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We’ve added new information on the North American Charging Standard (NACS) throughout the guide. And in what to look forward to, we’ve added chargers and accessories we plan to test this spring. dedicated charging pile
Whether you’re a longtime electric vehicle owner or you’re still waiting for your first EV to leave the factory floor, you should consider investing in a Level 2 charger for your home.
Most modern EVs ship with a Level 1 charger—these tend to be small, portable, and slow-charging, thanks to their 120-volt output. But the fastest way to juice up an EV at home is to use a 240-volt Level 2 charger, adding four or more times as many miles per hour of charge.
They’re also more likely to have premium features, such as a power cord that’s long enough to reach across a two-car garage or a wide variety of installation options.
After 28 hours of research and 85 hours of testing, we found the United Chargers Grizzl-E to be the best at-home charger for EVs with a J1772 port, whereas the Tesla Wall Connector is best for EVs with a J3400 connector.
This is the EV charger we’d put in our garage. It’s fast-charging and lightweight, and it comes with a lengthy, 24-foot cord. Plus, it’s the most weatherproof model we tested.
If you drive a Tesla, this is your best option for at-home charging. It’s rated for up to 48 A of current, suitable for indoor and outdoor use, and backed by a two-year warranty. It also has a super-streamlined look, and its built-in cable organizer keeps its 24-foot cord neatly stored.
In the US, the vast majority of EV owners drive Teslas, which have a J3400 charging port (also called the North American Charging Standard, or NACS). A growing number of car companies have also committed to implementing the J3400 connector in future EVs, though many existing EVs still use the longstanding J1772 connector. For this guide, we chose to focus on chargers that are compatible with either a J1772 or a J3400 connector, as well as adapters that can convert one type of plug to the other.
This is the EV charger we’d put in our garage. It’s fast-charging and lightweight, and it comes with a lengthy, 24-foot cord. Plus, it’s the most weatherproof model we tested.
Despite costing less than any other J1772 EV charger in our testing pool at this writing, the United Chargers Grizzl-E offers many of the same capabilities and features seen in pricier models. It’s rated for a maximum current of 40 A, which we were able to reproduce in our testing, allowing it to charge much faster than the Level 1 chargers that come with most EVs. The three-year warranty is as long as any we’ve seen, so you’ll have plenty of time to make sure the charger works properly and meets your needs.
It’s available in two plug-in configurations and can also be hardwired, whereas many of the models we tested have just one or two installation options. This charger is also fairly compact, so it won’t take up much garage space, and it’s lightweight enough to lift into a trunk or mount onto a wall with relative ease. Also, it has a long, slim cord that can be neatly wound around the included cable organizer.
If you’d like the option of installing your charger outside, the Grizzl-E has the most weatherproof exterior of any we tested, with a rating that shows it can shield the charger from superficial dirt, dust, oils, moisture, and even heavy rain or snow. It’s also rated to operate safely in temperatures between -22° to 122° Fahrenheit, and its plug has a protective rubber cap.
Our main gripes with this model are that its packaging isn’t especially protective, so we worry that it could be more easily damaged in transit, and its painted metal exterior attracts fingerprints and smudges more than most models we tested. But in light of the Grizzl-E’s other great qualities, we think the majority of people will overlook these minor quibbles.
Max current rating: 40 A Weatherproof rating: IP67 (fully dustproof and waterproof) Installation options: three (hardwire, NEMA 14-50 plug, NEMA 6-50 plug) Warranty: three years
If you drive a Tesla, this is your best option for at-home charging. It’s rated for up to 48 A of current, suitable for indoor and outdoor use, and backed by a two-year warranty. It also has a super-streamlined look, and its built-in cable organizer keeps its 24-foot cord neatly stored.
Not surprisingly, our testing showed that the best charger for a Tesla EV is Tesla’s flagship charger, the Tesla Wall Connector. It’s not our top pick for all drivers, because connecting it to a J1772 EV requires a pricey third-party adapter that isn’t designed for everyday use. (Plus, since Tesla sells more EVs than the other car companies combined, its chargers are in high demand and often out of stock.) But if you drive a Tesla, or you’re planning to buy an EV with a J3400 port, it’s the best option available with that type of connector. Its maximum current rating of 48 A is among the highest of those we tested, and at this writing its price is one of the lowest.
