FLO Home X5 EV Charger Review: A Rock-Solid Smart Charging Option

Electric Cars

The smart-charging Flo Home X5, and its non-smart sibling, the Flo Home G5, have been two of the top-selling electric vehicle chargers in North America since their introduction in 2016.

For the first two years, the Canada-based company only sold the chargers to Canadian customers and began US sales in 2018. I reviewed the Flo Home X5 back then, but I’ve completely overhauled my EV charger review process since then, so I believe a fresh look at Flo’s products was warranted. 

Flo Home X5 EV charger review

The key features of the Flo Home X5 

The Home X5 and its sibling the Home G5 are identical except for two differences. The biggest difference is that Home X5 is a smart charger and the G5 is not, which accounts for the $200 price difference ($695 for the X5 and $495 for the G5).

The other difference is the Home X5 is only available from Flo’s website in Nickel and the Home G5 only comes in the darker, Carbon color. However, if you really want one in the other color, there are still a few available on Amazon, because Flo used to offer both colors on either unit, but once they sell out, that’s it. 

Both units can deliver 30 amps (7.7 kilowatts), that’s good enough to add between 15 and 30 miles of range per hour to an EV, depending on how efficient the vehicle is. They also have a long 25-foot cable that performed very well in my cold-weather cable freeze test and a connector with a rubberized grip that is one of the best on the market. 

They both have adjustable power output and can be dialed down to as low as 6 amps and have a NEMA-4X rated cast aluminum outer casing that is the heaviest and perhaps the most durable casing of any charger I’ve tested. Flo advertises that their chargers are the toughest chargers on the market and can be relied upon during the most harsh Canadian winters, even when installed outdoors. The operating temperature is rated down to -40°, which is much lower than most other EV charging equipment that I encounter. 

Flo Home X5 ChargerRater score

Flo Home X5 ChargerRater score

When it came to rating the Flo Home X5, the unit scored an impressive 93 points on the ChargerRater, which translates into a 4.65 out of 5-star rating. I then always offer my personal score and average the two. I gave the unit a 4.45 rating and deducted more points for the relatively high price and low power output when compared to other chargers available today. That gave the Flo Home X5 a final rating of 4.55 stars out of five. I definitely recommend these units for those looking for a stylish, very well-built charger, and can live with only 30 amps of power.  

While I generally prefer the higher-powered units, most EV owners can live just fine with a 30 amp charger at home, since they only need to replenish what was used that day. I think sometimes we focus too much on higher-speed at-home charging than what is really necessary. But some people, particularly those who drive a lot of miles and have large inefficient EVs with big batteries, will have a better EV experience if they can charge faster, and for those the Flo Home chargers probably aren’t the best option. 

Flo provided me with a Home X5 for the purpose of this review. It’s technically a long-term loan, but the manufacturers rarely ask for the units back after I use them for a few weeks and then produce the review. However, I want to be clear that never accept any compensation from charging equipment manufacturers, since I review their products. 

Products You May Like

Articles You May Like

Monterey Car Week – Powered by Infiniti – Starting August 11th on the Motor Trend Channel
OEMs & SEMA After Dark with Jessi Lang! – 2014 SEMA Week Ep. 3

18 Comments

  1. The landmine curl challenges grip energy by gripping the end of
    a barbell. By gripping the fats end and curling it throughout your body, you’re hitting your
    biceps from a singular angle and challenging your grip power.
    If you wish to construct greater biceps while leveling up your
    grip, this one’s a no brainer. Stand perpendicular to the landmine setup, hold your elbow
    near your torso, and curl across your physique. Stand
    tall holding a pair of dumbbells at your sides, palms dealing with upwards (A).

    As you’ve in all probability observed, this back and bicep exercise
    for females contains a lot of cable workouts. The trick is to take care of solely a slight bend in your elbows so that you simply don’t really feel
    the motion working your triceps an extreme quantity
    of. While pulldowns don’t tax your core as a lot as pull-ups, they’re much better for isolating
    your back muscular tissues as a result of your biceps won’t give out
    earlier than your lats. Slow eccentric section could be utilized to many various
    workouts including the reverse and the hammer curl.
    The vary of movement is analogous but barely less than the regular curl.
    Given that the hand begins and ends the movement in the pronated position,
    the vary is slightly lowered.
    As A Outcome Of of this, bent-over rows ought to certainly make an everyday appearance in your bicep and arm exercise training.
    It’s easier on the arms and shoulders, and you’ll be shaking
    in no time. The Zottman curl is a twist (quite literally) on the standard dumbbell curl.
    Not only is it probably the greatest bicep workouts,
    however additionally it is an incredible forearm mass builder.
    The incline dumbbell curl might look much like common dumbbell curls, but the incline of the bench
    is the key sauce that turns this exercise into a singular biceps blaster.

    In this text, we’ll list the 12 greatest biceps workout routines you can do,
    whether you train in a fully-equipped health club or at house using dumbbells only and even simply your physique weight.
    One factor to note earlier than we begin and this can’t be over stated is the importance of concentration.
    Chin-ups pressure the biceps to carry extra weight than they’re used to, resulting in a more
    challenging motion. We suggest working your biceps three to
    4 occasions per week, depending on how heavy you’re lifting, with
    one or two days rest so your arms can have time to recuperate.

    As A Result Of the preacher curl movement could
    also be foreign in comparison with the normal bicep curl, it’s essential to concentrate on kind and repetition before you add weight.
    To boost muscle growth and see results sooner, the preacher curl
    is a strong alternative. It creates extra rigidity for
    the biceps and forces them to activate and work more durable.

    So for greatest results, you should do additional repetitions to compensate for this comparatively
    poor (compared to cables) strength curve. If you discover that decrease again fatigue causes you to cut the set brief,
    you possibly can replace this train with some sort of
    chest-supported row (e.g. chest-supported T-bar row, machine
    row). The first train is the lat pulldown, which serves
    as a warm-up. Your palms ought to be positioned slightly wider than shoulder width apart, with your palms facing forward.
    Personally, I prefer to program workout routines that work erector spinae as a half
    of a decrease body workout.
    In truth, the Farmer’s Carry is a great train to incorporate in every dumbbell exercise session. Many individuals endure
    from what we call ‘glute amnesia’ in their glute workouts, never
    driving the hinge using the suitable decrease physique muscles.
    The Barbell Hip Thrust train helps treatment that as a end result of
    it’s driven solely by a hinge, and will help make certain the give attention to glutes and attaining these glute gains.

    The high cable curls (or overhead cable curls) are normally carried out at
    the finish of a biceps training routine as a finisher. The commonplace shoulder-width grip tends to hit both the lengthy and short head
    of the two-headed biceps muscle well, but you can adjust your
    grip to emphasise one of them more. In a standing position, feet placed shoulder-width aside, maintain a barbell with a shoulder-width underhand grip, arms extended.
    Sustaining a tight core, along with your chest up and head straight, flex
    your biceps to curl the bar from hip level toward your upper chest,
    preserving your elbows at your sides all through.

    From heavy lifting to no-equipment routines, every is designed to cater to different
    training ranges and preferences. Attach a resistance band to a low anchor level or stand on it,
    holding the other end with both arms. Resistance
    bands offer a unique pressure curve, emphasizing the biceps brachii all through the
    motion. Moreover, dumbbells are pretty moveable and handy to
    store.

    References:

    steroid effects on males

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *