I'm looking at this charger for my house. Has anyone used one and, if so, what is your opinion?
Thanks in advance!
Emporia Level 2 charger
Thanks in advance!
Emporia Level 2 charger
Has anyone used an Emporia home charger?
- Thread starter skywaterbanjo
- Start date
it was well rated in Tom Moloughney’s reviews.
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I just ordered one and it will be installed on Friday. I spent a lot of time going back and forth on ordering the Lucid charger but will wait until bidirectional charging (V2H) becomes a reality here in Nevada.
For the Emporia, I like the rich feature set - scheduling, utilization metrics, etc...
I have a question about this charger. It says it is rated at 48 amp delivery. I would assume that means that the circuit feeding it would be 60 amps for the 80% rule?
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Correct.
I have it and it's pretty neat. Easy to install and hardwire. You can select your breaker settings in the app (up to 48amps). You can configure your utility (provider and plan you're on) and it can figure out the scheduling depending on your plan to charge off-peak, and shows the pricing after every charge.
Just installed the Emporia home charger yesterday, so wanted to share some observations with anyone considering this option.
The install was performed by licensed electricians and a permit was pulled, so everything on the up and up here. The electricians were assigned by QMerit per Lucid arrangement.
Time:
The total install time was 3 & 1/2 hours, most of the time was spent running the cable, which is thick and not terribly flexible
Wire:
AWG #4 inside the wall
In case you are wondering why AWG #4 wire was used for a 60 amp max charger (e.g. 48 amps max hardwire), it's because I wanted to reserve the right to install a higher capacity home charger without having to replace the wire. With AWG #4, I could go to an 80 amp charger in the future.
Connection:
Hardwire
Location:
Wire runs from the main breaker box to the charger on the same wall. Distance approx 10 feet horizontally, which meant boring holes through the studs along the way, plus 3 feet down from the box and 4 feet up at the destination location. Think of a "U" shaped cable run. I had the charger installed higher on the wall than typical for a couple of reasons.
The hardware connection ports inside the unit likely assumes AWG #6 and so the electricians had a tedious time getting AWG #4 wire into the ports (they were narrower than expected).
You use the app and connect via Bluetooth, to then configure for your home wifi. You use their app which you must install ahead or during the physical install. Overall, easy and seamless with a couple of comments.
By default, the charger will be set to 40amps. You can change that setting on your phone, as shown in @Trekforever post above. I left mine at the default for the test charge (with the Electricians). The unit charged without issue and exceeded the 9.2 kW flow. I was measuring 41.5 amps. After a couple of charges, I will change to 48 amps.
Other observations:
The app is fairly amazing, and supports things like scheduled charging, but can do a whole lot more. This Emporia brand is part of a much larger ecosystem of home power management, from EV's to smart plugs, etc.. You can do things like set a maximum power consumption for your entire real estate footprint (EV included) and then have it manage which outlets to prioritize over others to achieve the targets you set. It's quite visionary. Focusing on the EV charger itself, it seems to offer a great deal of metrics, cost calculations, graphs, and data in general that I find differentiating.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out.
The install was performed by licensed electricians and a permit was pulled, so everything on the up and up here. The electricians were assigned by QMerit per Lucid arrangement.
Time:
The total install time was 3 & 1/2 hours, most of the time was spent running the cable, which is thick and not terribly flexible
Wire:
AWG #4 inside the wall
In case you are wondering why AWG #4 wire was used for a 60 amp max charger (e.g. 48 amps max hardwire), it's because I wanted to reserve the right to install a higher capacity home charger without having to replace the wire. With AWG #4, I could go to an 80 amp charger in the future.
Connection:
Hardwire
Location:
Wire runs from the main breaker box to the charger on the same wall. Distance approx 10 feet horizontally, which meant boring holes through the studs along the way, plus 3 feet down from the box and 4 feet up at the destination location. Think of a "U" shaped cable run. I had the charger installed higher on the wall than typical for a couple of reasons.
