Chargepoint releases new home EV chargers starting at $499 but are they the best buy?

Chargepoint, one of the leaders in the commercial EV charging market, this week  announced a new line of home chargers that are available at Amazon.com. The lineup starts at $499 for an indoor (garage) with a 16A/240V which can add 12 miles per hour of charge. This is a little over double the speed of 110V 15A plugs that go into regular 110V outlets.

Outdoor charging, hard/plug wiring, cord length and double speed 32A all raise the price in $50-$100 increments where a 32A Outdoor with a 25-foot wire cost $799.

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A quick look at Amazon’s best seller list (cached to the right)  shows that a few days in, Chargepoint dominates EV charger sales at the online retailing giant.

Chargepoint also offers an attractive design (which I got to review at CES at the beginning of the year), integration with Nest and other home automation platforms and software updates over Wifi which will bring new functionality in the future.

At a starting price of $499, however, there are some better deals on the market and particularly at Amazon especially if you are looking at straight W/$.

One of my favorite chargers (and the only other in Amazon’s top 10) is the Electric Motor Werks Juicebox 40A/10KW with 24′ cable for $499 shipped. This is more powerful than Chargepoint’s by a significant margin (40A vs. 32A) and equivalent to Tesla’s home charger and gets outstanding 4.5/5 star reviews from Amazon’s customers. It is so small that it can be taken off its bracket and used as a Travel charger anywhere there is a NEMA 14-50 plug…

The downside is that it looks very basic and functionality-wise is very basic. You kind of want to hide that box or dress it up somehow. Also no lights or feedback on the charger to let you know what’s happening. Still you are getting more electrons than Chargepoint’s best with the same length cable for $300 less.  That’s a hard deal to turn down.

Update: A better barebones option is this GE for $399 shipped. It is 30A has a charging light and can be installed inside or out. It looks like industrial equipment but will definitely get the job done. 

Speaking of less, the price point of a Level 2 home charger doesn’t have to start at $500.  Clipper Creek sells a barebones  LCS-20 15A/3.6kW EV Charging station for $379 (plus $25 shipping). Clipper Creek is a good US-based company and I’ve heard great things about their whole lineup of charging stations which can be put inside or outside.  The 3.6kW model is obviously their low end, but for those who are looking for entry-level cost or 2nd or 3rd location charging units, this is a great buy and makes a lot of sense. It will give you 10-15 miles per hour of charge which is enough to charge almost every non-Tesla EV overnight or during the 8-hour workday.

There are other nice options around. Tesla owners should also consider the company’s lineup of Fast charging which go up to 80A. Schneider Electric makes a very nice 30A model for about $550 which can be outfitted with a photo.

Germans Siemens and Bosch also make very nice looking and highly rated charging stations. as well as GE, Blink, Aerovironment and others.

Prices continue to drop but until the 1st wave of home DC charging stations which will probably require home batteries or direct Solar hookups come on board, these are the ones to get.

Did I miss any good ones? Let me know in the comments.