United Chargers CEO On The Debut Of The 80-Amp Grizzl-E Ultimate EV Charger
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- Опубликовано: 11 июн 2024
- I traveled to the United Chargers headquarters in Ontario, Canada, and spoke with the company's CEO, Gleb Nikiforov, about a new charger they are about to launch, the 80-amp Grizzl-E Ultimate.
This video is powered by Qmerit, North America's leading provider of installation services for EV charging, home energy storage, and other electrification technologies. See how Qmerit is making the energy transition easy for home and business owners: qmerit.com/ev/charge
Order a Grizzl-E Ultimate: grizzl-e.com/products/grizzl-...
Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:41 The interview begins
02:07 80-amps is the highest power AC chargers can be by code
04:14 Lowering the output
07:37 Using the Grizzl-E Ultimate for commercial use
17:52 Will the Grizzl-E Ultimate come with a NACS connector?
19:32 Can the Grizzl-E Ultimate power share?
22:00 What happened with the original Grizzl-E Smart app?
26:50 Why should someone choose the Grizzl-E over other 80-amp chargers?
29:18 Outro
Interested in one of the other top-rated EV charging stations we've reviewed?
You can order them here:
Emporia 48-amp: amzn.to/3EgDRGS
Enel X JuiceBox: amzn.to/3UR55Lk
ChargePoint Home Flex: amzn.to/2V3Ye79
Electrify America HomeStation: amzn.to/3Kc7qvo
Grizzl-E DUO: amzn.to/3FYKUWU
Grizzl-E Smart: amzn.to/3BCxexV
FLO Home X5: amzn.to/3PPQWxP
EVIQO 48-amp: amzn.to/3TjeOeR 
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As an electrical engineer I am very happy that you always put safely first for the installation. I have been using in my home the basic Grizzl-e in my home for over 4 years now. And it's been great. Keep up the amazing job you are doing.
EE here too experienced with charger installations at condominiums. Were you directing accolade for safety to United Chargers, Tom, or both?
I’ve been happy with my Grizzl-e for 500$ CDN its great value and has held up great
Great interview. Gleb seems very personable and honest. He deserves support and success for bringing an affordable high powered quality charger to market.
Love how straight forward and practical Gleb is!
Thank You for All that you are doing for our Planet Earth.... Peace.. Shalom.. Salam.. Namaste
🙏🏻 😊 ✌ ☮ ❤ 🕊
I have had my Grizzl for over a year working great. I did have an issue within the first month, called tech support with the issue tried a couple of fixes, didn't solve the problem. I live in Toronto, so they said bring the unit in and they replaced it right away with a new unit. Great customer service!
Love this! Can’t wait till they come out with the dual version. ♥️
We are working on it.
I was already considering a Grizzl-e classic since I only have a plugin hybrid... this interview sold me. Seems like a great CEO and would love to support someone so passionate about their own product.
Thank you so much, me as CEO and our team is very passionate about EV chargers and we know how to fix things so EV adoption can actually happen.
@@unitedchargershi sir, my managers and I are looking to acquire Level 2 chargers for my workplace. I see that this is a new product. I have heard that your guys’ products have been good. But I was wondering if you think it is safe to acquire this 80A charger for our first charger or we should wait some time in case. We may not even use the 80A at the moment. Most likely we’re use the 48A. We have to see how much a 100A breaker will cost us. I know this seems a silly question, but I enjoy this product but wanted to make sure it will be ok for some years since I was recommending my findings to my managers. I hope you understand what I am saying and thank you. God bless you all.
@@danyputrus4945 Of course it is designed to be working on all breakers, from 16 to 80 amps output. It will work perfectly as 48 Amps charger and if you would need to upgrade it to 80 amps, you can do it any time
I bought my basic grizzl-e because I live in a hurricane and tornado prone area not to mention high heat, high humidity, and have a car port instead of an enclosed garage. I wanted a tough, reliable charger and Grizzl-e was the one that seems strong enough to deal with southwest Louisiana's climate. Plus, I love Canada!
Ontario Canada production and engineering for the win. Great to see more than Tesla in Ontario working on EV’s.
I have a Grizzl-e Classic at our house in northern NH. Love it. Bulletproof. Simple. Great value for price.
Wow, we haven’t seen a new 80A wall charger in a long time. Sure would be nice if they made a NACS handle option for all the new OEMs who will be switching to NACS. Keep in mind 80A service requires some heavy duty wiring and a scissor switch, large increase in install costs/materials.
