Using this charger with emoncms will give you the most exhaustive and detailed data you could ever want. I would rather not rely on some server with a phone app to get my charge history. Just look up openevse with emoncms, you will be blown away, and its not really that hard to setup. The instructions are all on youtube. Its an amazing charger for the price. You can also add temp sensors and other sensors if you want to graph all of that on emoncms.
I've built 4 of these now (the advanced wifi kit). Working great, I wrote my own website to manage them collectively. One unit has a Tesla plug with operational soft button to open my Model 3 charge port.
I'm leaning towards openEVSE because then I don't have to rely on the cloud and can integrate it with home assistant, which then gives you detailed charge info, alexa/google integration, and many more. You can basically do anything you want: dynamically adjusting your power limit/send a text when the charge is complete etc etc.
Actually, since it supports MQTT it is compatible with most smart home solutions including Home Assitant. It has a lot of data and control available, but it does require some technical proficiency to set up.
26:56 - Charging Record data. Technically it *does* have extensive data reporting... however it simply lets you specify your own MQTT endpoint for it (it isn't an end-to-end solution, it's DIY) You have to provide your own monitoring.
I built three of these when OpenEVSE started, I had even shared my builds on their git (open source) project pages, and still have my builds on my eaa-phev site. One of my builds is in a tiny portable housing.
Yeah, I need to get the residential one from them first. I have the commercial Blink unit, but there's no use really doing a full review of that because no one is going to buy it for home use.
Thanks Tom! The 48 Amp setup requires a 60 Amp circuit; just check with local electric codes for a plug-in (as opposed to hardwired); may need a high spec NIMA 14-60 wall receptacle outlet. For me, it’s safer to keep it at 50 amp plug-in.
Great review Tom. Data analytics (how much power was delivered when, charging curve etc) is available through the emoncms dashboard. I'm fairly technically proficient, their documentation could be better (especially for novices). Great tech support, super responsive & walked me through the dashboard setup. Upgraded from a BMW TurboCord and Mustart 40 Amp and super happy with display and smartfeatures and value (vs Chargepoint or Juicbox).
There is detailed historic free reports available using Emoncms on the services tab. Once I figured out which security key to use it was easy to setup.
Very good!! I have one!! I love the fact that is OpenSoure and I will be able to easy buy extra components and repair it in the eventual case it will stop to work. Very extensive review, very good!! THANKS.
I just assembled my kit, and set it for 48amps. My Prius prime maxes out at 14.74amps, when it should draw 16. Is the openevse not reading correctly or is the Prius drawing 16amps and I'm losing 1.26amps in cooling or other operations...?
Great job with the cold test! Looking forward to the test of the current Tesla wall connector. The older 80A units have a very thick cable, which seems to do OK in the cold but it does get stiffer.
I have a perfect usage for the kWh delivered function. We have solar net metering, and I monitor our solar production and our total usage daily. Since we're in Georgia and the EMCs still haven't gotten with the times on the net metering terms, we're paid out every day at midnight at bulk rate of $0.029/kWh. This heavily incentivizes me to use every last bit of energy we produce every day. Since I have quite a good grasp on our usage from sunset to midnight, I can program this unit to deliver the production remainder to our EV to bank the excess production (without going into the red) and buying electricity at residential rates.
Tom, once again awesome 👏 review and testing! always learn something.. Thank you Sr.. BTW Lucid will have a 19.2k onboard AC charger, I wonder if their provided AC charger will support up to 80amps? The ChargePoint unit will have a little edge when the Lucid or any other new EV support more than 50+amps of AC charging.. Keep up with the great 👍 content Tom! More please..
Many more than just Lucid. For example the new Caddy EVs, will have Level 2 (AC) charge rates up to 19kW† and DC fast-charging rates of up to 150 kW,† and more..... But home wiring (ie breakbox etc) will usually need to be upgraded too....www.cadillac.com/showcar/lyriq
The energy rating category is a bit strange as these units use only milliwatts for their control circuits. So it doesn't matter if they are certified or not.
Great review, but It's a little disappointing they delete programming button below the display, that was in earlier versions... So the only option now is to use the API to change its parameters.... I wonder if a button could be added? Or did they change the parts and the firmware, so the button can't be used in the current version? (BTW the button still shows up for the photos of the inside of the kit but not external view)
Great testing and review as always Tom. Missed your content. . Glad to see you back. Tom, are we able to use a Tesla wall connector on other brand BEV like a Chevy Bolt? ( with an adaptor of course). Who's got the best adaptor for that? Also, can you review Tesla new cable manager.obviously, I've got the Tesla wall connector already.
Hopefully, Tesla launches planned software for direct billing users on WC prior to Tom’s full review. Currently, EV adoption is very limited to apartment, condominium, and other multi-dwelling building residents. Managers/associations want automatic billing of usage to specific EV owners and planned WC software may solve that problem.
I noticed the input cable exceeds the maximum 18" length listed for UL standards. When you look at their website, the input cable (as a component part) is listed as 32" length but states 18" installed. Looking at it hanging next to the Grizzl-E it appears to be around 24".
@@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney What charger and/or other hardware do you recommend for people who have solar panels and want to automatically put excess production into their cars?
I own a Chevy Spark EV and this is the perfect charger. Why you ask? With the Spark EV it is impossible without some type of On-Star subscription to stop the unit from charging to 100% which is bad for the battery. My openEVSE has the button on the front. When I get home I hold the button and then scroll through to the timed charge option. I then choose 15, 30 45, 1 hour, 1.5 hours all the way to 8 hours. I then choose the amount of time I feel would get me to say 70 or 80% state of charge and I can relax for the evening. In addition since the Spark EV only uses 16A I can wire a cheaper NEMA 6-20 plug as well as a cheaper J1772 cable assembly rated for 16A instead of 32A. Additionally, with a NEMA 5-15 adapter I can use it with 120v in a pinch. Lastly, the fact that it can be bought as a DIY kit means you can also fix it yourself by replacing parts on the site rather than having to send it back to the manufacturer.
I noticed chargers that have cable management and holster built in appear to be bigger but the unit is actually fairly small like the juice box appears to be. Just a observation
Great job Tom on Open ESVE Charger. Thanks for comparing several popular chargers so we didn’t have to refer back to your previews reviews. As an electrical engineer and DIY guy, I love the kit opportunity. It reminds me of Heathkit days which only old-timers remember. Highly disappointed they didn’t UL approve this high power equipment which potentially could catch fire. The display and computer interface is a big plus in my personal rating. While I agree with all ChargerRater points, the very stiff frozen cable seemed nearly as bad as the worst one Tom evaluated.
It was bad, but since it was so thin I could bend it pretty easily. The very thick cable on the Enel-X JuuceBox was so stiff I couldn't bend it. That would make it very difficult to use in very cold temperatures.
Heathkit? That's a name I haven't heard in a while. I thought about going kit route, but a few months ago, I opted for the Advanced 40 Amp unit over the ChargePoint or Juicebox 40 because neither had the text display which allows me to more accurately see what is going on. The longer term data analytics are available through the emoncms dashboard, I love being able to see the taper curve as well as how much power was delivered when. Super happy with the product & saved a few bucks as well.
@@nc3826 Yes I have the new design (v5) and added the button. It is not a physical button but you put it inside the case right behind the little logo that looks like a house. Description “Install a button on your station without drilling a hole in your enclosure. The touch button senses a change in capacitance through our standard enclosure while ensuring a perfect seal.”
Not safety certified or UL approved, means a lot in my choice of selection. I would put a red flag on this selection. As always enjoy your videos. I do like that this unit has a plug and not hard wired.
