Compatible brands of Level 2 240V home chargers for e-Golf

[JoulesThief]

Any pointers on what works well and what should be avoided in Level 2 240V home chargers for inside the garage? Things to look for, things to avoid, models that work well, models that tend to be problematic?

Also list of software updates from dealership and or Technical Service bulletins to be aware of.

 

[Jlo]

I've not heard of any level 2s that don't work - to answer your question, members have mentioned everything from the standard Siemens chargers (they're kinda ugly) as well as JuiceBox (full of extras but also not pretty), Chargepoint Home, Blink Home (those 2 are pretty)...the siemens and the juice boxes are what I see folks talking about the most. I believe one of the most important things is that the charger is a 30A or higher but the max amperage is determined by your home's electrical infrastructure/ability...if I could, I would get a 40A but my home can't handle it...i've heard there's a 60A out there but I don't know much about it.

 

[JoulesThief]

I've not heard of any level 2s that don't work - to answer your question, members have mentioned everything from the standard Siemens chargers (they're kinda ugly) as well as JuiceBox (full of extras but also not pretty), Chargepoint Home, Blink Home (those 2 are pretty)...the siemens and the juice boxes are what I see folks talking about the most. I believe one of the most important things is that the charger is a 30A or higher but the max amperage is determined by your home's electrical infrastructure/ability...if I could, I would get a 40A but my home can't handle it...i've heard there's a 60A out there but I don't know much about it.

I am not in the best of shape for what the Townhouse can handle with AC that needs 20 Amps, and a pair of 60 amp circuit breakers at the main, and being at the end run of 6 townhouses, meters on the west end, my unit on the far east end. Had an electrical contractor buddy do the load calcs with the modifications button lighted up, and he came up with 32 Amps for all that is in my house. I have switched to LED's in all light sockets, high efficiency AC, LCD TV's, energy efficient dish washer and washer and dryer. Sooner or later, the Florescent in the kitchen will be R&R'd with LED's too. LOAD calcs are what they are, not worth it to burn the house down trying to squeeze a few more amps.

 

[miimura]

You don't need to go big in order to get an e-Golf fully charged overnight, even with short Off-Peak electric rate time windows. A 240V 20A circuit with a matching EVSE like a Clipper Creek LCS-20 (15A to the car for $379) can add 20kWh to an e-Golf in 6.5 hours. So much better than the 18 hours it can take with the provided 120V EVSE.

 

[JoulesThief]

Well, it looks like 2 gauge 100 amp wire is run to my unit, the builder just chintzed out on 60 amp breakers for the price break back in 1985. So I should probably order the Siemans Versacharger Gen 2 30 amp indoor model for indoors. Is 14 feet of cord adequate, or am I selling myself short?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Siemens-VersiCharge-Gen-2-30-Amp-Indoor-Electric-Vehicle-Charger-Hard-Wired-Install-Version-with-14-ft-Cord-VC30GRYHW/205518076?cm_mmc=Shopping%7cBase&gclid=Cj0KEQjwqNiwBRDnq93MioaqtKQBEiQAb7Ezn417bgybyxqW_-GlBg-XR4O0ZVxzkY1CgiIax5gv-uYaAkpy8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[dublectric]

I've not heard of any level 2s that don't work - to answer your question, members have mentioned everything from the standard Siemens chargers (they're kinda ugly) as well as JuiceBox (full of extras but also not pretty), Chargepoint Home, Blink Home (those 2 are pretty)...the siemens and the juice boxes are what I see folks talking about the most.

Thanks for the list... let me add Clipper Creek - we chose them over Juice Box since they appear to have first-rate customer service. We only needed basic features (no need for delayed charging or charge monitoring) so we're very pleased with the HCS-40 so far.

In fact, my wife and I joke about it: "Why did we buy this thing, anyway? We barely use it!" Meaning: previously, we'd have to charge our cars overnight on the L1 EVSE; now, when we plug into the L2, it's basically done in an hour or two so it seems like we barely use it

 

[dublectric]

Well, it looks like 2 gauge 100 amp wire is run to my unit, the builder just chintzed out on 60 amp breakers for the price break back in 1985.

If I recall, you were concerned about the voltage drop between the meters and your power panel - sounds like with the 2-gauge you should be in good shape

Is 14 feet of cord adequate, or am I selling myself short?

One reason we chose the EVSE we did is that it had a 25-foot cord. We wanted to make sure we could charge either of our cars when they were parked out in the driveway, not just when they were parked in the garage. My unsolicited advice is that perhaps plan for the case where the garage may be blocked? Of course you know your usage patterns best so I'll be quiet now.