The Tesla Wall Connector is even slimmer and lighter than the Grizzl-E. It has a super-sleek look, and it’s backed by Tesla’s two-year warranty. This charger has a 24-foot cord, just like the Grizzl-E, and its built-in cable organizer is elegantly designed. It’s not quite as weatherized as our J1772 pick, but it’s still rated to provide ample protection against dirt, dust, oils, splashes and sprays of water, and temperatures between -22° to 122° Fahrenheit.
The biggest downside to this charger is that it lacks plug-in options, so you have to hardwire it into your home’s electrical system. That’s less convenient if you want to be able to move your charger without calling an electrician. But since hardwiring is generally preferable to plug-in installation anyway, we don’t consider this a fatal flaw.
Max current rating: 48 A Weatherproof rating: IP55 (highly dustproof and waterproof) Installation options: one (hardwire) Warranty: two years
As the writer of this guide, I spent 28 hours researching and 85 hours testing EV chargers. I’ve been a science writer for more than a decade. And since joining Wirecutter, in 2017, I’ve reported on surge protectors, rechargeable batteries, power banks, and more.
To write this guide, I interviewed Paul Vosper, CEO of JuiceBar (a manufacturer of commercial EV charging stations founded in 2009) about the history and current landscape of the EV charging industry. I spoke with Tracy Price, CEO of Qmerit (a network of certified electricians specializing in EV chargers), and Caradoc Ehrenhalt, CEO of EV Safe Charge (an EV charger consulting firm), about installing an EV charger in a private home or an apartment building. To better understand the needs of EV drivers, I interviewed Joe Flores, deputy director at San José Clean Energy (a nonprofit electricity provider); Suncheth Bhat, director of clean energy transportation for the Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) utility company; and Aaron August, PG&E’s vice president of utility partnerships and innovation.
Whether you’re in the process of buying an EV and want the fastest possible at-home charge, or you already own an EV and want to upgrade a sluggish Level 1 charger to a speedier Level 2 charger, this guide is for you.
EV drivers have widely varying lifestyles, needs, and priorities, but having a powerful EV charger at home will likely be a worthwhile investment in most cases. Per the U.S. Department of Transportation, a Level 1 charger can take days (40 to 50 hours) to charge an EV battery from empty to full, whereas a Level 2 charger can complete the same task in just four to 10 hours. Even if you don’t put many miles on your car, and topping off the battery overnight works for you most of the time, you still might want to have a charger at home that lets you juice up quickly in the event of a wildfire, flash flood, or other unforeseen disaster.
In addition to faster charging times, Level 2 chargers often come with features you might not get from the charger that came with your EV, such as:
As is true of any home-improvement project, upgrading your EV charging setup will come at a cost. In addition to the sticker price of the charger, you’ll likely pay around $400 to $1,200 to have it professionally installed. You can circumvent some of these installation costs by buying a plug-in model, but if you don’t already have a 240 V outlet installed at your parking spot (they’re typically used for RVs or electric stovetops, among other things), you’ll still need to spend at least a few hundred dollars to take advantage of the Level 2 charger’s higher current. The silver lining here is that to help recoup the costs of going electric, many federal, state, and regional programs offer rebates and other incentives.
If you rent your home, and you’re unsure whether your rental agreement allows you to install a Level 2 charger, check your state’s “right to charge” laws. Likewise, if you own a home or rental property, the U.S. Department of Energy has a trove of resources on installing EV chargers.
To find the most well-known and widely available makers of Level 2 EV chargers, we searched the websites of major retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart, as well as industry publications such as Car and Driver, CleanTechnica, Electrek, and InsideEVs. From there, we built a list of contenders based on the following features:
To test the chargers, we rented a 2022 Tesla Model Y Long-Range AWD and borrowed a 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 Pro for a week apiece. The former has a J3400 port, and the latter has a J1772 port, so testing with these EVs allowed us to confirm the chargers’ compatibility with both connector types.
