3rd party wall chargers ok or not?

[doodaman]

I see wall chargers for $200ish bucks. They look nice but rivian chargers are 5 to 700 bucks. Are they that much better?

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[Mathme]

Wall chargers are wall chargers and they all do basically the same thing.

That being said, there's a lot of quality variances between a $200 charger and a $700 Charger. Yes, you can get a charger for that low dollar amount, but do you trust the quality in that charger to be easily configured, communicate correctly with your vehicles, and not catch your house on fire over the long run?

That being said, the Rivian charger is over-priced for what it is and the number of people on here who have had quality control issues with them. There are a number of reputable brands out there in the space that work in the happy middle price range. The Wallbox we use for two EVs is going on 5 years old and falls into that category. I have a friend who has a ChargePoint box and he has had good luck with that as well.

My best advice is to read the reviews and do research on what chargers are out there now, why they are good, and what their limitations are and then make a choice based on that current research.

 

[Stevetom84]

The first thing you'll want to consider is rather you want a hardwired EVSE or one that uses something like a NEMA 14-50 receptacle. Hardwired is generally considered better since it's one less failure point. If you do go with a NEMA 14-50, I would get one that is specifically designed for the continuous load of a EVSE. They are more expensive them, but far cheaper than potential damage caused by a cheap receptacle.

I've had good experience with the Grizzl-E EVSEs. We actually use the mini-connect on a permanent basis for our Rivian and Volvo. It's a great option if you are wanting something you can use permanently, but is also portable with different adapters and a carrying case to use as a portable charger if needed.

 

[lefkonj]

Agree with 'wall charger is a wall charger'. I would not go with a fly by night product but one that is well known and gets good reviews. Do you need a 'smart' EVSE? That is really up for debate. The Rivian controls when to charge and at what rate, not my charger. So all the fancy stuff in my Voltie is kind of worthless to me.

I am somewhat on the opposite side of the hardwire though. I have had issues and it was so easy to just unplug and plug in a different charger to test, prove or replace. If its hardwired you have more work to do for that.

 

[Time2Roll]

I really like the Tesla Wall Connector if there will be multiple EVs and limited power available. These are able to create their own network to share power dynamically. Up to six can work together. To my knowledge no other EVSE does this.

Otherwise the Tesla seems to hesitate with my Rivian where the vehicle does not communicate at the same time sequence giving about a 10 second delay. Not a huge deal but there it is.

Rivian charger connects smooth as buttah with no hesitation.

My portable works properly also. Not sure how the rest will do although I agree it is mostly a generic commodity unless there is a special feature needed. I prefer to have a passive charger and let the vehicle control the charge time, measure the kWh etc.

 

[beatle]

Agree with 'wall charger is a wall charger'. I would not go with a fly by night product but one that is well known and gets good reviews. Do you need a 'smart' EVSE? That is really up for debate. The Rivian controls when to charge and at what rate, not my charger. So all the fancy stuff in my Voltie is kind of worthless to me.

I am somewhat on the opposite side of the hardwire though. I have had issues and it was so easy to just unplug and plug in a different charger to test, prove or replace. If its hardwired you have more work to do for that.

+1 to going not-fancy. The Tesla UWC is very nice though with its integrated NACS>>J1772 adapter, and it is one of the few EVSEs that can be daisy chained. If you want to install a second Tesla UWCs, they can intelligently share the same circuit.

I also liked having a 14-50 in my garage, though when I did need to swap out my EVSE, it was because the receptacle had melted and taken the plug of my Tesla UMC with it. I do think that once the wire was run, it was easier to route and terminate the wires in the UWC than it was to install a new 14-50 receptacle in the box.

 

[SANZC02]

Any good rated charger will work. You can check the State of Charge web site, he does decent tests on chargers.

I have an Emporia at one place and an Emporia Pro at the other and charge a Tesla and R1S with them. They work great.

 

[therealcmj]

. These are able to create their own network to share power dynamically. Up to six can work together. To my knowledge no other EVSE does this.

This is a super common feature now. Tesla was indeed first with this but basically every mid tier and above vendor supports it now.

Unfortunately there’s no standard for it, so you do have to buy all of the EVSEs from the same vendor.

