EVSE Installation, Info and Cost Comparison Thread

[LTLFTcomposite]

No, that's legit. $1200 an hour is the going rate for an electrician.

 

[desiboysf]

I want that job then. $1200 an hour sounds great.

 

[mitch672]

No, that's legit. $1200 an hour is the going rate for an electrician.

Going rate for a government contractor electrician. Most normal electricians are happy with $75-$200/hour

 

[EVDRIVER]

No, that's legit. $1200 an hour is the going rate for an electrician.

Going rate for a government contractor electrician. Most normal electricians are happy with $75-$200/hour

You got that right, big fat govt contractor.

 

[TimeHorse]

Well, back to EVSE for a moment. Yesterday I was looking over the various EVSEs currently on the market or coming soon as listed on the Wikipedia page about it. I looked over the Coulomb, Clipper Creek and AV units, among others and although I couldn't find any specs on the Coulomb/Leviton partnership unit I have to admit that the Smart Charging Dock actually doesn't seem all that bad a unit. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's not like any unit is really bad IMHO, but for instance Clipper Creek is so gray and utilitarian looking. Granted, the Clipper Creek is the only one I've seen up close and do like how customizable they are from a hardware point of view (up to, AFAICT, 240V @ 80A, full SAE-J1772 spec) but I don't think I'd ever need to charge my LEAF in some 90 minutes (fingers crossed). OTOH, 4 hour charging seems perfect for me and I'm definitely going to be a 6.6kW (or 7.2kW ideally) hand-raiser when the time comes. After all, that fits in well with the Summer Gym at 3am scenario (just start at 10pm and finish by 2) as well as the late night out scenario from 3am to 7am.

Anyway, my plan is to get a 7.2kW capable charger now and not worry about faster charging until I get the car that replaces the LEAF. In which case, most EVSEs will do fine. Certainly, I am quite excited to hear more about the Coulomb/Leviton unit as it goes on-line and have a lot more time than the 5 primary marketeers -- though I am hoping to get my install complete by 31 December, when I'm able to order and before the up to $2000 credit expires!

Anyone else look at the alternate EVSEs? Is there a gem I've missed?

 

[LakeLeaf]

3 year in-home warranty - no part of the quote mentions anything about that. If commitment by AV to do this exists in writing, I suggest hanging onto a copy of it.

This warranty thing is a little strange.

Typically the warranty is on "the thing" that you purchase and included in it's price.

It's odd to me that somehow the warranty seems to factor in the installation. How often does some wiring go bad two and a half years after it is done? And of course, if it did, I would be going after the electricians license rather then calling the guy back up and giving him a second chance to electrocute me or burn my house down.

 

[EVDRIVER]

3 year in-home warranty - no part of the quote mentions anything about that. If commitment by AV to do this exists in writing, I suggest hanging onto a copy of it.

This warranty thing is a little strange.

Typically the warranty is on "the thing" that you purchase and included in it's price.

It's odd to me that somehow the warranty seems to factor in the installation. How often does some wiring go bad two and a half years after it is done? And of course, if it did, I would be going after the electricians license rather then calling the guy back up and giving him a second chance to electrocute me or burn my house down.

Unless the electrician is severely incompetent a conduit with wire should not have any issues, it's straight forward and very unlikely to have any issues. The tree-year warranty is just a hook to get you to pay for the high installation which is not installation only but includes markup for AV on top of what the electrician gets. I would suggest people buy the AV or other EVSE and have someone local do the install. Nissan has made it clear to AV they must sell the EVSE to customers without installation. I realize electrical work can be intimidating to many people understandably but there is still far too much FUD on this and AV is doing a good job of keeping it going.

 

[garygid]

The AV "installer's warranty" on their EVSE "thing" (when one of their "trained" installers cannot verify that it was properly installed and "sealed") is not the same as their 3-year in-home replacement.

