Outdoor EVSE recommendation for snowy climate?

Just brought our White Platinum FFE home last week and now I'm in the market for a hardwired, outdoor EVSE.

Wondering if anyone has any feedback on ones that will stand up well to the combination of the salt air here in coastal MA as well as our snowy winters...

Thanks!
Dave

I really like the Clipper Creek HCS series. I use the HCS-40 for the FFE, and the HCS-60 for the Model S.

They are outdoor rated and very beefy.

Get the HCS-40 as the handle and cable are much lighter and more flexible than the 60 unless you need to charge at 12kW (and the FFE can only do ~7kW max anyway) for whatever reason.

Thanks, ElSupreme...

The Clipper Creek HCS-40 was definitely on my shopping list based on the positive feedback from others. My only real question/concern about going with the CC is whether the hard-wired version can be feed from the back or only from the bottom.

I will need to mount the EVSE in a pretty prominent space and the HCS isn't the most beautiful model out there to begin with ;-) and I'd rather not have to also have a junction box visible below the unit itself. From what I could deduce from the HCS manual online, it looked like the hard-wired version can only be fed from below...is that right?

The HCS-40 comes with ~3' of flex conduit that comes out of the bottom. The flex has a gasketed gland on the end, and about 10" of extra wire to make your terminations. You wouldn't be able to move it without cracking open the case, drilling a new opening and repairing the old opening. Not to mention there may not be space to have a rear exit due to the internals (I didn't open mine up).

It doesn't look bad at all. But it is pretty big and not really 'pretty'. It's a high quality plastic case.

Then again I work in a factory and I see conduit and flex everywhere all the time, so I am a little desensitized to it. My installation looks good for a flex install.

I have the HCS-40 and yes the cable is out the bottom. You can always paint it to match your house/wall. It withstood the cold climates, of NYS, East End of Long Island, well and has never misfired on me. Best value out there. If you have plenty of cash, then there are other choices. You can get a plug pig tail version and buy a weather proof plug/box so you can make it removable but I've never found the need.
H

Just curious...does anyone have experience with an FFE and the Siemens VersiCharge?

It is within $50 of the Clipper Creek and is one of the few other NEMA 4 rated outdoor chargers I was able to find, but I also saw some reports that the Gen 1 version had some issues with FFEs. Wondering if those have been worked out in the Gen 2 model and/or whether anyone here has any personal experience with one.

I just received two HCS-40 units today and am going to mount them on unistrut with a rain hood over the top, in two prominent parking spots at our engineering company.

Our electrician is going to use rigid steel conduit to bring power from a 208V panelboard to a junction box underneath the HCS-40. We'll make the splice there, with ring lugs and bolts and self-sealing silicone tape.

My next task is the snow/rain hood. A flat bit of plywood would do the job, but it's traditional in our company to sneak sailboat parts into our machine designs and I'm thinking of a tension bow with a Sunbrella cover in Company colors.

We only get a couple of days of snow here, but months of near-constant rain.

Remember that you can't use a plug for your charging station power source if it's used in a wet location. The power connection to the charging station is not GFCI protected, and would be a shock hazard. The J1772 connection to the car is GFCI protected and shuts down when fault is detected.

I definitely understand. The flexible conduit included with the HCS-40 runs through an anti-chafe/anti-pull fitting through the sheet metal wall, to an ordinary junction box indoors, where they are hardwired to my breaker panel.

I see where I referred previously to the junction box as "below" the HCS-40... in fact it's on the other side of the wall.

Outside, the J1772 plugs are getting wet, but none of the incoming fittings are exposed to the weather.

Today I added 20 miles of range in about an hour... it was sweet.