UL is UseLess. This unit is designed to UL "standards", they just didn't pay the 5-figure fee to underwriters laboratories to get a sticker. Don't know what you mean by "safety certified", this unit has more electrical safety checks than most EVSEs on the market. E.g. GFCI protection and overcurrent protection.
@@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney Ironically lots of countries in Eastern Europe, Africa, Middle East do import preown ICE cars from both huge markets Europe and the USA. However, importing in those areas preown EVs from USA makes no sense since there will be 2 drawbacks: need for an extra adapter from type 1 to 2, and impossibility to use 3 phase current, which over there is following Europen standard with 230 V being single phase and up to 380-450 V being 3 phase. It is so easy to imagine why Renault Zoe is so popular being able to charge on 3 phase on 22 kW at home extremely fast beating Tesla 11 kW at home. Also there are plenty of public chargers using up to 22 kW AC current. So there are no AC 3 phase charging in the USA in any car with any level 2 charging unit so far? That is a pitty! And making EV adoption in the USA slow and inconvenient.
@@nevco8774 7-11 Kw is plenty fast for home charging, most people can recharge their daily consumption in just a few hours. Even my long 120mi commute only needs 4-5 hours of charging on a model 3 or Y, plenty for overnight or while you're at work. Three phase power is nice, but not as useful in single family homes. No one has large enough 3 phase motors or other equipment for it to be of any benefit. Now, if you have a shop with lots of large tools like lathes, mills, etc, then yeah, it might be worth the extra money to have the utility run 3 phase in. I also imagine having everyone in the neighborhood charging at 20Kw would put a considerable strain on the local grid, especially areas with older infrastructures. Even if battery packs in the future start getting well above 100KwH, your daily consumption will still be roughly the same, but road tripping will be much easier where you're going to be using 350Kw DC fast charging stations anyway. However, I do wish 240 volt would have been our standard receptacle instead of 120 volt. It really limits the amount of power for kitchen appliances, smaller shop tools, and space heaters. If the early inventers could have foreseen the tech to make safe plugs and receptacles, maybe they would have went with 240 instead of the "safer" 120.
No, that's not correct. As I said, it is a NEMA 14-50 with the neutral pin removed so it can fit in a number of outlets. In fact, while it fits in t different 240-outlets, the NEMA 6-50 is one it will not plug into.
Too bad you point system doesn't award anything for being open and non-proprietary. The bits you knocked it points for (record keeping, assistant integration, etc.) can be done off-unit thanks to all the data and APIs being open and available. The power sharing being possible even though it didn't ship that way should have been more of a plus than you gave it credit for. With modest skills, you can even hack the hardware thanks to the open nature. And the features will continue to work and you'll be able to continue adding/revising features as the community develops them, even if the company goes out of business. The open part is why I'm confident I'll buy this charger over the chargepoint when I get an EV, even though I live in a very cold place. I just wish someone was making an open EV so the community could rally around it and you could continuously upgrade the software and electronics hardware in your EV.
It seems your rating system should give points to Plug-In chargers and reduce points for chargers that require hard wiring or utility upgrades. The time and cost of installing the hardware and potentially having to do upgrades can add a LOT of cost and should be reflected in your rating as otherwise you're not reflecting the true cost.
We do take away points if it needs to be hardwired, so that's basically the same as adding points for a plug-in model. It loses 2 points if it doesn't come as a plug in unit.
@@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney Thanks Tom. You hit the price for every $50 in cost but the cost of a plug in savings is far more than $100. If the price is $50 per 1 pt and the cost of any upgrade/hardware is $500 (not unreasonable given conduit, labor and possible inspection of permit) this would imply a value of plug - in of 10 pts not 2 (assuming the $500 cost of course). This does not seem economically balanced.
