Chargepoint Home Flex vs Tesla Home Charger

[singlestack]

Does anyone have experience with the Chargepoint Home Flex charger, and can you tell me if it's better/worse than a Tesla home charger from a usability/app-features perspective? I realize Teslas will have to use an adapter to charge via the Chargepoint... how big of a pain is that?

It sure would be nice if Chargepoint would offer a replacement cable that has a Tesla connector on the end, so no adapter would be needed... but they do not seem to offer such a cable.

I bought a Chargepoint for my upcoming Model Y just so I'd have flexibility to charge Bolts/Rivians/whatever down the road but now I'm wondering if that was a good idea or not.

 

[Soul Surfer]

Tesla has a J-1772 version of the Wall Connector now.

 

[RTPEV]

I guess it depends on what you think a home charger SHOULD be capable of doing.

In my case, even though my home charger technically has some smarts to it (such as time-of-day usage), to me, I don't really need anything more than a glorified electrical outlet that I plug my car into (well, actually vice versa in the case of a charging station), and I'll let the car do all the scheduling, etc. So for me, as long as it functions, I don't really care about any features or app-features or whatever.

Others, however, may be looking for more functionality or capability (such as load sharing, scheduling, cost reporting).

Only you will know what features are important to you, and without knowing that, it's hard for us to advise you on the pros/cons of one versus the other.

I will say I am in your boat with respect to the J1772 connector vs. the Tesla connector. Like you, I simply prefer having an industry standard connector so that it doesn't matter what kind of car I have plug into it, I have the right connector. But yes, that means I have to use the J1772 adapter. So I just bought a second one and it just stays attached to the J1772 connector. The first one stays in the car. Easy enough solution for me (although it did cost me about $65 or so--I bought the second adapter second hand).

 

[Genie]

I’ve only used the J1772 adapter at public L2 but I don’t think it’s a hassle. At home wouldn’t the adapter just live on the Chargepoint cord most of the time?

 

[RTPEV]

I’ve only used the J1772 adapter at public L2 but I don’t think it’s a hassle. At home wouldn’t the adapter just live on the Chargepoint cord most of the time?

Yes, but in my case since you never know when you might need to plug into a public charger (or get an opportunity to), I like to just keep one adapter in my car for those spontaneous occurrences, and then keep the other "permanently" attached to my J1772 EVSE.

 

[brancky3]

I will say I am in your boat with respect to the J1772 connector vs. the Tesla connector. Like you, I simply prefer having an industry standard connector so that it doesn't matter what kind of car I have plug into it, I have the right connector.

I think a lot of us agree with this. J1772 is far more useful in the EV landscape right now.

 

[Earl]

Does anyone have experience with the Chargepoint Home Flex charger, and can you tell me if it's better/worse than a Tesla home charger from a usability/app-features perspective? I realize Teslas will have to use an adapter to charge via the Chargepoint... how big of a pain is that?

It sure would be nice if Chargepoint would offer a replacement cable that has a Tesla connector on the end, so no adapter would be needed... but they do not seem to offer such a cable.

I bought a Chargepoint for my upcoming Model Y just so I'd have flexibility to charge Bolts/Rivians/whatever down the road but now I'm wondering if that was a good idea or not.

We have a bunch of the Chargepoint Home Flex at my office. The good part is that using the adapter isn't really a big deal. The bad point is that the models we have have a round ball-shaped, swiveling receptacle to hold the connector when not in use that come loose. They are constantly in use so they get a lot of wear - but yours will, most likely, also get a lot of use.
i'd recommend either the Tesla J-1772 or Clipper-Creek for J-1772.

 

[srs5694]

I own a Clipper Creek HCS-40 with the (then) optional JuiceNet board. I bought it in 2017 for my Chevy Volt, and kept it when I bought my Tesla, since it was cheaper and easier to add a J1772-to-Tesla adapter than to replace the HCS-40 with a Tesla Wall Connector. I have no regrets about that decision. Some observations/comments:

• I leave the J1772-to-Tesla adapter permanently attached. In this configuration, it works just like a Tesla connector except that with Tesla's products, you can push the button to open the charge port door, which doesn't work with a J1772 connector, even with the adapter. Tapping the charge port door works fine instead.
• Disconnecting works in pretty much the same way with either type of plug (push the button to stop charging or unlock, then pull it out), although there's a risk of disconnecting the J1772 plug from the adapter rather than the adapter from the car. Once you get the hang of it, it's not a problem.
• My EVSE is mounted outside, so I use a small padlock to secure the adapter to the J1772 plug. (Most, but not all, J1772 plugs provide a small hole in their buttons for this purpose.) It's not really effective; pushing hard enough on the J1772 handle's button still releases the adapter. Still, it might deter a curious/mischievous passerby.
• Like the ChargePoint Home Flex, the JuiceNet board in my EVSE provides network access. This is far from a must-have feature in my view, but it's proven interesting and occasionally helpful, in that I can monitor charging independently of the Tesla, set charging schedules independently of the Tesla, etc. There are ways to do all this via the car, of course.
• Some utilities offer discounts to EV owners who use utility-approved EVSEs that enable the utility to (partially) control when you charge. You might want to look into this, since the ChargePoint Home Flex might qualify. Such programs are fairly rare right now, but they may become more common in the future.
• As you say, a J1772 EVSE is more likely to be useful if you have friends over who need to charge or if you replace your Tesla with a non-Tesla EV in the future. I've had friends charge on my Clipper Creek from time to time.
• I created a 3D-printable design for a holster adapter, so that I can mount my J1772 plug with the adapter to my Clipper Creek's J1772 holster without removing the adapter. I can't promise that this adapter would work with a ChargePoint Home Flex, but there's a good chance it would. If you own a 3D printer, or know somebody who does, it's worth checking it out. (Many public libraries now have 3D printers available for use by the public.)

 

[907tracer]

I have the CP charger, same setup as you are considering. I got it because the Tesla app didn't have charging stats at the time and the CP's cord was longer. I do like the flexibility of the J1772 though w/ all the other EVs coming out. The adapter isn't a big deal at all. Just depress the button for a sec without pulling on the handle to start the adapter unlock process, then push it the handle back in to relatch it to the adapter and pull the cable and adapter as one unit.

 

[TigerNinety]

I have the CP charger, same setup as you are considering. I got it because the Tesla app didn't have charging stats at the time and the CP's cord was longer. I do like the flexibility of the J1772 though w/ all the other EVs coming out. The adapter isn't a big deal at all. Just depress the button for a sec without pulling on the handle to start the adapter unlock process, then push it the handle back in to relatch it to the adapter and pull the cable and adapter as one unit.

Or, use Gorilla tape!

Seriously, that’s what I do. I went with CP for the reasons folks cited above (especially the cable length, when the cable on Tesla’s EVSE was shorter, and our power company did t offer a rebate on the Tesla unit). But I’ve been very happy to be able to let our closest friends, who drive a Leaf, charge when they visit. Much harder/expensive to do when you have the Tesla charger.