EMPORIA Level 2 EV Charger - NEMA 14-50 EVSE w/ J1772 Charger - 48 amp EV Level 2, 240v WiFi Enabled Electric Vehicle Charging Station, 24ft Electric Cable, Black

I purchased this to charge my new-to-me Chevy Bolt. I already have the Emporia Vue energy monitoring system in my panel, so when I found out that this was one of the 2 or 3 EVSE brands that my local utility supports for its off-peak managed charging rebate scheme (through the ev.energy app), it was a no-brainer for me to choose the Emporia unit.Though I purchased the NEMA 14-50 version, I opted to hardwire it so that I didn't have the added expense of a GFCI breaker and weatherproof NEMA 14-50 receptacle for my outdoor install location. Removing the 14-50 cord was a simple matter of opening the case, unscrewing the wires from the terminal block and removing the connector fitting.I used 1" Liquid-Tite flexible conduit, which fits perfectly into the 1-1/4" hole in the enclosure (don't use 1-1/4" conduit like the hardwire conversion instructions say; 1" is the correct size). I wired it with #6 AWG THWN-2 (with a #10 ground) and a 60A breaker, which unlocks the full 48A max charging capability. Though my current vehicle only has a 32A inverter, I'd rather be future-proofed than have to re-do the wiring later.Once the wire was run, actually mounting and wiring the unit took about 30 minutes altogether. As another reviewer said, using flexible conduit makes re-attaching the face much easier after hardwiring, since the 8 hex screws all face the rear of the unit. I connected the wires, reattached the face, and then finally secured the unit to the mounting bracket.The only thing that differs from the description is instead of receiving the cable hanger that mounts underneath the unit, I received a different standalone hanger that functions as both a cable hanger and a dock for the J1772 connector. I actually prefer this style, so this was more of a pleasant surprise than an issue. But something to be aware of.The app is functional, if a little clunky, but it provides all of the necessary functions like real-time energy monitoring, manual and automatic charging control, and total charge cost based on local utility rates.