Hardwired Level 2 EVSEs should not lose points and in fact should be the only option. Most if not all plug-in EVSEs violate the 2017 NEC because they don't work properly on GFCI breakers (i.e. they nuisance trip because their built-in GFCI is rated for 20 ma trip level while the GFCI breaker is rated for 5 ma) and in many cases the manufacturer recommends that you go against the NEC and not use a GFCI breaker. Therefore, there are only two ways to comply with the NEC: Install a Class B GFCI breaker (good luck finding one) or hardwire the EVSE so a GFCI breaker is not required.
That is exactly what my electrician told me. He is hardwiring all chargers to get around the need for a GFCI breaker. If you use a receptacle in your garage, you need a GFCI which will likely have nuisance trips from an EVSE.
OpenEVSE has a new NACS option and a new bigger screen with more info. Time for a new review!
Using this charger with emoncms will give you the most exhaustive and detailed data you could ever want. I would rather not rely on some server with a phone app to get my charge history. Just look up openevse with emoncms, you will be blown away, and its not really that hard to setup. The instructions are all on youtube. Its an amazing charger for the price. You can also add temp sensors and other sensors if you want to graph all of that on emoncms.
I've built 4 of these now (the advanced wifi kit). Working great, I wrote my own website to manage them collectively. One unit has a Tesla plug with operational soft button to open my Model 3 charge port.
I'm leaning towards openEVSE because then I don't have to rely on the cloud and can integrate it with home assistant, which then gives you detailed charge info, alexa/google integration, and many more. You can basically do anything you want: dynamically adjusting your power limit/send a text when the charge is complete etc etc.
Actually, since it supports MQTT it is compatible with most smart home solutions including Home Assitant. It has a lot of data and control available, but it does require some technical proficiency to set up.
26:56 - Charging Record data.
Technically it *does* have extensive data reporting... however it simply lets you specify your own MQTT endpoint for it (it isn't an end-to-end solution, it's DIY) You have to provide your own monitoring.
I built three of these when OpenEVSE started, I had even shared my builds on their git (open source) project pages, and still have my builds on my eaa-phev site. One of my builds is in a tiny portable housing.
Thanks for doing these videos! They've been a great help in deciding what to choose. Any plans to do a review on the Blink charger?
Yeah, I need to get the residential one from them first. I have the commercial Blink unit, but there's no use really doing a full review of that because no one is going to buy it for home use.
Thanks Tom! The 48 Amp setup requires a 60 Amp circuit; just check with local electric codes for a plug-in (as opposed to hardwired); may need a high spec NIMA 14-60 wall receptacle outlet. For me, it’s safer to keep it at 50 amp plug-in.
Great review Tom. Data analytics (how much power was delivered when, charging curve etc) is available through the emoncms dashboard. I'm fairly technically proficient, their documentation could be better (especially for novices). Great tech support, super responsive & walked me through the dashboard setup. Upgraded from a BMW TurboCord and Mustart 40 Amp and super happy with display and smartfeatures and value (vs Chargepoint or Juicbox).
There is detailed historic free reports available using Emoncms on the services tab. Once I figured out which security key to use it was easy to setup.
Very good!! I have one!! I love the fact that is OpenSoure and I will be able to easy buy extra components and repair it in the eventual case it will stop to work.
Very extensive review, very good!! THANKS.
I was going to say that too.
Enel-X is based in San Carlos, CA, where the winter temperatures are quite moderate. I'm not surprised that their cables reflect their homebase.
I just assembled my kit, and set it for 48amps. My Prius prime maxes out at 14.74amps, when it should draw 16. Is the openevse not reading correctly or is the Prius drawing 16amps and I'm losing 1.26amps in cooling or other operations...?
Thank you, Tom! I’ve been watching this whole series with keen interest! Can’t wait for the Clipper Creek one!
Is it the only choice for those interested in home automation via a local (no cloud) API? (For Home Assistant, etc.)
Great job with the cold test! Looking forward to the test of the current Tesla wall connector. The older 80A units have a very thick cable, which seems to do OK in the cold but it does get stiffer.
