Home Chargers - ClipperCreek or ChargePoint?

[PeterL]

After much research and reading the many informative posts on this forum, I have settled on an outdoor installation of either the ClipperCreek HCS-50P or ChargePoint Home Flex unit. I think I have educated myself to understand the technical specs of the units, including that the ChargePoint can charge at 48 amp versus the max 40 amp capacity of the ClipperCreek but that requires a hardwire setup and I am leaning toward an outdoor NEMA 14-50 outlet. I also don't consider the ClipperCreek being a "dumb" charging station to be a negative - I don't care about having a log of charging statistics, wifi remote access or setting up a charging schedule. I also know the ClipperCreek has a higher outdoor rating - NEMA 4 vs 3R for the Home Flex. More so than the specs, I'm very curious about any member's daily experience with using either units. These questions may seem dumb or naive questions but this is my first electric car so it's all new to me:

- How easy or difficult is it to maneuver the cord and insert and disengage the plug;
- Can the status light on the ChargePoint Flex be turned off? I'd like it to be as unobtrusive as possible since the unit will sit outside in the driveway
- Can you select the amp rate that you want to charge? And if you can, is that set through the charging stations or the car?
- Can the Home Flex be operated without installing the app or registering an account? If the app and account is required, do you need a credit card on file with ChargePoint?

Any other tips or quirks with either product would be welcome.

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[WalterG]

After much research and reading the many informative posts on this forum, I have settled on an outdoor installation of either the ClipperCreek HCS-50P or ChargePoint Home Flex unit. I think I have educated myself to understand the technical specs of the units, including that the ChargePoint can charge at 48 amp versus the max 40 amp capacity of the ClipperCreek but that requires a hardwire setup and I am leaning toward an outdoor NEMA 14-50 outlet. I also don't consider the ClipperCreek being a "dumb" charging station to be a negative - I don't care about having a log of charging statistics, wifi remote access or setting up a charging schedule. I also know the ClipperCreek has a higher outdoor rating - NEMA 4 vs 3R for the Home Flex. More so than the specs, I'm very curious about any member's daily experience with using either units. These questions may seem dumb or naive questions but this is my first electric car so it's all new to me:

- How easy or difficult is it to maneuver the cord and insert and disengage the plug;
- Can the status light on the ChargePoint Flex be turned off? I'd like it to be as unobtrusive as possible since the unit will sit outside in the driveway
- Can you select the amp rate that you want to charge? And if you can, is that set through the charging stations or the car?
- Can the Home Flex be operated without installing the app or registering an account? If the app and account is required, do you need a credit card on file with ChargePoint?

Any other tips or quirks with either product would be welcome.

I have an HCS-80 installed outside. I bought it from Clipper Creek “factory refurbished” and am happy with it. It’s at a 2nd house - I use the PMCC (in a garage) at my home. The Clipper Creek is tough as nails and I’d have no hesitation recommending it for an outdoor installation. I live in New England and it went through the winter outdoors with no issue at all. The refurb unit was flawless and looks like new.
- the cable is stiff on the HCS-80. Not sure about the HCS-50. If you are concerned about that I’d suggest calling Clipper Creek to ask If the -50 is thinner. The -80 is fine but it is considerably stiffer than the PMCC cable. Clipper Creek was easy to reach and super helpful via phone and email.
- Not sure if you can select the charge rate. There’s no web interface and I don’t remember any physical buttons for setting it so I’m guessing no. I haven’t had a need to set the charge rate since it just charges at the max rate.
- Clipper Creek has a -60 and -80 that charge at 48A (the -80 is only hardwired and I’m not sure if the -60 comes in a plug version)
- Generally hardwiring is better outdoors. If you do use an outlet, use a good one like a Hubbell

 

[chrisk]

If I was to hardwire it (for 48A charging) then I would pick Chargepoint because you can feed the wire that comes from the breaker directly into the charger (you push in and there is a lever that holds it in place). Clippercreek comes with a pigtail conduit +wire that you connect to the main wire into a junction box. In my opinion this extra connection in the junction box is an unnecessary potential point of failure plus you need to add a junction box that never looks nice.