You trouble-shoot (without a "tester"), un-mount it (you have to open it to do that), package and ship it to AV, and wait for a repaired unit. You have to do without your L2 EVSE for ... possibly weeks?

Also, I think AV described it is a "parts only" warranty.

 

[hill]

ClipperCreek charger is weather proof (outside application) also. Can you imagine how much AV would charge, if THEY offered their version in all weather ... in addition to labor? WHOO!
:lol:

.

 

[garygid]

The AV L2 EVSE unit is also indoor and outdoor "approved", I believe.

Also, outdoor applications of the L2 EVSE must be hard-wired (to be "legal").

 

[TimeHorse]

Sent this question to Nissan:

Hello, I am in the Atlantic South district roll-out area, what I like to call Tier 3. I have read a lot about AV and it's quotes for work in California, etc. Not that I'm adverse to working with them, but I am in the process of contacting electricians in my own area in anticipation of my ordering in December as is currently scheduled. I have also read that the 6.6kW charging hardware will be available as an after-market add-on as well as a $700 retrofit for Level-III Charging using public Direct Current [DC] stations. My question is a) is it okay for me to hire an outside contractor to do the electrical work (assuming AV isn't the contractor assigned to my area since I know AV has already said yes to this) b) when will a contractor be assigned to my area (Northern Virginia, D.C. Suburbs), if at all c) would it be okay to install a J1772 connector that was able to output 30A @ 220VAC in anticipation of this? Would more amps be safe or reasonable since the pilot signal dictates how many ampères the LEAF will draw and the J1772 spec goes up to 80A (in support of the Tesla) d) And to be clear, the LEAF can be charged with any J1772 Level-II compliant charging unit (EVSE), not just the AV unit and are all of my other assumptions correct? Thanks!

And heard this back today:

We will contact you when AeroVironment is ready for your area you can call us and we would be able to connect you to a representative with AeroVironment on purchasing the dock without installation. If you purchase the dock separately or not at all we would have you sign a waiver agreeing that you understand our position to have the dock purchased and installed by AeroVironment. If you purchase a EVSE from a different company it would be up to that company to confirm compatibility with the LEAF. We would not be able to recommend any aftermarket accessories at this time.

Not much new here. Like I said, I do think the AeroVironment Smart Charger is nice but would like to see the Leviton/Coulomb unit when its released hopefully before I need to make my final decision. Also, they seemed to misunderstand my question about 6.6kW charging since I was talking about Mark Perry's comment that Nissan North America itself would offer the upgrade, not a third-party vendor. It doesn't answer all my questions but it's nice to hear something.

Also, as for d), I can understand why Nissan won't commit to this, even though the SAE-J1772-2009 spec is pretty standardized and as long as both Nissan and the EVSE conform to it it's unlikely to have issues.

 

[evnow]

Also, as for d), I can understand why Nissan won't commit to this, even though the SAE-J1772-2009 spec is pretty standardized and as long as both Nissan and the EVSE conform to it it's unlikely to have issues.

I'm sure it will be fine - esp if you buy after Leaf is released. The manufacurer is sure to test with Leaf ...

 

[TimeHorse]

And then I just heard from Leviton:

Greetings,
Thank you for contacting Leviton, we are excited about your interest in our Evr-green Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE). At the moment, the maximum charge level is limited to 32 amps. We have attached a brochure for your review and have provided a link below to our website dedicated to our EVSE products.

http://www.leviton.com/evrgreen

If you have more specific questions, feel free to respond to this e-mail with your questions and preferred method of contact, and one of our EVSE experts will be glad to contact you. Or visit the Leviton Online Knowledgebase at:

http://communities.leviton.com/community/knowledgebaseforums/evr-green

Thank you and have a great day,

The Evr-green Team

(Hope neither of these companies are going to be cheesed with me posting their correspondence since I don't think there's anything proprietary in them.)

Anyway, has someone posted the Brochure? Since I can't upload it I hope it's available elsewhere on the web; I highly doubt Leviton would be sending me a secret document which is just a sales brochure!

