of a J1772 EVSE. I have an old dumb 32A unit. Personally, I don’t have a need for anything with “smarts,” but I wouldn’t mind it being 40A or 48A unit. That said I don’t need faster than a 32A charger.

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