Home charging recommendations for Clarity Plug-In?

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I haven't bought my Clarity Plug-In yet, but wanted to find out what Clarity Plug-In owners are doing for home charging. Curious to find out which brand is the most reliable and trouble free.
 
I use a ClipperCreek HCS-40P. It's a no frills EVSE that works great. I found mine used on eBay and paid about $325. If you are looking for additional features like wifi connectivity and information logging check out the this thread for other recommendations.

I also owned a smaller ClipperCreek EVSE when I was leasing a Leaf a few years ago and experienced no problems at all.
 
Love my ChargePoint 32amp Level 2 Charger (technically an EVSE). Found an open box on EBay for $499. Really like the WiFi connectivity and app that lets me track kWs and costs. Came with all the mounting hardware including a template, bit, and nut driver. It has spring loaded terminals for easy hook up if you’re a DIYer. It’s a very sleek design that looks good and doesn’t stick out from the wall much. Green glow means ready to go.
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I have found no compelling need for a level 2 charger as yet during my 3 months and 2,836 miles. I charge overnight if needed (12 hrs from empty to full) on the Honda supplied 110v level 1 and only once would a quick charge during the day have been of benefit (avoiding the use of the ICE). When I bought the Clarity I expected to get my garage wired for 220v and to buy a Level 2 charger but thus far I can’t justify the cost.
 
I'm very happy with the OpenEVSE which you can get assembled or as a kit.

My experience has been different than @Hi.Ho.Silver as we tend to have busy weekends and often a couple of hours charging during the afternoon makes the difference between an all EV day or having to us the ICE in the evening.

Good luck,

geo
 
I've got a non-smart, no-frills Siemens Versicharge, which has a pretty large wall box (for no reason--there's not much inside), but has a long, heavy-duty cable and is cheap. No complaints about it so far.

That said, I drove a Volt for 2 years only using the Level 1 charger that came with it, and honestly that's fine. The car will charge up overnight, so unless you make multiple trips in a day totaling over 50 miles, with stops at home for an hour or two in between, you don't really get that much out of a Level 2 charger.

It's definitely not economically a good decision unless your standard daily routine were something like driving 40 miles, then being at home for two hours, then driving another 40 miles.
 
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I'm with Hi.Ho.Silver in the "Just stick it in the wall" crowd for now. My electricity provider, Duke Energy, doesn't provide any Time-of-Day rates for residential in my area, so it doesn't matter if I charge it as soon as I get home, or if I wait until 10 PM, the rate never changes. So I'd rather just go with the cheapest solution for now.

My only question is, is there any good way to protect against lightning either way? We get a lot of thunderstorms down here, and while the house has never been hit, I do wonder what would happen if the lines headed to the garage got hit with a surge while charging. Is there a surge protector built into the charger inside the vehicle, or is there one inside the 120V EVSE? If running a level 2 would give me some peace of mind in that dept., I might consider it.
 
Hi.Ho.Silver said:
I have found no compelling need for a level 2 charger as yet during my 3 months and 2,836 miles. I charge overnight if needed (12 hrs from empty to full) on the Honda supplied 110v level 1 and only once would a quick charge during the day have been of benefit (avoiding the use of the ICE). When I bought the Clarity I expected to get my garage wired for 220v and to buy a Level 2 charger but thus far I can’t justify the cost.
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If you live where it gets cold in the winter then the level 2 charger is much more likely to be a must-have. You can turn on climate control remotely only if you are connected to a level 2 charger, allowing the cabin to warm up prior to setting off on your drive. Since climate control can use a fair amount of energy, getting “warmed up” ahead of time means you won’t sacrifice range.

I bought a factory certified pre-owned Clipper Creek HCS-50P EV charger direct from the manufacturer for half the price of a new one. Installation by an electrician was $375. I really like the convenience of a fast charge and am now set for winter.
 
Rich_in_CH said:
My only question is, is there any good way to protect against lightning either way? [...] Is there a surge protector built into the charger inside the vehicle, or is there one inside the 120V EVSE? If running a level 2 would give me some peace of mind in that dept., I might consider it.
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Interesting point. I can't say for sure whether the charger that comes with the car has a surge protector built in, but none of the Level 2 ones I've seen the inside of do (including commercial ones), so I seriously doubt the included one does either.

It would actually be a lot easier to put the 120V charger on a surge protector, since it's just a 12A(?) household plug rather than a 240V appliance plug, which is not something that surge protectors are readily available for; any power strip rated for relatively high current use would work with the included one, while you'd probably have to get an electrician to hardwire one for a Level 2 charger.

