[VoltFish]

Okay, so I previously asked about any EVSE that has a built-in kWh meter, and I got some good answers, but I've realized that I need two features and can't seem to find an EVSE that has BOTH included.

1. I need some way to lock/disable the EVSE when I'm not home. I will be installing the unit in an unsecured area near my reserved parking spot. I will be responsible for paying for the electricity used so I need a way to prevent others from using the unit. Right now it seems like the Clipper Creek HCS-40 is the way to go because it allows you to lock the charging handle into the holster with an included small padlock, or Clipper Creek offers an option where there is a keyed lock on the side of the unit that you have to turn every time you want the charging to start and then it automatically relocks and turns off when charging is completed. The downside is that the Clipper Creek units don't have any kind of built-in metering.

2. Since I will be responsible for repaying my HOA for the electricity used I need a way to meter how much electricity is going through the EVSE. I was looking at some of the options that were suggested to me such as the Chargepoint Home unit which can show kWh used via the Chargepoint app, but it doesn't look like any of the ones with built-in meters have a way to lock or disable the unit when I'm not around. Even a simple lock on the charging handle would be sufficient but the Chargepoint and others seem to come with their own custom handles that don't have a way to insert a padlock.

My ideal unit would be something like the Clipper Creek where I can either lock it with a padlock or turn a key switch to turn it on, and it also has a small display somewhere that just shows a running total of kWh. I also want something that is a commercial product that I can just purchase and hand to my electrician to install as my HOA won't be a fan of some homemade solution (they'll say I'm going to burn the place down even though I'm sure they can be made safely...).

 

[freshcut]

you can buy an actual meter similar to what the power company uses and install it next to your EVSE. The meters themselves aren't all that expensive. here are links for a meter housing (wiring goes into and meter connects to).

https://www.amazon.com/Square-Schne...id=1478535084&sr=8-11&keywords=electric+meter

meter itself.

https://www.amazon.com/Landis-Gyr-1...id=1478535167&sr=8-16&keywords=electric+meter

 

[bjrosen]

Google 240V 50A outdoor keyed power switch, there seems to be a lot of them available. The EVSE needs to be wired to a junction box anyway so use a keyed switch as the juntion box.

 

[ctiomico2003]

I love Clipper Creek...so when I say this.....I do so for the sake of trying to solve your problem.

Clipper Creek's tech is not as good as Chargepoints.

If you think about their app, their stations etc etc, they are the clear winner there.

I looked into a Chargepoint station at one point and really wanted it (esp for reporting statistics).

I would suggest for your situation to get that one as the other ones I have seen just do not have the ability to do this.
(I also think you could lock the station more securely instead of the key)

Just my 2 cents but I am sure other people on the forum will have great suggestions as well.

 

[telveer]

Check out OpenEVSE: https://www.openevse.com/ and JuiceBox: https://emotorwerks.com

 

[VoltFish]

I love Clipper Creek...so when I say this.....I do so for the sake of trying to solve your problem.

Clipper Creek's tech is not as good as Chargepoints.

If you think about their app, their stations etc etc, they are the clear winner there.

I looked into a Chargepoint station at one point and really wanted it (esp for reporting statistics).

I would suggest for your situation to get that one as the other ones I have seen just do not have the ability to do this.
(I also think you could lock the station more securely instead of the key)

Just my 2 cents but I am sure other people on the forum will have great suggestions as well.

Thanks... Is there a reason you didn't end up with the Chargepoint? Also, do you know if the Chargepoint can work and provide statistics somehow without an internet connection? Can you connect directly to it with a phone and pull historical data from it or does it require an internet connection at all times or data will be lost? I think my spot is close enough that it should be able to pick up my wifi from inside the house but just want to make sure it doesn't just revert to a Clipper Creek style unit if the internet is down or can't connect. I'm hoping that worst case it continues to store the charge data and power usage internally and then uploads it once it gets an internet connection or can be read via a mobile device directly.

 

[bjrosen]

I was looking at the Chargepoint Home info. It looks like access is controlled by a Chargepoint card, just like a public Chargepoint, so you won't need a lock, the software will handle it for you. Also it looks like it uses WiFI for it's Internet access. Use your phone from your parking spot to see if it can pick up your WiFI. The WiFI analyzer app (on Android) will tell you how stong your WiFI signal is.

