This week EV Rider is reviewing one of the fastest and most comprehensive home charging set-ups available from a brand that’s gained a strong reputation in the EV charging industry.
Chances are you’ve run into an Enphase charger somewhere along your travels. They can be found at a good number of hotels and shopping centers.
They also design rugged home chargers.
“So we’re getting ready to install a 60-amp charger that is made by Enphase,” said Sonny Flores of Synergy Solar as he and his team unboxed the charger for installation in my garage.
Synergy Solar here in Northeast Florida is installing both a solar system and the Enphase charger. Look for a video about the solar installation coming soon to EV Rider. Their team handles a good number of residential and commercial battery, solar and EV charger projects across Jacksonville’s First Coast region.
I’ve been testing Enphase’s 60-amp home charger for weeks now and the amount of information and flexibility it provides is first rate.
Let’s start with the most important aspect and that’s charging speed. Emphase’s IQ 60 EV Charger puts out the maximum AC charging speed our family’s three EVs can accept. It tops out at 11.5 kW.
If your EV can accept even more AC charging speed, Enphase also makes a 64-amp charger that can deliver up to 15.4 kW per hour.
Because Synergy Solar installed a higher amp charger, they hardwired it as opposed to installing a NEMA 14-50 outlet. NEMA 14-50 outlets are normally limited to 50-amps. If your home already has a 14-50 plug, Enphase does sell chargers that work with those as well.
Once the installation was completed, the fun part began: using the new charger. In the case of my Mustang Mach-E I’m seeing an indicated 11.2 kW added per hour, which is actually just a bit above its peak-rated Level 2 charging speed of 11 kW.
Enphase Enlighten Android, iPhone App
Enphase’s Enlighten app estimates it’s adding up to 35.75 miles of range to the Mach-E per hour.
Enphase chargers come with an all-weather NEMA-4 rating so if you need to install it outside, it should hold up well.
My Enphase review unit is ETL and CSA certified and conforms to UL standards, unlike a good number of lower-priced chargers on the market. It’s also got Energy Star’s seal of approval, so it should be more energy efficient than some competitors.
Enphase’s chargers are available with either j-1772 or Tesla NACS plugs so all modern EVs are covered without the need for an adapter.
For EV newbies, the North American Charging Standard (NACS) will be gradually replacing the j-1772 plugs that most non-Tesla’s have today. Almost every EV manufacturer has announced they will switch production to the NACS standard for their U.S.-bound EVs within the next year or two.
Since the cord length is 25-feet it should reach just about anywhere in most garages.
What really sets Enphase chargers apart are their connected software. The Android and iPhone apps offer comprehensive information. The app quickly led me through the setup process, working the first time with no issue.
Next, you’ll probably want to plug in your utility rate information so you can easily track how much home charging is costing you. Enphase can save you time here as well since it can pull in rate information from many utilities.
If yours isn’t listed, you can enter it manually. You might want to doublecheck the rate Enphase pulls in case the utility has recently changed its rate or has added surcharges that Enphase’s app might not see.
Now you’ll be able to track your charging costs by hour, day, week or month.
If your utility offers off-peak charging incentives Enphase has you covered there as well. You can use the app to start and stop charges based on when power rates are cheapest, which is usually during late night and overnight hours.
Where this is really nice is if you have multiple EVs. Instead of needing to programming two or more apps or vehicles separately, you can program just the charger.
For those of you thinking about Enphase’s solar system, as you probably have guessed by now, Enphase ties all that together as well, letting you see at a glance how much power is being generated by the sun.
If you’ve got any questions about the Enphase charger let me know in the YouTube comments and I’ll do my best to answer them.
Enphase provided EV Rider with the review unit featured in this video and post but did not have any editorial input, nor did it see an advance copy of the video or post. Here’s link to EV Rider’s editorial policy regarding review units for anyone that would like to read it.