Over the course of two weeks, we drove the cars up and down country roads, circled parking lots, and waited in fast-food drive-through queues to run the batteries down to a 65% charge. We then charged the batteries up to 75% and recorded three key measurements, as reported by the cars’ built-in software: time elapsed (in minutes), battery capacity (in kilowatt-hours, or kWh), and maximum current (in amps, or A).
In general, to make them last longer, EV batteries should be kept at a 20% to 80% charge, and ideally they’d never get lower than 10% or above 90%. We chose an even narrower window for our testing, though, since staying above a 65% charge and below a 75% charge puts minimal strain on a lithium-ion battery (the kind found in most EVs).
We ran the majority of our charging tests using a NEMA 14-50 wall outlet, which is rated for 240 V and 50 A. Even though hardwiring offers some well-documented advantages for long-term use, we didn’t think we’d glean any additional insights by hiring an electrician to install and uninstall all 10 chargers for our two-week testing period.
Before getting started, we used a Klein Tools electrical test kit to make sure the voltage and wiring conditions of both outlets were up to snuff (they were). And we used a Kill A Watt power meter to verify that its time, capacity, and amperage measurements matched the readings shown on the EVs’ respective display screens (they did).
As needed, we used a Lectron Tesla to J1772 Charging Adapter (Max 48 A) or Tesla SAE J1772 Charging Adapter to connect the Tesla or Volkswagen (respectively) to a non-compatible charger. Once we’d identified the most powerful chargers, we used them to test the other prospective adapters.
In addition to these quantitative tests, we spent hours collecting qualitative data. Throughout our two-week testing period, we took stock of the overall look, feel, ease of use, and build quality of the chargers. We also assessed the efficacy and added value of any extra features, such as a mobile app or cord-storage rack. We did the same for the adapters we tested.
This is the EV charger we’d put in our garage. It’s fast-charging and lightweight, and it comes with a lengthy, 24-foot cord. Plus, it’s the most weatherproof model we tested.
The United Chargers Grizzl-E is the EV charger we’d buy for ourselves. As of this writing, it costs less than any other J1772 charger we tested, while offering many of the same benefits of models costing hundreds of dollars more. It’s rated to charge at 40 A, which we confirmed in our testing. It can be hardwired into your home’s electrical panel, or you can choose from either a NEMA 14-50 or a NEMA 6-50 plug. It’s lightweight, has a long cord, and boasts a higher weatherization rating than any other model in our testing pool.
It’s powerful. When we charged the Volkswagen and Tesla batteries with the Grizzl-E, their power gauges registered 45 A and 40 A, respectively. In real-world terms, this meant that it charged the Volkswagen’s battery from 65% to 75% in 45 minutes, and the Tesla’s in 55 minutes.
Batteries don’t drain or charge at a constant rate, and most EVs have a setting to automatically prevent your battery from getting down to 0% or up to 100% (subscription required), since these extreme states of charge can put undue strain on the battery. But from this we can roughly calculate that the Grizzl-E can fully charge either of these EVs in about 7.5 to 9 hours.
It’s a safe purchase. The Grizzl-E is UL-listed, meaning it’s been tested and certified to be in accordance with national safety and compliance standards. It’s also backed by United Chargers’ three-year warranty (there’s an optional five-year warranty, for $100 more); this gives you plenty of time to install your charger, use it, and determine if it needs to be replaced or repaired.
It has multiple installation options. In addition to being hardwire-ready, the Grizzl-E comes in either a NEMA 14-50 plug or NEMA 6-50 plug configuration. We generally recommend having a certified electrician hardwire an EV charger into your home electrical system. But if you prefer a plug-in charger, we think you should opt for one with a NEMA 14-50 plug (unlike a 6-50 plug, it has a neutral wire, and it can also be used to power RVs, electric stoves, and more). In any case, we like that this charger offers more options than most—especially if you already have a 6-50 outlet in your garage for a welder or some other power tool.
It’s ergonomically designed. The Grizzl-E charger is relatively compact and lightweight, measuring 6.25 by 10.25 by 3.5 inches (not including the cord) and weighing just 20 pounds (about as much as a small dog crate—or a small dog). Its cord is longer than most we tested, measuring 24 feet in length, and it has a circumference of 2.75 inches. It also comes with a sturdy, wall-mountable cord organizer to keep your garage walkways clear of clutter.