Amazing interview…my work has a grizzle charger and it has held up like a champion. I always recommend that charger to any other EV Charger 👍
The restaurants and laundromats in all the little towns we go to ride rail trails need these. If the the Air B&B/Vrbo has it, even better. The measuring of power, payment, and power sharing in a value priced sturdy charger is killer. As to the power, it's simple. Continuous loads, like a charger, are only safe to run at 80% of the rated capacity of the circuit, so multiply by .8. For example 100 x .8 = 80. I had an electrician show me an overloaded circuit once that had lights on it. The insulation on the wire was yellowed and I think cracked.
I would love for home ev charges to have the option to do hardline Ethernet the less WiFi signals in the air the better for the items that absolutely can not connect through Ethernet.
FLO chargers have wired Ethernet. Go buy one.
Wouldn’t we all especially that my main modem is in the garage. 6 feet away from the charger 😅
@@smartelectriccar I'm not sure the new Flo models coming out this summer will be Ethernet. He may want to check it out and perhaps buy one of the models about to be discontinued
Starting next year NACS chargers will really take off. We only have a few months of CCS1 cars left in the US.
Thanks! It’s great to here someone promoting higher power level 2 for public charging.
…hear…
Yes of course, power share is in the cloud, so once we integrate with all software on the market it will have all the features.
Great product. Interesting interview.
One of the reasons I got rid of my older Grizzl-e unit was becuase of the ridiculous cable size. (It was an awesome, solid unit otherwise) The Tesla wall connector's cable is nearly half the diameter, and had more throughput! (48A vs 40A Grizzl-e) I see that not much has changed on the 80A version, though it is more justifiable given the amount of current passing through this new model.
Flo is coming out with 3 new chargers this summer, including an 80 amp. Nice to see both these Canadian companies making powerful and robust EVSE
They are sending me them to review
@@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney Great news! I suspect they may be expensive, but Flo currently has very solid units. Will you also be getting your hands on the 80 amp EVSE that's part of GM's Home Energy solution?
@@Andre-cj3ec Yes
Flo received in total over 300 million dollars at least (we lost track of it) from Quebec and Federal Canadian government over the years to design, develop and produce EV chargers. They recently received 250 million dollars from Canadian Federal infrastructure bank, and nobody knows on what conditions as Infrastructure bank is private/public entity and they don't have to open all the information, so they keep it secret. We at United Chargers are extremely concerned that our competitor is getting so much money from our Federal pocket - half of the money designed for all Canada EV infrastructure was already advanced to Flo.
It is extremely fishy and concerning, as Flo got so much money that they can subsidize their manufacturing, lower the prices and get us out of the market.
We are considering legal action. We paying taxes, and those taxes going to our competitor. That is not right. If Flo is profitable, it should operate without any government help like we do. If they are not profitable, why the hell government need to help them? Let them lean their processes and operate efficiently.
This charger is impressive because it includes the software for billing and multiple accounts. Many charger companies offer OCPP compliance so you can add software. But the software costs as much or more than the charger. I wonder if any of their 48A chargers also offer integrated billing software.
I have a Grizzl-e classic and love it but with getting a second EV in the near future would love to move that one into the garage and get a version of this crossed with the DUO. This would be amazing for me so that I could potentially charge 2 EVs in the driveway (even better if one cord was NACS and one J1772). I always recommend Grizzl-e chargers and now this one would be high on my list!
with the power share option in the future, will this 80 amp unit support two connectors withing the same unit?
Love your videos. Can you please do a video on comerical ev charger. The cost of operation for the business, what chargers cost the least to operate vs most expensive. Level 2 chargers I'm a business owner looking at autel vs others.
Thank you
Donnie
Will it do 277V if equipped with the NACS connector?
I have a 40 amp dumb grizzl-e unit on a 60 amp circuit. I get about 10 KW charging speeds. If this does 20-25 KW speed, that would be great if the price was reasonable, but I agree this would be better for destination chargers. The ones out there are spitting out 4-7 KW which just isn't fast enough except in hotel parking lots.
I’m sorry, most cars won’t accept the AC power of this EVSE. Sure, Lightning, Hummer, Lucid, and few other accept 80A, but most other EVs are limited to 48A. MB USA limits AC power to 40A.
The price is nice. I'd love to see a commercial version for not much more so level 2 can breakeven for owners quicker.
