Enclosure: the clearest win on the page
Grizzl-E publishes a UL Type 4 indoor/outdoor rating on a metal case, plus an operating range of −30°C to +50°C. ChargePoint publishes NEMA 3R. Those are not close.
NEMA 3R covers falling rain, sleet and external ice formation — the assumption is a wall that gets weather but not a beating. Type 4 adds windblown dust and water directed from a hose. The metal shell rather than molded plastic is the physical expression of the same intent. The figure we’d actually shop on, though, is the temperature range: an enclosure rating tells you about water, and a published −22°F floor tells you about January. Most brands publish the first and stay quiet about the second.
If your charger is going on an exterior wall with no overhang, in a place with real winters or salted roads, this section ends the comparison. If your charger is going inside a closed garage, this section is irrelevant — neither rating will ever be tested, and paying for Type 4 is paying for a specification that will spend a decade doing nothing. Our outdoor charger roundup covers what the ratings mean in more depth.
Charging speed, and what the gap costs
Grizzl-E tops out at 40 amps, about 9.6 kW, which at our standard reference of roughly 3.5 miles of range per kWh is about 34 miles of range per hour. ChargePoint reaches 50 amps, about 12 kW, or about 42 miles per hour.
Eight miles an hour is the largest speed gap in any of our head-to-heads, and it still barely matters for most drivers. Over a ten-hour overnight window it is 340 miles against 420 — both far more than a normal day’s driving. Where it becomes real is a specific scenario: recovering from a nearly empty battery after a long trip, or refilling two cars from one charger on rotating nights. Our two-EV roundup covers that second case.
The important asterisk is the circuit. To get 50 amps out of the ChargePoint you need a 60-amp circuit, because NEC Article 625 treats EV charging as a continuous load and sizes the circuit to 125% of the draw. Grizzl-E’s 40 amps runs on a 50-amp circuit. So the honest comparison is not “42 miles an hour versus 34” — it is “42 miles an hour and a 60-amp circuit versus 34 miles an hour anda 50-amp one.” On a tight panel, that reframing flips the answer. Our 40A vs 48A comparison and our how many amps guide both work this through.
Install: plug-in versus hardwired
The Grizzl-E Classic Connect plugs into a NEMA 14-50 outlet — the same 240V receptacle style used for an electric range or an RV hookup. The ChargePoint Home Flex is sold hardwired, with a plug-in NEMA 14-50 SKU also available.
A plug-in charger has three practical advantages that matter more than they sound. You can take it with you when you move, which is decisive if you rent. You can replace it yourself in thirty seconds if it fails outside warranty, rather than booking an electrician. And the electrical work is a familiar outlet installation rather than a charger-specific termination.
Hardwiring wins on two counts: it removes a plug-and-socket joint that carries continuous current for hours every night, and it seals better against weather. It is also the only route above 40 amps, since the 14-50 receptacle is a 50-amp device. Our hardwired vs plug-in comparison covers all of this properly, and our installation guide covers what either job involves.
The app question, asked honestly
Both chargers connect now. Grizzl-E’s Classic Connect joins a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network and pairs with the Grizzl-E Connect app for statistics, schedules, remote control and utility demand/response programs. ChargePoint has the most mature app in home charging, and a longer track record of maintaining it. If the app is the deciding factor for you, ChargePoint wins that on maturity rather than on features.
What a charger app is genuinely good for is scheduling around a cheaper overnight electricity rate, and measuring energy at the wall. The first of those — the valuable one — every modern EV can already do from the car, for free, with a schedule that travels with the vehicle rather than with the parking spot. So treat app maturity as a tiebreaker, not the headline. The second, energy measured at the wall rather than estimated by the car, is real but narrower: you want it if you’re checking charging against your utility bill, and you don’t if you’re not. Our smart charger roundup covers which app features actually earn their keep.
Both can also be dialed down in software, which is the spec that decides tight panels. ChargePoint’s range is 16 to 50 amps; the Grizzl-E’s is 16 to 40. If your panel can only spare a 30-amp circuit today, either one will fit it — but only the ChargePoint still has room to grow to 50 amps if you upgrade the circuit later.
Cable, certification and warranty
Cable. Grizzl-E publishes 25 feet, ChargePoint 23. Close enough not to decide anything.
Certification.Both are UL/cUL listed against the ANSI/UL 2594 EV supply equipment standard, so neither is cutting safety corners to reach its price. They differ on ENERGY STAR: ChargePoint publishes an ENERGY STAR listing for the Home Flex, and Grizzl-E does not publish one for the Classic Connect — the discontinued Grizzl-E Classic had one, and it does not carry over to the new model number. If an ENERGY STAR listing is a condition of a rebate you’re counting on, confirm your exact model in the ENERGY STAR product finder first.
Warranty. Both three years as standard. Grizzl-E sells a 5-year extension separately, which ChargePoint does not offer.
The verdict, by buyer
Buy the Grizzl-E Classic Connect if the charger will live somewhere genuinely exposed and you want a published temperature rating rather than a vague promise of weather resistance, or if you rent and want a charger you can unplug and take with you. Its 40 amps runs on a more common 50-amp circuit, which frequently makes it the cheaper total install as well as the cheaper box. It is our cold-climate and exposed-install pick across the site for exactly these reasons.
Buy the ChargePoint Home Flexif your panel is tight or your circuit is not settled yet — adjustable amperage all the way to 50 is the single best hedge on the market — or if you want a charger app with the longest track record of still being maintained in five years. Also buy it if you specifically want energy measured at the wall rather than estimated by the car.
Buy neither if you want 48 amps in a weather-rated body: that is the EVIQO 48A or the Emporia Level 2, both of which sit between these two philosophically. And if your charger must survive a genuinely brutal climate and reach higher amps, the Autel MaxiCharger is the NEMA 4X unit that refuses to make you choose.