 

[evnow]

Anyway, has someone posted the Brochure? Since I can't upload it I hope it's available elsewhere on the web; I highly doubt Leviton would be sending me a secret document which is just a sales brochure!

It is there in the Leviton thread.

 

[JasonT]

The AV L2 EVSE unit is also indoor and outdoor "approved", I believe.

Yeah, that sounds right - this might not be the exact model (color is different, lights look a little different), but the pdf (http://evsolutions.avinc.com/uploads/products/2_AV_EVSE-RS_B2B_061110.pdf) says

...and features a weather-resistant NEMA 4 enclosure for indoor and outdoor installations.

 

[LBCev]

Did anyone else get a survey from Nissan regarding their charging assessment? It was about five pages asking you to rate everything from the appearance of the assessor to your satisfaction with the quote. The survey had two comment fields; the first related to your commitment to buy a LEAF and the second was related to the assessment/quote process. Suffice it to say that I gave them a screen full when it came to the AV assessment and quote. Hopefully Nissan will get the message here as they seemingly did with the warranty.

 

[Rat]

Did anyone else get a survey from Nissan regarding their charging assessment? It was about five pages asking you to rate everything from the appearance of the assessor to your satisfaction with the quote. The survey had two comment fields; the first related to your commitment to buy a LEAF and the second was related to the assessment/quote process. Suffice it to say that I gave them a screen full when it came to the AV assessment and quote. Hopefully Nissan will get the message here as they seemingly did with the warranty.

I got one. I rated the professionalism of the assessor high, i.e. polite, on time, experienced, etc., but very unsatisfied on price and how long it took to get the quote.

 

[gasmiser1]

.[/quote]
I got one. I rated the professionalism of the assessor high, i.e. polite, on time, experienced, etc., but very unsatisfied on price and how long it took to get the quote.[/quote]

Exactly my thoughts same experience. Biggest disappoint was AV's high priced estimate.

 

[Danny]

I too got a survey. I rated the assessor as professional, but the whole assessment as poor. He couldn't give me much information. Also, my quote took about four weeks to arrive, and then only after I called and requested it. I commented that Nissan should qualify charger units and let us get them installed ourselves.

The quote was to pull a wire through a burried conduit that is about 35 years old. It is also quite full. My local electrician doubts whether a new wire can go through that conduit. He also said that trying might damage the existing wires. If they can pull the wire, the power will come in on the best side of the garage for me, but the assessor convinced me to put the unit on the other side of the garage, because he expected to have to trench and run another line. The easiest entry point would have been the other side in that case. Once in the garage, the quote is now to take the power to this one site regardless of where it comes in.

It's so confusing. I'm still trying to figure out whether it is best to get a new meter specifically for the EV or to use my existing meter. So far, SCE said the new meter must be with the old meter. The new meter issue is completely outside the AV quote. More costs. Pthhhhhhhhh.
I expect the new load to have a significant cost difference depending on the rates I use. The new load plus my old load would be about $1100 more per year on my current residential rate. With TOU-EV-1 (new meter on EV rate plus old meter on old rate) it would be about $500 more per year. And with TOU-D-TEV (using old meter with extra circuit) it would be about $750 more per year. I'm getting closer to getting all the costs so that I can do a proper cost analysis, but there are still a few missing pieces.

 

[marc]

WOW:
Just got my assessment back, FINALLY.
$2434.28 for my install - total ripoff!!!! I have a 100A circuit already in place with a junction box 1 ft from where the charger will go! I can't believe I paid to stay all day waiting for a guy who never showed up on time, only to find they want to corn cob me dry where the sun don't shine... Never again.

DONT DO IT.

The recommendation I got from another blog was to get a charger from Clippercreek.net and have a local electrician wire it in. Already working on that. Plus, they have a 100A charger option.

Nissan's choice of Aerovironment is really bad...
Total waste of my time and money.