- The charger is on the wall right next to the Lucid charging port and the car is close to the wall when parked.
- I didn't want the 25 feet of charging cord to interfere with my ability to get in and around during charging.
- I wanted extra wall space for larger loops to coil the charging cord since most of the time I'll only a couple of feet of cord max.
- There's no risk of the car ever hitting the charger.
- It's safer higher up. Code is 36" height minimum where I live (Nevada).
The hardware connection ports inside the unit likely assumes AWG #6 and so the electricians had a tedious time getting AWG #4 wire into the ports (they were narrower than expected).
- This is probably the biggest takeaway... If you are installing AWG 3, it's possible the wire may not actually fit into the hardwire ports.
- The electricians lamented the fact that the face plate of the unit had to be secured by 8 Allen-wrench screws, which are very short and cannot be hand started. They are also positioned in a way where you cannot actually rotate the allen wrench around completely. So, lots of dropped screws and lots of time trying to secure the face plate.
You use the app and connect via Bluetooth, to then configure for your home wifi. You use their app which you must install ahead or during the physical install. Overall, easy and seamless with a couple of comments.
- The instructions were incorrect and incomplete. However, if you can figure out which device to connect to via Bluetooth on your phone (it's not obvious at all), then you're good.
- On Android, there is one device that you specifically should not connect to, which are in the Notes in the app during setup. If you do, you have to disconnect and restart.
By default, the charger will be set to 40amps. You can change that setting on your phone, as shown in @Trekforever post above. I left mine at the default for the test charge (with the Electricians). The unit charged without issue and exceeded the 9.2 kW flow. I was measuring 41.5 amps. After a couple of charges, I will change to 48 amps.
Other observations:
The app is fairly amazing, and supports things like scheduled charging, but can do a whole lot more. This Emporia brand is part of a much larger ecosystem of home power management, from EV's to smart plugs, etc.. You can do things like set a maximum power consumption for your entire real estate footprint (EV included) and then have it manage which outlets to prioritize over others to achieve the targets you set. It's quite visionary. Focusing on the EV charger itself, it seems to offer a great deal of metrics, cost calculations, graphs, and data in general that I find differentiating.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out.
I installed one today but when I went to the app to do the setup, it said Emporia uses smart car and doesn't support Lucid. So the charger charges and works great at the default 40 amp. How did you get past the Lucid not supported to continue the setup? It just takes me back to the beginning and I'm stuck in a loop and Emporia customer service is not open on the weekend. It seems to be a really nice charger for the money and I'm sure there's a way to get past the Lucid not supported thing.
Please post your solution so others may learn.
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I just ordered one for my parents, based on all of the reviews, I think this is what I would order if I needed one right now.
Thankfully my juicebox from 2014 still works so I haven't needed to shop for one personally.
Thankfully my juicebox from 2014 still works so I haven't needed to shop for one personally.
I do recommend the charger for anyone looking to hook up 75amps or less.
Just be advised that the unit will not physically support AWG 3 cabling. If you're looking to provide 80 amps with 100 amp breaker, do not buy this unit.
Please have a look at my review in this thread for additional details.
Has anyone used an Emporia home charger?
I'm looking at this charger for my house. Has anyone used one and, if so, what is your opinion? Thanks in advance! Emporia Level 2 charger
lucidowners.com
I got the Emporia wall unit after reading this thread and others, and had it hard wired. I did try the time-of-use option and put in my utility information, but when I plug in the car, I get the message "cable connected" on the Lucid, rather than "charging scheduled." And when the clock hits midnight, the charger turns on but the car is not awake, so it doesn't know to start charging (this was a common issue prior to the software update that fixed some of the scheduled charging troubles). Anyone else encounter this recently and have any advice?
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You will need to turn off scheduling on the Emporia and just use the scheduling on the car. This is true with all the chargers with built in scheduling. When the charger turns on, the car will not wake up unless you wake if up.
