Best Level 2 Charger

Could you provide some reference on this? Thanks ahead.

 

We're talking about "continuous use" circuits, so breaker is always* oversized. You can find NEC documents on Google.

* There are always* caveats for anything* and everything*.

 

I have to meter my electricity usage so that I can reimburse my condo assoiciation which pays the electricity for the garages. I noticed that this EVSE has a readout which includes KWH. How does the meter work? Does it start over after every charging session? How long does the infomation stay available? Anything you can describe about it would be great.

Is there a manual?

 

Will your Condo Association allow you to install a non UL certified electrical device? Most won’t and I wouldn’t recommend it. You be be liable for any “crash and burn” events and the insurance company may try to use its non UL listing to deny you coverage. I would never trust a cheap Chinese knock off high current device that has no UL certification.

I urge you to read the article I linked to in post 58 above.

For just $50 ($450) more you can get an open box/never installed ChargePoint on eBay (32 Amp, 25 ft cord) from a reputable US company with great customer and technical service 24/7. It’s UL and Energy Star certified. That’s what I did. This unit has WiFi and an app that shows usage per charge and per month over time in both kW and cost. It automatically found my utilities cost per kW and reports that for me. Links below. It also can set a charging schedule easier than the one in the car. It’s a high quality unit you can trust. And it comes with a great manual that’s not been written in Chinese and translated into pigeon English. The app will give you the documentation you need to keep your condo assoc happy. PM me if you want more details.





EVSE: $250
https://www.ebay.com/itm/ChargePoint-Home-Electric-Vehicle-Charger-32-Amp-hardwired-station-Cord-Needed/232994612178?_trkparms=aid=222007&algo=SIM.MBE&ao=2&asc=20180306143914&meid=8f93711b53984c70b47b19007a59e92b&pid=100935&rk=7&rkt=12&sd=283237885860&itm=232994612178&_trksid=p2056116.c100935.m2460

25 ft cord: $200
https://www.ebay.com/itm/ChargePoint-25-ft-Charging-Cord-for-32-Amp-Home-Station-CPH25CORD-L25/283237885860?epid=1044655503&hash=item41f24b27a4:g:y54AAOSw-yJb2d~9&LH_BIN=1&LH_ItemCondition=3

Hope this is helpful for you.

 

yes, there is. a well written one. it doesn't come with fancy wifi or current limit settings those fancy features but gets the job done.

 

Really? If so, then why are you looking for an EVSE that would give you lower amperage to charge your clarity? there isn't anything you can set on Clarity to decide how much amperage to take.

If you decide to choose a 32 amp max EVSE and set the limit to 24 amp because your circuit can handle only 24 amp, you are basically putting a lot of faith in the EVSE. If the current goes up (it could go up to 37 amp, again in a different thread posted by another user) and you clarity would keep on sucking all the juice. Then guess what, you have to constantly turning the circuit breaker back on until someday the circuit breaker doesn't work anymore (most likely without any warning). I mean no bad wish for you. it looks like you are looking for assurance that it's O.k. to do what you think you could do. No one can tell you one way or another unless it's coming from a qualified electrician. But I wouldn't do it. And for the sake of the safety of other forum readers, I would advise that this is very dangerous. If you have to take your odds, maybe it's a good idea to put the charging station outside. It's better to burn a car than your entire house.

 

I own the 32 amp version of the Mustart. UL is not the only certification that exists out there. The Mustart products happen to have a TUV certification instead of UL. TUV is just as good as UL by most any standards....nice discussion about it here:

https://energycurb.com/blog/nrtl-ul-tuv-demystified/

And here is TUV's website if you want to dig deeper: https://www.tuv.com/en/usa/about_us/tuev_rheinland_north_america/accreditations/accreditations.html

IMO don't let lack of UL certification guide your purchase, if another we recognized electrical safety organization has vouched for the product's safety.

