Best Level 2 Charger

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leosgarza

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So I am looking to get a level 2 charger but I am not sure what is best. I was leaning toward a Siemens charger as I do not need all of the bells and whistles of a charge point charger. Then it all changed when you think about thanksgiving at Grandma's house and how to charge the clarity during the four days I am in town. I do not want to disrespect her by charging in her 120, even with her permission or giving her some money. I looked in the plugshare site and found a local site that provides a NEMA 14-50 plug to use. So my question to all of you is:

1. What charger do you use?

1. Do carry a portable level 2 charger with you?

2. What charger so you recommend?
 
1) I'm lucky to have free level 2 charging where I work - Chargepoint - so occasional hickups with charging stopping or never starting. At home I have an old Edison ICS-200 Avcon chargers that I converted to J1772 (dinosaur and weighs a ton, but always reliable and charges up to 40A). I paid as much to have it shipped to me as I did for the charger. Just had to shell out $100 for the 32A J1772 charging cable.
2) I built one of the homegrown chargers that charges up to 40A with components i used. It is fairly portable, much like the juicebox. I also have a Clippercreek 20A charger (LCS-25). I really like the Clippercreek for portability, but it charges the Clarity at 20A instead of the max of 25A, so charging will be about 20% slower or take more like 3 hours instead of 2.5.
3) I like the LCS-25 for portable use. Yes it's a little slower than a 32A charger, but it costs less too (you can find used on Ebay occasionally for $200). It's not any larger or heavier than a level 1 charger, so you don't really notice it in the trunk. If you really want the max charging, the clippercreek HCS-40P is 32A, but a little bigger and heavier and costs more. Charging at 20A versus 25A does cause less heating and would be less likely to overload an unknown circuit.
 
I have a Dusida EVSE, $197.87 from Amazon. It charges at 16 amps, 220 volts or 3.5 kw, so it may take 5 hours if the battery is completely discharged. Since I plan to do the majority of charging at night, there would be little advantage in spending an additional $300 for a 32 amp charger. In my area, I can get very cheap electric rates between 11:00 PM and 7:00 AM.
 
BobS said:
I have a Duosida EVSE, $197.87 from Amazon. It charges at 16 amps, 220 volts or 3.5 kw, so it may take 5 hours if the battery is completely discharged. Since I plan to do the majority of charging at night, there would be little advantage in spending an additional $300 for a 32 amp charger. In my area, I can get very cheap electric rates between 11:00 PM and 7:00 AM.
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We've got the same charger connecting to our dryer outlet using the Dryer Buddy, which is essentially a splitter that allows us to keep both the dryer and charger connected at all time. We schedule the charger to start at 2 a.m; by morning, the car is fully charged. No issue with charger so far. It's a good budget charger if you don't want to spend additional money for a new 240v outlet.
 
In the garage I have a Chargepoint EVSE with a 25ft. cord which I got on sale for $600. I also drive around with a Jesla EVSE (converted Tesla EVSE with J1772 plug) which I picked up for $399. Both handle max 32 amps.

In my opinion, level-2 charging on a Clarity is probably not necessary. More of a nice to have, unless you empty the battery pack every single day, and don't have at least 12 hours between trips to charge the battery.

I would also suggest you save your pennies and buy a nice high quality level-2 EVSE one-time with all the bells and whistles (wifi, scheduling etc.) - as driving a PHEV will probably get you hooked on EV driving, and you'll end up spending money down the road for something better if you't do it now. Just my 2 cents.
 
Went with the Seimen’s WiFi version and I have to say it’s solid, light, looks good on the wall but the Wi-Fi connectivity app has a lot to be desired. It’s essentially a mobile enabled web site that requires you to log in every 2nd or 3rd day. But it does give the needed information of what the car is accepting and seems to service the car well. My bigger “want” is the Honda Link app would give more granular data and allow downloads so we could play what-if games.


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Heino said:
I would also suggest you save your pennies and buy a nice high quality level-2 EVSE one-time with all the bells and whistles (wifi, scheduling etc.) - as driving a PHEV will probably get you hooked on EV driving, and you'll end up spending money down the road for something better if you't do it now. Just my 2 cents.
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I disagree with the bells and whistles because that is what will usually fail. It seems JuiceBox and Chargepoint EVSEs have more problems than ClipperCreek. The OP is also not wanting the bells and whistles.

To answer the OP's question:
1. ClipperCreek LCS-25 14-30P so I can plug it into a dryer outlet
2. I carry my OEM EVSE in each of my PHEVs
3. I would recommend the ClipperCreek LCS-30 or HCS-40 or HCS-50.
 
Electra said:
I disagree with the bells and whistles because that is what will usually fail. It seems JuiceBox and Chargepoint EVSEs have more problems than ClipperCreek. The OP is also not wanting the bells and whistles.

