Two companies that are better known for their public charging networks have, just recently, rolled out new wifi-connected home-charging hardware.
Both are AC charge points—or EVSE, as they’re sometimes called—although the two companies refer to them as chargers.
Electrify America Tuesday rolled out a unit called the Electrify America Electric Vehicle Home Charger, which is set to sell on EA’s site, or on Amazon for $499.
Electrify America Electric Vehicle Home Charger
The unit offered by Electrify America has up to 7.6 kw of charging power, and EA’s app will be able to tap into management of users’ home charger in addition to public charging, logging charging-session data for both. .
“Electrify America is providing consumers with a more convenient and reliable option that should help increase the appeal of EV ownership,” said Nina Huesgen, the company’s manager of L2 operations, pointing out that for many drivers, more than 80 percent of charging is done at home.
To that point, Electrify America is offering coordinated home installation, through Qmerit. The charger comes with a standard NEMA 14-50 plug , which is now the standard for wall-mounting a 240-volt AC charge point—or EVSE, as you will sometimes encounter it. And it includes a 24-foot cable, and the unit’s enclosure permits interior or exterior installation.
ChargePoint Home Flex
For a step up in ability and price, the ChargePoint Home Flex was introduced last month and is referred to by the charging-services company “the world’s most flexible home EV charger.”
The Home Flex costs $699 and can be set to up to 50 amps, and includes charge scheduling, Alexa integration, just like the Electrify America unit, a coordinated interface that allows you to see data for charging sessions, whether at home or out in public. It’s offered with NEMA 14-50 or 6-50 plugs and comes with a 23-foot cord.
Volkswagen’s Electrify America subsidiary, which was created by the Volkswagen diesel settlement, is on the way to install 800 charging-station sites, including 3,500 publicly accessible chargers, by December 2021. ChargePoint has a vast public Level 2 charging network, with which it says it has 101,000 places to charge.
By all likelihood, these two units are no anomaly. We'll be seeing many more units aimed at introducing home users to a particular charging brand—so that they'll be more likely to top off with a familiar brand when they're out and about.