I have a ClipperCreek because I own a house with a driveway but if I were in your shoes I'd be looking at the Chargepoint solution because you won't be the last person to get an EV in your complex. From the standpoint of your HOA you need a solution that is extensible to multiple EVs. Suppose there were 10 EVs in your lot, having 10 meter boxes connected to 10 ClipperCreeks would be unmanageable, however having 10 Chargepoints would work just fine. With multiple Chargepoints you would probably need a wired Ethernet connection instead of WiFI but you can cross that bridge when you come to it. The important thing is that install a solution that will make it easy for the second guy to buy an EV without having to jump through any hoops put up by the HOA.

 

[ClarksonCote]

I was looking at the Chargepoint Home info. It looks like access is controlled by a Chargepoint card, just like a public Chargepoint, so you won't need a lock, the software will handle it for you. Also it looks like it uses WiFI for it's Internet access. Use your phone from your parking spot to see if it can pick up your WiFI. The WiFI analyzer app (on Android) will tell you how stong your WiFI signal is.

I have a ChargePoint Home, and did a review of it for ChargedEVs Magazine. A Chargepoint card is not used for accessing it, though you can configure it to prevent people from using it.
https://chargedevs.com/newswire/chargepoint-home-review/

I believe there have also been some SW enhancements for energy tracking beyond what I had at the time of review.

They do have a lot of custom capability that allows you to basically start and stop charging from your cell phone, or set it to a schedule, all via wireless access point. So you should be able to just set it to a schedule or to default to not charging, if kWh theft is what you're trying to prevent with a locking station.

 

[VoltFish]

I have a ChargePoint Home, and did a review of it for ChargedEVs Magazine. A Chargepoint card is not used for accessing it, though you can configure it to prevent people from using it.
https://chargedevs.com/newswire/chargepoint-home-review/

I believe there have also been some SW enhancements for energy tracking beyond what I had at the time of review.

They do have a lot of custom capability that allows you to basically start and stop charging from your cell phone, or set it to a schedule, all via wireless access point. So you should be able to just set it to a schedule or to default to not charging, if kWh theft is what you're trying to prevent with a locking station.

Can you elaborate on how you would configure it so other people can't use it? Also, from reading your review it sounds like I wouldn't be able to view my energy usage without a Nest integrated. Am I reading that right? I was hoping I could just look at the Chargepoint app and if anything just add up all the home "sessions" to determine my monthly kWh usage.

 

[ClarksonCote]

Can you elaborate on how you would configure it so other people can't use it? Also, from reading your review it sounds like I wouldn't be able to view my energy usage without a Nest integrated. Am I reading that right? I was hoping I could just look at the Chargepoint app and if anything just add up all the home "sessions" to determine my monthly kWh usage.

Without Nest, I'm pretty sure you can view kWh used for every past charge, just not the profile/graph of the power use as a function of time, which was limited to the last charge. I can double check when I'm home tonight. It's been a while since that review, so I don't remember exactly, and also the software was likely improved on future releases since I looked for that capability.

To configure it so people can't use it, I would do something like set the available charge window to be small, like half an hour between 4 am and 4:30am. Then, when you've plugged it in, you can override it and say "start charging now" This may also be more configurable now than it used to be, but it was easy to tell the charger to start charging immediately from your phone, once you knew you had your car plugged in.

Of course, keep in mind this is separate/in addition to the charge settings in your car, which may also have their own delayed settings.

 

[bjrosen]

If I were you I'd contact ChargePoint and ask them for a recommendation. They mention your situation, i.e. assigned parking spot, on their website so I assume they have a solution that will fit your needs.

I guarantee you that once your neighbors see you plugging in they will be asking you about your car. If you have an easy to replicate EVSE some of them will consider getting an EV themselves which is why you need to find an extensible system.

 

[VoltFish]

Without Nest, I'm pretty sure you can view kWh used for every past charge, just not the profile/graph of the power use as a function of time, which was limited to the last charge. I can double check when I'm home tonight. It's been a while since that review, so I don't remember exactly, and also the software was likely improved on future releases since I looked for that capability.

To configure it so people can't use it, I would do something like set the available charge window to be small, like half an hour between 4 am and 4:30am. Then, when you've plugged it in, you can override it and say "start charging now" This may also be more configurable now than it used to be, but it was easy to tell the charger to start charging immediately from your phone, once you knew you had your car plugged in.

