Unlike slow-charging Level 1 options, Level 2 chargers are super-fast. Moreover, they have a long power cord and many installation options. Here's my personal ranking of the best budget Level 2 chargers on Amazon.
FYI, prices and ratings are accurate as of time of writing.
1. ChargePoint Home Flex - Up To 50 Amp 9X Faster
Top-rated: 3,881 ratings
Credit: Amazon.com
Highlight: Tested on leading EV models: Tesla, Chevrolet Bolt EV, Volvo Recharge, Polestar, Hyundai Kona and Ioniq, Kira NIRO, Nissan LEAF, Toyota Prius Prime, BMW i3, Honda Clarity, Chrysler Pacifica, Jaguar I-PACE, and more.
Helpful review: "You don't need a degree in Electrical Engineering to install this especially if all you are doing is attaching this to a wall and plugging it into a 240v outlet.
Seeing some of the other examples of a hardwire installation that is what I decided to do. So first of all, here is a shout out to Donna with that great review and her installation guide. That review is what decided it for me to go to the hardwire route and was a great basis to figuring out what additional equipment would be required. I will not comment on the actual unit itself because I bought and installed the unit prior to my EV being delivered (gotta get ahead of the game). Once I have a chance to use the charger, I may come back and edit the review.
Here is my equipment list.
1. 1off ChargePoint EV Charger with Nema 6-50 plug : Amazon
2. 2off Sigma Electric ProConnect 3/4" Screw-in connector conduit fitting. Lowes. You can buy here on Amazon but way cheaper in Lowes
3. 3/4-in x 25-ft Metal Flex Conduit. Lowes. For my install, I only needed a couple of feet but oh well, I have 23 left for something else.
4. SIMpull # 6 AWG stranded copper THHN wire (individual lengths of red and black). Bought by the foot: Lowes
5. # 8 AWG solid soft drawn copper bare wire for my earth. Bought by the foot: Lowes.
6. Square D Homeline 70amp 2-pole circuit breaker: Eventually Amazon. Long story, see note 4 below
7. Drywall repair kit
Things to know if you are willing to go the hardwire route:
1. It's not difficult
2. You may need to repair some drywall
3. If you want the full capability of the charger then use # 6 AWG THHN cable and it NEEDS to be run in conduit, even when run behind a wall. Don't cause a fire!
3b. Irrespective of your output needs, make sure the rating of your wire is higher (or least equal to) the rating of your breaker. You want the breaker to trip first before your wire melts. Don't cause a fire!
4. Not all breakers are equal. A siemens breaker will not fit inside a Square D homeline breaker box. Get the breaker that matches your breaker box. I'm sure electricians and other savvy folks would have known that already but I didn't (book theory versus practical experience). Since most of the outlets around me were out of stock, I had to purchase on Amazon and I'm sure I'm paying $$$ too much for that.
The installation itself was relatively straightforward. Second most difficult part was running the flexible metal conduit from the point of the charger up behind the drywall to my breaker box. Fortunately, my charger was mounted directly below the breaker box as that position suits where my car will be.
If you need to install the charger somewhere else in the garage then you can run your conduit on the outside of the wall as per the video shown in Donna's review. However if your breaker box is set inside the wall like most then you will still need to run conduit behind dry wall to your breaker box. As a result, you will need to make a larger hole in your dry wall in-order to fiddle with the conduit to direct it to your breaker box.
Hardest part was running 3 cables through the conduit. Patience is required.
This is a not a difficult install. It took me a few hours on a Friday afternoon.
The charger itself works as expected. I don't really use the app as I prefer to use the Tesla app and only use the ChargePoint app to look at trends and estimated costs etc. I am curious for next year when we intend to replace the remaining ICE with an electric vehicle (Rivian anyone?) to see how we manage charging two electric vehicles without having to purchase a second charger." — Steven Kabler
Get it from Amazon now: $699.00 & FREE Returns
2. Grizzl-E Classic - Up To 40 Amp
Top-rated: 2,252 ratings
Credit: Amazon.com
Highlight: Fast-charging and adjustable amperage.
Helpful review: "I have owned this unit for a full year now. I bought it because I wanted a high quality charger that would charge my BMW i3 outdoors reliably in New England winters while exposed to hash elements (snow, ice, -20F - Massachusetts) since I do not have a garage. Two very minor (and potentially random) things knock a star off, but Grizzl-e's stellar, Toronto-based support keep a very strong 4.5-star rating. I want to stress every email was answered within hours with kindness, diligence, and urgency I appreciated.
