Stumbled on this interesting 27 minute YouTube video about how and whats inside the fancy Siemens "smart" charger as well as handshaking protocols. Watch and learn what role the small female connectors below the high voltage receptacles in the SAE J1772 connector play, and that unlatch lever did more than you thought. (But then you already knew all this, didn't ya? )
One thing he did not mention in the video about the cost of the EVSE is the royalty fee that has to be paid to the owner of the patent for the J1772 connector. I don't know how much it is, but I understand that it is substantial. The cheap knockoff EVSE's from China don't bother with such niceties as royalty fees.
The J1772 connector is engineered to be extremely resistant to damage. The SAE spec provides: Receptacle and cord plug – Specified to comply with international standards including: • J1772™ • IEC 62196 • UL 2251 • Electrical safety – 10,000 cycle life with exposure to dust, salt and water – Vehicle drive over does not expose a hazard – Sealing – Corrosion resistance – Touch temperature limits Also worth noting is that the J1772 standard provides that there is no charging voltage present at the connector until the connector is plugged into the vehicle and the vehicle signals the EVSE that it's ok to energize the cable/plug assembly. There is a nice discussion of J1772 in Wikipedia here: SAE J1772 - Wikipedia
I've opened up the handles and those switches are pretty small and delicate looking. I'm not surprised that they fail once in a while.
