Lectron is a significant player in the electric vehicle charging industry. Headquartered in Shakopee, Minnesota, with an additional office in Hong Kong, Lectron offers a variety of electric vehicle adapters, circuit splitters, extension cables, portable chargers, and higher-powered wall-mounted EV charging equipment.
I was sent the company's highest-powered EV charger, the 48-amp V-Box, so I could use it for a few weeks and produce the embedded comprehensive video review.
The Lectron V-Box is currently available directly from the Lectron Website for $469.00. However, the list price is $499.00 with a $30.00 discount. I reached out to Lectron to see how long the discount would apply and was told there were no current plans to end the discount.
The V-Box isn't a "smart charger" so it doesn't come with a WiFi-connected app, it's just plug and play. It does, however, have a nice 2.75" x 2" display screen that shows relevant information including the current power draw, line voltage, kWh dispensed, elapsed time of the charging session, the power output limit, and the internal temperature.
I tested the V-Box equipped with the J1772 connector, but Lectron does offer the same unit with a Tesla North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector as well.
The V-Box has a 20-foot cable, which is the minimum length that I recommend for home charging equipment, it has an IP55-rated enclosure so it's good for outdoor installations in areas with blowing rain, snow, and dust. It's ETL safety certified as well as Energy-Star certified and comes with a one-year warranty.
I'd like to see the company offer a longer warranty, as three years is the industry standard. Lectron's website does offer the option of purchasing longer warranties at the following cost:
- 1 extra year: $32.99
- 2 extra years: $54.99
- 3 extra years: $64.99
However, the extended warranties aren't offered by Lectron. Instead, you purchase it from a third party called Extend. Extend offers warranty extensions for a variety of items, including truck parts. I have no experience with Extend, so I cannot comment on the reliability of its extended warranties, but personally, I would prefer to deal with the company that I purchased the charger from if I needed to make a warranty claim.
The V-Box passed all of my tests, and the thick (22.5 millimeters) cable performed much better than I expected in the cable deep freeze test.
It tallied up a total of 86 points in the ChargerRater scorecard and combined with my personal rating received a final score of 4.2 stars out of 5. The V-Box is a good product and I've added it to my recommended charger list, but it's not without shortcomings.
I'd like to see the cable add a few more feet of length and the body of the unit upgrade to a stronger grade of plastic. I would also prefer if Lectron sourced a better connector because the one they use feels a little flimsy compared to the connectors on most of the other chargers that I've reviewed.
