Although Level 2 EVSEs have gone up to 50 amps and beyond, 32-amp chargers aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. A majority of electric vehicles, both older and modern, are limited to 32 amps which is nothing to be disappointed about.
Today, we’re going to spend some time looking at the ChargePoint Home Electric Vehicle Charger. This 32-amp Level-2 Charger differs from the ChargePoint Flex (a fantastic at-home charging solution if we do say so ourselves) in many ways. So, is it worth getting? Read our full review to find out.
32-amp Charging Output
Although one of ChargePoint’s main focuses is staying on top of the game by providing their wide customer base with state-of-the-art EVSEs, they cater to a wide demographic of electric vehicle users. The Home is a 32-amp Level-2 charger which will support a wide range of electric vehicles by most brands.
If you’re looking for 25 miles of travel per charging hour (six times faster than a standard wall outlet charger), then this is a great place to start.
Now, is the Home futureproof? Perhaps. EV manufacturers have plans to limit their AC charging cap to “only” 48 amps so the Home may or may not be a relevant residential-grade EVSE in the near future. If you’re looking for a truly futureproof EVSE by ChargePoint, try checking out their 50-amp Level-2 Home Flex.
Wi-Fi Compatibility
Despite being an older charger, it can connect to your home’s internet router and receive commands through the ChargePoint HOME smartphone app and even Alexa.
We’ll get into the app later, but what’s important to know is that by staying connected, you’ll have all of the information you need to know about the charging status, output power, and estimated available travel time at your fingertips. Or you could let Alexa relay your charging and scheduling instructions to the Home from the comfort of your bed or couch.
Hardwired
The Home is not a plug-and-play type of EVSE. It needs to be hardwired into an 240V electrical panel to function. Inside of the box are all of the pieces of equipment you need to get the Home hooked up and ready to go within minutes assuming everything is in order.
The handy template should give you a good idea of where to drill and how to mount the box. If you feel intimidated by hardwiring the Home, please feel free to hire a professional electrician to do the potentially dangerous job for you.
Now, there has been a lot of talk about the pitfalls of hardwires vs. plug-in stations such as the Home Flex. Hardwiring means going through the trouble of disconnecting everything before sending a faulty unit back or when moving to another home. There’s also the issue of portability—hardwired EVSE cannot be taken with you on road trips for obvious reasons.
25-foot Flexible Power Cord
One slight advantage the Home has over the Home Flex is its long power cord. Measuring in at 25 feet, your car should have plenty of clearance in your garage to move about freely while navigating the charger into your car’s charging port. The power cord itself is well-built, flexible yet sturdy, and should withstand a few bumps and bruises (aka mistreatment) to an extent.
ChargePoint HOME App Problems
We talked about the ChargePoint HOME app briefly in an earlier section. Essentially, it delivers reports to your phone and has a programmable scheduler to help in avoiding charging during peak hours. Handy as it may seem, there are actually far more problems than there are benefits.
For starters, when your internet goes out, your saved charging scheduler gets wiped away, forcing you to reprogram it into the Home. This can be a huge problem if you rely on the scheduler while you’re fast asleep.
Next, the app itself is pretty buggy. The scheduler function doesn’t seem to work all the time regardless of how strong of a connection it gets. The inconsistency completely eliminates any convenience you may have hoped to gain. Hopefully, ChargePoint solves this problem in the near future.
We really don’t mean to discourage from getting this EVSE. Everything works as intended except for the buggy smartphone app which can lead to significant problems. If you don’t mind manually plugging it in to charge your car, then this is actually an excellent Level-2 home-grade charger.
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Verdict: Should I Get the ChargePoint Home Electric Vehicle Charger?
It depends. Can your car support 32 amps? Do you mind sacrificing portability? And can you live with the inconvenience that the HOME app unfortunately delivers?
If you answered yes to all three, then the ChargePoint HOME EV Charger is a worthy option. That said, there are several better 32-amp alternatives out there.
If you have any comments, please add them below. Similarly, please let us know if you spot any errors.