ShockFlo G1 Portable EV Charger Review

ShockFlo is a relatively new company in the electric vehicle charging space, but in a short time now offers a portfolio of no less than five different AC charging options and three different EV charging adapters.

The company reached out to me and offered to send me its products for review and I asked for the Portable 40-amp G1 EVSE, as many of my followers have been asking me to review more portable charging options.

ShockFlo G1 EV Charger key features

Features and Specifications

Made in China, the ShockFlo G1 is available in 32-amp and 40-amp options and both plug into a NEMA 14-50 outlet. I tested the 40-amp version that can deliver up to 9.6 kW to an EV – provided the vehicle can accept 9.6 kW. The actual charger, called the onboard charger, is always built into the vehicle, and that will dictate how much power your EV can accept from an AC charging source. So if your EV has a 32-amp onboard charger, the 40-amp ShockFlo won’t charge the vehicle any faster than the 32-amp version will.

The ShockFlo G1 comes with a 20-foot cable with a J1772 connector at the end. Currently, ShockFlo doesn’t offer charging equipment with the North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector attached, so owners of Tesla vehicles using the G1 will need to use the J1771 to Tesla adapter that comes standard with every Tesla vehicle here in North America.

The body of the unit has an IP67 rating for dust and water intrusion, which is a slightly higher rating than many of its portable charging competitors. The IP67 rating means the Shockflo should be able to withstand being submerged in up to one meter of water for up to 30 minutes without allowing water to enter the unit.

It comes standard with a carrying case, a wall-mounting cradle and a rubber cover for the J1772 connector to protect the pins when not in use. It has a three-year warranty and retails for $349.00, but is currently on Black-Friday sale for $279.00. The 32-amp version is on sale from $319.00 to a very inexpensive $186.00.

Both versions have a small display screen that shows active charging information including the line voltage, the amperage, and the amount of kilowatt-hours it’s delivering to the vehicle. It also shows the internal temperature, the length of time of the current charging session, and the number of kilowatt-hours that the charger has dispensed in that charging session.

There are also two buttons below the display screen. One that allows the user to choose the power output between 40-amps, 32-amps, 24-amps, 20-amps, and 16-amps. The second button lets the user delay charging in one-hour increments, for those that don’t want the vehicle to begin charging as soon as they plug in.

Dual Voltage Capable?

It’s also unfortunate that the unit isn’t being marketed and sold as a dual-voltage EVSE with adapters to allow the user to plug into either a 120-volt outlet or the 240-volt NEMA 14-50 outlet that it was designed for. It appears you may be able to use the G1 to charge from a 120-volt source because the specifications say the voltage range is 100V to 240V. However, Shockflow makes no mention of that and advertises it specifically as a “Level 2” charger.

Since the NEMA 14-50 plug is tethered to the device, one would need to purchase a NEMA 14-50 to NEMA 5-15 or NEMA 5-20 adapter to see if it will indeed work as a level 1 unit.

I don’t believe that responsibility should fall on the purchaser. I believe the company selling the device should explain if the unit can be used as a dual-voltage charger, and offer the adapters directly.

I always recommend having a dual-voltage portable charger handy, especially when taking a road trip, and to make sure you have the adapters on hand for 120-volt as well as 240-volt outlets. When out on the road, there’s a much higher likelihood of encountering 120-volt outlets than there is coming across a 240-volt NEMA 14-50, and even though 120-volt charging is much slower, when you really need some juice, any port in the storm will do.

ShockFlo G1 water submersion test

Testing, Results, a Serious Flaw and Recommendations

The ShockFlo G1 passed all of the tests I performed, including automatic restart, connector, and unit drop tests, the extreme cold and extreme heat weather tests, and the submersion test. Despite a good showing, in the end, I cannot recommend purchasing the ShockFlo because it has not been safety-certified by any established certification body.

I take safety certification seriously with any electrical device, but that’s especially so with electric vehicle charging equipment because of the high current passing through the unit for many continuous hours, often every day of the week. That type of duty cycle can be challenging even for the most robust-built charging equipment that is safety-certified.

If ShockFlo had sent the G1 for safety certification, it would have realized the wire used for the NEMA 14-50 plug is undersized. The wire used for the 20-foot cable is 9-gauge, and is acceptable for 40-amp circuit, barely so, but it is acceptable. In the US we don’t typically use 9-gauge wire, and 8-gauge would be used if it were manufactured here. However, in China, they do things differently and the 9-gauge was used.

But for some reason (most likely to save a few dollars) ShockFlo used 10-gauge wire on the cable that is attached to the NEMA 14-50 plug, and that’s against code. The 9-gauge wire is slightly thicker which makes it OK, but 10-Gauge is not acceptable by the National Electric Code standards for 40-amp circuits. Instead, its limit is 30-amp delivery.

Therefore, if you do purchase a ShockFlo, it would be prudent to set the adjustable power delivery to 24-amps. Even the 32-amp setting would draw more power than the NEC code allows, putting the wires in the cable in danger of burning through the insulation and possibly creating a fire. This issue was first reported by the Youtube channel Mikes Car Info.

This is something that I missed at first, which is why I didn’t mention it in the video. I checked the wire on the long cable and saw it was 9-gauge and didn’t check the small cable on the plug. Hat tip to Mike for reminding me to look at the wire gauge stamping on the small cable also.