It’s built for most environments. This charger is better suited to outdoor use than any other one we tested. Its weatherproof rating is the best of the bunch (IP67, meaning it’s fully protected from dust and water). And its plug has a protective rubber cover attached by a short tether, further protecting the internal components from the elements. Also, like most models we tested, this one is rated to operate safely within a temperature range of -22° to 122° Fahrenheit.
After using this charger every day for a few months, our long-term tester encountered an issue with her test charger (in short, the charging plug got stuck in her car’s charging port). She left a voicemail on United Chargers’ toll-free line that wasn’t returned. But she called again the next day and got through to an employee, who instructed her to submit a support ticket, with the serial number and proof of purchase, to return the unit and request a new one. (In the meantime, she got a representative from her EV’s manufacturer to make a house call, and they got the plug unstuck with a screwdriver.)
After our long-term tester sent back the old charger (the United Chargers representative said they wanted to inspect it), she received a new one within a few days. And several months have passed with no recurring issues—although we found two instances online of users having the same issue, and we’re keeping an eye out for more-recent reports.
If you drive a Tesla, this is your best option for at-home charging. It’s rated for up to 48 A of current, suitable for indoor and outdoor use, and backed by a two-year warranty. It also has a super-streamlined look, and its built-in cable organizer keeps its 24-foot cord neatly stored.
If you drive a Tesla, or you’re planning to get an EV with a J3400 connector, you should charge it at home with a Tesla Wall Connector. It charges EVs (Teslas and otherwise) slightly faster than our top pick, and at this writing it costs less. It’s small and sleek, weighs half as much as our top pick, and has a long, slim cord. It also has one of the most elegant cord holders of any model in our testing pool. It’s not as weatherized as the Grizzl-E, and it has no plug-in installation options. But if it didn’t require a third-party adapter to charge J1772 EVs, we might have been tempted to make it our overall top pick.
It’s powerful. True to its amperage rating, the Wall Connector delivered 48 A when we used it to charge our rental Tesla, and it ticked up to 49 A when charging the Volkswagen. It brought the Tesla’s battery up from a 65% charge to 75% in just 30 minutes, and the Volkswagen’s in 45 minutes. This translates to a full charge in roughly 5 hours (for the Tesla) or 7.5 hours (for the Volkswagen).
It’s a safe buy. Like the Grizzl-E, the Wall Connector is UL-listed, showing that it meets national safety and compliance standards. It’s also backed by Tesla’s two-year warranty; this is a year less than the United Chargers warranty, but it should still give you plenty of time to ascertain whether the charger meets your needs, or if it has to be repaired or replaced.
It has to be hardwired (but plug-in options are available). Unlike our top pick, which offers several installation options, the Wall Connector must be hardwired in. (To make sure it’s installed safely and in accordance with electrical codes, we recommend hiring a certified electrician to do this.) And hardwiring is arguably the best installation option, so it’s an easy pill to swallow.
If you prefer a plug-in option, or you don’t have the ability to permanently install a charger where you live, Tesla also makes a Mobile Connector with two interchangeable plugs: One goes into a standard 120 V outlet for trickle charging, and the other goes into a 240 V outlet for fast-charging up to 32 A.
It’s extremely small and sleek. Other than the Tesla Mobile Connector, the Wall Connector is the lightest model in our testing pool, weighing just 10 pounds (about as much as a metal folding chair). It has a sleek, streamlined shape and a super-slim profile—measuring just 4.3 inches deep. So even if your garage is tight on space, it’s easy to sneak past. Its 24-foot cord is on a par with that of our top pick in terms of length, but it’s even slimmer, measuring 2 inches around.
It’s elegantly designed. Instead of a wall-mountable cord holder (like the ones most models we tested have), the Wall Connector has a built-in notch that lets you easily wind the cord around its body, as well as a small plug rest. It’s an elegant and practical solution to prevent the charging cord from being a trip hazard or leaving it at risk of getting run over.
