The build, which is still the reason to buy it
Grizzl-E’s spec table for the Classic Connect lists an aluminum enclosure with IP67 protection and an operating range of -30°C to +50°C (-22°F to 122°F); the company’s own overview page describes it as a UL Type 4 water-resistant cast aluminum enclosure. Read the IP code carefully, because it is worth understanding rather than nodding at: under IEC 60529, a first numeral of 6 means dust-tight, and a second numeral of 7 means protected against temporary immersion in water. NEMA is explicit that you cannot convert IP designations back into NEMA types, which is why we quote both exactly as published rather than translating one into the other.
In plain terms: this is a properly sealed metal box. The practical difference against a plastic-bodied budget charger is not usually water — most survive rain — it is impact, UV, and a decade of thermal cycling. Aluminum shrugs off the reversing trailer that would crack a polycarbonate housing.
The 25-foot cable matters more than the enclosure for daily life in a cold climate. Grizzl-E specifically builds its output cables to stay flexible in low temperatures, and that is the winter complaint owners actually have — not that the charger stopped, but that the cable turned into a frozen hose and coiling it became a two-handed fight. It is why Grizzl-E units keep appearing on our cold-weather list.
What “Connect” means here
Grizzl-E’s own overview for this model is unambiguous: it is “the Wi-Fi Connected Smart Level 2 EVSE for home use”, shipping with the Grizzl-E Connect app, offering charging statistics, charging schedules, remote control, lockout to stop anyone else using it, updates and diagnostics. That is a real feature set rather than a marketing adjective, and it is the specific gap the model exists to close in Grizzl-E’s line-up. The lockout in particular is why this unit tops our rental-property roundup, and the cast body is why it holds its own against the plastic reference unit in Grizzl-E vs ChargePoint Home Flex.
The more interesting claim is utility Demand/Response participation, which Grizzl-E publishes for the connected unit. Managed-charging programs pay you to let the utility shift or trim your charging at peak, and they require a charger the utility can actually talk to — which a Grizzl-E Classic cannot be. If your utility runs one, that enrollment is worth more per year than the price difference between the two models. Check the program’s own approved-hardware list first.
One thing this model does not publish, which the discontinued Smart did, is OCPP 1.6J support — the open protocol that would let third-party software drive the charger instead of the manufacturer’s app. Grizzl-E advertises OCPP access for some of its hardware, but not on this model’s spec sheet or overview, so we do not credit it here. If vendor independence is the reason you were buying, ask Grizzl-E directly before you order.
Whether any of this is worth paying for depends on your car. If your EV schedules charging natively — and nearly all do — the app’s scheduling is duplicative, and its real value is the energy history, the lockout and the utility program. We argue that case both ways in smart vs dumb chargers.
The DIP switch: an inconvenience that is also a feature
Maximum current is set physically at 16, 24, 32 or 40 amps. There is no slider in the app. Changing it means getting the cover off, which is a genuine inconvenience compared with the ChargePoint Home Flex’s 16–50 A app adjustment.
It is worth arguing the other side, though, because that setting is doing safety work. On a constrained panel, the charger’s amperage limit is what keeps the installation inside the service capacity an electrician calculated. A physical switch cannot be raised by a housemate poking at an app, cannot drift after a firmware update, and cannot be changed remotely. Under the NEC’s continuous-load rule the ladder is simple, and Grizzl-E publishes it in exactly these terms:
- 40 A setting→ 50-amp circuit → 9.6 kW → about 34 miles of range per hour
- 32 A setting→ 40-amp circuit → 7.7 kW → about 27 miles per hour
- 24 A setting→ 30-amp circuit → 5.8 kW → about 20 miles per hour
- 16 A setting→ 20-amp circuit → 3.8 kW → about 13 miles per hour
That range is why this unit shows up in our small-panel roundup. Set it once, correctly, and forget it — which is a fair description of the whole product.
Plug-in, and what that costs you
This is a NEMA 14-50 plug-in charger, and unlike the Classic and the old Smart, the 14-50 is the only input Grizzl-E publishes for it — there is no NEMA 6-50 or hardwire-ready variant of the Classic Connect. What you do choose is the car end: Grizzl-E offers the 25-foot output cable with a J1772 or a NACS connector. The ASIN we track is the J1772 version, which fits every non-Tesla EV and a Tesla through its adapter; if your household is Tesla-only, the NACS cable saves you the adapter. See J1772 vs NACS if you are unsure which to order.
Plugging in caps output at 40 amps, because a 50-amp circuit under the continuous-load rule cannot supply more. It also means the charger is portable property that comes off the wall when you move, which is the whole argument for renters. And it usually means a cheaper installation, assuming a suitable receptacle exists or can be added — see our NEMA 14-50 guide and hardwired vs plug-in.
One installation note specific to Grizzl-E: the company’s manual for its Classic advises using a 20 mA GFCI breaker where a ground-fault device is required, because a 5 mA breaker may cause disruptions. That is a useful signal for any Grizzl-E install — ground-fault protection is the single most common source of nuisance tripping on EV circuits, and it is worth raising with your electrician before the work rather than after the third 2am trip. We cover it fully in why chargers trip GFCI breakers.
The certification question, stated plainly
Grizzl-E publishes that the Classic Connect is UL and cUL certified under file E510712, with built-in GFCI, over-current, over-voltage, ground-fault and over-temperature protections, and a three-year warranty as standard — the company sells a five-year extension for this model separately. That is the certification that matters for safety, and it is present.
What is not present on either of Grizzl-E’s own pages for this model is an ENERGY STAR statement — even though some marketplace listing titles for it carry the badge. We record that as “not published” rather than asserting it, and we deliberately left this unit off our ENERGY STAR roundup. If you are buying to satisfy a rebate condition, check the exact model number against the program’s own qualifying list, because that is what an administrator will do.
Who should buy it — and who should skip it
Buy it if you want a charger built like a hardwired unit that plugs in like a portable one. It is the best-armored plug-in charger we track: a cast-aluminum, IP67 body rated to -22°F with a cold-flexible 25-foot cable, at a price well below the premium brands. Buy it if the charger is going somewhere exposed, if you live somewhere with real winters, if your utility runs a managed-charging program, or if your panel needs a charger you can pin at 24 or 32 amps and leave there.
Skip it if you want 48 amps — that means hardwiring, and this unit caps at 40. Grizzl-E’s own 48-amp answer is the Ultimate 48A, which the brand sells at $383.99 in J1772 or NACS; the Lectron Nexus 48A is the other no-app 48-amp charger we point people to. Skip it if you expect to adjust amperage regularly from your phone, where the Home Flex’s app-set 16–50 A range is simply better. Skip it if you want energy monitoring detailed enough to reconcile against a utility bill, where Emporia leads. And skip it if a published ENERGY STAR certification is a hard requirement for your rebate.