Charging Station Recommendations

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wtdedula

Active member
Joined
Sep 10, 2017
Messages
38
Hello All;
I need to get a charging station as I have an appointment to have 220V run into my detached garage this Wednesday.

I am curious as to what brand some of you on here have and how you like it and it it's reliable.

Also if it's worth it to get a system with Wifi.

I am looking at either Aerovironment (Which is in the Nissan Dealerships) or Juicebox. Both have versions that support wifi. Wonderinjg about the pros and cons of either model.

Thanks.

Tim
 
I would recommend doing a search on the forum. This is a topic that has been discussed at length in existing threads.

To your question of worth it for wifi, that's something only you can answer. Do you need it? no, your car will charge regardless. Think about: How close of an eye do you need to keep on it, how easy is it to go to the garage and check on charging? Are there cases when you would not be at home and NEED to turn on or off charging? To me, wifi would be useless, but you may have a different opinion.

I ended up with the Siemens VersiCharge for ~$460 on amazon and it has worked without issue. I chose it because the price was better than most other 30A L2 EVSE, good reviews, good quality plug and cable, and (like the Aerovironment) has a place to store the plug when not in use.
 
In my opinion the Aeroenvirement unit is very over priced. I built up two basic JuiceBox's and they have been trouble free. If you just want a basic 30A unit then search Amazon. They should be in the $400 range.

I do not want a unit that I can access from my smartphone but many do. I build and use OpenEVSE units. They have all of the WIfi bells and whistles available. I turn them all off. I want a basic unit with a timer so that is what I get. Lincomatic who supports the code is heavily into RAPI but you can ignore that. Chris Howell runs a GUI website for WIfi use.

https://store.openevse.com/

His kits look very nice but it you eBay source the parts you can build for much less. That assumes you are a hardware person like me. If you are just into saving the planet then buy a pre assembl;ed unit and be happy.
 
Hey all;
Thanks for the responses thus far. The general thought seems to be that all EVSEs are reliable though I have read some reports of apps over wifi (on such capable units) work better on some units than on others.

I have another question ...

Some EVSEs advertise as being 30 Amp, Some 32 Amp and some 40 Amp. Does this make much of a difference in charging time ? Is a more powerful unit going to be harder on battery wear ? I also noticed that the lower power units use a 3 prong plug whereas the more powerful units seem to use a 4 prong plug. I am having 220 volts run in my garage in two days (Wed) can you give advice as to whether it is better to have a 3 prong or 4 prong plug installed ? Maybe it's best if I have four wires run even if I only need three right now. Thoughts, Ideas, etc ...

Tim
 
27.5a is the max a current Leaf will charge at, anything more than that is ignored and will only charge at 27.5a.
AFA your 240v service, personally I'd have a 14-50 outlet installed, 2 hots a neutral and ground. True you don't need the neutral for a EV but if you ever need it, it could come in handy. RVs use 14-50 outlets as well as stoves. Of course you don't need a 50a circuit with a current Leaf but it shouldn't be that much more to wire and you'd be futureproofing yourself, a 14-50 is a very common EVSE plug.
Personally I probably wouldn't purchase a EVSE much larger than 30a, going above 32a will result in much thicker and heavier J1772 cabling, a 10 gauge cable is hard enough to work with, 8 gauge is even worse.
 
A 40A EVSE is a specialty item and it is priced accordingly . Tesla's already come with a 40A EVSE. That leaves Tesla based cars like the RAV4 EV and the Mercedes B. All other cars charge at 30A or less. I need a 40A EVSE but for most it is a waste of money. The car sets the charging rate. An enhansed Leaf will draw 7.5A A 30A EVSE is a good fit but the car will take what it needs and it will ignore the rest. It would work fine at the spec max of 80A but it will only take the 27.5A it needs.
 
Hi All;
I finally decided to go with the Juicebox Pro as it had really good reviews, seemed very popular, is UL listed, had Wifi and seemed like a good, durable unit. I seriously considered Clipper Creek but just didn't like the design that much. I also felt I'd get a 40 Amp unit rather than a 32 Amp unit since even though the Leaf can't use that much power right now, maybe a future version will as I'm looking to replace my Leaf around 2020 or 2021. That seems like a good assumption with a larger battery expected next year. I liked the design of the aerovironment but it seemed underpowered, and as one person said overpriced. While the Siemens got good reviews and looked like a semi could run over it without damaging it, It looked too well "industrial" for my home. Also, some reviewers said the wifi version was buggy.

Tim
 
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