We hope this may help other forum participants who have not yet purchased a Level 2 charging station. We have bought our Bolt, and are first time EV owners. (we did own a GEM car back in the day, when GEM was all that was available to us. EV--or a glorified golf cart?!) We have done a fair amount of shopping and research for a Level 2 EVSE that would suit our home and work requirements, but don't claim to be experts.
Some background on home charging stations that some folks already know. GM decided to sell a Level 2 charger for the Bolt made by a company called AeroVironment, and GM is selling the AV model EVSE-RS. I do not know what price the dealership will ask for these chargers, or whether they will be re-branded with a GM logo. This exact charger is still available on Amazon, etc.
We decided to buy the Clipper Creek HCS-40 among all the 240 volt EVSE charging stations we could research, and here's why. By the way, I'm sure most of the Level 2 charging stations on the market work very well, and if you already have one, you are probably very satisfied with your unit.
Clipper Creek's HCS-40 provides 32 Amp charging, 240 VAC, 25' of cable, a 7.7 kW charging rate, and a very nifty mount and base design. The price is $565 if you want the hardwired version, and $589 if you want a plug in model. (You can choose between a NEMA 14-50 and NEMA 6-50 plug on the power supply whip). And, they advertise Made In USA.
We have two homes and a business to deal with, and at the business there's just an outside NEMA 6-50 receptacle. Both homes are plumbed with NEMA 14-50 receptacles. Yes, we could change out the boxes at home, but we need a traveling Level 2 charger that we can use at the business (can't leave the business charger on site). So, we bought two HCS-40 chargers from Clipper Creek, one with the 14-50 male plug for the homes, and the other with the 6-50 plug. It will be a bit of a pain, but we will have to store the 6-50 plug in unit at the work place, and plug it in during the work day. Plus, if we go on the road and have a destination with only a 240 V NEMA receptacle, we can take the correct charging station for the planned destination.
One reason we were impressed with the Clipper Creek unit is because the base is substantial, and allows for secure mounting. What we will do at the (rather public, think sidewalk) business location is use heavy duty, closed hook eye bolts to mount the base, and secure the base with a pad lock through the eye bolt(s). If things go as planned, at the end of the day, take take the lock off and remove the unit. We may figure out something more clever, (please write if you know of a better security system), but our desire is simply to discourage anyone from thinking they could easily unplug our charging station and walk away.
I'm sure everyone will do a great job researching their home charging stations, but give Clipper Creek a look along with the rest. They are one the web, or call Lisa or Joel at 530-887-8527. They ship at their actual expense, with either UPS, FedEx, or Priority Mail. We got our units by Priority Mail within two days of the order. Good luck with your search!
Some background on home charging stations that some folks already know. GM decided to sell a Level 2 charger for the Bolt made by a company called AeroVironment, and GM is selling the AV model EVSE-RS. I do not know what price the dealership will ask for these chargers, or whether they will be re-branded with a GM logo. This exact charger is still available on Amazon, etc.
We decided to buy the Clipper Creek HCS-40 among all the 240 volt EVSE charging stations we could research, and here's why. By the way, I'm sure most of the Level 2 charging stations on the market work very well, and if you already have one, you are probably very satisfied with your unit.
Clipper Creek's HCS-40 provides 32 Amp charging, 240 VAC, 25' of cable, a 7.7 kW charging rate, and a very nifty mount and base design. The price is $565 if you want the hardwired version, and $589 if you want a plug in model. (You can choose between a NEMA 14-50 and NEMA 6-50 plug on the power supply whip). And, they advertise Made In USA.
We have two homes and a business to deal with, and at the business there's just an outside NEMA 6-50 receptacle. Both homes are plumbed with NEMA 14-50 receptacles. Yes, we could change out the boxes at home, but we need a traveling Level 2 charger that we can use at the business (can't leave the business charger on site). So, we bought two HCS-40 chargers from Clipper Creek, one with the 14-50 male plug for the homes, and the other with the 6-50 plug. It will be a bit of a pain, but we will have to store the 6-50 plug in unit at the work place, and plug it in during the work day. Plus, if we go on the road and have a destination with only a 240 V NEMA receptacle, we can take the correct charging station for the planned destination.
One reason we were impressed with the Clipper Creek unit is because the base is substantial, and allows for secure mounting. What we will do at the (rather public, think sidewalk) business location is use heavy duty, closed hook eye bolts to mount the base, and secure the base with a pad lock through the eye bolt(s). If things go as planned, at the end of the day, take take the lock off and remove the unit. We may figure out something more clever, (please write if you know of a better security system), but our desire is simply to discourage anyone from thinking they could easily unplug our charging station and walk away.
I'm sure everyone will do a great job researching their home charging stations, but give Clipper Creek a look along with the rest. They are one the web, or call Lisa or Joel at 530-887-8527. They ship at their actual expense, with either UPS, FedEx, or Priority Mail. We got our units by Priority Mail within two days of the order. Good luck with your search!
