Suggestions for Brands for Level 2 EV Charger

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Martha

Martha

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I have never own an electric car. Due to the availability I have not even test driven one, yet I purchased my first electric MINI Cooper SE and I am excited, but that being said I am curious what type of Level 2 chargers everyone uses at home. Any suggestions on which one to purchase?
 
Martha said:
I have never own an electric car. Due to the availability I have not even test driven one, yet I purchased my first electric MINI Cooper SE and I am excited, but that being said I am curious what type of Level 2 chargers everyone uses at home. Any suggestions on which one to purchase?
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Check out this EVSE Recommendations thread. I, too, have a ClipperCreek EVSE, but it's not a smart EVSE. You need to decide if you want to track the info a smart EVSE can provide or, like me, just use it like an old-fashioned appliance.
 
Yeah read through the recommendation thread as there are a couple things to think about like plugin or hardwired, DIY or electrician, what your local electrical codes allow, weatherproof or indoors... smart or dumb, portable or fixed, style, color, dancing lights. I am happy with my Grizzl-e smart plug in, easy install, no issues. Its heavy, but I can pack it up and take it to the cottage with me if I want.
 
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JuiceBox 40 here. Bought it specifically with future proofing in mind.

If you ever get a second EV, the 2 juice boxes can communicate and have both plugged in to a single circuit at once without overloading it. Plus, we can unplug it and take it wherever.

Granted, my SE is still at the port, so haven’t actually gotten to USE it yet… but it looks pretty on the wall :)


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I got a Grizl-e, but I thought someone should mention Clipper Creek’s Amazing-E line. They’re quite a bit cheaper, portable, but still UL approved.


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Grizzl-E, Clipper Creek, Juicebox, and Chargepoint Home Flex are all popular options. That thread that was referenced contains a lot of helpful information!
 
I have a ChargePoint home flex sitting on the floor in my garage waiting for my electrician to install it (allegedly next Tuesday!)

Our electricity provider has a special rate plan where if you have a smart EVSE they can communicate with it can give you discounted rates at night. (The EVSE has to be able to keep track of the charging done at night, our meters aren’t capable of it). So you may want to see what programs your utility company has before deciding. With our utility the only ones they are compatible with for that is Chargepoint and Juicebox.
 
I installed the wallbox because it is pretty small and it was what the company installing the charger recommended. I read a lot of reviews and decided it was more that good enough.
 
jimmm18 said:
I installed the wallbox because it is pretty small and it was what the company installing the charger recommended. I read a lot of reviews and decided it was more that good enough.
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I'd never heard of Wallbox, so I checked out their website. They're made in Spain. Did you get a plug-in 40-Amp unit or a hard-wired unit? Or did you go big with the 48-Amp model?

Wallbox is preparing to sell a cool-looking 7.4 kW bi-directional DC EVSE they call "Quasar." This is the first home DC EVSE I've seen, and it works with facial recognition! Would a 7.4 kW DC EVSE have any advantage over a 7.4 kW AC EVSE other than offering the bi-directional capability (AFAIK, no EVs support this yet, but the EV6 and Ioniq 5 may)? Because the page says to check to see if it will work in your country, I assume the US isn't one of the countries in which it will work.

upload_2021-11-11_23-28-40.webp
Wallbox Quasar bi-directional 7.4 kW DC EVSE
 
Denise C said:
I have ChargePoint installed just waiting for the car to get to production (3rd check mark lol). Bought it last month from Amazon for $699 and few weeks ago I saw it went Up to $950!!
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Perhaps a third party seller on Amazon? I just checked ChargePoint's web site and it's still $699, but back ordered for 1 to 2 weeks.
 
insightman said:
It's pretty, but what is that, maybe a 10-foot cable they're unwinding from the box?
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  • Tethered 7kW cable (5.5m or 8.5m)
  • Tethered 22kW cable (6.5m)
So the short cable is about 18 ft, the long one about 28 ft! Or if you go with the three-phase cable, a paltry 21 ft. ;)

I think the cable might seem short because the EVSE is so big.
 
Denise C said:
I have ChargePoint installed just waiting for the car to get to production (3rd check mark lol). Bought it last month from Amazon for $699 and few weeks ago I saw it went Up to $950!!
Click to expand...

Ha, I'm in the same boat—I have a ChargePoint Home Flex installed, but I'm still waiting for my Mini SE to arrive (it's due to arrive at the port in CA on December 2nd—I'm really hoping I'll be able to take possession before the end of this year!).

To Martha, take this with a big grain of salt as I'm a total newbie, but I think you'll have seen from this and the other EVSE thread that there are a number of considerations to bear in mind when purchasing an EVSE. A few that I've noted are...
  • How much power can the EVSE deliver to your car? I believe the Mini Cooper SE maxes out at 7.4kW/~32A, but some people want a higher capacity EVSE for future-proofing or to support higher capacity EVs, such as Teslas.
  • Does it need to be weatherproof so that it can be installed outdoors?
  • Does it need to be portable so that it can be transported?
  • Can it be "daisy-chained" to a second EVSE to allow two cars to be conveniently charged from a single circuit?
I wish I had discovered this forum before I had the electrical work done to support the EVSE we purchased, but I'm glad I was able to benefit from the knowledge here when it came to purchasing our EVSE unit. I also found Tom Moloughney's YouTube channel incredibly useful—see https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4oXe6BofLEfQGuIT9a2djL5kVWZQZgTY There's nothing quite like seeing the various EVSE units in use to get a sense for what they'd be like to live with.

Something I picked up from Tom's channel that I hadn't seen discussed elsewhere are the real world, day-to-day use considerations that don't appear on the list above or in lists of product specs. For example, is there an integrated holster for the charger and, if so, how easy is it to use? How about cable management? For example, the Andersen unit highlighted above looks great, but, in real world use, are you really going to want to go through the rigamarole of un-hiding and, after you're done, carefully re-hiding your charge cable every time you charge your car?

It was these day-to-day ease-of-use considerations that led me to purchase the ChargePoint Home Flex. The plug-end of the charge cable engages with the base unit's integrated holster with a satisfying click, and the integrated cable management is really nice and simple—not as pretty as the Andersen's hide-away cable management, but so much more practical. I also like the relatively small dimensions of the Home Flex and, to my eyes at least, it looks nicer than most other EVSEs on the market today.

But these are just my priorities, and they may not align with yours. I think that if you can map out the features that are most important to you and how you plan to use your EVSE (i.e. fixed location or mobile, indoor or outdoor install), it'll help you narrow down the list of viable options.

Hope this helps, and congrats on your Mini Cooper SE purchase!
 
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