Lectron NEXUS review

How this page is funded: we earn a commission if you buy through our Amazon links, at no extra cost to you. It does not change what we recommend, and we say plainly when the honest answer is to buy nothing. Full disclosure.

Lectron is already on this site for portables, holsters and adapters. The NEXUS is its wall charger, and it lands in an interesting spot: a longer cable than most, a safety listing stated properly, and none of the software that the rest of the category has been adding. We have not tested one. Everything below comes from Lectron's own product pages, linked at the foot of this page, and the arithmetic is shown so you can check it.

The specs

Two ways to install it, and what each gives you

The NEXUS is sold in a hardwired version and a plug-in version, and the difference is 8 amps. That is not Lectron being awkward: a NEMA 14-50 receptacle sits on a 50 A circuit, and the code limits a continuous load to 80% of the circuit, so any plug-in charger stops at 40 A. The hardwired version is the only way to reach 48 A. Hardwired vs plug-in covers the trade in full.

Lectron quotes up to 46 miles per hour at 48 A and up to 38 at 40 A. Those figures assume a more efficient car than our 3.5 mi/kWh yardstick -- closer to 4 miles per kilowatt-hour. Neither is wrong; efficiency is the variable. Use your own car's number from its trip computer if you want the honest answer for your driveway, or the charging speed calculator.

The cable is the reason to look at it

Twenty-three feet is long. On this site only the Grizzl-E Classic's Extreme Edition (24 ft) and the 25 ft cables on the Autel MaxiCharger, Wallbox Pulsar Plus and FLO Home X3 beat it, and several well-known units are well short of it. Cable length is the specification buyers most often regret, because it is the one that decides whether the charger reaches the car's port at all -- and the port is not always on the side you expect.

Lectron also publishes the cable's thickness -- 15.0 mm on the J1772 version, 16.0 mm on the NACS one -- and includes a wall mount, a J-hook and a plug holder in the box. That last detail is worth more than it sounds. A 23 ft cable left on the floor of a garage gets driven over; the J-hook is what stops that. Cable organizers covers the aftermarket versions other chargers make you buy.

What it does not have

There is no app. Lectron's NEXUS pages list no Wi-Fi, no Bluetooth, no scheduling and no energy tracking, and that shapes who should buy it. If your utility charges time-of-use rates, you will be scheduling charging in the car rather than in an app -- almost every EV sold today can do that, and it is the more reliable place to set it anyway. If your car cannot, or you want per-session energy data on your phone, look at a connected unit instead: Lectron's own V-BOX Pro has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and the smart charger roundup covers the rest.

The flip side is the one the no-app roundup makes: a charger with no account, no firmware and no cloud service is a charger that cannot be broken by a server outage or an app redesign. The NEXUS is not marketed that way, but that is effectively what it is.

The certification wording, read carefully

This site reads certification claims closely, because the wording varies more than buyers expect. Lectron states that the NEXUS is "UL 2594, UL 2231 & UL 2251 safety certified (ETL listed)" and adds Energy Star and FCC certification. That is the strong form: a named laboratory listing (ETL) against the standards written for EV charging equipment, rather than a phrase like "meets UL standards" or "UL compliant" that leaves the listing unstated. Lectron's own V-BOX Pro page, by comparison, uses the words "UL 2594 and ETL compliant". How to read certification wording explains why the difference matters.

Who should buy it

• Your car parks far from the only sensible wall. 23 ft of cable, with the J-hook and holder included, is the headline reason to pick this one.
• You want 48 A and have the panel for it. The hardwired version reaches the top home tier. The 48-amp picks.
• You want a NACS connector on a non-Tesla charger. Lectron sells the NEXUS with a native NACS connector, which suits the cars that have made the switch. NACS vehicles.
• You would rather not manage another app. Nothing to set up, nothing to update.

Who should skip it

• You want scheduling or energy data in an app. Lectron's NEXUS pages list none. Smart chargers.
• You need published cold-weather limits. Lectron does not publish an operating temperature range for the NEXUS; the Wallbox Pulsar Plus (-22 F to 104 F) and FLO Home X3 (-40 F to 122 F) do. Cold-weather chargers.
• Your panel cannot spare a 60 A circuit and you want the full 48 A. The plug-in version caps at 40 A, which may be plenty -- how many amps you need.
• You want load management so the charger backs off when the house is busy. That is the Emporia Pro's job. Chargers with load management.

How it compares

Against Lectron's own V-BOX Pro, the NEXUS trades the app for seven more feet of cable and a firmer certification statement; the V-BOX Pro trades back scheduling, live progress and kilowatt caps. Against the Grizzl-E Classic, the NEXUS offers a hardwired 48 A option the Grizzl-E does not, while the Grizzl-E answers with a cast-aluminum NEMA 4 / IP67 case and a foot more cable. Against the Leviton EV Series, the NEXUS is five feet longer and can be plugged in; the Leviton adds optional RFID access control and a published temperature range.

If you are still deciding on amperage rather than on brand, start with 32 A vs 40 A vs 48 A -- it is the number that decides your circuit, your install cost and, often, whether you need an electrician at all.