The Best Smart EV Home Chargers for Garage Automation

Your garage is no longer just a place to park. With a smart EV charger, it becomes the nerve center of your home's energy strategy — scheduling charges when rates are lowest, tracking every kilowatt-hour, and integrating with the broader smart-home ecosystem you've already built.

We tested the leading contenders to find the chargers that actually deliver on the promise of garage automation. Here are the things actually worth buying.

Why Your Garage Needs a Smart Charger

A dumb charger just pumps electrons. A smart one knows when to pump them — and that timing is everything. By scheduling charging during off-peak hours, you can cut your per-mile fuel cost by 30–50% depending on your utility rate plan.3 The best smart chargers also feed real-time data into your home-energy dashboard, so you can see exactly what your EV is pulling alongside your HVAC, water heater, and solar production.

For garage automation specifically, you want three things: reliable Wi-Fi connectivity, a solid app with scheduling, and the ability to integrate with a broader energy-management platform if you have solar or home battery storage.

The Best Smart EV Home Chargers

Pick 1: Emporia Pro Level 2 EV Charger with PowerSmart

Emporia's Pro charger is the most deeply integrated smart EVSE we've tested. It pairs with the Emporia energy-monitoring ecosystem — the same platform that tracks your solar panels, home battery, and individual circuits — so your EV charge becomes one data point in a whole-home energy picture.1

The app lets you set charging schedules down to the hour, avoid peak utility rates automatically, and monitor usage in real time.3 It's a 48-amp Level 2 charger that delivers up to 11.5 kW, enough to add about 36 miles of range per hour for most EVs. The unit is hardwired or plug-in configurable, and the cable is 24 feet — plenty for any garage layout.

Who it's for: Homeowners with solar, a battery, or a serious interest in energy management who want one app to rule them all.

Pick 2: Grizzl-E Classic Connect

If your garage is more workshop than showroom — dusty, cold, or subject to the occasional bump — the Grizzl-E Classic Connect is your charger. It's built like a tank: a NEMA 4X-rated aluminum enclosure that shrugs off weather, impacts, and UV.2

But it's not just tough. The "Connect" model adds Wi-Fi and a clean app that gives you scheduling, usage tracking, and remote start/stop. It's a 40-amp unit (9.6 kW) with a 24-foot cable, and it's available in both NEMA 14-50 plug and hardwired versions.2 The app is simpler than Emporia's — no whole-home energy dashboard — but for many garage setups, that's exactly the point.

Who it's for: Anyone who needs a bulletproof charger that still offers smart scheduling and app control, without the complexity (or cost) of a full energy-management system.

How They Stack Up

The Bottom Line

Both chargers bring genuine automation to your garage. The Emporia Pro is the pick if you want the deepest integration with your home's energy systems — it's a charger that's also a data hub. The Grizzl-E Classic Connect is the pick if you want a charger that will outlast your car and still give you app control and scheduling.

Either way, you're moving from "plug it in and hope" to "set it and forget it." That's the point of a smart garage.

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