I purchased the Clipper Creek (made in the USA) LCS-20P and am very pleased. It is a 16amp charger, so it is capable of providing all that the Prime can take. There is no overhead available for the larger chargers available in current BEV's, so their charging would be slowed. But by the time I upgrade from the Prime, I'm sure the larger EVSE's will have come down in price. Why pay additional money now for the unused overhead. The Clipper Creek LCS-20P was $395 plus shipping, and I am pleased with the quality and size of the package. I purchased it with a NEMA 6-50p, which is the receptacle I wired in the garage for my MIG welder. This EVSE drops charging time from over 5 hours to just a little over 2 hours. I still use the L1 for overnight departure scheduled charging, and the L2 during the day to provide the extra charge required for any additional errands.
I can tell you my reasons: I didn't want to pay an electrician twice, and have the hassle of a different outlet and need for heavier wiring with the next car I didn't want to pay for another EVSE when I buy a car with a greater than 3.3 kW on-board charger I wanted the EVSE to be more useful to visitors if they have a beefier on-board charger I thought the extra $200 for the 50A CC EVSE attached to a 14-50 outlet instead of the 20A attached to (e.g.) an 6-20 was an easy choice. YMMV
My Clipper Creek charger is working fine. The following is from one of my other posts on home chargers: No matter which one you end up buying, I highly recommend the longest cord available, which seems for now is 25'. I just installed a plug in from ClipperCreek. LCS-20P, Plug-in 16 Amp Level 2 EVSE, 240V, NEMA 6-50 plug, with 25 ft cable $395. I was debating getting the more expensive models-"Future proofing". But decided to go cheaper.The Wi-Fi communicating ones are a nice feature, however using the Entune app that's already built in is cheaper and gives all the info you really need. So, in my opinion, that is a waste of money to buy the Wi-Fi models. It does not utilize any more than 3.3 kW. So anything more is just a waste. I plan on having the Prime for at least 5 years or longer. If your planning on changing EVs soon and will need more power, then it might pay to get the more expensive variety. I chose the plug in version because I also have a welder and plasma cutter that can use a 220v 40 amp line. I use the same plug for all. I ran the electric myself, so install was cheap as possible--Yes, I adhered to the local codes. Be sure and check the dimensions of the wall unit. Some of them stick out quite a ways and could be problematic for some installs. One last important note: Most of the units are tested, but make sure they have a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory, such as Intertek (ETL mark) or Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL mark) for safety. Sort of the GoodHouseKeeping Seal of approval. You don't want your house to burn down! I installed mine right between the two garage doors. Perfect fit. Can reach the car no matter which side of the garage it's in or just outside of the garage.
Mine is the LCS-30P (actually 24A, for a 30A-rated circuit), with the NEMA-6-30-type plug. There’s a lawnmower-hutch cutaway in the back of our garage that, as luck would have it, shares a wall with the laundry room. Since a couple years earlier, we switched from electric to gas dryer, we had a NEMA-10-30 on the opposite used of that wall. So we had an electrician disconnect the NEMA-10, and wire that circuit to a new NEMA-6 he mounted on the other side of that wall in that garage lawnmower hutch. iPhone ? Pro
I’ll just quickly add that having a level-2 charger at home deeeeefinitely makes a big difference in our ability to run well over 90% on EV. There are many cases where a level-2 charger can turn around a charge quickly enough to get back on the road, whereas the Toyota charger that came with it clearly would not. Well, the other big advantage, clearly, is that we have level-2 chargers at work too, as well as at our favorite mall, not far from home. Even better, those chargers are on Austin Energy’s “Charge EVerywhere” $50/year all-you-can-charge buffet plan! iPad ? Pro
Agree with the advantage of L-2 for multi trips per day. The one thing I dislike is the puny 3.3 kWh onboard charger. Wish Toyota would have put in the more typical 6.6 kWh charger.
Yeah, I agree that would help. Our charger at home is capable of 24A — half-again the P.Prime’s 16A capacity. Most of the chargers around town are ... I think 30A-capable or thereabouts. Anyway, 24A would make our charging at the mall near home a lot better. iPhone ? Pro