Check their installation instructions and you will see what I mean.

Also check JuiceBox chargers which are also good and have various options. Their hardwire installation is similar to Clippercreek requiring a junction box connection.

 

[daveo4EV]

clippercreek HCS-50 (hardwired or plug based)
clippercreek HCS-60 (hardwired is only choice for 60 amp breaker in north america)

you can not adjust the amps - they are what they are - but they can charge cars at lower rates cause the car “chooses” the amps from what is offered by the charger

clippercreek does only one thing - it charges EV’s - plug it in and it will charge - that’s the only thing it will do - but it will always do it - it will just work.

HCS-60 will charge your Taycan at 48 amps - which is the maximum 11 kW charge rate. It’s a great choice.

 

[chrisk]

It appears that the 48A chargers from all three major brands in the US (Clippercreek, JuiceBox and ChargePoint) are out of stock. You can pay few hundred bucks more and get one of them from Amazon probably from 3rd party sellers who mark them up.

EnelX Juicebox have some discounts for their in stock chargers for Earth day till end of the month.

 

[daveo4EV]

it would also be fine to get an 80 amp charger if your install can handle it. More amps will not be a problem with future EV’s - for example the new Cadillac EV supports upto 19.2 kW charging (80 amp EVSE @ 100 amp breaker)

anything more than 40 amps upto 80 amps is more than sufficient, more is better.

 

[mc9er]

I have the ChargePoint Homeflex and love it. I had no intentions of using any of the smart features, but have found that I love the ability to set a charging plug-in reminder (which only triggers if you don’t have the car plugged in at the time of your timer FYI - which is nice). This is my first EV so it’s wonderful to be able to set said reminder and be reminded, in my case, every night (set mine for 10:25PM) to plug in so I’m set for the next day’s travels. Has saved my butt twice so far after coming home with ~50% charge and thinking I was going to go back out that night for another drive and plug in thereafter, only to not have gone back out and therefore forgetting to plug in... until my reminder.

Being in cold Wisconsin, I also love the flexibility of the cord... Doesn’t get too stiff at all which is nice. There’s a guy on YouTube who tests a bunch of chargers and actually deep freezes the cords as part of his test. Believe the channel is “InsideEVs”

I do believe you need an account in order to adjust the power output on the Homeflex (otherwise it defaults to the lowest power output setting) but do not believe you need a credit card on file at all (I do, because I also use some public ChargePoint’s out in the wild and need it for those).

I was ultimately between the ChargePoint and the Enel-X Juicebox before choosing the ChargePoint. I read some questionable reliability things on the juicebox and it turned me off - but I’m sure it would be fine noting they apparently have a decent warranty and good customer service. I’ve heard that ChargePoint and ClipperCreeks are both workhorses that should last a LONG time, which is more my speed. The extra benefit of the reminder setting on the ChargePoint (and ability to adjust power if ever needed) is what tipped my final decision.

Hope this helps!

 

[PeterL]

Thanks for the comments and feedback, they are all very helpful. I had been leaning toward a 14-50 install outdoors so I could take the charging unit with me when I move and then put it in the garage at the new location. The garage setup at the current house is tight and awkward and would require 100+ feet of copper wiring from the basement panel, an investment that doesn't seem worth it at a house that I may vacate in the not too distant future. The ClipperCreek's no frills, "it just works" reputation appeals to me but the hardwire and plug are separate versions; the ChargePoint Home Flex is nice because the same model can be installed either way. That flexibility may make me go with the Home Flex - I could switch my install to an outdoor hardwire here and then change it to plug at a new place.