To answer the OP's question:
1. ClipperCreek LCS-25 14-30P so I can plug it into a dryer outlet
2. I carry my OEM EVSE in each of my PHEVs
3. I would recommend the ClipperCreek LCS-30 or HCS-40 or HCS-50.
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I agree that there have been several posts here about JuiceBox failures but I have seen none about home ChargePoint failures on this forum.
What is your source for that claim?
 
KentuckyKen said:
I agree that there have been several posts here about JuiceBox failures but I have seen none about home ChargePoint failures on this forum.
What is your source for that claim?
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Look its 1 star reviews on Amazon. Now compare that with the hcs 40 or lcs 20.
 
leosgarza said:
So I am looking to get a level 2 charger but I am not sure what is best. I was leaning toward a Siemens charger as I do not need all of the bells and whistles of a charge point charger. Then it all changed when you think about thanksgiving at Grandma's house and how to charge the clarity during the four days I am in town. I do not want to disrespect her by charging in her 120, even with her permission or giving her some money. I looked in the plugshare site and found a local site that provides a NEMA 14-50 plug to use. So my question to all of you is:

1. What charger do you use?

1. Do carry a portable level 2 charger with you?

2. What charger so you recommend?
Click to expand...

I purchased the plug-in version of the simple Siemens charger on sale for under $400 at Costco. This charger, by its design, includes a 20' cable, 32 amps at 240V (2-1/2 hour (or less) charging of a Clarity, a 2/4/6/8 hour "delay" button which allows you to easily set it to charge your vehicle at (say) 1 a.m. (while you are sleeping and electric rates may be lower), built-in cable management (no need for a hose rack or something like that on which to hang your charging cable) AND wall mounting on a rail, which allows you to simply unplug it, slide it off the rail and put the charger box and cables in your trunk for that trip to grandma's house, your lake house, your new house (when you purchase one), or etc. Bottom line: the Siemens unit is comparatively inexpensive, has no unnecessary bells and whistles, does a great job with the Clarity at home for everyday living and easily becomes a portable charger too when desired or needed. Your time wasted messing around with a third-party charger is unnecessary, IMHO, and your original instincts remain valid.
 
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KentuckyKen said:
I still don’t understand your claim. I went to Amazon and it had an excellent 4.5 out of 5 rating (288 respondents) for the 32Amp Level 2 w WiFi.
Here is the link.
https://www.amazon.com/ChargePoint-Enabled-Electric-Vehicle-Charger/dp/B071YDGJYZ

Kindly provide a link for your 1 star rating on Amazon; I didn’t find it.
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I'm not saying the average is 1 star. I'm saying the amount of 1 star reviews should be considered before purchasing. When you click on the reviews, it gives you a breakdown of 1-5 star reviews. Click on the 1 star to read those reviews. Not everyone will have a problem, but more people may have problems when wi-fi and apps are involved.
 
Electra said:
I'm not saying the average is 1 star. I'm saying the amount of 1 star reviews should be considered before purchasing. When you click on the reviews, it gives you a breakdown of 1-5 star reviews. Click on the 1 star to read those reviews. Not everyone will have a problem, but more people may have problems when wi-fi and apps are involved.
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Thanks for clearing that up. It first sounded like you were saying ChargePoints were getting a bad rating on Amazon when in fact they are getting excellent reviews. I agree that the addition of WiFi and an app does give some people problems; just look at the Honda Link posts. But the great majority of us are not having any problems with the ChargePoint app or with connectivity. I’ve never had mine lose the signal or have to be reset.
 
My "Deuce"box (as in the #2 variety) won't hold onto a wi-fi signal, so the on-again, off-again bell/whistle is basically useless. That's kind of a bummer because the almost worthless Hondalink app doesn't really give much information besides the current level of charge. So it was nice to know how many kWh were used to charge the car. But the Deucebox simply isn't up to the task on any kind of consistent basis. Other than that, at least it still charges the car.
 
leosgarza said:
So I am looking to get a level 2 charger but I am not sure what is best. I was leaning toward a Siemens charger as I do not need all of the bells and whistles of a charge point charger. Then it all changed when you think about thanksgiving at Grandma's house and how to charge the clarity during the four days I am in town. I do not want to disrespect her by charging in her 120, even with her permission or giving her some money. I looked in the plugshare site and found a local site that provides a NEMA 14-50 plug to use.
Click to expand...
The Siemens one is good too, but keep in mind it uses a 6-50 plug and won't fit into a 14-50 outlet. Do you really need the hassle of plugging while traveling? I would just use it like a regular hybrid. You'll have to stop for gas anyways.
 
Electra said:
The Siemens one is good too, but keep in mind it uses a 6-50 plug and won't fit into a 14-50 outlet. Do you really need the hassle of plugging while traveling? I would just use it like a regular hybrid. You'll have to stop for gas anyways.
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Good point — he can drive it as a hybrid for that visit to grandmas. Or maybe just use the L1 charger that comes with the car anyway. And/or purchase one of the many 14-50 to 6-50 adaptors on the market (such as the AC Works WD1450650 available on Amazon). And/or use the Clarity’s built in capability to charge the traction battery using the vehicle’s own ICE. Lots of good options.
 
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