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Finally upgraded from the wall outlet -- should have done it a year ago

Went from ~3 mph on the wall outlet to 25+ overnight. My wife stopped asking every morning if the car would be ready. That single question disappearing from my life was worth the install cost by itself. I dragged my feet for a year. Told myself Level 1 was fine because the numbers technically worked. What I didn't calculate was the small mental tax of watching the percentage climb slowly every night and doing "will I make it" arithmetic before every unplanned drive. If you're on the fence about upgrading, the answer is just do it. The tech is boring, the wire is boring, the install is a Tuesday afternoon. The relief is the whole product. Anyone still on Level 1 by choice after having tried Level 2? Curious if there's a real case or if it's just "haven't gotten around to it" like I was.
63 answers
3 ANSWERS
tobiasr82
@tobiasr82October 04, 2026
We charge on Level 1 most of the time and it covers the daily commute fine. The only real problem has been the plug slowly working itself loose from the outlet over time. Mostly that just means I'm too cheap to bother with Level 2 when the solar covers most of it.
mdonnelly_
@mdonnelly_October 02, 2026
I put in L2 right away, never did the L1 thing for more than a couple weeks....$400 to the electrician plus $750 for the JuiceBox 40. Something people don't figure into the "L1 is fine" math is losses. I've seen something like 21% on 120V vs 8% on L2. In CT with what we pay for electricity, that's real money over 120,000 miles. Funny thing is the one time I was glad I had a 120V cord was when the ICCU went the first time...no wait, that doesn't help, the ICCU does all of it lol. Car was just dead. Anyway. Best car I ever owned, the home charger is the reason it's painless.
craig_denton
@craig_dentonOctober 02, 2026
100 mile round trip commute at 70 mph. In winter that's well over half the battery a day. Level 1 can't put that back in one night, so it was never really a choice for me.
WenStorm J1772 Home EV Charging Kit