Lectron V-Box 48-amp EV Charger Update - Can It Handle The Ford F-150 Lightning?

The Lectron V-Box 48-amp EV charger is working quite well for us during our extended test and review. We installed the test charger about three months ago and have had the opportunity to charge the 2023 Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In Hybrid-Electric vehicle and also a 2022 Hyundai Kona EV. In both cases, the Lectron V-Box worked flawlessly. We have been waiting to test an EV with a monster battery, and last week we had an extended-range 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning. A perfect vehicle to really show off the power the V-Box can provide and to see if extended charging times resulted in any unexpected issues.

Read Our Initial Test Report Here

One Note About Our V-Box’s Amp Rating

The V-Box is called “48-amp…” because it is capable of operating at up to 48 amps of current. The unit comes with a switch inside that allows the owner to select from various amps. We have selected 40 amps as our usage. Partly because, as a recovering engineer, I give everything a service factor, and partly because we are using a NEMA 14-50 socket rather than hardwiring the V-Box. It is just more practical since we test many chargers throughout the year. So, be advised we are only operating the unit at 40 amps of current.

Charging up The Ford F-150 Lighting With the V-Box

We are not trying to pretend that charging the Ford F-150 Lighting is any more of a challenge than charging up a small economy EV with a small battery. However, since the Lighting has one of the largest-capacity batteries on the market today, it does offer us the opportunity to charge it for longer stretches.

During our many hours of charging, we inspected the V-Box, the plug and outlet, and the breaker. No added heating was observed. The V-Box has a temperature display, and that too was in the normal range.

The J handle of the V-Box worked very well with the Outlander and Kona, and acceptably with the Lighting. It did seem less snickity snick when inserted into the Lightning than with the prior two EVs. We will assume it was the female connector in the Lighting.

We used the full length of the V-Box’s charging cord with the Ford F-150 lighting because the truck was very snug in the garage in terms of roof clearance, and we did not want to pull it in and get it stuck.

Miles of Range Per Hour Charging
We observed a rate of charge of about 25 miles of range added per hour charging with the F-150 Lighting. That surprised us. Ford’s own estimates of adding in range miles on a 48-amp charger (ours was 40 amps) is just 20 miles added per hour of charging.

What Do Other Owners Think of the Lectron 48-amp V-Box?
We checked back in with Amazon to see how the reviews were trending. As of the publication of this story, the Lectron V-Box scores 4.5 stars. We checked out the titles of the most recent five reviews posted. All were 5-star reviews. Here are their titles.
Easy install and efficient (Verified Purchase)
Working Good (Vine Voice)
Great home charging station (Verified Purchase)
Fast (Vine Voice)
A good quality charging cable (Vine Voice)

Of the 81 reviews posted, 10 were one or two stars. We reviewed them and did not see any trends. The owners seem to have a defective unit, a problem with the home’s power supply, or another unknown issue.

Lectron V-Box Conclusion

Having now conducted charging tests with three different EVs, we have formed an opinion about the charger. We like the power on button. It is robust and when you push it, it is satisfying. You know it is on or off. We like that. The J-plug handle feels like it is made from quality materials and our having dropped it on the concrete floor twice from chest height during installation didn’t cause any problems.

The V-Box display is clear and easy to understand. It gives you the information you need such as how many amps the charger is delivering, the available voltage, the temperature, and how much energy has been put in during your charge (kWh). If we could ask for one added feature, it would be a memory that holds the last few charge’s kWh input.

Overall, the Lecton V-Box 48-amp EV charger seems like a very good value at its under $500 price point. It is simple to install, and in municipalities like mine in greater Boston, where a discounted evening charge rate isn’t offered by the electricity supplier (Eversource), it is all you need and all you can really take advantage of in terms of complexity. We would recommend the V-Box 48-amp charger and give it two thumbs up.