This is the commercial version
I don't think OCPP protocol is going to be electrical code compliant for power sharing. They need to be wired together with data lines or use Bluetooth or something so all the EVSEs on a circuit can talk to each other locally, without relying on a server. It kind of boggles me why there aren't more EVSEs capable of power sharing out there because it could revolutionize public charging. If I was doing workplace charging, I'd put 3x EVSEs on one 60A breaker and powershare them. Great when there's a mix of PHEVs and BEVs that need to charge, you can share the existing power more effectively since people park all day and don't move their cars.
Several EVSEs including Tesla Wall Connector offer load balancing where they share one circuit. Tom has mentioned it in his reviews. I assumed they do this via BT or WiFi. They could also network via the power line as that tech has been around for a long time. I’m curious what communication technique is used.
I bought a Grizzl-E about a month ago and it's working great! BUT, now I want one of those coffee cups. It's not on their website. Maybe you could get them to offer one? thanks for the video.
Noted, coffee cups will be added soon!
I’m on the market for an 80-Amp charger but it seems so limited right now and not much to choose from. I’m getting my electrical upgraded at home to handle it for my 2024 Cadillac Lyriq. What are some other 80-Amps everyone has? A vid with 80-Amp chargers would be great!
With J3400/NACS supporting 277V is this going to allow 277V?
Let's say you install this 80A-ready EVSE on a 40A circuit (32A dip switch) with branch circuit conductors ready for future 80A charging. How much energy is saved using the bigger contactor and larger conductors (avoiding some energy normally lost to heat) during each 20% to 80‰ charging session? Is there a reasonable payback period for higher first cost materials?
I wouldn't think so, unless your electricity cost is very high.
I was looking at the instructions for this 80 amp charger and says to use 4 AWG wire for the 80 amp configuration. 4 AWG copper THHN is usually only good for 85 amps, but an 80 amp EVSE needs to be installed on a 100 amp circuit, which would required 3 AWG copper THHN.
I'm pretty sure #4 copper THHN is fine as long as the run is 100-ft or less.
Any chance of an Ultimate Duo? I already have a PHEV, and our next vehicle is likely going to be a PHEV and then the next one will be a full EV. So far my top pick for my charger once we have 2 chargable vehicles is going to be the Grizzl-E duo since it does some basic load sharing making it much easier to control energy in to each of the vehicles.
Yes of course, its in the UL labs now.
Do any EVs onboard charger support 80 amps?
Yeah, there are about 10 different models either for sale now or have been sold in the past. But you can use this for any EV and have the extra power for the future if needed.
Will the car charge at double the speed or is it limited to whatever charger is in the car?
Car dictates the EVSE how much power it can take, EV would never take more form the charger than it can consume.
@@unitedchargersnot much sense in getting 80AMPS now then.
a dual connector 80amp with splitting ie: 2x40amps would be nice to see... I can use one of those,
Working on it.
Do you think you can do a roundup of your favorite mobile (dual voltage) chargers?
I plan to - no ETA on that yet, though
This missed the mark for me. Great that I can set the dip switches to match my circuit, but I rarely need to charge at the full amperage that my car supports. Can I charge nightly at 16-20A and crank it up when I need it to charge faster? Or is this not that advanced because you didn’t get government grants?
Once you installed the charger, you can via the app change the amperage LOWER that the breaker at any time. We are not planing to get any government grants, but other companies getting grants making competition unfair. We would like that NOBODY gets any government grants as technology is already advanced and we need to stop wasting government money on it! We could make it without government help, why others can not? ChargePoint, Flo, Blink, etc - they all received at least 50 million dollars from governments of different jurisdictions and look how poorly they perform. Many without government subsidy would jut go bankrupt. And most of them will sooner or later once they start competing without government support. Government support makes company weak as money is not an issue and processes become not lean enough for competition an survival. It is a pity that we make profits and pay taxes, those taxes go to our competitors so they can compete with us on the open market. Do you think this is fair? I dont think so. IT IS A BIG PROBLEM.
@@unitedchargers Glad to hear you can adjust the amperage down in software. I find it comical that you think government subsidies are unfair though Sure, it makes competition unfair for foreign companies, which is part of the point of it. In fact, you really should be thanking us for our government subsidies, because without them, you wouldn't have a business at all since there would be a tenth of the EVs on the road as there would be without them. They benefit everyone, not to mention creating jobs and helping drive this new technology forward.
