Unlike slow-charging Level 1 options, Level 2 chargers are super-fast. They have a long power cord and many installation options. Here's my personal ranking of the best options on Amazon.
FYI, prices and ratings are accurate as of time of writing.
1. ChargePoint Home Flex - Up To 50 Amp 9X Faster
Highlight: Charges 9X faster than 110v wall plug.
Helpful review: With the recent invasion of Tesla cars, my neighborhood will be the one place in Utah that will kill the power grid someday. I am sure the power company hates us, as this place will keep the grid at max.
My neighbor across the street came to me to see if we could test the EV chargers he was looking at for the Telsa he needed. He came to me because I have a 240-volt outlet for my welder. Since the EV thing does not seem to be going away, I think we will eventually need to have a charger here for our stuff or visitors. And I will need one at the cabin because the closest charging station, or whatever they call an EV station, is three counties away.
He brought the first charger over, and we plugged it into the wall. This is the best idea I have heard of for a quick set-up like I want. The neighbor, of course, will have his hardwired into his garage to charge like he means it, not like me, who charges for a visitor. When he ordered this, he told me that the charger end that plugs into the car has to be Tesla-specific and called a NACS. The rest of the EV world uses a J1772 connector. So be sure to get the right one for the car that may be coming to get hooked up.
When I looked down the street at the neighbor driving an EV car, I saw many stainless steel boxes and conduits on the side of the house. That is the part I was not happy to include. When it showed up, and I could just plug it into the 240v I had wired for my welder, that made me pretty happy. — Steven Kubler
Get it from Amazon now: $699.00 & FREE Returns
2. JuiceBox Smart - Up To 40 Amp
Highlight: Charging and monitoring via App.
Helpful review: This unit is a good-looking addition to the garage. Its power or charging cord is long enough to reach the car if it is parked in the driveway, which was a great discovery. The charging cord is 25 feet long, and the cord that plugs into the wall is about two feet long. This stubby cord made mounting the charging center a bit of a problem for the temporary set-up we were experimenting with.
This unit can balance the power if more than one unit is set up in the garage to charge more than one car. I honestly do not know how it does this, but it is a great idea and a good forethought by the manufacturer. My neighbor was not too excited with the WiFi app compared to others.
The JuiceBox looks like it is at home with everything in my shop. This has nothing to do with how it works; it just looks like it belongs on the garage wall. The power cord wraps around the garden hose wraparound holder, and the charging head mounts in a holder underneath or inside the wire hoop. — Brian Vale
Get it from Amazon now: $599.00 & FREE Returns
3. EMPORIA Smart - Up To 40 Amp
Highlight: Three-year, no-questions asked warranty.
Helpful review: I have read that folks will say the connections seem a little loose. This unit spends a lot of time in the user manual discussing how it will work with a smart utility meter. We don't have those in Utah, at least not in my neck of the woods. This will adjust or stop the charging when the demand is high, as the folks in California have to contend with their power grid issues.
This unit will work with solar generation; it is the only one I have read about that is designed to work well with solar energy. Others may have talked about it, but I only read about it for this unit. The unit also works with the TOU set-ups. What the TOU means is Time Of Use scheduling. For areas that charge higher rates for different times of the day, this can charge the car when the prices are better. This App will lower the demand to charge the vehicle as the battery gets closer to being fully charged. This charger is designed to save users money when dealing with variable rates.
The last thing I will say about this charger is its appearance on the wall. This unit looks like it comes from Apple. It does not and does not want anyone to confuse what I am saying; it seems like all the stuff Apple makes. It will look right in a smart home set-up, especially if all the garage stuff is white and square with rounded corners. — John R. Kenneth
Get it from Amazon now: $549.00 & FREE Returns
4. Grizzl-E Classic - Up To 40 Amp
Highlight: Will charge VERY quickly.
