Which level 2 charger to get?

[SnB4xe]

So do we have a consensus on which level 2 charger to get? Seems like this thread is all over the place with no clear winner

There are many choices that will work. Remember, the charger is in the Jeep so the EVSE just needs to supply power to the charger on board the Jeep and communicate with it.

Simple answer.....look to see if your utility company offers incentives or discounts. Many times they will offer 3 or 4 model choices so pick the one you like.

A plug in version is fine if you are only going to use it for your Jeep or a future PHEV model. If you plan on going full BEV at some point then consider a 48A hardwired unit or at least the circuit pre-wired for that rating so you can upgrade later.

Wallbox Pulsar Plus has a feature that allows it to circuit share so you can add a second unit later to share power in case a second EV is added to the household. ChargePoint does that too but you need their help to program them in their cloud. There are a few other manufacturers that have similar features.

ChargePoint is a premium brand.
EnelX is pretty good.
Clipper Creek and Grizzl-e are middle of the road and good choices for most users. Wallbox is a good choice also.

If you can get your hands on Aerovironment-RS or Siemens VersiCharge for a good price then those are nearly bullet proof. Those have real contactors inside and very little charging losses.

Probably want to stay away from "Amazon Specials". They get hot and performance suffers.

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[LJ_3M121318]

There are many choices that will work. Remember, the charger is in the Jeep so the EVSE just needs to supply power to the charger on board the Jeep and communicate with it.

Simple answer.....look to see if your utility company offers incentives or discounts. Many times they will offer 3 or 4 model choices so pick the one you like.

A plug in version is fine if you are only going to use it for your Jeep or a future PHEV model. If you plan on going full BEV at some point then consider a 48A hardwired unit or at least the circuit pre-wired for that rating so you can upgrade later.

Wallbox Pulsar Plus has a feature that allows it to circuit share so you can add a second unit later to share power in case a second EV is added to the household. ChargePoint does that too but you need their help to program them in their cloud. There are a few other manufacturers that have similar features.

ChargePoint is a premium brand.
EnelX is pretty good.
Clipper Creek and Grizzl-e are middle of the road and good choices for most users. Wallbox is a good choice also.

If you can get your hands on Aerovironment-RS or Siemens VersiCharge for a good price then those are nearly bullet proof. Those have real contactors inside and very little charging losses.

Probably want to stay away from "Amazon Specials". They get hot and performance suffers.

Thanks for the info. Yeah I'm LADWP and they basically say buy what you want and you'll get $500 back:

Q: Which charging stations are eligible for a rebate?
A: Charging stations must:

• Have an input voltage of 240 volts (Level 2)
• Be certified by a nationally recognized testing laboratory (or NRTL), as recognized by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (e.g., Underwriters Laboratories) at the time of purchase
• Have a J1772 connector (Tesla Wall Connectors may also qualify for a rebate under the program if certified by an NRTL.)
• Be new and unused at the time of purchase
• Be purchased within 12 months of rebate application submission
• Be wall-mounted at the LADWP electric service address provided in the program application

Charging stations that are portable, resold, rebuilt, received from warranty insurance claims or won as a prize are not eligible.

 

[SnB4xe]

Thanks for the info. Yeah I'm LADWP and they basically say buy what you want and you'll get $500 back:

Q: Which charging stations are eligible for a rebate?
A: Charging stations must:

• Have an input voltage of 240 volts (Level 2)
• Be certified by a nationally recognized testing laboratory (or NRTL), as recognized by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (e.g., Underwriters Laboratories) at the time of purchase
• Have a J1772 connector (Tesla Wall Connectors may also qualify for a rebate under the program if certified by an NRTL.)
• Be new and unused at the time of purchase
• Be purchased within 12 months of rebate application submission
• Be wall-mounted at the LADWP electric service address provided in the program application

Charging stations that are portable, resold, rebuilt, received from warranty insurance claims or won as a prize are not eligible.

Cool.
Pick 2 or 3 that you like and fit your budget and I would be happy to offer my thoughts. We install these where I work so I am familiar with many different models and their limitations.

There are lots of good choices. Some have more features than others but most people never make use of all the features so it just depends on each use case.

 

[OINC]

I'm thinking of getting the juice box. But does it matter if I get the 40 amp or 32 amp?