Of course, keep in mind this is separate/in addition to the charge settings in your car, which may also have their own delayed settings.

Okay thanks. Also, does the app somehow know that the charges from your home unit were for your specific car? For instance if I am tracking charges on my car via regular public Chargepoint stations will it combine that information for when I charge my car at my home Chargepoint station and somehow know only the charges at home that were to my car? In public you tap your Chargepoint card but at home it seems like it would just count any charge from that charger into your monthly usage. I don't really need a way to lock it or turn it off if I can make sure it only tallies up charges in my app that go to my car as I don't really expect anybody else to use it, but at least that way if somebody happened to use it for an hour or so it wouldn't even show up in my app.

 

[ClarksonCote]

Okay thanks. Also, does the app somehow know that the charges from your home unit were for your specific car? For instance if I am tracking charges on my car via regular public Chargepoint stations will it combine that information for when I charge my car at my home Chargepoint station and somehow know only the charges at home that were to my car? In public you tap your Chargepoint card but at home it seems like it would just count any charge from that charger into your monthly usage. I don't really need a way to lock it or turn it off if I can make sure it only tallies up charges in my app that go to my car as I don't really expect anybody else to use it, but at least that way if somebody happened to use it for an hour or so it wouldn't even show up in my app.

In the ChargePoint App, a "Home Chargers" option shows up and you can view all the usage for your home charger, separate from your public charging events.

 

[mhguy]

I would think you would be best off with the physical electric meter. The HOA should have no trust problem with that as they might with a "high tech" solution, where to their knowledge you could just key in some numbers to an app to change it. They have been trusting electric meters for decades. You could also use a locking disconnect switch feeding the meter (or located after it) to accomplish your locking function. This would allow you to chose the EVSE based on the features you want without limiting it to the locking or metering functions.

 

[Aseras]

For the most simple turn key, I'd go with a Smart Juicebox.

https://emotorwerks.com/store-juice...p-evse-with-24-foot-cable/category_pathway-23

You can lock it, and you can lock the handle in a smaller lockbox mounted beside it. Someone took a small $30 harbor freight safe with a code and cut a hole for the handle to fit inside to lock so only those with the code could use it.

The big commercial stand alone like a chargepoint or clipper creek are way over priced.

The catch with all of those is they have to have wifi/network to monitor or some way to upload data, and for the commercial units, to access/unlock/charge. The juicebox stores it internally and you can retrieve it manually.

You can also look into openevse if you are handy and build whatever you want into it. All of them have an EVSE handle you can put a padlock on, but it's also easy broken, and it breaks the handle/evse if they break the button off too.

 

[wws]

An organization that I know of bought AeroVironment TurboDocks. You can set up PIN code access to restrict their use. For a lower priced option, AeroVironment also offer a lockable version of their TurboCord. See: http://www.evsolutions.com/ev-charging-products-for-business

 

[VoltFish]

For the most simple turn key, I'd go with a Smart Juicebox.

https://emotorwerks.com/store-juice...p-evse-with-24-foot-cable/category_pathway-23

You can lock it, and you can lock the handle in a smaller lockbox mounted beside it. Someone took a small $30 harbor freight safe with a code and cut a hole for the handle to fit inside to lock so only those with the code could use it.

The big commercial stand alone like a chargepoint or clipper creek are way over priced.

The catch with all of those is they have to have wifi/network to monitor or some way to upload data, and for the commercial units, to access/unlock/charge. The juicebox stores it internally and you can retrieve it manually.

You can also look into openevse if you are handy and build whatever you want into it. All of them have an EVSE handle you can put a padlock on, but it's also easy broken, and it breaks the handle/evse if they break the button off too.

Thanks, I actually am considering the Juicebox unit because I saw that they sell a lockable mounting bracket which would also allow me to just get a plug-in unit rather than needing it hardwired. I was planning on hardwiring it to make it less desirable to a thief who could just walk off with the whole unit. If the Juicebox came with the hole in the handle for a padlock it would be a ready to go solution for me because I would just get one of those wall mounted holsters for the handle and lock the handle into it. The locking of the handle is mainly just so other people don't try to use the unit, and the locking of the EVSE itself is so somebody can't steal the whole thing by just unplugging it.