It’s relatively well weatherized. The Wall Connector lacks the Grizzl-E’s protective rubber plug cap, and it’s not completely impervious to dust and moisture like that model is. Yet the Wall Connector is still one of the most weatherized models we tested. Its IP55 rating indicates that it’s well protected against dust, dirt, and oils, as well as splashes and sprays of water. And like most chargers we tested, including the Grizzl-E, the Wall Connector is rated for use in temperatures between -22° to 122° Fahrenheit.
It comes sturdily packaged. When it arrived on our doorstep, the Wall Connector was carefully packaged, with little room left for it to knock about inside the box. This minimizes the likelihood of the charger getting battered or broken en route.
This compact, easy-to-use adapter lets drivers of J1772 EVs use Tesla chargers (except Superchargers) to juice up. When paired with a compatible charger, it can provide up to 48 A of current.
The Lectron Tesla to J1772 Charging Adapter (48 A) allows EVs with a J1772 charging port to juice up from most Tesla chargers (except Superchargers). This is helpful if your J1772 EV’s battery is running low and a Tesla charging station is the closest option, or if you’re at a friend’s house and you want to top off your battery with their J3400 charger. This adapter is small and compact, and in our testing it supported up to 49 A charging speeds, slightly exceeding its 48 A rating.
It has an IP54 weatherproof rating, which means it’s highly protected against airborne dust and moderately protected against splashing or falling water. It makes a satisfying click when it snaps into place, and a simple press of a button releases it from the plug after charging. It’s also UL-listed and has a one-year warranty.
Included for free with all Tesla EVs, this easy-to-use adapter is the best option for charging any Tesla using a non-Tesla charger. Since it supports up to 80 A of current, it can be paired with any Level 1 or 2 charger.
To charge a Tesla from a non-Tesla charger, the Tesla SAE J1772 Charging Adapter is your best bet. It comes free with all Tesla EVs, and even if you buy it separately—maybe you lost yours, or you just want a backup—it’s still one of the least expensive options available at this writing. It’s small and lightweight, so it’s easy to pack in a trunk or even a glove compartment, and we measured up to 48 A of current flowing through it in our testing. (This is lower than its 80 A rating. But since our testing pool included only chargers rated for 48 A at most, it’s the highest amperage we’d expect to see, and it’s as high as on any adapter of this type that we tested.)
Its NEMA 3R weatherproof rating (equivalent to IP14, meaning it’s minimally dustproof and moderately waterproof) isn’t great, but it should be fine for occasional use. Plus, it’s backed by a two-year warranty, which is twice as long as that of any adapter we tested. It’s worth mentioning that the Tesla adapter is the only product we tested for this guide (chargers and adapters included) that hasn’t been certified by UL, ETL, or another NRTL. But we are reasonably confident, given its prevalence, that any potential issues will have been spotted and ironed out at this point.
If the Grizzl-E is out of stock: Get the Emporia EMEVSEVAR. Other than our top pick, it’s the least expensive J1772 charger we tested, as of this writing.
The Emporia got up to 40 A in our tests with the Tesla and 45 A with the Volkswagen; both are below its 48 A rating but still on a par with that of the Grizzl-E. It can be installed via a NEMA 14-50 plug or hardwired directly into your home power grid (it lacks the Grizzl-E’s optional NEMA 6-50 configuration, but that’s an unusual plug type anyway).
Like the Grizzl-E, the Emporia has a three-year warranty, is UL-listed, weighs 20 pounds, and has a sleek, low-profile shape. It has a slim, 24-foot cord, and its metal cord holder is sturdily built. And it comes with a handy set of hook-and-loop ties to keep the cord neatly coiled when not in use.
The Emporia model is rated to operate in temperatures between -22° to 122° Fahrenheit, and its NEMA 4 (similar to IP56) rating means it’s highly protected against the elements. Plus, its plug has a removable rubber cap, further protecting its innards from dust and water damage, and it was shipped to us in adequately protective packaging.
