Clipper creek hcs-40p or juice box 40

[Richie]

Hey everyone - looking to get a level 2 plugin unit at home. Thinking about clipper creek or juice box. Anyone with any experience with either? The clipper creek is priced at $580 whereas juice box 40 at $499. The juice box 30 would suffice but it's $449... $50 more for the 40 seems like an worth while upgrade for the future.

 

[BarryMW]

I own the Juicebox 40 Pro. It gets shared between an e-Golf and a 500e both of which are 6.6kW chargers. I purchased to 40A/10kW Juicebox as a future proof move.
Support from Emotorwerks has been good, although the delivery of the iPhone application is lagging behind their promises.
I do like the data reported by the JB while charging. You login to their website to access it. It does not report locally. Although I'm unsure of what data surfaces in the application, Android app is available.
I'm looking at purchasing a second JB but will need to current limit them so that they can share the available 50A circuit. Not sure if this can be done yet.

There is also a CPUC pilot program they will allow special JBs to become a sub-meter and the kWH used to charge the EVs eligible for the PG&E EV-B rate plan.... $0.10 / kWH after 11pm at night. You have to apply for the pilot to receive the correct JB, the current consumer version will not be eligible.

Barry

 

[miimura]

If you want a low cost charging station, Home Depot has the basic GE unit in stock again online, now for $399. It is 240V 30A and it is not pretty, but it's probably the cheapest agency listed EVSE on the market. Home Depot doesn't stock EVSE in any store, but their online prices are pretty good and they have free shipping to store or home. I bought my Leviton 40A station from them 2 years ago when I got my RAV4 EV for $900. The same unit is now $700.

Just a few gotchas on the GE. It's delivered for hardwired installation (no plug provided) and the vehicle cord is relatively short at 18 feet. A 50A range cord is not expensive if you want plug-in installation.

The Clipper Creek units are excellent and come with a 25 foot cord.

The OP didn't say where he is located. The CPUC pilot is only applicable if you are in CA and your utility is PG&E, SCE, or SDG&E.

If you want to share a circuit for EV charging, Google "OpenEVSE Hydra".

 

[Richie]

The Home Depot looks okay; however does require hardwired installation (I'm no electrician) so that would mean paying someone else to install it. Installation cost on a hard-wire unit would probably put me into the range of at plug-in unit. I currently have a NEMA 14-50 outlet in my garage ready to be used.

I'm in California. The CPUC pilot require installation of a second meter though right? Thought installation of another meter can be very costly.

 

[miimura]

The Home Depot looks okay; however does require hardwired installation (I'm no electrician) so that would mean paying someone else to install it. Installation cost on a hard-wire unit would probably put me into the range of at plug-in unit. I currently have a NEMA 14-50 outlet in my garage ready to be used.

I'm in California. The CPUC pilot require installation of a second meter though right? Thought installation of another meter can be very costly.

The CPUC pilot is for sub-metering. That means that there is no change to your utility meter. The EVSE, or an additional box wired just ahead of the EVSE measures the interval energy usage and reports it back to the companies running the pilot program. However, the hardware for the pilot program must be hard wired so that you don't plug other loads into it. The pilot does provide customer reimbursement, some of which are implemented as free EVSE hardware.

Anyway, if you have an existing 14-50 and you are not comfortable putting a cord on the GE unit, then just buy one of the others that already come with a 14-50. That would probably only be JuiceBox or Clipper Creek. Others like Leviton, Schneider, and Siemens, if they have plugs, are usually NEMA 6-50.

 

[rjnerd]

We bought the Juice box. (the fancy one with wifi, etc). The big reason was that we needed a long charger cord, so we didn't have to back into the driveway. We bought it without a charger cord, and I sourced a 12 meter cord elsewhere. (It also means that I can convert a full sized 2 stage gas snowblower into electric operation, as I will have enough energy to run a 7.5 hp electric motor by plugging it into the EVSE, and enough cord to get to the end of the driveway.)