I have a perfect usage for the kWh delivered function. We have solar net metering, and I monitor our solar production and our total usage daily. Since we're in Georgia and the EMCs still haven't gotten with the times on the net metering terms, we're paid out every day at midnight at bulk rate of $0.029/kWh. This heavily incentivizes me to use every last bit of energy we produce every day. Since I have quite a good grasp on our usage from sunset to midnight, I can program this unit to deliver the production remainder to our EV to bank the excess production (without going into the red) and buying electricity at residential rates.
Tom, once again awesome 👏 review and testing! always learn something.. Thank you Sr..
BTW Lucid will have a 19.2k onboard AC charger, I wonder if their provided AC charger will support up to 80amps? The ChargePoint unit will have a little edge when the Lucid or any other new EV support more than 50+amps of AC charging..
Keep up with the great 👍 content Tom! More please..
Many more than just Lucid. For example the new Caddy EVs, will have Level 2 (AC) charge rates up to 19kW† and DC fast-charging rates of up to 150 kW,† and more..... But home wiring (ie breakbox etc) will usually need to be upgraded too....www.cadillac.com/showcar/lyriq
The energy rating category is a bit strange as these units use only milliwatts for their control circuits. So it doesn't matter if they are certified or not.
Great video. Any plans to review dedicated 24 amp unit? It seems Clipper Creek is the only player here but maybe there are others?
Great review, but It's a little disappointing they delete programming button below the display, that was in earlier versions... So the only option now is to use the API to change its parameters....
I wonder if a button could be added? Or did they change the parts and the firmware, so the button can't be used in the current version?
(BTW the button still shows up for the photos of the inside of the kit but not external view)
They use a "soft" button that somehow detects when you touch the spot on the case.
32a unit with Mennekes style Type 2 connector also usable in NZ and Australia.
Top two chargers for a Kia what would you recommend 48
Great testing and review as always Tom. Missed your content. . Glad to see you back. Tom, are we able to use a Tesla wall connector on other brand BEV like a Chevy Bolt? ( with an adaptor of course). Who's got the best adaptor for that? Also, can you review Tesla new cable manager.obviously, I've got the Tesla wall connector already.
Yes, you can. I'll probably have the full Tesla wall connector review up pretty soon.
Hopefully, Tesla launches planned software for direct billing users on WC prior to Tom’s full review. Currently, EV adoption is very limited to apartment, condominium, and other multi-dwelling building residents. Managers/associations want automatic billing of usage to specific EV owners and planned WC software may solve that problem.
In kit form is there any soldering required? good review Tom like always.
No soldering required in kit form
Also next question - which EVs support 3 phase charging besides Tesla in the USA?
I noticed the input cable exceeds the maximum 18" length listed for UL standards. When you look at their website, the input cable (as a component part) is listed as 32" length but states 18" installed. Looking at it hanging next to the Grizzl-E it appears to be around 24".
Yes, they would definitely have to make a few minor adjustments for this to have a chance to pass UL certification.
I like the Open EVSE, if I go with it, I would order a charge point cable and use that if possible..
Tom, is OpenEVSE the only charger that lets you adjust amperage in 1-amp increments?
I believe so
@@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney What charger and/or other hardware do you recommend for people who have solar panels and want to automatically put excess production into their cars?
Have you reviewed the tesla plug-in wall charger? A plug-in version was available at one time, and I purchased one (in 2018) for my tesla model 3.
I assume you mean the plug-in Wall Connector that Tesla sold for a short period of time. No, I didn't get one before it was discontinued.
Can you still holster the connector if you have the tesla adapter on a J1772 EVSE, such as the charge point?
You need to remove the adapter first.