 

I clipped this from TUV's website:

"Authorities Having Jurisdiction - Local Approval

TUV Rheinland of North America's US certification mark is recognized and accepted by state, city and county regulators (building officials, fire marshals and electrical inspectors) throughout the US as an equivalent alternative to the UL mark for the products we certify. For specific accreditation information contact our accreditation manager."


And here is OSHA's website, formally recognizing TUV as a perfectly legit safety standard:
https://www.osha.gov/dts/otpca/nrtl/tuv.html

I see absolutely no reason to fear the MUSTART charger because it simply lacks a UL stamp and some people in the general public don't see TUV as the equivalant certification it is.

 

I don't think the condo association will be the problem. Nor is the cost of the EVSE. I have not yet had the electrician come to assess the situation in the garage. Since the garages were jerrybuilt I am not sure whether it will even be possible to run a 240w 40 amp circuit at all. I don't know where the panel for the garages is and what its capacity is. Answering all these questions is my next task.

If all that shakes out OK and the wiring will actually possible without being prohibitively expensive, I would love to get a Charge Point EVSE since I already have an account from my Prius Plugin (because the charger at our State House is a Charge Point). However, to use a wifi charger to meter the KWH also means that I will have to get wifi to the garage which is not attached to the condo. That would mean getting some kind of bridge/range extender and probably rearranging my electronic equipment to move the router to the closest point in my condo. Since I have a ground floor unit, I don't even have the advantage of height. (Rather than do that, I have been thinking of getting a meter installed at the time I get the 240v line installed.

I have not used the HondaLink much because the condo association's account does not have time of day rates so same high rate applies any time so I don't bother to schedule the charging. Out of curiosity, I did once schedule the preconditioning and it worked just fine. It obediently tells me when the car has finished charging. I do not seem to have yet had the flaky operation that others have experienced, if only it could tell me how many KWH it had sucked down I wold be a happy camper. Instead I am dependent on my aging Kill-a-Watt clone.

 

I will add that there are many testing companies offering TUV certification in Europe, but the US (OSHA website) only lists NRTLs from TUV SUD (both US and German entities) and only the American entity of TUV Rheinland (not the German one). So if you’re going to rely on TUV certification, you have to be careful of what company is issuing it. Not all (only 3) are approved as a NRTL in the US. Whereas every UL certification in the US is OSHA approved as being from a NRTL.
If your EVSE has a TUV from an OSHA approved NRTL (one of the 3 above) then I would agree you’ve got an essentially equivalent certification, reasonable expectation of safety, and peace of mind. If not, then all bets are off.

 

I found out that my cheapo charger does have UL certification. UL# E364477 I am less likely to burn to death now.

 

Note the UL# is for the plug only. Duosida. I bet over 80% of EVSE under $300 on Amazon are using Duosida plugs. The controllers are all in same shape, not a coincidence.
See my comments on page 2. UL# for the plug doesn't mean the whole EVSE is qualified.

 

Looks great! Congratulations and let us know if you have any questions.

 

Just had a Juicebox Pro 40 set up in my garage, hooked into my WiFi network and already charging my Clarity. Couldn’t be happier with it!

 

Happy for you, but my Charge Point Home can beat up your Juicebox (just saying)...well at least until either of us gets a car that can charge at 40 Amps from the wall. Then my CP will have to quake in fear since it’s only 32 Amps. But it’s a real looker compared to the clunky Juicebox.
Here’s my baby with her comforting green pulsing glow that lets me know every time I pull into the garage that she’s ready to rock.

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...
There are actually a few people that believe the Clarity is ugly [nobody in this forum of course] !

I think the JuiceBox has a certain pizzazz !!

 

Industrial utilitarianism has its appeal, but the ChargePoint is just a beautiful small footprint design. However, I would trade it in in a heartbeat for a Juicebox if your garage and lift came with it. I’m green with envy. All I’ve got is 4 jackstands and a floor jack. Sigh...