Moving to Washington, and my power company is offering $500 rebate on a Juicebox. $159 vs $400 for Tesla wall charger?

[Atreyu]

Not sure what to do here but I'm having an electrician come in next month to hardwire install the wall charger for $1000. I'm looking at my power company and I can get a rebate for a Juicebox for $500, bringing the 40amp version down to $159.

Is there any benefit to the Juicebox over the Tesla wall charger? My wife currently has an ICE and she wants to get an EV in the future, but with the entire landscape starting to shape, and we need an SUV, an Audi Q4 eTron looks kind of nice instead of the Y.

 

[kishkaru]

I have two Juiceboxes at home that I use to charge my Tesla and non-Tesla EV interchangeably.

I've had my first unit since 2016 and my second unit since 2017. Reliability wise, they have been rock solid, and when there were minor issues, customer support has been excellent. It's more convinient to use the J1772 to Tesla adapter than to use the Tesla to J1772 adapter due to size.

Pros for Juicebox:
- can charge any EV easily
- cheaper (for you)
- charging stats (including historical stats)

Cons for Juicebox:
- Limited to 40A (vs 48A on Wall Connector). The 48A Juicebox is currently out of stock and the ETA is June-July 2022.
- Cable is thick and heavy. If you live in an area where it gets below freezing, the cable gets unweildy as it freezes.
- No button to unlock charge port on Tesla vehicles. You have to unlock the car (e.g. open/close a door) and push on the port manually to open it. Or use the Tesla app to open it. Or use the touchscreen inside the car before you get out. Or use they keyfob button. This can get annoying if you plug/unplug regularly. I use the fob so it's a non-issue.

Ultimately, you can't go wrong either way. Why not get one of each? Easy for the Tesla, easy for the future Q4 e-Tron.

 

[Mockingbird]

Get the JuiceBox

 

[Atreyu]

I have two Juiceboxes at home that I use to charge my Tesla and non-Tesla EV interchangeably.

I've had my first unit since 2016 and my second unit since 2017. Reliability wise, they have been rock solid, and when there were minor issues, customer support has been excellent. It's more convinient to use the J1772 to Tesla adapter than to use the Tesla to J1772 adapter due to size.

Pros for Juicebox:
- can charge any EV easily
- cheaper (for you)
- charging stats (including historical stats)

Cons for Juicebox:
- Limited to 40A (vs 48A on Wall Connector). The 48A Juicebox is currently out of stock and the ETA is June-July 2022.
- Cable is thick and heavy. If you live in an area where it gets below freezing, the cable gets unweildy as it freezes.
- No button to unlock charge port on Tesla vehicles. You have to unlock the car (e.g. open/close a door) and push on the port manually to open it. Or use the Tesla app to open it. Or use the touchscreen inside the car before you get out. Or use they keyfob button. This can get annoying if you plug/unplug regularly. I use the fob so it's a non-issue.

Ultimately, you can't go wrong either way. Why not get one of each? Easy for the Tesla, easy for the future Q4 e-Tron.

Thanks for the great write up! I currently use the plug into a 220V outlet at the rental I'm at now, but I figured I'd just get the Jukebox to charge whatever EV we get next. I think the 40A is currently available thru my power company.

 

[RTPEV]

I would advocate for the Juicebox for the reasons that @kishkaru gave.

As for the "cons" that they gave: 40A is probably sufficient for most people. I have a 30A EVSE at home and it is plenty sufficient. If I had to charge every day, even that replenishes my daily use in less than 90 minutes. But as it is I only need to charge every 4-5 days and it easily handles that overnight. My wife has a VW and we just alternate charging. Not really a problem (although full disclosure, my EVSE has two connectors, so if we did have to, we could both charge at the same time).

As for the lack of unlocking: I park in my garage so have my Tesla set up to not lock at home, so the charge port is not "locked". I just hold in the J1772 latch for a second and the charge port releases the adapter. I bought a second-hand J1772 adapter so I can keep one in the car, and the other stays attached to my J1772 connector on my EVSE.