How are you charging your FFE?

I'm hoping for as many responses as possible to assist our little community.

My FFE was ordered last week and I was told it would take 8-10 weeks. I'm fine with that and even four months would work. So, I have a long time to consider which charging route to take. After doing a bit of interwebs sleuthing, it appears that the Seimans Versacharge would work just fine.

My neighbor Russ can install the 240v wires I'd need and I'm even thinking of having it mounted outside the garage. Not sure about that yet, but I would definitely get the model that can be plugged in.

Amazon has it for $549 (+ free shipping with Prime).

What has everybody else chosen to recharge and how many are just plugging into a 110v outlet?

I went with the Juicebox Classic 30. Mainly for the price $440. My electrical installer charged me $80. I did the conduit and plug he did the rest. All total about 25ft of wire pulled.

I have a bunch: a Bosch Power Xpress (it's been recalled though). A Clipper Creek LCS-25, and a Juicebox premium.
The majority of my FFE's charging is done with the Juicebox though.

I'd be most concerned about reliability and making sure you choose a unit that does not regularly fault. There's a ton of threads online about certain chargers that are prone to faulting or failing and leaving your car not charged. I personally purchased the Clipper Creek HCS-40 direct wire unit and have zero problems. Also consider cord length for flexibility - many chargers have 18 ft cords but 25 ft cords offer much more usage flexibility. In my case I direct wired the unit to my main panel which is right near the garage door. The 25 ft cable allows me to charge in either garage bay or in the driveway.

Also, check out http://www.myfocuselectric.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2002&start=0

Edit: The Siemens unit only has a 20 ft cable. Here are a couple pics of my install if anyone wants to check it out: http://1drv.ms/1CIOj5m

For me since mine will be outdoors (possibility of water spray) and there's a possibility of kids smacking it with a ball or something, the Clipper Creek HCS-40 looks best to me. The only thing is it's quite large and I am not sure it will fit on a section off my patio. The Chargepoint one looks interesting but I bet it will cost twice as much as the Clipper Creek which is about $590 on the internet. There's some retailers with no taxes to CA and low shipping on it.

The Clipper creek HCS-40 is the most rugged of them all and it comes in 3 models: hardwired, and two other with 2 different NEMA plugs.

Here's a video on the HCS-40. Looks like they showed a metal version and the home version is plastic?:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JFgmBP3EXo

I use an Aerovironment wall mounted EVSE at home and I carry a TurboCord for portable 120 and 220 use. Both have worked perfectly.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Schneide...ic-Vehicle-Charging-Station-EV230WS/203670265

Works great, cord is only 18 feet but I have it near my garage door and can easily charge inside or outside. Never had a fault, seems well made, has a simple, useful charge delay function so I can charge on SCE's "super off peak" rate without messing around with Value Charge.

I actually went with the Siemens Versicharge because I was mounting it outdoors in a very visible location and I thought it was one of the best looking weatherproof units out there. It has been rock solid and I've been extremely happy with it...

Highly recommended!

brogult said:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Schneide...ic-Vehicle-Charging-Station-EV230WS/203670265

Works great, cord is only 18 feet but I have it near my garage door and can easily charge inside or outside. Never had a fault, seems well made, has a simple, useful charge delay function so I can charge on SCE's "super off peak" rate without messing around with Value Charge.

Click to expand...

Yep I got that same Schneider model EVSE from Home Depot online as well a few months ago for my 2014 FFE charging.
Back then they had a $100 off sale plus easy returns to a local Home Depot store within 90 days if needed, but its worked fine with no faults for me for the past 5 months.

I went with the Clipper Creek HSC-40. It works fine, no issues with it.

For what it's worth, reading about the problems others have had with leaving their chargers plugged in for extended periods of time and having dead batteries, I have never had this issue. My car spends more time plugged in than being driven. I work and live at home. I don't need a car every day, so I leave the car plugged in for several days at a time. I often only use about a quarter of the charge capacity when I do drive it so will most often plug it back in with 3/4 charge still there. Never had an issue with the 12v going dead or any other issues or warnings. I don't know that this will remain true, but who knows? The clipper Creek seems to cut out and stop charging when the battery is topped off and the light ring on the car goes out after full charge is done. I've decided to not worry about it and have a what and see attitude. If I do have an issue, I'll let others know, but I suspect it is a software issue of some sort that causes these discharge issues to occur and they are not the norm.

I have a GE Wattstation. Lets see, how do I say this - it's big, my installer recommended it, he ordered it and installed it (making it too easy to do - all I had to do was say yes and pay), it has a super nice cord (its a really small thing, except you handle that cord every day and I like how smooth flexible the GE is compared to just about every other one I've used, including Clipper Creek), and you can put Gel Skins on it.

It is big, it is expensive, it has fantastic hardware inside, and it is pretty (or can be made pretty). Oh, and the LED ring pilot light isn't for everybody, I happen to like it a lot. It's a great night light.

I started by charging with simple 110V for the first year we had the car.

I also purchased the Siemens Versacharge. I purchased the direct wire model and installed it myself. I haven't used it yet because I am waiting for my car to be delivered ANY DAY NOW! I purchased and installed it last December because I wanted to take advantage of the federal tax break and before Amazon started charging sales tax in my state. It's pretty, it's big, and it sits in my garage collecting dust and mocking me as I wait for my car to be delivered, ANY DAY NOW!

The cord seems kind of lightweight to me for something that will carry 28 amps for hours on end. I didn't spend extra for a long cord. I think mine is 14 feet. The cord could be five feet long and it would be just fine for me. The connector seems to be lightweight plastic also. But I haven't handled any other EVSE equipment so I have nothing to compare it to.