As @chrisk mentioned, there are shortages of the charging stations right now, they've been basically out of stock and only available from 3rd party sellers with inflated markups (the $700 ChargePoints are $1400+ from 3rd party Amazon sellers). I have a standing backorder for the ClipperCreek and it's showing a June 9 delivery date. It's not too much of an issue - the Taycan 4S I have on order was tenatively set for mid-June arrival and I am pretty sure that will get pushed back; my dealer has yet to get me a VIN number so I don't think it's in production yet.

 

[daveo4EV]

there are many many excellent “moble” alternatives that will be better than the Chargepoint as a “mobile charger”

the Mustart 32 amp chargers are high quality and very very light & portable - one “hardwired” charger for home and a mobile EVSE is an ideal combination - the Mustart charger can be had for less than $400

you could start with a 32 amp mobile charger - while you wait for your hardwired home charger - longer term you’ll have mulitple EV’s and having dedicated in garage/at-home charger and mobile charger that “live” in the car is a good combination - although humbly I’d suggest just one mobile charger kit to be “in the car” that you might travel with is all that is necessary

my ideal combination is therefore:

• 60/80 amp EVSE hardwired in the home - dual cable for future “shared” usage
  • clipperCreek “share2” functionality - allows two EVs/EV+PHEV to charge at the same time sharing the circuit load to charge both cars at the same time - very useful for the multi-EV household.
• one 32/40 amp mobile EVSE to “live in the car” for charging “on the go”
• JDapter or TeslaTap so you can charge at L2 Tesla Chargers at various businesses/hotels/golf-courses

but that’s just my $0.02

 

[Kryptos]

clippercreek HCS-50 (hardwired or plug based)
clippercreek HCS-60 (hardwired is only choice for 60 amp breaker in north america)

you can not adjust the amps - they are what they are - but they can charge cars at lower rates cause the car “chooses” the amps from what is offered by the charger

clippercreek does only one thing - it charges EV’s - plug it in and it will charge - that’s the only thing it will do - but it will always do it - it will just work.

HCS-60 will charge your Taycan at 48 amps - which is the maximum 11 kW charge rate. It’s a great choice.

Sorry for the naive question, but for something like the HCS-60, if you plan to charge overnight, is there a way to have it automatically stop charging at the recommended 80%, or do you need to manually stop it at the desired charge? Thanks

 

[PeterL]

Appreciate the thoughts @daveo4EV. Your posts about charging on the forums have been invaluable. I thought I would keep the Taycan's Mobile Charger Plus in the trunk and use that as the traveling charger. Not a good idea?

Here are some pics from another outdoor install that one of the electricians I contacted shared with me to give me an idea what I should expect. My setup will be similar - a short trench from the house across some shrubs and the station mounted next to the driveway. I could mount the EV on the side of the house but would have to navigate the shrubs every time. All the equipment on the backside is a little unsightly, would the ClipperCreek or ChargePoint have the same type of equipment as this Tesla charger?

And this is the enclosure unit they use for outdoor 14-50 installs - Milbank Mfg. Co. The outlet comes preinstalled in the enclosure as a unit but the electrician said they'd be willing to get and swap in the Hubbell 9450 outlet. Maybe the Milbank is a quality product and would be fine?

Maybe it would just be better and tidier to do a hardwire outdoor.

 

[PeterL]

If I was to hardwire it (for 48A charging) then I would pick Chargepoint because you can feed the wire that comes from the breaker directly into the charger (you push in and there is a lever that holds it in place). Clippercreek comes with a pigtail conduit +wire that you connect to the main wire into a junction box. In my opinion this extra connection in the junction box is an unnecessary potential point of failure plus you need to add a junction box that never looks nice.

Check their installation instructions and you will see what I mean.

