EMPORIALevel 2 EV Charger - NEMA 14-50 EVSE w/ J1772 Connector - 48 amp EV Charger Level 2, 240v WiFi Enabled Electric Vehicle Charging Station, 25ft Cable, White

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.

Initial Install 7/10/2025 of Emporia EV chargerA little background: I got my first of several plug-in vehicles in the 2012 model year and immediately installed a level 2 circuit and charger. Since that time I have purchased, installed, and set up nine EV chargers and multiple related circuits. Two Leviton units, one of which failed and Seven Enelx Juice-box units, six of which have failed so far.I have read the specs, reviews, and user experiences of every EV charger I could find over the past 2 years expecting to have to replace the last Juice-box units at some point. I finally chose to purchase the Emporia charger. I received, installed, and tested this unit today.I installed the Emporia app on my phone and ipad. After this I powered up the new Emporia charger. Initial device discovery and setup in the app took literally a couple of minutes total. It could not have been more clear or gone smoother. I set up a charging schedule and current limit, then plugged into a waiting car and toured the app while charging was taking place. I am completely satisfied with the equipment and the entire process at this time. From my view of the Emporia app and their website it looks to me that those folks have their act together. I have listed myself on the wait list for the Emporia battery backup system for a future project.If there is any substantial change in this happy picture, I will update this EV charger review.Cheers.

The Emporia charger was easy to install (by electrician) on a 60 amp circuit to enable our EV to charge at 11.6 kW. It was easy to configure using the app and has worked very well for the past month. It charges even if WiFi is out (not the case for all chargers). The cable is long enough to reach multiple spots in the garage and I find it very easy to manage (some other reviewers described at is overly stiff and difficult to manage, but I am not experiencing that). The cable dock seems a little small, but I have not installed it.Overall, very pleased and highly recommend it.

Very neat and straight forward ev car charger. The app is also very nice.Pros- easy install, indoor/outdoor (we installed ours outside), plenty of wire for the assembly and all hardware for mounting includedCons- it’s 220 v, unless you are knowledgeable in home electric installs and understand current building codes and such, you may need professional installAdditional - you need an outdoor (or indoor) junction box for the direct wire setup (that’s what we have) you can get the one that plugs into a 220 outlet (you will need hardware for 220 outlet)Give yourself about four hours for near professional install

Why did you pick this product vs others?:We researched with our electrician and decided this was the one for us. Our EV6 was charging for 3 years with no problems. Then one day it stopped. Emporia sent out a replacement charger. We called and got all the assistance that they could give. Still not charging...finally we took to the dealer and they kept the vehicle trying to figure out the problem. The 12-volt battery was dying, but did'nt show up on the car as a problem. Thankfully Emporia was patient with us as we waited for our car to get moving again fully charged. Everything is now fully charging well. They gave us excellent support and walked us through every step of replacing the new charger, even though it was no fault of their product. Ease of use:GREATCharger quality:GREATWorks well:ABSOLUTELY