Right now I am using the included charging cord to charge my car. It's fine for at work, since it will fully charge in the amount of time I work. At home, it's fine overnight, but not so good if I need to leave shortly after I get home (i.e. to a meeting, out to dinner, etc...) I do not live near restaurants and such, so 5-6 miles of charge left doesn't go far. I live in rural western Mass, for information's sake. I was looking into a charging station earlier this year and just couldn't justify spending $500-$700 to cut my charging time in half. I mean, I know it will never save me money anyway, but that's more than I am willing to spend for convenience. My question is this: What is the difference between a charging station and a level-2 charging cord? Why would I want the station over a stand-alone cord? The cords I've been looking at are roughly in the price range I would be willing to spend to get that faster charge ($200-$300).
Cord will work fine for the Prime. It maybe a problem if you ever want to get a vehicle with a bigger battery that can charge at 30 or 40 amp, a charging station would be needed for those vehicles. I paid the extra money and got a charging station for future purposes without having to buy to another charger later. Keep in mind, you will need a 240 V outlet installed if you don't have one already. Also make sure the appropiate amperage wiring and breaker are installed for which ever one you use. #1 in Easley,SC
I bought my 240V charging cord on eBay for about $230 w/ priority shipping. I already have 240V in my garage for my compressor and they both happen to use the same plug so... No fuss no muss! Nexus 6P ?
Well the main reason is that a Level 2 charging station at home cuts time down to 2 hours 10 minutes vs. 5.5 hours. (11.25 miles/hour on 240V vs. 4.4 miles/hour on 110V charging) Because it's charging at a higher voltage, it's ever so slightly more efficient than 110V but we're talking pennies here. Also, some are thinking that they'll get an EV in the near future so they'll install a more robust station (one that can carry higher amperage). The other option is to use the CHG function while you're travelling the rural roads. Yes it uses gas but at least you'll have some extra charge when you get home. I think people have said it's about 32 minutes to get to 80% (which is the max level the CHG function will charge)
I went with the cord, works fine, under $300. Get a garden hose rack for the cord $12.00. My charge time is more like 1:50:00. The car sends me notifications to when it's charged, so I'm good with it.
A "station" is hard-wired, and may also have communications (i.e. WiFi). A "cord" is plugged into a 240V outlet, of which there are several types (look at an electric clothes dryer or electric stove/range). Cords usually don't have communications.
I purposely got a charging station with a cord so i can change out my station in the future without having to hard-wire it every time I change it out or take it to a new residence. #1 in Easley,SC
My DuoSida level 2 'cord' works great, and charges fast. And a great buy at $165 delivered. Search is your friend.
In my case the local utility will pretty much reimburse me for my Charging station, so all i have to do is get the outlet installed (hardwired). The way I look at it, I just used my built up AmEx rewards to get it so the Rebate will go into my pocket or pay for the install and then some. I am looking forward for the quicker charges for just that reason on weekends when I need to make another short run but I just don't have enough charge left over from the morning errands. The charge cord is used for the office, heck I'm stuck for 8 hours so it works just fine and it's usually done in about 3 hours max because I don't use as much kwh going to office as coming home.
I got my garden hose rack on clearance at Wally world for under $6 so I really made out like a bandit! Nexus 6P ?
I think "charging station" vs "charging cord" is just semantics. You still need a box full of electronics between the wall plug and the plug that goes into the car to perform the protocol that the charger in the car expects. This box may in addition have Internet connectivity and may be permanently mounted on a wall, which is what I think people call a "charging station". But as one poster mentions, there are "charging cords" that have WiFi connectivity, so the distinction is not clear. You always have a cord that connects to the 120V or 240V source (plug or hard wired), the box containing the electronics, and a cord with a J1772 plug that plugs into the car.
The question is which of these pictured will work for the Prime? Both are level 2 chargers. The first one is a "cord" and the second one is a "station". Both sgould work for the Prime. The "cord" is cheaper. #1 in Easley,SC
I think that I remember that L2 versus L1 charging is about 8% more efficient.......so theoretically it could save you enough to justify the expense......right? Yeah....I know. Not right.....but L2 might cause you to actually have more EV miles available TO USE, to say nothing of the convenience. That will make sense over time if you keep the car long enough, and if you're next car is going to be another PHEV then it almost would not make sense NOT to plan on an L2 charger eventually. If the latter is the case, then I would encourage you to see how much a dedicated circuit would cost. You might get some more dot.gov cheese to offset the expense, depending on your state. I say all of this as a non-owner....so TIFWIW. However....(comma!) If you're going to spend $25,000 for a PHEV, why quibble over an additional $300-$500 for an L2 charger??? Good Luck!
All the Prime cares about is if it supports the J1772 protocol, which pretty much every L1 and L2 charger in North America does (Europe is a different matter, as are DC fast chargers). The "stations" usually have additional functionality, such as timers and Internet connectivity, but the Prime couldn't care less about that. Charging stations may support higher power, but that is moot for the Prime, which has a 3KW charger.
Charles made an important point. Everything noted above is about charging stations. Some are portable like the original one that comes with the car. Some bolt to the wall. Some have a plug for their power source, and some are hard wired. All are charging stations that communicate with the charger inside the car. The cable used has four conductors between the control box and the SAE J1772 plug. Two for charging power. Two for communications.
technically true. i think the o/p was simply using the terms to differentiate between semi permanent wall mount and a 240v version of her oem cord. as is often the case, she hasn't been back, and we're left discussing amongst ourselves. and the always leads to descriptive technical minutiae.