First, The charge head seems sensitive to getting wet – not while in your car, but when it's sitting in its charging holster. In my case, 2 times blue acid-like residue bubbled up on the charge pins after a rain – the blue residue came right off when I tapped it and support confirmed it would not hurt the EV but was unusual so they replaced the whole unit for me. They even got the component vendor on the email chain to review the photos with me as a courtesy.
Second, the one downside to buying a completely dumb (but very high quality) EV charger is that the path to firmware updates is remarkably manual. I had my BMW i3 in the shop and they updated the firmware of the car. When I got home, the charger had trouble completing a handshake with the car (it took 2-3 times to get it to correctly begin charging, this would intermittently happen every few charges).
I reached out to Grizzl-e support and they said there was a firmware update for the charger, so they would send me a new unit and a return label for the current unit. Yikes! Sure enough, the new unit worked flawlessly, but it was a hassle to have to dismount and remount the unit from the side of my house (in winter) for something as trivial as a firmware update. I trust the smart version doesn't have this issue, but I'd suggest they mount a USB port in the unit for manual firmware updates moving forward. That said, I suspect this is highly unusual.
A FEW WORDS FROM A FRIEND:
I drive an e-hybrid 2021 Pacifica minivan. The first ~30 miles of my drive each day (if I remember to charge the van) is all electric. In order to charge the can, it was taking about 14 hours to completely charge via the standard wall outlet with the plug provided. Yeah, I am not that patient of a person. Enter the Grizzl-E charging unit. I've been using this charging unit for about 9 months now, and I couldn't be happier. I have nothing to compare it against other than the base plug that goes into your standard wall outlet, but it now takes less than 2 hours to fully charge the van. I don't use any of the "smart" features supplied with the product since I can schedule everything through the Pacifica's app.
I will mention that I had the unit installed by a professional (electrical work is DEFINITELY not my cup of tea/specialty). While the electrician was installing the unit, he suggested I have a surge protector put in below the breaker box. I live in TX and we have a ton of random power outages throughout the year (weather, mechanical issues...it's a Tuesday...you know), and he mentioned that losing my new vehicle to a power surge might not be desirable... I agreed and for an additional $100 or so, I have an added layer of protection for the whole house, plus the van (and I had been contemplating putting a surge protector in anyhow, so it all worked out). As it happens, my breaker box and van and the charging unit are all safely indoors, so I cannot attest to its weatherproof-ness. I would definitely recommend the product to anyone looking at "off name" charging units." — Meghan Haze
Get it from Amazon now: $399.00 & FREE Returns
3. JuiceBox Smart - Up To 40 Amp
Top-rated: 1,114 ratings
Credit: Amazon.com
Highlight: Control and monitor charging remotely using the upgraded App.
Helpful review: "I'm new to the EV world, this is my first level 2 charging station, and I couldn't be happier with it! It charges the car quickly, has an easy cable management solution, the plug clips into the charger nicely and the setup and app usage has been simple as can be. I really like being able to see all the data that is saved within the app in regards to amount of power used, amperage, etc. Ours is very close to our WiFi router so we have had no issues with signal strength. Also, the cable is plenty long to reach the car even if we park it outside.
I'd seen mostly good reviews for the JuiceBox but ultimately what made me choose this model was that our local power company offered us a rebate for installing a level 2 charger if we chose one from their approved list. JuiceBox was one of the options. So if you are considering buying a level 2 charger, make sure to check with your power company to see if they have anything like that available in your area. Our rebate covered almost the entire purchase price. And the Federal government also gave us a rebate for a portion of the installation charges...so that was nice! Electricians in my area are very busy right now and some are booked months in advance, so getting the NEMA plug installed in the garage turned out to be a hassle (and more expensive that I would have thought) but that's no fault of JuiceBox. But installing a plug (if you don't already have one) is something to factor in if you are considering getting a charger like this.
PROS:
- Simple mechanical installation with secure mount
- High-speed 40A charging
- 25' charging cord
- 2' power cord with 14-50 plug provides some flexibility in mounting location (other plug-in chargers have shorter power cords as best I can tell)
- Charging can be limited to certain times of day, time of day limits can be overridden from the app to start charging immediately
- Automatic load balancing of multiple chargers on a single circuit (useful if you have multiple chargers, but haven't tested this yet)
- Knowledgeable and helpful customer support
CONS:
- WiFi initial setup is a little flaky. When the unit is ready for WiFi setup, its light will flash blue. On powerup, the light will flash yellow, then possibly go solid purple for ~15 seconds, and then start flashing blue.
- App does not display/retrieve local electrical rates in Northern California, although it's meant to.