Do you happen to have a link to the small safe that you mentioned? I wonder if there is a way to just get a handle on the Juicebox with the hole for a padlock in it.

 

[ClarksonCote]

In the ChargePoint App, a "Home Chargers" option shows up and you can view all the usage for your home charger, separate from your public charging events.

OK, I updated the app and looked tonight. Now, I'm pretty confident a ChargePoint Home is exactly what you need. Although if you go with something else, I won't be offended! It seems like the more "mainstream" the device is, the more amenable your HOA will be, which is why the ChargePoint came to mind for me in the first place.

Maybe they took my advice from the article and feedback I had (I was a beta test user of their app), or got feedback from many that mirrored mine, but either way, several things have changed since my ChargedEVs review:
- The kWh usage is no longer rounded to the nearest kWh for each charge session.
- You can see charging details (power plot as a function of time) for each charging session.
- There are trend graphs summarizing monthly energy use, with Home charger shown separately from public. This seems to be exactly what you'd want.
- None of these more advanced functions require Nest (not sure if they used to or were newly added, I never had Nest).

Also, as noted previously, you can set a schedule that allows charging only on certain times. You can always override this schedule on your wireless device. So an easy way to keep others from using your power is to restrict the times to late night hours when you know you'll already be plugged in. Or, even go as narrow as a half hour window late at night and use the app to override and start charging once you're plugged in. The latter seems more cumbersome except for times when you'll be away from home (otherwise you could forget to override and wake up to an empty battery). The schedule is also easy to change from the wireless device so you could experiment.

By the way, they have hardwired and plug variants of this charger, depending on your preference. Each can be ordered.

See screenshots I took tonight below!

 

[VoltFish]

Nice, thanks for checking out the Chargepoint app again...

So I think right now I'm down to either the Chargepoint Home or the Juicebox 40 Pro.

Chargepoint 32A hardwire with 18' cord - $649 plus tax (~$688 for me total)
Pros:
- More streamlined design, looks nicer
- Integrates with Chargepoint app to provide metering and other data
Cons:
- No way to easily lock unit physically, must disable through app
- No built in security to prevent entire unit from being stolen other than hardwiring as a deterrent
- Requires wifi connection within range of unit

Juicebox 40 Pro with locking bracket 40 amp with 25' cord - $623.99 with free shipping
Pros:
- Has application to view metering and other usage
- Has lockable mounting bracket to prevent theft of whole unit
- Has hole in charging handle so handle can be locked into holster or into car to prevent unauthorized use
- Can be installed using locking bracket and plug so unit is still portable if needed but also secure
- Supports up to 40 amp charging, although I'm not sure if I will ever have a need for this specific level. Seems like it will either be 6.6 kW which both the Chargepoint and Juicebox can do, or it will be something higher like 10 kW which neither can do and I would buy another EVSE with a future car anyways.
- 25' cord vs. 18' cord on Chargepoint - Not a big deal to me either way
Cons:
- Not as nice looking. Just a box with a separate holster/holder to wind the cable over
- Requires wifi connection within range of unit

I'm pretty torn between these two right now. I do like how with the Juicebox I can have the electrician just wire an outlet and still secure the unit outside with the locking mounting bracket. Then whenever I move I just unmount the unit and unplug it and I'm good to go, or I can even easily remove the unit and take it somewhere else temporarily if there is a 220v outlet available (this is probably something rare but you never know). I don't really need a 25' cord and think that extra length will just get in the way though, and I do like how with the Chargepoint the unit is all one piece and it keeps the cord wrapped around itself. I wish the Chargepoint came with a simple handle with the padlock hole in it as then I could easily just lock it into the unit itself so people couldn't remove the handle.

 

[Aseras]

Grabbed this pic of my Juicebox at lunch. Sorry, it's dirty, but keep in mind, mine is 2 years old now and been outside the whole time ( and has worked flawlessly and even charged a rav4ev at a full 10KW 40 amp charge).

You can see the hole where you can put a lock and also the latch so it cannot be removed or connected. The lock in the hole prevents the button from being pressed.

Many of the EVSE have this, some newer ones do not. Some cars like the leaf have a pin that locks the EVSE into place until it is unlocked.