HCS-40 Hardwired EV Charger

Simple durable construction. Works good. Installed inside my garage. I have a second EV charging station at my office from another manufacturer and the extra internet information is nice but is problematic at times due to lost WiFi connection. This unit just works. The packaging is very good and unit arrived in perfect condition. Easy installation and very straight forward. I didn't think I would be able to take advantage of the 25' cord at first but I am glad that I have it now. The extra length cord allows me to charge my car if parked outside if needed. The only complaint I would have is the delivery time. I would almost knock off a star because of the delivery time and extra cost but the unit is a good product. The shipping dates were correctly stated on the order and it took the entire time for delivery. Ordered on Oct 7th and delivered on Oct 18th. If in a hurry like I was do not expect it to arrive early on the estimated shipping date. Not an amazon prime item and shipping was $36 bucks extra. Ordered a competitors model and arrived in one day from local Home depot, no shipping charge. I would purchase again and would recommend the unit.

This EVSE (electric car charger) has fairly basic functionality, but it wins out in industrial design. The unit has no controls or settings you can change; it is all controlled from the car being charged. Feed it with power from a 40A 240V circuit breaker, and you're ready to charge. What I really do like is the way that the cord storage is integrated into the case, the way the case mounts to the wall, and the separate plug storage holster that holds the plug compactly almost parallel to the wall. Mounted on the side of the house next to the driveway, it's nice to not have that be very obtrusive, or sticking out where it can be damaged. The main case mounts with a pair of lag-type screws (included), vertically aligned on a single stud. They are driven from the front, so there is no need to mess around with measurements or opening the case and risking damage to the weatherproofing. I had to drill pilot holes through my stucco wall, but otherwise the included screws don't even need any pre-drilling. I store the cord in three generous loops around the built-in channel on the top of the case, although I usually only need to pull off two of the loops to get to my car's charging port. I have the plug holster mounted one stud over, to the left of the main case, which works very well. This convenient arrangement makes it much easier to hang the cord and plug up when the car is done charging, and leave the driveway tidy. I was very deliberate about the install process, thinking about how I wanted things arranged before I started drilling, and it still took me less than two hours to get it installed and operational. All that said, I do wish that this unit had some sort of connectivity for monitoring and programmability for my electric company's Time of Use plan. It makes much more sense for that programming to be on the fixed EVSE side, rather than in the car (as in the Nissan Leaf) which may use other chargers in other locations.

I chose this unit, in part, because I did not want a "Smart" (aka "Internet of Things") EVSE which could be hacked or might change how it operates if/when the manufacturer goes out of business or stops supporting it. Most "Internet of Things" devices have questionable-to-abysmal communication and privacy safeguards, and nearly all are permanently dependent on the continued operation and good will of their manufacturers. The charging cord is flexible, its J1772 connector feels stout and the included holster works well. The enclosure's integrated cord hanger is convenient to use which prevents the cord being left on the driveway where it could be run over by a car or lawnmower. My EVSE is outside and the status indicator LEDs are hard to see during daylight hours but they show clearly at night--which is when I usually charge the car--without being overly bright. The HCS-40's UL certification is a Good Thing. This EVSE comes with first class Technical Support. A few days after I had the EVSE installed by a very good licensed electrician, it indicated an intermittent ground fault which turned out to be false. (This has occurred once in the 2 weeks since the EVSE was installed.) On my first contact ClipperCreek's Tech Support nailed the cause of the errant indication and provided clear explanations for why it happened, what it meant and how it affects the device's operation. When I confirmed their diagnosis on my second contact, ClipperCreek offered several zero- to low-cost options for preventing the false indication. It might be helpful for EVSE buyers to know that some small home appliances (e.g. from VitaMix and Keurig) can generate sufficient electrical noise in a home's wiring to incorrectly trigger a ground fault indication. This can depend on where such appliances connect into the electrical panel relative to the EVSE and other variables. I do not know if other EVSE's incorrectly indicate ground faults in similar circumstances. Update: The unit has been in service for about 6 weeks now and operates as expected. It is fed from a subpanel in my house, so as of now there appears to be no code-compliant way to prevent the ground fault indications, short of replacing our VitaMix with a less noisy appliance. We get a ground fault indication once every 3-5 times we use the VitaMix. The fault clears after 17 minutes so this brief interruption does not significantly affect the charging process of our Leaf.

Bought this because the reviews were good. Unfortunately not very reliable, my unit broke after a few months with an internal fault. The contactors got stuck closed, and the unit got super hot. A potentially dangerous state since the connector remained energized even after removal from the car. Support was fine and shipped out a new unit, but had to pay electrician again to come back out to hook up. Pretty shoddy build quality overall, would get another unit if I had the chance. If you have a Tesla, you are probably much better off getting the HPWC. If you get this unit I recommend getting the plug version, so when it breaks you can easily replace it yourself.