I own a Chevy Spark EV and this is the perfect charger. Why you ask? With the Spark EV it is impossible without some type of On-Star subscription to stop the unit from charging to 100% which is bad for the battery. My openEVSE has the button on the front. When I get home I hold the button and then scroll through to the timed charge option. I then choose 15, 30 45, 1 hour, 1.5 hours all the way to 8 hours. I then choose the amount of time I feel would get me to say 70 or 80% state of charge and I can relax for the evening. In addition since the Spark EV only uses 16A I can wire a cheaper NEMA 6-20 plug as well as a cheaper J1772 cable assembly rated for 16A instead of 32A. Additionally, with a NEMA 5-15 adapter I can use it with 120v in a pinch. Lastly, the fact that it can be bought as a DIY kit means you can also fix it yourself by replacing parts on the site rather than having to send it back to the manufacturer.
I noticed chargers that have cable management and holster built in appear to be bigger but the unit is actually fairly small like the juice box appears to be. Just a observation
Great job Tom on Open ESVE Charger. Thanks for comparing several popular chargers so we didn’t have to refer back to your previews reviews. As an electrical engineer and DIY guy, I love the kit opportunity. It reminds me of Heathkit days which only old-timers remember. Highly disappointed they didn’t UL approve this high power equipment which potentially could catch fire. The display and computer interface is a big plus in my personal rating. While I agree with all ChargerRater points, the very stiff frozen cable seemed nearly as bad as the worst one Tom evaluated.
It was bad, but since it was so thin I could bend it pretty easily. The very thick cable on the Enel-X JuuceBox was so stiff I couldn't bend it. That would make it very difficult to use in very cold temperatures.
Do we configure the display using a GUI similar to one used for a wifi router using a laptop and Ethernet cable?
Heathkit? That's a name I haven't heard in a while. I thought about going kit route, but a few months ago, I opted for the Advanced 40 Amp unit over the ChargePoint or Juicebox 40 because neither had the text display which allows me to more accurately see what is going on. The longer term data analytics are available through the emoncms dashboard, I love being able to see the taper curve as well as how much power was delivered when. Super happy with the product & saved a few bucks as well.
@@nc3826 They sell the button as an optional part for $24 on the OpenEVSE site.
@@nc3826 Yes I have the new design (v5) and added the button. It is not a physical button but you put it inside the case right behind the little logo that looks like a house.
Description
“Install a button on your station without drilling a hole in your enclosure. The touch button senses a change in capacitance through our standard enclosure while ensuring a perfect seal.”
Seems you can't by the 40A version anymore. There's only a 48A/40A.
Can you review Emporia EV wall charger?
Not safety certified or UL approved, means a lot in my choice of selection. I would put a red flag on this selection.
As always enjoy your videos. I do like that this unit has a plug and not hard wired.
UL is UseLess. This unit is designed to UL "standards", they just didn't pay the 5-figure fee to underwriters laboratories to get a sticker. Don't know what you mean by "safety certified", this unit has more electrical safety checks than most EVSEs on the market. E.g. GFCI protection and overcurrent protection.
So by comparison to European Type 2 connector, the Type 1 for North America cannot support 3 phase AC current?
Correct, the J1772 (Type 1) uses single-phase only
@@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney Ironically lots of countries in Eastern Europe, Africa, Middle East do import preown ICE cars from both huge markets Europe and the USA.
However, importing in those areas preown EVs from USA makes no sense since there will be 2 drawbacks: need for an extra adapter from type 1 to 2, and impossibility to use 3 phase current, which over there is following Europen standard with 230 V being single phase and up to 380-450 V being 3 phase. It is so easy to imagine why Renault Zoe is so popular being able to charge on 3 phase on 22 kW at home extremely fast beating Tesla 11 kW at home. Also there are plenty of public chargers using up to 22 kW AC current. So there are no AC 3 phase charging in the USA in any car with any level 2 charging unit so far? That is a pitty! And making EV adoption in the USA slow and inconvenient.