This Smart EV Charger (EVSE - Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment) is one of the best values for the money. It can be hardwired for a continuous 48amps (60amp breaker) or just stay with the plug and play option using the supplied 14-50 plug for 40amps continuous (50amp breaker). The wiring comes with 6ga AWG wires and the cords are thick and somewhat pliable in CA. However, the solid conductors that goes through the CT’s on the PCB only looks like a solid 10ga in diameter. The AC (14-50 Plug) and J1772 wire connectors have crimped ferrules to enhance connectivity. J1772 plug (long button on top) is a little loose when plugging in compared to my Chargepoint, but quality overall looks good!This EVSE (charger is in the EV) integrates with their Emporia Vue Gen1/2 Energy Monitor and Vue Utility Connect devices. Highly recommended! If you have a compatible utility smart meter, the Emporia Utility Connect is a must have. It’s plug and play after configuration/registration, and it will give you utility grade meter measurements when coupled with excellent network 2.4ghz WiFi/Zigbee connectivity. The Emporia EVSE will work as a stand-alone in the app.I opted for the hardwire installation using 6/3 NMB, so I will derate it to 44amps or 10.6kW just in case there are concerns for the 55amp rating.The Emporia Level 2 EV charger has comprehensive smart features such as TOU Scheduling, Demand Management and Excess Solar Generation.Although they are trying to allow all 3 functionalities running simultaneously, it causes issues and quirks with unexpected results sometimes. This is especially critical if you are avoiding On Peak periods (highest costs) due to the complexity of multiple events working simultaneously giving unexpected results. I won’t go to details on this, but just have to trust me that it’s not full proof at this point if you have multiple functions running at the same time especially the Scheduling/Excess Solar or Scheduling/Demand/Excess Solar. Scheduling/Demand might be ok.Time-of-Use (TOU) Scheduling: Allow scheduled times for this EVSE to turn on and turn off. They also integrated it with the NREL’s OpenEi to download various utility rates and TOU to setup your schedules automatically. BTW, the NREL rates are not necessarily updated or correct neither. However, it may be easier doing a manual turn on/off schedule especially if you have multiple times you want to avoid/charge or if your utility rate is not found. This is similar to setting up those mechanical or digital timers for your Christmas lights or other plugged in devices.Demand Management: You are allowed to set a demand threshold where it will throttle your EVSE up and down as it gets close to that limit. It may exceed the limit for some times, but it will check often to adjust your EVSE charge rate (within 240watts or 1amp) to keep it close to the threshold. If it cannot keep it under the demand threshold overall, it will shut down the EV charging completely.Keep in mind there is a minimum that the EVSE can manage ~1500watts. For example, Demand threshold is 5kW, current load without EVSE is 4kW, the EVSE will not turn on. If current load is 3kW, then the EVSE will throttle the EVSE to 1920watts or 8amps to keep it just under the 5kW threshold (3kw+1.92kW = 4.92kW).Demand management is usually good for managing utility demand charges to reduce costs. But for most homes or residential use, this does not apply since almost all residential rates don’t have demand charges. It applies more for commercial utility rates that has demand charges.Excess Solar Function: Will allow your EVSE to follow your solar generation and consume it within 240watts. Caveat is you need at least 1500watts of excess solar generation since the minimum EVSE charge rate is 6amps or 1440watts. If you have less than 1500watts of excess solar, the EVSE will turn off to avoid taking from the grid.Issues to watch out and how to mitigate:On initial setup (onboarding), the smart applications did not work right away. The EVSE is defaulted to ON all the time if you do not access the app initially or for those who do not use the app. When I tested it the 1st day (multiple sessions), the EV charger kept on going past the On-peak period. In my case, it went past the turn off schedule at 4pm even though the app says it was going to turn off. After a few days, the system settled down and schedules eventually worked to turn on/off the charger at the proper times.When you have multiple smart features turned on, Schedules/Excess Solar/Demand, you will encounter issues with the charger turning on during the On-peak hours.For best results to minimize issues, only use 1 of the smart functionality at a time. Then it will be reliable. The most useful function for most homes and small commercial owners is the TOU Scheduling under their “Schedules” application.I do have concerns on wear and tear of the EV and EVSE with having to turn on/off charging the vehicle when using the smart functions too often. The throttling of the EV charging by adjusting the control pilot signals (duty cycles) may be ok as long as there are no physical turn on/off. So if you really don’t need it or it’s for minimal savings, just stick with the simple Schedule to avoid the highest rates. Peace of mind on your car and EVSE reliability will be worth more that the headache if it breaks from too many turn on/off. The other functions are fancy and great, but it comes with great responsibility!Best of all, the Emporia support team has been great to work with. I have given the Emporia team recommendations and feedback on how to improve the Scheduling issues by using time blocks and putting it as priority to other functions to prevent accidental On-peak charging or times you don’t want the EVSE to come on.Additionally, I asked if they can use the same blinking blue LED status when the EVSE time blocks are scheduled not to charge to alert us visually/externally instead of looking at the app.I also requested to have a new hardwire installation capacity category of a 55A (or 60A breaker), 44A continuous for a 10.6kW max charge rate to accommodate the hardwire NMB/Romex 6/2 or 6/3 for those who are concerned.Once this is implemented, this should make their product and applications more robust and definitely one of the smarter EVSE in industry. Of course, it needs to be easy to use and reliable.

Installation instructions were straight forward and easy to do. Configuring the software was intuitive and straight forward. Required little intervention on my part. By entering my zip code, the charger knew I was on APS electric utility, and it displayed their various rate plans. I selected my rate plan (TIme of Use with Demand) and it created the perfect charging schedule to optimize low cost. It also provided options to register with APS Smart Charge program in a simple process in the app. In signing up for smartcharge I made a typo error on my address. I contacted Emporia customer service, and they quickly resolve my mistake for me.