NOTE:
The JuiceBox will appear on your Wi-Fi network with a name of Gecko_XXX rather than JuiceBox (Gecko is the name of the operating system in the box)." — Brian Vale
Get it from Amazon now: $599.00 & FREE Returns
4. W Wallbox Pulsar Plus - Up To 40 Amp 8X Faster
Top-rated: 897 ratings
Credit: Amazon.com
Highlight: Adjustable capacity from 16A to 48A provides flexibility to connect to lower-power circuits when maximum power isn't needed.
Helpful review: "I have multiple EV’s and wanted to purchase a charger that would be adaptable to different makes of car. After doing a little research, and reading a recent Forbes article, I decided to give the Pulsar Plus Wallbox a try. The Pulsar Plus came in a small package complete with clear instructions. I was happy to find that it was completely pre assembled with a small number of parts needed for installation. I chose to install it with an existing 240v outlet which made the process extremely fast.
It was literally as simple as mounting the mounting bracket to the wall, attaching the Pulsar Plus to the mounting bracket, installing the charging cable holder, and plugging it in. I was definitely surprised with how quickly it went up, and after reading the instructions, it was probably 15 minutes to get it on the wall. From there, I plugged it into my Tesla and it started charging immediately. Before, my Tesla had been plugged directly into a standard 12amp outlet and I was getting an abysmal 3mph charge rate on my Model 3.
After installing the Pulsar plus, the charge rate went immediately to 35mph which is more than 10x what I was getting!! The form factor on the Pulsar Plus is also really compact and a pleasing addition to my garage.
The next part was connecting the app to the Pulsar Plus. This was a simple setup of registering an account, entering the serial number and connecting to my wifi. It probably took about 5 minutes to get set up.
I love the app as I can plug in my local electric costs and then see how much my vehicle costs me on a monthly basis to charge. It’s also very intuitive and easy to navigate. I highly recommend the Pulsar Plus. The installation was a breeze and the app is simple, but also provides a lot of informative statistics on utilization.
A FEW WORDS FROM A FRIEND:
The main reason to choose Wallbox charge was its size, all others were larger and I was limited to a concrete pedestal at a condo parking, so this was a limiting factor. The other main consideration was being able to adjust the amp rate on the charger. I had wired the pedestal with THHN#8 so I was limited to a 40 AMP breaker being able to charge at 32 amps to the car battery. This was acceptable for my Tesla Model 3 and plenty of juice for my wife's Volvo XC60 hybrid. I had a little trouble getting my account started up but it was more of an inflicted pain than getting it set up. Furthermore, Wallbox customer service was super helpful and in no time I was up and charging. My wife and myself take turns on the Wallbox parking to charge the vehicles both using our cell phones and so far it is great; bye - bye to the 16 amps charging periods!! I already had a software update through Bluetooth which was surprisingly fast, as living in a high-rise is difficult to connect through Wi-Fi. So far so good, I do recommend this charger!" — Tito Taverner
Get it from Amazon now: $649.00 & FREE Returns
5. EMPORIA Smart - Up To 40 Amp
Top-rated: 1,086 ratings
Credit: Amazon.com
Highlight: Protected by a 3-year warranty.
Helpful review: "This Smart EV Charger (EVSE - Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment) is one of the best values for the money. It can be hardwired for a continuous 48amps (60amp breaker) or just stay with the plug and play option using the supplied 14-50 plug for 40amps continuous (50amp breaker). The wiring comes with 6ga AWG wires and the cords are thick and somewhat pliable in CA. However, the solid conductors that goes through the CT’s on the PCB only looks like a solid 10ga in diameter. The AC (14-50 Plug) and J1772 wire connectors have crimped ferrules to enhance connectivity. J1772 plug (long button on top) is a little loose when plugging in compared to my Chargepoint, but quality overall looks good!
This EVSE (charger is in the EV) integrates with their Emporia Vue Gen1/2 Energy Monitor and Vue Utility Connect devices. Highly recommended! If you have a compatible utility smart meter, the Emporia Utility Connect is a must have. It’s plug and play after configuration/registration, and it will give you utility grade meter measurements when coupled with excellent network 2.4ghz WiFi/Zigbee connectivity. The Emporia EVSE will work as a stand-alone in the app.
I opted for the hardwire installation using 6/3 NMB, so I will derate it to 44amps or 10.6kW just in case there are concerns for the 55amp rating.
The Emporia Level 2 EV charger has comprehensive smart features such as TOU Scheduling, Demand Management and Excess Solar Generation.