@@pcasciola It is funny that you find comical idea where one company pays taxers, those taxes are taken and given to its competitor to compete against this company on the market. I really wish you run a business and find yourself in such situation, I would bet you would not find it comical.
I DONT THINK THEY ARE NOT FAIR, I KNOW.
Subsides and government grants must be given to ALL or to NONE, otherwise it is not fair. Plus, we are in mass adoption phase, technology must be good enough now to be on its own without subsidies. Subsidies lead to companies not able to compete on the open market after subsidies are cut off. We are talking about Canadian or US market, not about any foreign products. Take a look at ChargePoint - about to be bankrupt, Blink - bankrupted twice already, Flo which will go bankrupt as soon as feeding hand looses election next year. Its not good for economy and we should not pay from our pocket to help few connected businessman make crazy profits and subsidies help them sell more expensive and not otherwise competitive products.
We are the living proof that subsidies are not required to operate successful business in EV charging design, manufacturing and sales. We are under unfair conditions in the market compared to companies which constantly receiving Federal and Provincial subsidies. If that would continue, soon United Chargers will stop paying Canadian taxes and start paying US taxes.
I am not sure about EVs and other industries, I am talking strictly about EV chargers. Topic which I know.
How about a link to the tour of United Chargers?
That video hasn't been posted yet. It said so in the video
Great content as usual. I will say though, they need to hire someone a bit more charismatic to market.
I am as charismatic as it gets :) You see real thing here, not some made up stuff. Who "They"? I own the company. Gleb.
When you set the dip switches do a different current level, one of the code requirements is to put stickers over where are the rating is marked, two designate the new rating with the different setting. A strict inspector won't pass an installation on a lower breaker without that. Does this package include a giant sticker to go over the giant 80 amp label on the front? Some inspectors won't pass an installation on a 60 A circuit with that giant "80 A" glaring at them, and they would be justified in making that call.
The sticker on the front of the charger need to be removed before operation.Ultimate is HARDWIRED unit, so there is no more receptacles but the breaker.
@@unitedchargers Great to hear that that's removable! Agreed, no receptacle involved, and none of what I said referred to a receptacle.
Just an FYI, I purchased one of these, and they are telling me this one is not able to charge the customer. There will be a new commercial version coming out.
Hopefully they could do some sort of retraction in this video and say it's a future option.
Here is there reply "Good morning, Mike,
Thank you for your email.
Grizzl-e Ultimate is a smart residential charger, and unfortunately, the payment and billing system is unavailable.
Currently, we are in testing mode with our software partners, and we expect to have the Grizzl-e Ultimate commercial product soon. Once it is available, an official announcement will be made on our website.
Hope you find this helpful.
Have a great day!"
Correct, first commercial software integration is finishing end of May.
It takes a bit of time to bring al partners in with integration efforts.
1 of June we will have first commercial integrations done and ready for purchase.
It's interesting that they got this through UL so quickly, vs. the mini that they've been claiming is under evaluation at UL and about to get certification for a long time, I think well over a year. I'm not sure they are being forthcoming about the compliance issues with the mini.
If you listen to Gleb, he talks a lot about finances and the fact that the company hasn't received any subsidies or federal funds. This has forced him to throttle back some programs to push others. He prioritized this Ultimate, wanting to get it out as quickly as possible. UL certification costs many tens of thousands of dollars and when UL comes back and says they want you to change something, it can take months to make the change and resubmit. That said, I saw the mini when I was there and Gleb told me he would be sending me one with the uL stamp soon.
@@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney Correct, Mini is getting UL stamp 1 of May.
@@unitedchargers that's exciting. How did you get around the requirements that don't allow configuration for different circuit capacity on a portable unit? Did you drop that feature, or is it no longer portable?
@@charliesullivan4304 Very simple, if for example NEMA 14-50 receptacle is downgraded to say 30 amps breaker, you need to label with permanent marker the outlet "24 AMPS Max Output. EV charging ONLY" and that works for the inspector 99.9 percent of time from first attempts, and 100% of time from second, once inspector goes and reads the actual law.
@@unitedchargers thanks. I'm actually not worried about using a 14-50 for a lower current circuit. I know that's allowed by code. I'm wondering about NEC 625.42 which says "adjustable ratings shall be permitted on fixed-in-place equipment only.". That can be plug in or hardwired but isn't the mini supposed to be portable?