@@nevco8774 7-11 Kw is plenty fast for home charging, most people can recharge their daily consumption in just a few hours. Even my long 120mi commute only needs 4-5 hours of charging on a model 3 or Y, plenty for overnight or while you're at work. Three phase power is nice, but not as useful in single family homes. No one has large enough 3 phase motors or other equipment for it to be of any benefit. Now, if you have a shop with lots of large tools like lathes, mills, etc, then yeah, it might be worth the extra money to have the utility run 3 phase in. I also imagine having everyone in the neighborhood charging at 20Kw would put a considerable strain on the local grid, especially areas with older infrastructures. Even if battery packs in the future start getting well above 100KwH, your daily consumption will still be roughly the same, but road tripping will be much easier where you're going to be using 350Kw DC fast charging stations anyway.
However, I do wish 240 volt would have been our standard receptacle instead of 120 volt. It really limits the amount of power for kitchen appliances, smaller shop tools, and space heaters. If the early inventers could have foreseen the tech to make safe plugs and receptacles, maybe they would have went with 240 instead of the "safer" 120.
Could you do a review on the Wattzilla?
Definitely, if they send me one!
As mentioned below a 48 amp circuit requires a 60 amp plug to get the 25% safety amperage. The Nema 14-50 is not appropriate.
Right, but they do make a NEMA 14-60
Nothing beat my Siemens....
The plug on this unit it a NEMA 6-50 and has been UL tested and should be acceptable to the Authority Having Jurisdiction as per NFPA-70
No, that's not correct. As I said, it is a NEMA 14-50 with the neutral pin removed so it can fit in a number of outlets. In fact, while it fits in t different 240-outlets, the NEMA 6-50 is one it will not plug into.
Too bad you point system doesn't award anything for being open and non-proprietary. The bits you knocked it points for (record keeping, assistant integration, etc.) can be done off-unit thanks to all the data and APIs being open and available. The power sharing being possible even though it didn't ship that way should have been more of a plus than you gave it credit for. With modest skills, you can even hack the hardware thanks to the open nature. And the features will continue to work and you'll be able to continue adding/revising features as the community develops them, even if the company goes out of business. The open part is why I'm confident I'll buy this charger over the chargepoint when I get an EV, even though I live in a very cold place. I just wish someone was making an open EV so the community could rally around it and you could continuously upgrade the software and electronics hardware in your EV.
Great work 😀🌍👍thank you
It seems your rating system should give points to Plug-In chargers and reduce points for chargers that require hard wiring or utility upgrades.
The time and cost of installing the hardware and potentially having to do upgrades can add a LOT of cost and should be reflected in your rating as otherwise you're not reflecting the true cost.
We do take away points if it needs to be hardwired, so that's basically the same as adding points for a plug-in model. It loses 2 points if it doesn't come as a plug in unit.
@@StateOfChargeWithTomMoloughney Thanks Tom. You hit the price for every $50 in cost but the cost of a plug in savings is far more than $100. If the price is $50 per 1 pt and the cost of any upgrade/hardware is $500 (not unreasonable given conduit, labor and possible inspection of permit) this would imply a value of plug - in of 10 pts not 2 (assuming the $500 cost of course). This does not seem economically balanced.
Hardwired Level 2 EVSEs should not lose points and in fact should be the only option. Most if not all plug-in EVSEs violate the 2017 NEC because they don't work properly on GFCI breakers (i.e. they nuisance trip because their built-in GFCI is rated for 20 ma trip level while the GFCI breaker is rated for 5 ma) and in many cases the manufacturer recommends that you go against the NEC and not use a GFCI breaker. Therefore, there are only two ways to comply with the NEC: Install a Class B GFCI breaker (good luck finding one) or hardwire the EVSE so a GFCI breaker is not required.
That is exactly what my electrician told me. He is hardwiring all chargers to get around the need for a GFCI breaker. If you use a receptacle in your garage, you need a GFCI which will likely have nuisance trips from an EVSE.
At this point very few AHJs have adopted 2017 NEC.