Do be sure to get a 15A surge protector, though--a cheesy one rated for lower current could trip off or overheat with the car charger plugged into it.
 
There’s another thread on this same subject:

https://www.insideevsforum.com/comm...s/recommended-brand-for-level-2-plug-in.1103/

If you are on a budget and don’t want to install an new 240v, then checkout the Dousida charger with dryer plug for about $200 on EBay. It’s an 16 amp Level 2 charger that can fully charge Clarity PHEV in 4 hours. We have one of these and happy with it. We also got a Dryer Buddy so that we can keep both dryer and EVSE plugged in.


Sent from my iPad using Inside EVs
 
Hi.Ho.Silver said:
I have found no compelling need for a level 2 charger as yet during my 3 months and 2,836 miles. I charge overnight if needed (12 hrs from empty to full) on the Honda supplied 110v level 1 and only once would a quick charge during the day have been of benefit (avoiding the use of the ICE). When I bought the Clarity I expected to get my garage wired for 220v and to buy a Level 2 charger but thus far I can’t justify the cost.
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Same here. I have put about 3000 km on my Clarity and just use the 120v provided by Honda. I charge both at home and at the cottage. I've been averaging 1.8 l/100km,
 
A 240 V charger isn't strictly necessary, but it is a lot more pleasant. My wife drives the car and will often empty the battery and turn around an hour later to run errands, etc, so it is nice that the car can charge fully in 2 hours.

If you don't regularly use the full battery then 120 V is probably fine. It also works well in the case where you commute and leave the car in the garage most of the rest of the time.

I would recommend the ChargePoint home if you care about energy usage or a ClipperCreek HCS40 if you want something reliable and basic. I have seen recommendations for Juicebox and some others as well.

The main reason I recommend a hardwired 240 V charger is safety. 120 V can be a bit of a fire hazard in some houses with questionable wiring and the plug and wire to the plug are at more risk of damage than a hardwired unit protected by conduit. Finally, the dedicated EVSE usually has a place you can hang the charge cord on to reduce damage risk.
 
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M.M. said:
It's definitely not economically a good decision unless your standard daily routine were something like driving 40 miles, then being at home for two hours, then driving another 40 miles.
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“Economics, economics, we don’t need no stinking economics!” I’m retired and spending my son’s inheritance.

Seriously, I spent $600 (open box, DIY w licensed electrician for final hook up) on a 32 amp ChargePoint even though for 95+% of the time o/n charging will work because I wanted to track my energy usage and be able to precondition.
 
KentuckyKen said:
“Economics, economics, we don’t need no stinking economics!” I’m retired and spending my son’s inheritance.
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I can throw no stones. I spent around $550 (cheap 30A Siemens charger, an outlet and breaker, and wired the outlet myself), and I would be surprised if the accelerated charge gets me an extra 500 electric miles that would have otherwise been gasoline in a year. I'd be lucky if I managed to get my money out of it in 10 years.

But hey, it's fun, it's cool, and it's a few less gallons of fossil fuel out the tailpipe.
 
Kailani said:
If you live where it gets cold in the winter then the level 2 charger is much more likely to be a must-have. You can turn on climate control remotely only if you are connected to a level 2 charger, allowing the cabin to warm up prior to setting off on your drive. Since climate control can use a fair amount of energy, getting “warmed up” ahead of time means you won’t sacrifice range.
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I agree and that also applies to very hot climates where pre-cooling is a great benefit. Our normal summers have 6 to 10 weeks over 100F and the garage is even hotter.
 
Can you partially charge the battery and drive the car? (i.e. plug in during the day and unplug to run an errand without reaching full charge?)
 
Yes, of course. If you do that all the time you want to occasionally charge to 100% to make sure cell balancing and other maintenance occurs (like calibrating battery gauge and other things the car might do when it is fully charged).
 
Viking79 said:
Yes, of course. If you do that all the time you want to occasionally charge to 100% to make sure cell balancing and other maintenance occurs (like calibrating battery gauge and other things the car might do when it is fully charged).
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Thanks for the info. I figured you could, but haven't seen anything written about it. One more question, how long will the charge last? if I don't drive the car for a couple of days and it isn't plugged in? Will the charge deplete some?
 
I just use regular outlet for 7 mile each way commute. If your commute is near or above battery limit, you may want a faster charger.
 
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