The standout feature: an app that actually tracks energy
Plenty of “smart” chargers stop at scheduling — you tell them when to turn on and off, and that’s the whole feature set. Emporia’s app goes a step further and logs the energy each session actually used, session over session. That matters more than it sounds: if you’re trying to figure out what charging your EV is really costing you every month, or you want to time sessions to an off-peak utility rate and confirm it’s working, a running log beats guessing from a monthly bill total. It’s not a full home-energy monitor, but for a charger at this price it goes further than we expected.
The trade-off is polish. Where ChargePoint’s app feels like it’s been refined over a decade of feedback, Emporia’s does the job without the same finish, and the company behind it is a smaller operation. If you want the single most mature app in the category, that’s a real reason to look at the ChargePoint Home Flex instead. If you just want to see what a session cost you, the Emporia already does that.
The Emporia Level 2 also carries an ENERGY STAR listing, which isn’t just a badge on the box. ENERGY STAR-certified chargers are built to use meaningfully less energy while sitting idle between sessions than uncertified units, and since a home charger spends most of its life plugged in but not actively charging, that standby efficiency adds up over a year of ownership. It’s a quiet reason to prefer a certified unit even before you weigh the app or the price.
Charging speed, worked out
Hardwired, the Emporia Level 2 runs at its full 48 amps, which is about 11.5 kW. Using our standard reference of roughly 3.5 miles of range per kWh, that works out to about 40 miles of range per hour. Plug it into an existing NEMA 14-50 outlet instead of hardwiring it and the onboard limiter caps output at 40 amps, which comes out closer to 34 miles per hour. Either number covers a typical daily commute overnight with room to spare — the difference only starts to matter if you regularly drive well past what an overnight charge replaces. As always, your actual number depends on your specific car’s efficiency, which is why we print the assumption instead of quoting a single figure as gospel.
For context, that 40 miles-per-hour figure sits just behind the roughly 42 miles per hour you’d see from a 50A charger like the ChargePoint Home Flex run at its ceiling, and comfortably ahead of the roughly 34 miles per hour a 40A unit like the Grizzl-E Classicdelivers. In practice, that gap rarely changes whether an overnight charge finishes in time — it mostly changes how much margin you have if you plug in later than planned.
The install
The Emporia Level 2 ships in a version that can be hardwired or plugged into a NEMA 14-50 outlet, and which one you pick decides your ceiling. Hardwiring it unlocks the full 48 amps, but per NEC Article 625, a continuous EV-charging load is sized to 125% of the charger’s draw — so a 48A hardwired install needs a 60-amp circuit behind it, which not every panel has room for. The plug-in route is more forgiving: a common 50-amp NEMA 14-50 circuit (the same one an electric range or RV outlet might use) runs the charger at 40 amps, and you keep the option to unplug and move it. The unit itself is outdoor-rated (NEMA 4) with a 25-foot cable, long enough for most detached garages and driveway parking. Sizing the circuit correctly is an electrician’s job either way; our charging levels guide walks through why Level 2 circuits are sized the way they are, and the best Level 2 chargers roundup has the other units worth comparing it to before you commit to a circuit size.
Emporia backs the charger with a 3-year warranty, in line with most of the other serious Level 2 chargers in this category, and includes a wall holster for the cable so it doesn’t end up coiled on the garage floor between sessions. Neither detail is flashy, but both are the kind of thing you only notice missing after the fact.
Who should buy it — and who should skip it
Buy itif you want the full 48-amp experience — a real app, energy tracking and an ENERGY STAR listing — without paying the brand premium the market leaders charge for the same amperage. It’s the charger we’d point a budget-conscious first-time buyer to first. Skip itif your panel can only spare a 40-amp circuit and you’d rather not plan around a plug-in workaround, or if app polish and brand support history matter more to you than price — the ChargePoint Home Flexis the safer premium default there. And if you don’t want an app at all, a no-frills unit like the Grizzl-E Classic gets you real Level 2 charging with nothing to log into.