The Wheego Whip LSV comes with a 120V charge cord; you can plug it into any standard 120V outlet to charge your Whip. This is called “Level 1” charging. It takes about 8 hours to go from 20% state of charge to 100% fully charged. So – if you keep the cord in your garage and plug the car in every night, you’ll be good to go the next morning.
The Wheego LiFe uses the industry-standard J1772 charging interface. The LiFe comes standard with a 120V “travel cord” for Level 1 charging. One end of the cord plugs into the J1772 receptacle on the car, and other end plugs into a standard outlet in your garage, workplace, hotel, etc. If you are only driving 30 or 40 miles a day, this may be all you need. The LiFe goes about 100 miles on a charge. If you are driving the full 100 miles each day, you’ll want to get a “Level 2”, or 240V charging system. It takes over 20 hours to recharge a depleted battery if you’re using 120v (Level 1). With a Level 2 system, you can fully recharge overnight (about 10 hours for a complete charge, or 5 hours to go from 50% to 100%). You can still carry the 120V cord with you to recharge on the go, or you can use any of the J1772 Level 2 charging stations that are being installed across the country.
For home charging, we recommend the following Level 2 charging stations. We have tested all of these with the Wheego LiFe. Contact your local Wheego dealer to purchase a charging station along with your LiFe.
All of these units must be installed by a professional on a 220V/240V line. Most are hard-wired, meaning they are permanently wired into your garage or carport. The charging station manufacturers have installers they work with nationwide. Installation costs vary depending on your home wiring and the distance from the charge station to the circuit box. The installation is usually around $1000.
The LiFe should be plugged in every night. The battery management system is constantly checking the batteries over, which places a tiny load on the batteries. If the car is left unplugged for more than 10 days or so, the batteries can drain all the way down and be ruined. If you get in the habit of plugging your car in every night, it will only use power as needed to keep the car charged – there is no danger of over-charging or wasting power by being plugged in.
Wheego Recommended Level 2 Charging Stations:
Clipper Creek Level 2 LCS-25. Clipper Creek also makes the 120 “Travel Cord” that we ship with our cars. For more information about Clipper Creek, visit their website at clippercreek.com |
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GE Wattstation Level 2. Available as a wall-mount unit or a pedestal. Suggested retail around $899. | ||
Leviton’s Evr-Green Electric Vehicle Charging Stations, available in multiple charge rates, with For more information, visit the Leviton web site. |
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