 

[JoulesThief]

Well, it looks like 2 gauge 100 amp wire is run to my unit, the builder just chintzed out on 60 amp breakers for the price break back in 1985.

If I recall, you were concerned about the voltage drop between the meters and your power panel - sounds like with the 2-gauge you should be in good shape

Is 14 feet of cord adequate, or am I selling myself short?

One reason we chose the EVSE we did is that it had a 25-foot cord. We wanted to make sure we could charge either of our cars when they were parked out in the driveway, not just when they were parked in the garage. My unsolicited advice is that perhaps plan for the case where the garage may be blocked? Of course you know your usage patterns best so I'll be quiet now.

That's something I had not thought off. The HOA would have a hard time jacking me around if parked in front of my own garage for the purpose of charging the EV, in the name clean air.

 

[RonDawg]

Well, it looks like 2 gauge 100 amp wire is run to my unit, the builder just chintzed out on 60 amp breakers for the price break back in 1985. So I should probably order the Siemans Versacharger Gen 2 30 amp indoor model for indoors. Is 14 feet of cord adequate, or am I selling myself short?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Siemens-VersiCharge-Gen-2-30-Amp-Indoor-Electric-Vehicle-Charger-Hard-Wired-Install-Version-with-14-ft-Cord-VC30GRYHW/205518076?cm_mmc=Shopping%7cBase&gclid=Cj0KEQjwqNiwBRDnq93MioaqtKQBEiQAb7Ezn417bgybyxqW_-GlBg-XR4O0ZVxzkY1CgiIax5gv-uYaAkpy8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

Unless you plan on backing your car in, or are planning to install your EVSE along a wall that will be adjacent to the right-hand side of your eGolf, a 14 foot cord may not be sufficient. The 25 foot cord on my Clipper Creek unit just barely reaches the charging port on my eGolf if I park nose-in, as my EVSE is mounted on the back wall and there is a small "sidewalk" in front of it to keep things stored there from getting wet should the garage floor get flooded.

As far as brands, I'm a Clipper Creek fanboi but if you plan on using delayed charging to take advantage of a ToU rate, it seems that Clipper Creek units have a compatibility problem with eGolfs that have delayed charging enabled. Immediate charging is not a problem though, and it's an issue on VW's end as the eGolf is the only EV where this issue is cropping up with the Clipper Creek units.

 

[JoulesThief]

Well, it looks like 2 gauge 100 amp wire is run to my unit, the builder just chintzed out on 60 amp breakers for the price break back in 1985. So I should probably order the Siemans Versacharger Gen 2 30 amp indoor model for indoors. Is 14 feet of cord adequate, or am I selling myself short?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Siemens-VersiCharge-Gen-2-30-Amp-Indoor-Electric-Vehicle-Charger-Hard-Wired-Install-Version-with-14-ft-Cord-VC30GRYHW/205518076?cm_mmc=Shopping%7cBase&gclid=Cj0KEQjwqNiwBRDnq93MioaqtKQBEiQAb7Ezn417bgybyxqW_-GlBg-XR4O0ZVxzkY1CgiIax5gv-uYaAkpy8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

Unless you plan on backing your car in, or are planning to install your EVSE along a wall that will be adjacent to the right-hand side of your eGolf, a 14 foot cord may not be sufficient. The 25 foot cord on my Clipper Creek unit just barely reaches the charging port on my eGolf if I park nose-in, as my EVSE is mounted on the back wall and there is a small "sidewalk" in front of it to keep things stored there from getting wet should the garage floor get flooded.

As far as brands, I'm a Clipper Creek fanboi but if you plan on using delayed charging to take advantage of a ToU rate, it seems that Clipper Creek units have a compatibility problem with eGolfs that have delayed charging enabled. Immediate charging is not a problem though, and it's an issue on VW's end as the eGolf is the only EV where this issue is cropping up with the Clipper Creek units.

It's my belief that there is a slight charging advantage in efficiency if you charge up until the time of departure, as you get to "use" the over surface charge when topped off, to turn them into mileage, instead of them being dissipated off into nothingness if the battery sits after being topped off for an hour or two. So charge to departure, if it works, would be of benefit. I'd want the unit to be plug in with a 4-50 RV type of plug on the unit, not hardwired.