If you want a charger with a replaceable cord (and you can live with some pretty significant drawbacks): Get the ChargePoint Home Flex. It’s UL-listed, has a three-year warranty, and can be hardwired or plugged in via a NEMA 14-50 or 6-50 plug. It’s also one of the few options we tested that comes with either a J1772 or J3400 connector.
It weighs just 18 pounds, and it has a slim, 23-foot cord. It’s relatively sleek and compact, and it comes with handy hook-and-loop cord keepers, a built-in cord holder, and pre-printed sticky labels (so you can easily annotate the circuit breakers on your electrical panel).
This is the only model we tested with a user-replaceable cord, so you can simple swap in a new one when it wears out, rather than having to replace the entire unit (the cord gets handled more frequently than the other components, so it’s likely to wear out the quickest). And its packaging uses almost no plastic. It can also be used in colder climates than most models we tested (with a working range of -40° to 122° Fahrenheit).
However, It’s one of the priciest models we tested ($550 at this writing), and its NEMA 3R rating (similar to IP14) means it’s not especially weatherproof. It also failed to live up to its amperage claims in our testing (it’s rated for 50 A, but we measured only 44 A with the Volkswagen and 40 A with the Tesla). And if you don’t connect to its mobile app, you’re stuck at a sluggish 16 A charging rate.
If you want a super-compact charger with a long cord (and you can deal with a higher cost and no plug-in option): Get the Wallbox Pulsar Plus (48 A). Its $700 price tag (at this writing) is eye-popping, and it has the option to be hardwired in only. But it has a slightly longer cable than those of our picks (25 feet, which is as long as national safety standards allow). And it’s one of the smallest, most discreet models we tested (roughly the size of a child’s lunch box).
Like the Grizzl-E and Emporia chargers, it weighs just 20 pounds, is UL-listed, and has a three-year warranty, and it performed well in our amperage tests (passing 40 A to the Tesla and 45 A to the Volkswagen). It has a NEMA 4 (similar to IP56) rating, meaning it’s highly protected against the elements, and it’s safe to use in temperatures from -22° to 104° Fahrenheit.
If you want something more portable and less expensive than the Tesla Wall Connector (and you can deal with slower charging): Get the Tesla Mobile Connector. Unlike the Wall Connector, it can’t be hardwired into your home’s electrical setup, but it comes with two interchangeable plugs: NEMA 5-15 (for a standard 120 V outlet) and NEMA 14-50 (for a more powerful 240 V outlet).
It comes with a convenient mesh zip-up storage case, it’s small and sleek, and, at 5 pounds, it’s lighter than any other contender. Like the Wall Connector, it’s backed by a two-year warranty, is UL-listed, is rated to operate safely at temperatures between -22° to 122° Fahrenheit, and has an IP55 weatherproof rating.
It has a lower amperage rating than the Wall Connector (12 A with the NEMA 5-15 plug or 32 A with the NEMA 14-50 plug), and its 20-foot cord is on the short side compared with those of most models we tested. But these tradeoffs might be worthwhile if you want a charger you can keep in your trunk for emergencies or occasional slow-charging. Also, at this writing, it costs just $200, making it the least expensive charger we tested.
If you want an adapter with a 6-inch cord to charge a J1772 EV from any Tesla charger (except a Supercharger): Get the Lectron Tesla to J1772 Adapter (40 A). We thought most people would prefer a small, compact adapter like our pick in this category. But this adapter adds a half-foot to the end of the charging cord, if you prefer to have some extra length (and you don’t mind that it’s a bit bulkier and therefore more cumbersome to store).
This model has a lower amperage rating than our pick in this category (40 A versus 48 A). But both models performed the same in our testing by allowing up to 48 A to pass through to the vehicle. (A representative from Lectron told us, however, that even though it’s safe to do so, passing more than 40 A through this adapter will likely hamper its long-term performance.)
Both adapters cost the same, at the time of writing, and their plug ends fit snugly into their respective ports. Like the other Lectron adapters we tested, this one has a one-year warranty, is UL-listed, and has an IP54 weatherproof rating.