We also have the Clipper Creek HCS-40. Works great for us.

Steve0512 said:

I also purchased the Siemens Versacharge. I purchased the direct wire model and installed it myself. I haven't used it yet because I am waiting for my car to be delivered ANY DAY NOW! I purchased and installed it last December because I wanted to take advantage of the federal tax break and before Amazon started charging sales tax in my state. It's pretty, it's big, and it sits in my garage collecting dust and mocking me as I wait for my car to be delivered, ANY DAY NOW!

Click to expand...

When did you order it and what timeframe did your dealer tell you? I wonder.

Mine (Magnetic) was ordered last week and already I'm chomping at the bit. I'm like a little kid waiting for Santa to come down the chimney. I can't believe how excited I am.

Still undecided whether I should just do the 110v trickles for now or upgrade to 240v. I only do about 7k miles per year.

In my case, the upgrade will require my buddy Russ run a line from the box outside around the house including over a sliding door in the Den.

If and when I do the upgrade, I'm leaning towards the Siemans plug-in.

zebracadabra said:

When did you order it and what timeframe did your dealer tell you?

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I told the dealer to order me the car last October. The order was placed November 23rd. The car was assembled March 6th. Right now it is in the possession of the transportation company. Which is a black hole as far as information goes. My sales gal says she will know when it arrives when she walks the lot every morning and she sees that it arrived. That's all she can tell me.

At some point your dealer will tell you they received the VIN for your car. That will be four to five weeks before its production date. Then you will get to play the waiting game with the transportation company.

Clipper Creek HCS-40, 30amp Version, current version was upgraded to 32 amp. 25Ft cord, you can never have enough cord in a busy driveway.
It's the hardwired version. I didn't go with the plug version as I couldn't see a use for a portable unit. I operate locally and locally it's my primary car, but without fast charging, I don't think I would get in a situation of having to do destination charging on some camping ground or a friend's dryer plug.

Plug it and forget it. Makes an nice clunk sound when the relay kicks on an a total of 5 seconds on effortless work to be charging. I don't care how many watts I consume as I'm not going to curb my habits for cents of juice. Don't need a timer or web interface as car does all that with app.

Perfect combo, well made, inconspicuous to non adopters, does its thing well.
H

LCS25P. Bought the hard wire model and wired my own 9' 3-12 pig tail terminating with a 6-30 plug.
In my case I already had a 30amp circuit with a 6-30 receptacle servicing a 240 hydraulic 4post lift.
Additionally my boss agreed to have a existing 30amp circuit extended and switched as it shares with a seldome used large wall air conditioner.
My one way distance to work is 40km. But I Also do site visits at various times up to 40km round trip.
So with 240 and 20amp continuous I charge for approx 1.5 hrs to get to 90% for days with no site visits.
I also charge to 90% most of the time at home.
I had to charge at 120 with the supplied charger for a couple of weeks till the 240 was ready at work.
In my case I enjoy the quick 1.5 hrs then pack away the EVSE.
It makes leaving without packing it up at the moment you need to leave less stressfull.
Same when leaving in the morning... No fiddling with the cord... Except for some of the few days this winter when it went below 0C where I left it pluged in and pre-heated.... Which is nice.
The clipper creek 25p is a nice small sized unit to toat around.
cheers
/Chris

Steve0512 said:

zebracadabra said:

When did you order it and what timeframe did your dealer tell you?

Click to expand...

I told the dealer to order me the car last October. The order was placed November 23rd. The car was assembled March 6th. Right now it is in the possession of the transportation company. Which is a black hole as far as information goes. My sales gal says she will know when it arrives when she walks the lot every morning and she sees that it arrived. That's all she can tell me.

At some point your dealer will tell you they received the VIN for your car. That will be four to five weeks before its production date. Then you will get to play the waiting game with the transportation company.

Click to expand...

Got the VIN today. Dealer expects delivery late May. I hope!

I have had both the LCS-25P(used with my Fusion Energi) and now the LCS-40. I have had nothing but good service from the Clipper Creek products. They are well engineered, and well built in the USA(if you care about such things).

Peace,
Fr Bill

zebracadabra said:

Steve0512 said:

I also purchased the Siemens Versacharge. I purchased the direct wire model and installed it myself. I haven't used it yet because I am waiting for my car to be delivered ANY DAY NOW! I purchased and installed it last December because I wanted to take advantage of the federal tax break and before Amazon started charging sales tax in my state. It's pretty, it's big, and it sits in my garage collecting dust and mocking me as I wait for my car to be delivered, ANY DAY NOW!

Click to expand...

When did you order it and what timeframe did your dealer tell you? I wonder.

Mine (Magnetic) was ordered last week and already I'm chomping at the bit. I'm like a little kid waiting for Santa to come down the chimney. I can't believe how excited I am.

Still undecided whether I should just do the 110v trickles for now or upgrade to 240v. I only do about 7k miles per year.

In my case, the upgrade will require my buddy Russ run a line from the box outside around the house including over a sliding door in the Den.

If and when I do the upgrade, I'm leaning towards the Siemans plug-in.

Click to expand...

I'm the same way and I ordered mine because the dealership ordered 2 withe plots I found too boring. Grey or silver. I wanted Performance Blue.

Unfortunately I have to stick with 120v because I live in an apartment and the landlord won't spend to put one in and I'm not going to ask him because im not sure how long im gonna stay there. Maybe next time I will find a place with the ability or just buy a house.