I've been looking for a second portable charger to keep in my car, so I thought I'd dump my findings here in case anyone else finds it useful.
I live in an apartment, so I was in the market for a portable EVSE that was capable of level 1 and 2 charging; Level 1 for now and Level 2 in case I ever move into a place with a 240V plug. I wanted one with both NEMA 5-15 (standard household AC plug in the US) and NEMA 14-50 plugs or adapters. The latter also seems to be a standard for RVs, so it might be easier to find out in the wild.
I also wanted something safety-rated. This narrowed the field by a lot and eliminated popular brands like Lectron. I considered:
This left the Shell chargers and an OEM option. The Shell charger is certified by SGS (a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory, or NRTL) to UL standards. My understanding is that UL won't certify Shell because it includes a 14-50 to 5-15 adapter. In contrast, the OEM chargers are listed because they use different proprietary adapters for each plug, and so average Joe can't use one to plug an RV into a house outlet.
On OEM chargers, only the latest ones can charge level 2. You can tell by reading the input voltages. This ruled out ones from Ford, Nissan, Hyundai, and Chevrolet. The newer charger for the MachE and Lightning were good options, but expensive. The new Mini charger is also good on paper, but expensive and hard to find. KIA does not include a charger with their EVs at all.
Lastly, the Tesla Mobile Connector is common, proven, but would require a Tesla to J1772 adapter, e.g. TeslaTap. I had originally planned to get one anyway so that I could use Tesla Destination chargers, but these days J1772 chargers seem to be more common, and so I started to doubt how useful it'd be.
In the end, I almost purchased the Shell 32A charger, but I found a good deal on a secondhand Rivian charger for $240. It has adapters for both plugs, it's J1772 natively, it can charge at 32A, and the price was right.
I live in an apartment, so I was in the market for a portable EVSE that was capable of level 1 and 2 charging; Level 1 for now and Level 2 in case I ever move into a place with a 240V plug. I wanted one with both NEMA 5-15 (standard household AC plug in the US) and NEMA 14-50 plugs or adapters. The latter also seems to be a standard for RVs, so it might be easier to find out in the wild.
I also wanted something safety-rated. This narrowed the field by a lot and eliminated popular brands like Lectron. I considered:
- Shell 32-amp SEV-32-01 and 40-amp SEV-40-01
- Clipper Creek AmazingE Fast
- an OEM charger like the Mini flexible fast charger
- Webasto Turbocord
This left the Shell chargers and an OEM option. The Shell charger is certified by SGS (a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory, or NRTL) to UL standards. My understanding is that UL won't certify Shell because it includes a 14-50 to 5-15 adapter. In contrast, the OEM chargers are listed because they use different proprietary adapters for each plug, and so average Joe can't use one to plug an RV into a house outlet.
On OEM chargers, only the latest ones can charge level 2. You can tell by reading the input voltages. This ruled out ones from Ford, Nissan, Hyundai, and Chevrolet. The newer charger for the MachE and Lightning were good options, but expensive. The new Mini charger is also good on paper, but expensive and hard to find. KIA does not include a charger with their EVs at all.
Lastly, the Tesla Mobile Connector is common, proven, but would require a Tesla to J1772 adapter, e.g. TeslaTap. I had originally planned to get one anyway so that I could use Tesla Destination chargers, but these days J1772 chargers seem to be more common, and so I started to doubt how useful it'd be.
In the end, I almost purchased the Shell 32A charger, but I found a good deal on a secondhand Rivian charger for $240. It has adapters for both plugs, it's J1772 natively, it can charge at 32A, and the price was right.
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