 

[RonDawg]

Well, it looks like 2 gauge 100 amp wire is run to my unit, the builder just chintzed out on 60 amp breakers for the price break back in 1985. So I should probably order the Siemans Versacharger Gen 2 30 amp indoor model for indoors. Is 14 feet of cord adequate, or am I selling myself short?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Siemens-VersiCharge-Gen-2-30-Amp-Indoor-Electric-Vehicle-Charger-Hard-Wired-Install-Version-with-14-ft-Cord-VC30GRYHW/205518076?cm_mmc=Shopping%7cBase&gclid=Cj0KEQjwqNiwBRDnq93MioaqtKQBEiQAb7Ezn417bgybyxqW_-GlBg-XR4O0ZVxzkY1CgiIax5gv-uYaAkpy8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds

As far as brands, I'm a Clipper Creek fanboi but if you plan on using delayed charging to take advantage of a ToU rate, it seems that Clipper Creek units have a compatibility problem with eGolfs that have delayed charging enabled. Immediate charging is not a problem though, and it's an issue on VW's end as the eGolf is the only EV where this issue is cropping up with the Clipper Creek units.

It's my belief that there is a slight charging advantage in efficiency if you charge up until the time of departure, as you get to "use" the over surface charge when topped off, to turn them into mileage, instead of them being dissipated off into nothingness if the battery sits after being topped off for an hour or two. So charge to departure, if it works, would be of benefit.

I've never heard of that in the nearly 3 years of participating over at MyNissanLeaf (where the "geek" factor is much higher than it is here). However one definite benefit to that strategy is that it minimizes the amount of time the battery is "full" and especially in hot weather will help preserve it.

I'd want the unit to be plug in with a 4-50 RV type of plug on the unit, not hardwired.

You can add your own cord/plug to a hardwired unit. Clipper Creek sells a unit with a 6-50 plug. Not sure if any of the "off-the-shelf" units come with a 4-50 plug as standard.

 

[miimura]

You can buy a Clipper Creek HCS-40P with a NEMA 14-50 plug and a JuiceBox with a 14-50 plug. Most others come with NEMA 6-50 plugs because none of the stations use the Neutral wire present in the 14-50.

 

[JoulesThief]

FWIW, here in the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power requires a UL rated EVSE to get the up to $750 rebate for your EVSE unit.

I don't believe JuiceBox has the funds to spend the money to get their unit tested and certified, at this point in time.

 

[miimura]

EMW, the makers of the JuiceBox have been trying to get a unit through UL for over a year. I think they under-estimated the effort and did not have anyone on staff that had done it before. Clearly, hiring a consultant to get them through the process would have been money well spent.

 

[golfsok]

Did anybody try this charger ? http://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-EV-Ch...PIPHorizontal1_rr-_-205491633-_-205808537-_-N

 

[miimura]

Did anybody try this charger ? http://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-EV-Ch...PIPHorizontal1_rr-_-205491633-_-205808537-_-N

Yes, an east coast user on the Facebook group had one and it worked well. However, he installed it himself and the connection terminals where you hard-wire it in overheated. We don't know why that happened, but it is important to torque the connections properly. His report did not talk about using the e-Golf's timer for delayed charging, but we have no reason to think it doesn't work.

 

[JoulesThief]

Another option.

http://shop.quickchargepower.com/JAMP-JR-is-the-premium-low-cost-EVSE-JJXXA.htm?productId=30

 

[lordnoah]

I just picked up one of these from evseupgrade.com

http://evseupgrade.com/?main_page=product_info&cPath=8&products_id=25

They're offering $200 off (so $449 total, plus a free adapter of your choice). The firmware they flash allows it to operate at 25amps. The major benefits are that you can change out adapters to nearly any nema type you might need (30/40/50 to work with RV parks, Dryers etc), and it's fully portable, unlike most wall units. These guys have been great to work with, so email them if you have questions, they're really responsive. I bought one based on a co-worker raving about his, so figured I'd give it a shot.

Full disclosure, I have not yet installed mine, so I'll have to report back with how well I like it. I'm going to install a 30amp breaker on an empty spot on my box in my garage, which I plan to do next weekend.

 

[vwsickness]

I purchased the Jesla charger and it has performed flawlessly even with the Car-Net delayed timer function.

http://shop.quickchargepower.com/JESLA-is-THE-40-amp-J1772-portable-charging-solution-JESLA.htm

 

[miimura]

I purchased the Jesla charger and it has performed flawlessly even with the Car-Net delayed timer function.

http://shop.quickchargepower.com/JESLA-is-THE-40-amp-J1772-portable-charging-solution-JESLA.htm

I have one and really like it. I didn't mention it because it's a kind of expensive niche solution. I was lucky enough to find one used from another RAV4 EV owner who sold his car. Only paid $650. At that price it's a no-brainer compared to other 30-40A EVSEs. Since it's so portable, the best use case for it is charging on the road at an RV park, but I don't think many e-Golf owners use their car that way.