I see what you're saying about the ClipperCreek:

Compared to the ChargePoint:

 

[mc9er]

there are many many excellent “moble” alternatives that will be better than the Chargepoint as a “mobile charger”

the Mustart 32 amp chargers are high quality and very very light & portable - one “hardwired” charger for home and a mobile EVSE is an ideal combination - the Mustart charger can be had for less than $400

you could start with a 32 amp mobile charger - while you wait for your hardwired home charger - longer term you’ll have mulitple EV’s and having dedicated in garage/at-home charger and mobile charger that “live” in the car is a good combination - although humbly I’d suggest just one mobile charger kit to be “in the car” that you might travel with is all that is necessary

my ideal combination is therefore:

• 60/80 amp EVSE hardwired in the home - dual cable for future “shared” usage
  • clipperCreek “share2” functionality - allows two EVs/EV+PHEV to charge at the same time sharing the circuit load to charge both cars at the same time - very useful for the multi-EV household.
• one 32/40 amp mobile EVSE to “live in the car” for charging “on the go”
• JDapter or TeslaTap so you can charge at L2 Tesla Chargers at various businesses/hotels/golf-courses

but that’s just my $0.02

I actually also have a mustart 32 amp “Travelmaster Gen 2” that I keep in the trunk of the Taycan (along with a few of their adapters) … It actually fits perfectly in the little extra trap door in the trunk! It is much smaller than the one that came with the Porsche (which I keep in my basement and won’t touch it until my lease ends). I love that it will automatically adjust the power depending on what adapter is plugged in. So my setup is:

- ChargePoint Homeflex installed in garage
- Mustart 32a “Travelmaster Gen 2” in the trunk of my car
- Porsche Mobile Charger (that came with my car) in the basement. Untouched. Will only put it back in the car once my lease is up

I figured that the homeflex and the mustart are mine forever… Regardless of whatever future EV I may have.

This is a perfect little set up… in my opinion!

 

[daveo4EV]

Appreciate the thoughts @daveo4EV. Your posts about charging on the forums have been invaluable. I thought I would keep the Taycan's Mobile Charger Plus in the trunk and use that as the traveling charger. Not a good idea?

Here are some pics from another outdoor install that one of the electricians I contacted shared with me to give me an idea what I should expect. My setup will be similar - a short trench from the house across some shrubs and the station mounted next to the driveway. I could mount the EV on the side of the house but would have to navigate the shrubs every time. All the equipment on the backside is a little unsightly, would the ClipperCreek or ChargePoint have the same type of equipment as this Tesla charger?

And this is the enclosure unit they use for outdoor 14-50 installs - Milbank Mfg. Co. The outlet comes preinstalled in the enclosure as a unit but the electrician said they'd be willing to get and swap in the Hubbell 9450 outlet. Maybe the Milbank is a quality product and would be fine?

Maybe it would just be better and tidier to do a hardwire outdoor.

the ONLY problem with the Porsche charger as a mobile solution is it’s very large, very heavy and therefore makes for a poor mobile choice, but given a very likely low frequency of use it’s probably fine - I prefer a smaller lighter mobile charger for my on the road use and a good fixed mount high-AMP for home charging…

your setup should look good based on the pictures - my major BIAS and problem is I’m simply not a fan of the Porsche charger in any way shape or form so I seek alternative solutions - but I’m a bit nuts.

 

[elberk]

As @chrisk mentioned, there are shortages of the charging stations right now, they've been basically out of stock and only available from 3rd party sellers with inflated markups (the $700 ChargePoints are $1400+ from 3rd party Amazon sellers). I have a standing backorder for the ClipperCreek and it's showing a June 9 delivery date. It's not too much of an issue - the Taycan 4S I have on order was tenatively set for mid-June arrival and I am pretty sure that will get pushed back; my dealer has yet to get me a VIN number so I don't think it's in production yet.

Did Porsche also mention their own 80A wallbox when getting your order? I stumbled over it in their web shop. Seems not to be available yet, but in summer though. Plus there is not much info available and it does not look very portable at all

https://shop.porsche.com/us/en/porsche-wall-charger-connect/p/$B-HCHH0LAA/

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