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Buyers Guide Series for Electric Vehicle Charging Stations: Hardwired or Plug-in?

Hi, and welcome to ClipperCreek’s Video Buyer’s Guide for Electric Vehicle charging stations. So you’ve done all your research on which electric car you want to buy, and here’s the next big step: figuring out what charging station you’re going to get.

The first consideration when buying a charging station is making sure it’s safety certified. Once you have that dialed in, the big question is whether to purchase a hardwired station or a plug-in unit. So what’s the difference?

Let’s start with the hardwired charging stations. Here are the basics. All of ClipperCreek’s hardwired units can be installed both indoor or outdoor. The hardwired station has three feet of flexible conduit coming from the top or bottom of the station depending on the model, and it has service wires that come out of the conduit about six inches for easy installation into a junction box.

When it comes to installation hardwired units are typically more permanent. They can definitely be moved but you need to have an electrician come out to uninstall and then re-install the unit at your new location.

With the plug-in unit there is no flexible conduit but instead there is a high quality 240 Volt plug that is 12 inches long and again comes from the top or bottom of the station depending on the model. And just a head’s up, 12 inches is the longest length allowed per National Electric Code.

There is no standard when it comes to 240 Volt plugs which is why we offer a wide variety of plugs with our charging stations to fit your needs. In fact, some homes already have a 240 Volt outlet installed and you can order the plug that matches what you already have.

If you don’t already have a 240 Volt outlet you can have an electrician install an outlet for whichever one matches the plug you purchase. Once the outlet is installed simply mount the station to the wall, plug in, and start charging.

So you’ve got a couple of great options when it comes to your charging station.