 

[10BladeDad]

I had planned to purchase the Telsa ESVE, but Rivian gave me the Rivian EVSE for 'free' when I ordered my R1S TM. Only paid to have it installed(Charger Pro). So far I've been very happy with the charger; on avg. I charge once a week. REALLY enjoy NOT needing to stop for gas.

I'd stick to either the TSLA or Rivian EVSE over any of the other 3rd party options

 

[Kaiju]

Another vote for Grizzle-E.

Price doesn't necessarily mirror quality. The OEM ones aren't necessarily better than any third party, since Rivian doesn't actually make any of their chargers in-house. I forget who exactly but they're solid, though not the top mark.

Something like the grizzl-e classic looks cheap at $300 compared to others, but the thing is that a charger is a glorified switch. It can be just dead simple and it's built better than a lot of chargers twice its price because of that. If you don't need wifi capabilities and a phone app, then you're wasting money paying for one that does. 'Features' drive up the price, but not neccessarily by how much they cost a manufacturer. I think the best bar none are Enphase/Clipper Creek and you're going to pay for that, more than a Rivian one.

Be wary of ones that rely on a phone app or have to phone home through the internet. Juicebox bailed on the home charger market and left all their owners stranded after they killed the online services.

 

[Eeyore]

Go to your electric provider. Some times there are rebates for specific chargers.

 

[Newtonrj]

Decide on a few things that are important to you. Do you want off-peak cost of charging power in your area? And are you signed up for it with your local utility? WIFI connectivity? Cost to charge over a month? Peak amps (32A, 40A, 50A, more?), including software defined power delivery based on your needs, the capacity of the charger, etc.. Make sure you know what you're cable from the breaker is as well (8 gauge, 6 gauge) as what the breaker is rated for. I'll agree that Tom on State-Of-Charge is a great resource to research. He'll also be a champion for a better 50A plug that handles constant duty of 50A instead of the standard duty outlets.

 

[Stevetom84]

Another vote for Grizzle-E.

Price doesn't necessarily mirror quality. The OEM ones aren't necessarily better than any third party, since Rivian doesn't actually make any of their chargers in-house. I forget who exactly but they're solid, though not the top mark.

Something like the grizzl-e classic looks cheap at $300 compared to others, but the thing is that a charger is a glorified switch. It can be just dead simple and it's built better than a lot of chargers twice its price because of that. If you don't need wifi capabilities and a phone app, then you're wasting money paying for one that does. 'Features' drive up the price, but not neccessarily by how much they cost a manufacturer. I think the best bar none are Enphase/Clipper Creek and you're going to pay for that, more than a Rivian one.

Be wary of ones that rely on a phone app or have to phone home through the internet. Juicebox bailed on the home charger market and left all their owners stranded after they killed the online services.

Yep I had a Juicebox and honestly the app always sucked when it worked. When they announced the app shutdown you basically needed to go in and reset everything to make it act as a dumb charger. If you didn't, the EVSE would be stuck in whatever settings you had or potentially bricked if it relied on a schedule.

In my opinion a dumb charger with dip switches to set the charge rate are the best. Rely on your vehicle charging schedule if you are on a utility time of use plan.

 

[BigSkies]

A charger is a charger. I have a Grizzl-e one. It works fine.

Think of it as the plug for any other device, just attached to the wall instead of the device.

Honestly, avoid all of the chargers with "smart" features. All of those features are available through the Rivian app, and having conflicting settings between the vehicle and charger would be more a hassle than a help.

The only exception is if your utility offers any type of rebate or incentive program tied to your charger. My utility offers a charging rebate program, but it requires using a Chargepoint wifi connected charger.

It is worth paying an electrician that knows how to do it right. The biggest cause of faults/fires (I believe) is due to poor installation. It's not rocket science, but it does need to be torqued to spec.

 

[hammick]

I bought a cheap 48v one on Amazon called Eventek for our vacation place. It had Bluetooth and Wifi and the current could be adjusted in the app. It came messed up so they refunded my $$$ and told me to keep it. I repaired it and used it for two years. Then about two months ago the App disappeared from both the App Store and Google Play and support disappeared. There was no way to configure anything after that. So I ended up keeping the charging cord and power cord and tossed it.

We have an Autel hardwired charger as well as a Wolfbox hardwired at our main home. Both work well. As much as I dislike muskrat if I was shopping for a charger today I'd get the one that has the adapter built in. Several people mentioned it above. The community center in our closest town has 4 of them and they work great.

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