If you want a weather-sealed, UL-listed adapter to charge a J3400 EV from a J1772 charger: Get the Lectron J1772 to Tesla Charging Adapter (60 A). Our pick in this category is the one that comes free with every Tesla, but maybe you lost that one (or want a backup) and want the added peace of mind that comes with having an adapter that’s UL-listed and has an IP54 weatherproof rating—two features Tesla’s own adapter lacks. In that case, this is the one to get.
It has a shorter warranty (one year, as opposed to two) and currently costs $10 more than Tesla’s version, but those aren’t dealbreakers. It also has a lower amperage rating than our pick in this category (60 A versus 80 A), but both models performed the same in our testing, delivering up to 48 A to the Tesla. (This is the highest amperage we’d expect to see, since we didn’t test them with any chargers rated for more than 48 A.)
In our next round of testing, slated for spring 2024, we plan to pit the following models against our current picks:
We also plan to test the following accessories at that time:
The Blink HQ 150 is small and streamlined, weighs just 16 pounds, and comes with a wall-mountable cord organizer. It’s also UL-listed, backed by a three-year warranty, and has a 25-foot cord. However, it has the lowest amperage rating we accepted in our testing pool (32 A), and we were unable to confirm this in our hands-on testing because it can only be hardwired or plugged into a NEMA 6-50 outlet (we used a NEMA 14-50 outlet for our testing, which is more common). The plug has a handy rubber cap attached to keep out dust and moisture, but it’s otherwise less weatherized than most models we tested; it has a NEMA 3R rating (similar to an IP14 rating), which means it’s only somewhat protected from accumulating ice, airborne dust, and falling rain, sleet, and snow.
The Electrify America HomeStation (EA2R040JPA10-00) slightly exceeded its amperage rating (40 A) in our testing, reaching 45 A with the ID.4 and 40 A with the Model Y. It’s large yet streamlined, weighing just 20 pounds, and it has a 24-foot cord, a built-in cable organizer, and a wall-mountable plug holster. It’s backed by a three-year warranty, is UL-certified, and has two installation options: NEMA 14-50 plug or hardwired. However, it’s on the pricey side ($650 at this writing), and its NEMA 3R rating makes it one of the least weatherized models we tested.
The Enphase ClipperCreek HCS-50 is on the larger side, but it has a slim profile, and, at 14 pounds, it’s one of the most lightweight models we tested. It has a 25-foot cord, a built-in cable organizer, a wall-mountable plug holster, a lock on the plug to prevent illicit charging, and a NEMA 4 (similar to IP56) weatherization rating. It’s also ETL-certified, backed by a three-year warranty, rated to operate safely at temperatures from -22° to 122° Fahrenheit, and available in a NEMA 6-50, NEMA 14-50, or hardwired configuration. However, its amperage rating is on the lower end (40 A), and it’s the priciest model we tested, costing $700 at this writing.
This article was edited by Ben Keough and Erica Ogg.
Paul Vosper, CEO of commercial EV charging station manufacturer JuiceBar, phone interview, January 6, 2022
Aaron August, vice president of utility partnerships and innovation for Pacific Gas and Electric Company, phone interview, February 23, 2022
Suncheth Bhat, director of clean energy transportation for Pacific Gas and Electric Company, phone interview, February 23, 2022
Tracy Price, CEO of EV charger installation network Qmerit, phone interview, February 24, 2022
Caradoc Ehrenhalt, CEO of EV charger installation and consulting firm EV Safe Charge, phone interview, February 25, 2022
Joe Flores, deputy director at nonprofit electricity supplier San José Clean Energy, phone interview, February 25, 2022
Charging Your Plug-in Electric Car, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
Electric Vehicles, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
Electricity FAQs, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
Explaining Electric & Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Sarah Witman is a senior staff writer who reports on powering and charging technology for Wirecutter. She previously worked as a writer, editor, and fact checker for several science magazines. Though she researches and tests chargers for a living, her phone battery is usually low.
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by Roderick Scott and Nick Guy
No matter where you want to mount it, we’ve got plenty of options to keep your phone safely in view while you’re driving.
Here are the essential—and nonessential—items to carry in your car during winter driving to ensure you get to your destination.
installing electric vehicle charging station at home Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing so you can make quick and confident buying decisions. Whether it’s finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we’ll help you get it right (the first time).