Although they are trying to allow all 3 functionalities running simultaneously, it causes issues and quirks with unexpected results sometimes. This is especially critical if you are avoiding On Peak periods (highest costs) due to the complexity of multiple events working simultaneously giving unexpected results. I won’t go to details on this, but just have to trust me that it’s not full proof at this point if you have multiple functions running at the same time especially the Scheduling/Excess Solar or Scheduling/Demand/Excess Solar. Scheduling/Demand might be ok.
TIME-OF-USE (TOU) SCHEDULING:
Allow scheduled times for this EVSE to turn on and turn off. They also integrated it with the NREL’s OpenEi to download various utility rates and TOU to setup your schedules automatically. BTW, the NREL rates are not necessarily updated or correct neither. However, it may be easier doing a manual turn on/off schedule especially if you have multiple times you want to avoid/charge or if your utility rate is not found. This is similar to setting up those mechanical or digital timers for your Christmas lights or other plugged in devices.
DEMAND MANAGEMENT:
You are allowed to set a demand threshold where it will throttle your EVSE up and down as it gets close to that limit. It may exceed the limit for some times, but it will check often to adjust your EVSE charge rate (within 240watts or 1amp) to keep it close to the threshold. If it cannot keep it under the demand threshold overall, it will shut down the EV charging completely. Keep in mind there is a minimum that the EVSE can manage ~1500watts. For example, Demand threshold is 5kW, current load without EVSE is 4kW, the EVSE will not turn on. If current load is 3kW, then the EVSE will throttle the EVSE to 1920watts or 8amps to keep it just under the 5kW threshold (3kw+1.92kW = 4.92kW).
Demand management is usually good for managing utility demand charges to reduce costs. But for most homes or residential use, this does not apply since almost all residential rates don’t have demand charges. It applies more for commercial utility rates that has demand charges.
EXCESS SOLAR FUNCTION:
Will allow your EVSE to follow your solar generation and consume it within 240watts. Caveat is you need at least 1500watts of excess solar generation since the minimum EVSE charge rate is 6amps or 1440watts. If you have less than 1500watts of excess solar, the EVSE will turn off to avoid taking from the grid.
ISSUES TO WATCH OUT AND HOW TO MITIGATE:
On initial setup (onboarding), the smart applications did not work right away. The EVSE is defaulted to ON all the time if you do not access the app initially or for those who do not use the app. When I tested it the 1st day (multiple sessions), the EV charger kept on going past the On-peak period. In my case, it went past the turn off schedule at 4pm even though the app says it was going to turn off. After a few days, the system settled down and schedules eventually worked to turn on/off the charger at the proper times.
When you have multiple smart features turned on, Schedules/Excess Solar/Demand, you will encounter issues with the charger turning on during the On-peak hours.
For best results to minimize issues, only use 1 of the smart functionality at a time. Then it will be reliable. The most useful function for most homes and small commercial owners is the TOU Scheduling under their “Schedules” application.
I do have concerns on wear and tear of the EV and EVSE with having to turn on/off charging the vehicle when using the smart functions too often. The throttling of the EV charging by adjusting the control pilot signals (duty cycles) may be ok as long as there are no physical turn on/off. So if you really don’t need it or it’s for minimal savings, just stick with the simple Schedule to avoid the highest rates. Peace of mind on your car and EVSE reliability will be worth more that the headache if it breaks from too many turn on/off. The other functions are fancy and great, but it comes with great responsibility!
Best of all, the Emporia support team has been great to work with. I have given the Emporia team recommendations and feedback on how to improve the Scheduling issues by using time blocks and putting it as priority to other functions to prevent accidental On-peak charging or times you don’t want the EVSE to come on.
Additionally, I asked if they can use the same blinking blue LED status when the EVSE time blocks are scheduled not to charge to alert us visually/externally instead of looking at the app.
I also requested to have a new hardwire installation capacity category of a 55A (or 60A breaker), 44A continuous for a 10.6kW max charge rate to accommodate the hardwire NMB/Romex 6/2 or 6/3 for those who are concerned. Once this is implemented, this should make their product and applications more robust and definitely one of the smarter EVSE in industry. Of course, it needs to be easy to use and reliable." — John Kenneth Yu
Get it from Amazon now: $549.00 & FREE Returns
6. Enphase Home - Up To 40 Amp
Top-rated: 606 ratings
Credit: Amazon.com
Highlight: Protected by a 5-year warranty.