For the 2021 4xe, the 32A would be fine because the 4xe can only take 30A@240V = 7.2kW. However, if you think you might want a different EV or PHEV that might have a higher charging capacity (like a later version of the 4xe ), get the 40A. It won’t hurt anything; the 4xe will take only what it can… but you will be set if your next vehicle can take higher power and you won’t have to buy a new evse. I would spend the 30$.

Keep in mind you want 20% extra on the circuit, so you’d need at least a 40A circuit for the 32A juicebox, and a 50A circuit for the 40A one. If you’re having one installed, make it 60A if you have the capacity so if you need to upgrade to a 48A later you don’t have to run any new wiring.

 

[JollieOllie]

Just tried the dip switches. Nothing.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Grizzl-e Smart Charger
*Update - they will send me a new charger. Hopefully the new one will work for me*

 

[ipizzaipizza]

Grizzl-e Smart Charger
*Update - they will send me a new charger. Hopefully the new one will work for me*

GL with your 2nd one, I noticed Grizzl-E has raised prices of the Smart version, it's now $100 more compared to regular. Wonder if that due to demand or increase in RMAs.

I've added a short extension/grip puller to make it easier on power resetting the charger when it decides to act up.

 

[Mcwilldo]

Grizzl-e Smart Charger
*Update - they will send me a new charger. Hopefully the new one will work for me*

I am in my second Grizzl-e charger. Just like the first one, the charger works for 5 minutes and then goes to flashing red and won’t charge.

 

[ipizzaipizza]

I am in my second Grizzl-e charger. Just like the first one, the charger works for 5 minutes and then goes to flashing red and won’t charge.

I figured I'll just deal with it working 80% of the time vs risking addition replacements that may not work at all like in your case.

 

[Billet4xe]

I am in my second Grizzl-e charger. Just like the first one, the charger works for 5 minutes and then goes to flashing red and won’t charge.

It doesn't make sense for both chargers to be exhibiting the same issue. Flashing Red indicates a "Recoverable Fault". I would suspect vehicle side as there's other examples of the Grizzl-e working perfectly well with a 4xe. I did the full installation myself and have encountered zero issues.

 

[MaskedRacerX]

Clipper Creek and Grizzl-e are middle of the road and good choices for most users.

I'd say Grizzl-E might be light-er-ish on features (like a display), but the build quality is superb, casing, bracket, cables, all very ruggedized - options for 24' cables, N6-50 or N14-50 power connections, huge range of temp operation, and the box itself runs very cool.

It doesn't make sense for both chargers to be exhibiting the same issue. Flashing Red indicates a "Recoverable Fault". I would suspect vehicle side as there's other examples of the Grizzl-e working perfectly well with a 4xe. I did the full installation myself and have encountered zero issues.

Ours has been flawless, it's the smart model though I'm not using any smart features at the moment. I'm about to add a BEV, so I'm very interested to see how it works with a full 40a load.

 

[JollieOllie]

I am in my second Grizzl-e charger. Just like the first one, the charger works for 5 minutes and then goes to flashing red and won’t charge.

Dang. Don’t tell me that, I was just getting my hopes up. Either way I’ll be reporting back here.

 

[Mcwilldo]

It doesn't make sense for both chargers to be exhibiting the same issue. Flashing Red indicates a "Recoverable Fault". I would suspect vehicle side as there's other examples of the Grizzl-e working perfectly well with a 4xe. I did the full installation myself and have encountered zero issues.

What on the vehicle side? I am sure it is not the house power issue. I brought the charger over to another house and had the same blinking red light issue.

 

[Billet4xe]

What on the vehicle side? I am sure it is not the house power issue. I brought the charger over to another house and had the same blinking red light issue.

The actual charger is on the vehicle side - 240VAC is going directly into the 4xe AFAIK.

 

[LJ_3M121318]

I ended up getting this one from EV Gear. So far working great.

 

[JollieOllie]

I received the replacement Grizzl-e Smart charger yesterday. I installed the new one and received the same purple/blue flashing at the wall and when I plugged it in to the Jeep the Jeep light just flashed blue and would not charge. I was a little worried. I then unplugged it, flipped the breaker and did the DIP reset and connected it to the WIFI, which I had not done. I plugged it in and it worked! So I will use this replacement charger for a week or so and I'll report if there are any other issues or if it is a go from here.

I do agree with the build quality, looks to be top notch materials. Well built. And if this new one I received works on an ongoing basis, then all is good!

Thanks for all the feedback and support on here.

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