[mainesail]

After a year of debating, we finally went ahead and bought a 2019 Limited. We need a larger vehicle for our annual trip to and from Maine to Illinois and as much as I would have preferred the Volvo V90 wagon, practicality won out.
The van is granite crystal with the Safety Tec option. I would have liked to go with the 18" wheels but I really didn't care for how they looked. Too bad that there isn't an 18" version of the 20" wheel offered on the gas model.
What are people using for chargers and what are the pros and cons of the various ones out there?

 

[sunsun]

Congrats on the new car!

 

[PacificaJohn]

Congrats on the Limited! I am on my second one and love it. What color interior?
You will find that the Pacifica is an ideal long distance traveler. A van has been my best travel vehicle!
John

 

[MLambert]

I love my Pacifica for long road trips! I have a Clipper Creek level 2 charger installed at home, so I can charge in a couple of hours (I usually charge overnight, but it's nice on the weekends to recharge if we're running errands). Some people prefer a smarter EVSE because of problems with their vehicle's scheduled charging feature, but mine has worked fine. Some people also want an EVSE that will track their kWh. (Keep in mind that if you want to track MPGe, the car will record "electric miles" from energy collected during regenerative braking, so the math may not be accurate if you just divide by the energy from charging.)

If you search the existing threads, you'll find a lot of EVSE comparisons.

I keep the original Chrysler level 1 in the car and sometimes charge when out of town, but mine essentially becomes an ICE on most of my trips. But my PacHy still gets much better MPG than the van it replaced.

 

[CANADAHYBRIDGUY]

Congrats on the purchase . I have a ChargePoint that I take with me on road trips and a juice box pro 40 for home use .

 

[triggerhappy007]

First you need to find out if your house can handle another 30A or 50A circuit. Then you decide what EVSE to get. I would recommend a plug-in type rather than hardwired.

 

[Cornfield]

First you need to find out if your house can handle another 30A or 50A circuit. Then you decide what EVSE to get. I would recommend a plug-in type rather than hardwired.

Why is plug in better?

 

[rudiger]

Why is plug in better?

Portability.

 

[1tg1]

Congrats. I bought a juicebox40, works perfectly. I have had no issues coming up to 8 months ownership, find my mileage below.

 

[dlieu]

Why is plug in better?

if you already have an outlet, you just plug it in, no electricians, no inspections, no $$.

But i installed 30A outlet anyway to have a plugin. Multiple EVs and a special charger for such which i can take to a new location.

I would just add I check the plugs and sand off any oxidation once a year, or it may develop some heat issues (just like regular old 110 outlets where it is less critical though). You may prefer a hardwired setup if you don't want to deal with the outlet/plug maintenance, and also in case your car allows faster-than 40 kw charging (Teslas).

But so far 8 hours of off-peak time and 24A continuous charging (30A breaker) has been almost always enough to charge both my cars in sequence overnight unless both cars ran more than 200miles total on the previous day. But it is easily made up during weekend off-peaks, or the day after. There would be even less replenishment concern with a 50A outlet.

 

[mainesail]

Congrats on the Limited! I am on my second one and love it. What color interior?
You will find that the Pacifica is an ideal long distance traveler. A van has been my best travel vehicle!
John

The interior is black/alloy which we haven't actually seen yet since the dealer is going to pick it up tomorrow.
We've had Chrysler vans since 1985 and just sold the last one several months ago so we know all about traveling long distances. We actually had been making the trip to Maine the last 4 years in my Volvo wagon but between all of the stuff that goes back and forth and our cat, things were pretty cozy in there. Last spring, our son and his wife gave us their 2005 Odyssey. It was in atrocious shape but a new fender, paint and a lot of interior cleaning, it was good to go and we remember how easy it was to do the trip with a van.

 

[PacificaJohn]

The interior is black/alloy which we haven't actually seen yet since the dealer is going to pick it up tomorrow.
We've had Chrysler vans since 1985 and just sold the last one several months ago so we know all about traveling long distances. We actually had been making the trip to Maine the last 4 years in my Volvo wagon but between all of the stuff that goes back and forth and our cat, things were pretty cozy in there. Last spring, our son and his wife gave us their 2005 Odyssey. It was in atrocious shape but a new fender, paint and a lot of interior cleaning, it was good to go and we remember how easy it was to do the trip with a van.

Sp awesome! My '19 has the Alloy and i LOVE the lighter interior compared to the Mocha on my '17. It really brightens up the interior. I would definitely get it on my next one.
John

 

[triggerhappy007]

Why is plug in better?

1. If you move, you just unplug it and take it with you.
2. If your unit has any issues and you need to send it back, it's a lot easier to unplug rather than removing a hardwired unit.

 

[nilduam2001]

After a year of debating, we finally went ahead and bought a 2019 Limited. We need a larger vehicle for our annual trip to and from Maine to Illinois and as much as I would have preferred the Volvo V90 wagon, practicality won out.
The van is granite crystal with the Safety Tec option. I would have liked to go with the 18" wheels but I really didn't care for how they looked. Too bad that there isn't an 18" version of the 20" wheel offered on the gas model.
What are people using for chargers and what are the pros and cons of the various ones out there?

Congrats! Could you please share the MSRP and discounts?

 

[rudiger]

1. If you move, you just unplug it and take it with you.
2. If your unit has any issues and you need to send it back, it's a lot easier to unplug rather than removing a hardwired unit.

There's also the potential of being able to use 240v at an alternate location, for example, an RV park or a friend who has an accessible dryer plug.

Yeah, you'd have to know if it has the correct type of receptacle for your charger plug (there are several but there are adapters) but if it's a known location, it's a whole lot faster than a level 1 wall outlet charge.

In fact, I rather like the Duosida unit. It's small (approximately the same size as a level 1) and, as an added bonus, quite cheap relative to the vast majority of level 2 units (hardwired or otherwise). And you can use the Duosida as a faster level 1, to boot.

 

[ScorpyMjolnir]

There's also the potential of being able to use 240v at an alternate location, for example, an RV park or a friend who has an accessible dryer plug.

Careful! RV 30 amp is 120 volt. It's a similar plug, but you won't want to plug a level two EVSE into it. If they have 50 amp service, it is 240 volt, but you'll likely need an adapter.

 

[rudiger]

Careful! RV 30 amp is 120 volt. It's a similar plug, but you won't want to plug a level two EVSE into it. If they have 50 amp service, it is 240 volt, but you'll likely need an adapter.

I hear what you're saying, but was kind of hoping that any RV adapter would have the correct female/male plugs to prevent voltage mishaps. I wouldn't think that any commercially purchased, ready-made 30 amp RV adapter is going to have a 240v receptable. Of course, that wouldn't prevent someone from going down to Home Depot, buying the plugs and jury-rigging one up, with bad consequences.

Then there's a level 1/level 2 sensing charger like Duosida. Seems like that one would be okay since it supposedly automatically differentiates between 120v and 240v and charges accordingly.

The whole RV thing is kind of a stretch, anyway, since the cost to charge using an RV pad would likely be way more than finding and using a purpose-built level 2 charger. But it is an option (I would think mainly for those with a depleted BEV, though).

 

[mainesail]

Congrats! Could you please share the MSRP and discounts?

$48,035 was list and with the $1,000 customer discount(which ends today), the price we paid was $$45,112. The dealer had a virtually identical 2018 on his lot but the combination of it having a year of depreciation plus the 2019 has power folding mirrors(handy with our garage), tipped us to the 2019.