Helpful review: "Did lots of research but decided on this one. No fuss charging, no settings to mess with, it just works. Bought the 40amp and had it professionally installed. Needed additional breaker-box work. Do realize they always require additional amps for safety. The 40amp version needs a 50Amp breaker. I had to supply 80 amps to my breaker due to there being an electric oven that uses a 30amp breaker as well. I also choose the NEMA outlet so in case I need to replace it I can just unplug it. I may decide to use the dual version one day in case I get an additional electric car. I am very happy with it, it charges my 75kw battery in less than 7 hours.
For those who never had an EV car, you generally are advised not to charge beyond 80%, and you probably don’t drive it till it’s empty, so maybe till 10%. So that gives you an effective range of about 70% of the total range. In my case that’s only about 5 hours of charging. The EV car normally has settings where you can set it up on when to charge, for example past midnight, to save money by charging only during non peak hours.
The cable gets warm during charg8ng but not hot. Mostly it lays on the cold garage floor. I’d stay away from chargers with all the fancy options as they tend to be flakey. I’ve always believed in getting the one single tool for the job instead of getting something that promises to do all.
A FEW WORDS FROM A FRIEND:
The charging cord is flexible, its J1772 connector feels stout and the included holster works well. The enclosure's integrated cord hanger is convenient to use which prevents the cord being left on the driveway where it could be run over by a car or lawnmower. My EVSE is outside and the status indicator LEDs are hard to see during daylight hours but they show clearly at night--which is when I usually charge the car--without being overly bright. The HCS-40's UL certification is a Good Thing. This EVSE comes with first class Technical Support. A few days after I had the EVSE installed by a very good licensed electrician, it indicated an intermittent ground fault which turned out to be false. This has occurred once in the 2 weeks since the EVSE was installed. On my first contact ClipperCreek's Tech Support nailed the cause of the errant indication and provided clear explanations for why it happened, what it meant and how it affects the device's operation. When I confirmed their diagnosis on my second contact, ClipperCreek offered several zero- to low-cost options for preventing the false indication." — Esther Dillon
Get it from Amazon now: $835.00 & FREE Returns
7. MUSTART Pro - Up To 40 Amp
Top-rated: 1,171 ratings
Credit: Amazon.com
Highlight: Lightening-proof, and has leakage, overvoltage, overheat and overcurrent protection.
Helpful review: "Certainly, there are many choices for third-party EVSE, and accordingly, chose this Mustart "charger" for several reasons over the others. Predominantly, it was very reasonably priced whereas others often cost twice as much and prove to do nothing more other than being, well, "trendy." But secondly, even at full price, there are but a very small handful that provide digital kWh and other pertinent charging information which provide specific data which is important.
Based on what my electric company charges per kWh, I can now tell precisely how much I am paying for the exact amount of energy I have discharged into my vehicle via its digital readout of several pieces of information! I like that. The fact that it sincerely seems solidly built, provides a 25 foot cord that allows me to charge my vehicle at any reasonable area within and far beyond my garage, comes standard with several mounting brackets for the EVSE body, cord and nozzle are but happy bonuses which facilitate sound organization and cord management.
This Mustart product (I purchased the 40 amp only version to facilitate my newly-installed 50 amp breaker) is equal to all tasks and so far seems to be a stalwart performer. I might also add that the blue color adds a not-small amount of panache whereas others are gun-metal colored or otherwise boring aesthetically.
The single "con" I might have is that I am not enamored that both power and charging cords not exit the body of the EVSE at both the top and bottom. However, a simple cord/outlet plan alleviates any awkward cord routing problems (i.e., I simply had my outlet placed high). I unequivocally believe one need not look further for an amazingly competent EVSE and highly recommend this to anybody with an electric vehicle.
A FEW WORDS FROM A FRIEND:
I’ve been using this charger for two months and it’s great. So much sturdier and quicker than the Level 1 charger that came with my BMW i3. In order to get the charger to hang the way I wanted, the electrician had to install the 50A 14-50 plug upside down on the wall. This was the only place in my garage I could hang it, and space was tight. If I didn’t do this, the hose would have to be an S shape, and I didn’t think that would fit right. The hand-held part is very high quality and fits nicely into the car. I like the rubber cover for the nozzle part. I did a lot of research before buying the Mustart. It met all my requirements: can deliver 40 amps (even though my current car can only handle 30A), it is portable so when I move it’s coming with me without an electrician’s help, it displays the actual amps and kilowatts being delivered to the car (nice to know), and it’s under $400. The only negative thing I can say is the hardware provided to hang the hose on the wall was too small and low quality for me. I went to a big box store with a garden department and bought a much nicer hose hanger for under $15. I would definitely recommend this product." — Carol Gottschalk
Get it from Amazon now: $319.00 & FREE Returns