I've never owned an EV or even a hybrid in my life and even
I could see the writing on the wall here, people. EVDRIVER and I don't always agree on things, but here we are aligned and he's experienced! In November, when I was planning my EVSE install, I read this whole thread, cover to cover first with wide eyes but I made sure to read to the end before making a decision and in the end decided to go with the bland yet functional and highly powerful Clipper Creek CS-100 in the end. Clipper Creek, unlike ChargeAmerica, is a company that's been in business for years, knows EVs, knows the Tesla Roadster, knows the Mini-E and was even at the DC Auto Show last year as can be seen on my Facebook page. Sure, I'd have loved to have the Leviton 320 unit that Ford now says they'll be selling
in Best Buy! but I didn't know if the EVSE credit was going to be extended and even if I did, $2000 @ 50% is better than $1000 @ 30% when you're combining an incredibly expensive EVSE with a sub-panel in preparation for a Smart Meter when they become available in my area and support for J1772 at up to 80A.
The point being a) you should have read every post and been informed and b) if the offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Anyway, I'm not saying "I told you so" because although I did, I didn't very much or very vocally so if you missed my comments before you can be forgiven. But not for ignoring EVDRIVER. He deserves every "I Told You So" he's posted and then some.
As for me, if I can help anyone in any way get their money back or give you advice on a better choice of EVSE (simple, the Leviton EvrGreen EVB45-3PD that's supposedly bundled with the with the Ford Focus EV... and the Best Buy Geek Squad -- cringe! -- since I expect it's a 7.6kW charger -- future-resistant -- from a company you can trust, plugged, not hard-wired, will probably go for less than $750, maybe less than $500 and will probably be out well before 31 December 2011 given the Ford deal, enough time to qualify for your $1000 @ 30%!). And one more thing: c) Join your local EAA chapter: you don't have to do this alone and learn from experience both here from folks like EVDRIVER and in person.
Oh, and also, when looking for an electrician, d) make good use of the
BBB records, such as with my python script to create a spreadsheet of all your registered contractors.
I'm sorry y'all are having trouble with ChargeAmerica. I wish I could say something more helpful than all of this rhetoric. Good luck -- getting an EV should never be this hard!