Helpful review: This set-up is designed to be mounted outside. So, we screwed it to the ATV trailer to give it a place to live for the testing. I am not sure the neighbor has ever had a car sit in the sunshine, and dang, sure never sat in the snow. He is not like the ordinary folks who buy a house with a huge garage and then fill it with a bunch of junk that should be taken to the landfill, like the rest of us.
We noticed that the charging head decreased the blue corrosion that copper elements develop when wet. This will never happen when plugged into the car; that connection is rock solid and safe. However, the charging head can be exposed to moisture when sitting in the weather. It's not a big deal; all we did was spray a little Prolix on the leads to protect them and not leave them exposed.
This charger is dumb (his words, not mine) in that it does not connect to the WiFi or Bluetooth to get updates and stuff like that. It is less expensive, so that may be the difference between the more costly units. This is not a world-ender thing, especially if anyone is going to have one of these for the visiting folks. — Meghan Haze
Get it from Amazon now: $349.00 & FREE Returns
5. Enphase Home - Up To 40 Amp
Highlight: Five-year unlimited warranty.
Helpful review: This unit does not have all the fancy stuff built in; they leave that up to the EV car. From what I have heard, all the EV cars do all the scheduling and stuff other super-duper charger units will do.
The power box sits on the wall, the cord wraps around it, and the holster holds the charging head in a separate location. What we were doing was not an issue. Still, if the neighbor wanted to mount the charger under his stairs leading into the garage. The charging head is the only visible thing, so this may be the only one to do it.
The cable is very flexible, while the other wires are kind of stiff. This one moves around like a garden hose. This one is an excellent choice in a space where the charging head must be removed from the wall and moved across or out of the garage to charge the car. One thing to mention about this unit is that it is the most expensive of the ones we looked at. With the better cable and charging head, it may be worth it. — Esther J. Dillon
Get it from Amazon now: $835.00 & FREE Returns
6. MUSTART Pro - Up To 40 Amp
Highlight: Easy set up and easy to take long in the car.
Helpful review: This is the unit I will take to the cabin and keep in the shed just in case someone comes by in a new EV car. This unit will unplug, wrap up, and fit in a box.
This unit is about half the cost of the others, but its portability impressed me. When this unit is mounted to the wall, it does not look as good as the rest. It will look like an afterthought. The only hard-mounted thing is the holster for the charging head. The power box will hang on a strap, so I plan to hang it on a hook by the shed door and plug it into the welding outlet.
The power cord is 25' long, allowing me to plug in the unit and pull the cord out of the door, keeping the expensive parts inside for the never-ending weather challenges at the cabin. If anyone drops by the house, I will send them across the street to charge up as a payback for the hours I spent playing around with charging units as I wait to get one to mount permanently in my shop for the visiting EV folks. — Carol Gottschalk
Get it from Amazon now: $319.00 & FREE Returns
7. W Wallbox Pulsar Plus - Up To 40 Amp 8X Faster
Highlight: Adjustable capacity from 16 amps to 48 amps.
Helpful review: This charger was the only one we tried that would adjust for the car instead of one size of power fit all. It would also be great if this charger were a loaner or possibly taken to visit folks that have a 240-volt outlet in the garage or if the dryer outlet is close enough to reach. I don't know if anyone takes a charger or uses the slow-charging 110-volt from the wall and an extension cord. I like to keep my truck charged by pulling into the diesel pump and filling the thirsty tank, but I am old and set in my ways.
This unit is tiny. I think it is about the size of my old doorbell chime box. This thing mounted in five minutes. Please remember we were putting this by my welder, so screening it to a stud and stuff was more accessible than making it look good and putting it where it will live forever, as I will in the neighbor's garage.
The unit comes with a mounting plate, and we screwed it to the studs, then put the unit on the mount; that was installation. After that, he plugged it into the 240 volts and then into the charging port on his Tesla. He was getting juice into the car immediately, with very high usability. — Greg C. Robins
Get it from Amazon now: $649.00 & FREE Returns