Charging Question

[Amar G]

I'm getting my car next week and I just installed a Nema 14-50 plug in my garage. It's my first EV and I'm a bit clueless on charging. Is there an advantage to getting a product like Chargepoint or even the soon to be released Lucid charger over just plugging my car into the Nema 14-50 outlet? If so, what's the advantage? Any help/advice is appreciated

 

[hellolucid]

from my understanding, these products help you schedule charging since Lucid doesn't support that feature yet. your electricity provider may have peak hour charges and you want to avoid charging the car during those hours. no other benefits as far as i know.

 

[borski]

from my understanding, these products help you schedule charging since Lucid doesn't support that feature yet. your electricity provider may have peak hour charges and you want to avoid charging the car during those hours. no other benefits as far as i know.

Remote control, tracking the amount of charge for statistics, adjusting the amount of power the car gets (so you can run a saw at the same time or whatever), etc. There are lots of benefits, just not *required* benefits.

 

[magesh]

I'm getting my car next week and I just installed a Nema 14-50 plug in my garage. It's my first EV and I'm a bit clueless on charging. Is there an advantage to getting a product like Chargepoint or even the soon to be released Lucid charger over just plugging my car into the Nema 14-50 outlet? If so, what's the advantage? Any help/advice is appreciated

The biggest & possibly only one advantage of owning a dedicated home charger vs using the Lucid supplied charger, is iIt frees up the supplied charger for emergencies, road trips, etc ... It's like insurance. Simple.

If you are super disciplined, unlike me, you will remember to take it with you when you pack for long trips & unpack it when you are back home & keep your car charged to 50% to 80% daily.

Everything else, relating to Wifi, SOC limits, etc are all bonus points. Now, if / when Lucid makes available their dedicated home charger, that is a value add, especially if you see power cuts in your part of the country. You can reverse the connection & power your home (but yes, you lose the ability to drive your car for extended distances thereafter.).

Hope the above helps.

P.S: Check with your local state EV incentives. Buying/installing an EV outlet and/or charger will qualify for rebates/incentives.

 

[SM_NCarolina]

The biggest & possibly only one advantage of owning a dedicated home charger vs using the Lucid supplied charger, is iIt frees up the supplied charger for emergencies, road trips, etc ... It's like insurance. Simple.

If you are super disciplined, unlike me, you will remember to take it with you when you pack for long trips & unpack it when you are back home & keep your car charged to 50% to 80% daily.

Everything else, relating to Wifi, SOC limits, etc are all bonus points. Now, if / when Lucid makes available their dedicated home charger, that is a value add, especially if you see power cuts in your part of the country. You can reverse the connection & power your home (but yes, you lose the ability to drive your car for extended distances thereafter.).

Hope the above helps.

P.S: Check with your local state EV incentives. Buying/installing an EV outlet and/or charger will qualify for rebates/incentives.

I agree, that using the charger supplied with the car as a spare is better. I'm using a ChargePoint at home to charge my Tesla and soon GT. Some of the features listed are useful. @Amar G Don't forget to check if you can still get EV charger Federal credit.

 

[Bad driver 20202]

I’ve had a charge point station since 2017. Love it. Gives you reports & you can manage your charging on their app. It’s not cheap but it’s worth it.

 

[GEWC]

As a counterpoint, I installed a chargepoint and actually wish I had either simply put in the plug or put in a wallbox (to control input so I pull from solar/pw only). I find the chargepoint app useless as my scheduled charging never starts.

 

[DeaneG]

As a counterpoint, I installed a chargepoint and actually wish I had either simply put in the plug or put in a wallbox (to control input so I pull from solar/pw only). I find the chargepoint app useless as my scheduled charging never starts.

Interesting, Chargepoint scheduled charging works fine for us (on a Volvo, no lucid yet). We use a charging window corresponding to off peak electricity rates. Is the location set correctly (affects time zone)?

 

[GEWC]

Interesting, Chargepoint scheduled charging works fine for us (on a Volvo, no lucid yet). We use a charging window corresponding to off peak electricity rates. Is the location set correctly (affects time zone)?

Yeah, I have it all set up correctly, but it doesn't start. I even waited up until midnight one night to watch it and nothing. I don't care overly much, but I only put the chargepoint in because of the scheduling part. Maybe it isn't as good on an android? It charges fine at least when you simply plug in.

 

[Steveinarizona]

Yeah, I have it all set up correctly, but it doesn't start. I even waited up until midnight one night to watch it and nothing. I don't care overly much, but I only put the chargepoint in because of the scheduling part. Maybe it isn't as good on an android? It charges fine at least when you simply plug in.

If you have it setup correctly, it sounds like you have a defective unit. a guy with an automotive blog that I used to listen to said "New" means "never ever worked". That could be yours.

 

[DeaneG]

Yeah, I have it all set up correctly, but it doesn't start. I even waited up until midnight one night to watch it and nothing. I don't care overly much, but I only put the chargepoint in because of the scheduling part. Maybe it isn't as good on an android? It charges fine at least when you simply plug in.

We're all-Android here, even the Volvo, working fine.

 

[hydbob]

Yeah, I have it all set up correctly, but it doesn't start. I even waited up until midnight one night to watch it and nothing. I don't care overly much, but I only put the chargepoint in because of the scheduling part. Maybe it isn't as good on an android? It charges fine at least when you simply plug in.

This is how my schedule looks.

 

[Snafu]

As a backup, there is also an "Optiwatt" app that I used for my Tesla (could not schedule a start AND stop time reliably with the phone app or car). You can customize your on-peak/off-peak hours for weekdays/weekends according to your electric company's rates/seasons. The app's staff were very responsive with questions/feedback/updates, and it worked well for me since the car's options were limited. I'm hoping that the Lucid configurations work, though.

 

[GEWC]

I did the reboot & reset and set it to charge my husband's X5, since he plugged in. We'll see if it works on that and if so try again on the Lucid.

Also, your weekend off peak is the same as weekdays, @hydbob? That sucks.

 

[hydbob]

I did the reboot & reset and set it to charge my husband's X5, since he plugged in. We'll see if it works on that and if so try again on the Lucid.

Also, your weekend off peak is the same as weekdays, @hydbob? That sucks.

Yep! Thanks SCE!

 

[Sandvinsd]

Interesting, Chargepoint scheduled charging works fine for us (on a Volvo, no lucid yet). We use a charging window corresponding to off peak electricity rates. Is the location set correctly (affects time zone)?

It has worked just fine on the Lucid For me.

 

[GEWC]

I did the reboot & reset and set it to charge my husband's X5, since he plugged in. We'll see if it works on that and if so try again on the Lucid.

Also, your weekend off peak is the same as weekdays, @hydbob? That sucks.

Didn't work. I just checked. It should have started at 7pm and didn't.

 

[hydbob]

Didn't work. I just checked. It should have started at 7pm and didn't.

Time to send it back! What color is the light when you plug in?

 

[Sandvinsd]

Didn't work. I just checked. It should have started at 7pm and didn't.

Does it start a charge if you plug, unplug and plug again? That is how you bypass the time setting. I would call ChargePoint In any case and let them troubleshoot. I wouldn’t assume it is the car if you have never had the ChargePoint work From a timed perspective.

 

[GEWC]

Time to send it back! What color is the light when you plug in?

Blue.

And I started the charge through the app and it worked, only the scheduling part doesn't. I am not assuming it's the car @Sandvinsd. I always thought it was the charger.

I'll call Chargepoint on Monday to troubleshoot.