The Alpha EV charger is the latest in a lineup of high-powered EVSE from United Chargers that are all built Canadian-tough and deliver a lot of value at reasonable prices.
The Alpha is a 40-amp, WiFi-connected smart charger that has features and functions currently not available on any other home EV charging equipment. Perhaps the most prominent and unique feature of the Alpha is its bright 7″ touchscreen display. The crisp, bright screen is also durable, as it’s protected by 4mm of Gorilla Glass. The direct user interface of the Alpha will allow owners to do much more than just charging their EV.
The Alpha needs such a screen to access its pre-loaded applications that allow the customer to set a 4-digit PIN to unlock the unit, schedule charging sessions, view charging history reports, see real-time power delivery including line voltage and cumulative kWh delivered over time.
While the unit comes with some apps like these pre-loaded, United Chargers promises monthly OTA updates that will add more apps. Alpha owners will also be able to visit an app store that will host 3rd-party applications in the near future. The Alpha will have features that are not available on any EV charging equipment today and will change the way EV owners interact with their EVSE.
As United Chargers gets closer to releasing the Alpha in (tentatively) April 2021, much more information on the smart-charging features will be released.
The Alpha’s plastic cover snaps on and off easily.
Another very unique feature of the Alpha is that the cover is easily removed and can be replaced with another color cover if desired. United Chargers will include two covers with every Alpha, one black, and another color that the customer chooses. Currently, the three choices are yellow, blue, and green. The Alpha is the only EVSE that allows you to change its look to suit your style.
But optional colors are just a start, the Alpha will have the ability to add customization in the future, for a truly unique and personalized look.
The Alpha is OCPP compliant and will have the ability to run any network software on it (even more than one at a time). It also has adjustable power output to match the circuit you have it installed on. It’s the only EVSE that allows you to adjust the power two ways, either by setting the internal DIP switch or by the touch screen interface.
Even though the Alpha has some great visuals, it’s what’s inside the Alpha that really makes it the most unique EVSE is that it has a computer built inside with computing power to process a high load, and that makes Alpha’s additional capabilities virtually endless.
Like its little brother, the Grizzl-E, the Alpha can deliver 40-amps (10kW) to an electric vehicle, and to do so needs to be on a dedicated 50-amp circuit. However, if you don’t have the ability to add a dedicated 50-amp circuit to your garage, you can derate the power all the way down to 16-amps (3.3 kW) if necessary. The Alpha comes with a NEMA 14-50 plug, but it can easily be removed if the customer prefers to hardwire the unit.
While most customers won’t need more than 40-amps to charge their EV, some EVs are coming to market with more powerful onboard chargers that allow for 48-amp (11.5 kW) level 2 charging and higher. The upcoming Lucid Air will have an 80-amp (19.2 kW) onboard charger so some OEMs in the industry are definitely moving to faster level 2 charging.
To accommodate the vehicles that can accept more than 40-amps, the Alpha will be offered in an 80-amp version that can deliver up to 20 kW to the vehicle. However, that version won’t be available until sometime close to the end of 2021. We’d also like to point out that the Alpha is not currently UL certified. United Chargers has opened the UL certification process and is hopeful to complete testing and approval within a 6-month period.
We’ll be revealing more details on the Alpha in the coming months. The Alpha is currently available for preorder for $599.00, a $100 savings off of the regular price of $699.00. So don’t wait – preorder your Alpha today and be the first to experience the first interactive multimedia EV charger in this solar system.
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