What if I have 2ev cars?
Get another charger man or split the charging time between both cars
If you want a charger with excellent WiFi capability, consider the Enel-X Juicebox. Its WiFi sets up quickly and is very reliable. My experience is only with the Pro model, but think all models use the same WiFi.
A LOT of my followers are having problems with the new JuiceBox app
Grizzl-E Ultimate and all other new models we will make feature an antenna located between the input and output cables at the charger bottom. We made sure we got the best WiFi reception on the unit.
@@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney Tom, allow me to confirm the the Enel-X Way app is very unfriendly, not intuitive, and a bear to learn. Their old app was easy to learn, but didn’t all the functionality customers wanted. None of my charger customers can handle new app. I wonder if United Chargers has easy to learn billing and multi-user software.
Why a dip switch? Why can't you set it in the app? My crappy EA HomeSation lets you set the power via the app.
At least in the US, code requires a hardware limitation for amperage limits to be compliant. If the software bugs during an update or something and suddenly it's giving you max capability, you could have dire consequences. I'm not sure if their app allows limiting further, which would be nice to have if they don't have it already!
You're overthinking it! The unit uses a dip switch on installation so it can determine what your home wiring and control box can handle. At that point, everything else outputting from the charger can happen in the app and rates can be adjusted.
@@aussie2uGA If that is the case, then that is a lot better. However, I sill think Dip switches are out dated( think PC building). Having to open the unit up, even once, would be annoying.
@@gregpochet4812 It's really easy to open, just 4 bolts on the face. And as aussie said, you should only ever have to adjust it once at install. I have both a Grizzl-e and Tesla wall connector, and I will say setting the amperage on the Grizzl-e was a lot faster. Getting the Tesla commissioning app set up and the unit recognized on my Wi-Fi (kept failing even though my wifi access point is 10ft away) took many times longer.
@@EVZacOfAllTradesthere are actually three different options in that code requirement and password protected software, accessible only to qualified personnel, is one option. But but then you have to trust that the software will never forget that setting, even if there's a software update. This is a Superior solution.
looking at the grizzl-e in front of you to.. is one of the easy to destroy, all you neat is a SCREWDRIVER, with the right bit..
I'm guessing it's not easy to get into, however, you do bring up an interesting point. If (when?) Tom updates his rating system, perhaps he should add in a special set of _resistance to vandalism_ points for units geared for public business installations. Things like, how difficult is it to sever and make off with the cable? Or (and this would be really tricky to test), how easy is it to break into the unit via WiFi? Can someone hack it and get free charging? Stuff like that.
Garbage company that does not honour its products
pounds ounces miles inches and amphours.. So all know exactly how many kWh it delivers.. The US had another chance to do it right and screwed it up again. Long live the kings feet 😛
It does not make sense because only a few cars can AC charge faster than 48amps.
F150 Lightning!! We owners love our 80 Amps! Makes sense to me!
Then just set it to 48-amps for now and if you need more power in the future, you don't need to buy a new EVSE.
I have 2 Grizzl-E classics, one outdoors and the second in a barn. Love both of them. Love the basic function without WiFi , apps or screens. Just plug in. Works every time with no fuss.
I’d be all over this 80amp version if I had a 100amp circuit breaker available. Next home I guess.
@@highrafterranch1982 It's good you have a non smart Grizzl-e because the Wifi unit that I have is unreliable and requires a very strong Wifi signal. May I suggest to the United Chargers engineers to put out your future devices with an external antenna? Because the box is a lot shielded. When I hear about support for a networked-LTE cellular version I can't prevent myself laughing 😄
It makes sense for large vehicle owners. Anything Model X sized and down would never really benefit from more than ~40 amps realistically. I charge my model 3 at 24A and used to travel 120mi every day for work. Only took 6-7hrs to get that range back. I could charge at 16 amps and still be ok overnight 99.9% of the times.
People get overly obsessed with wanting the most power possible. I did too, I ran a 60 Amp circuit thinking it was critical. There's only been one time where I semi-needed to charge at the full 40 amps.
If a sudden boom of people charging at 80+ amps starts happening, we're going to have a lot of local grid problems. We're going to have to address that at some point in the future anyway, but home charging adoption will happen faster. Those transformers are really expensive, I doubt utilities will start replacing until there's problems.
All that said, I do really like this new unit, gives flexibility to use it for almost anything.