Charger necessity for 240V charging

Is it necessary to have a special charger installed to enable 240V charging? The free charger from Ecotality is nice to have, but the electricians that are certified by Ecotality to do the install tend to gouge the consumer. It is less to get your own electrician to do an install, but Ecotality requires their certified electricians. I think you can purchase chargers from Home Depot for about $800. Probably around $500 for an electrician to do an install.

The Leaf comes with a 120V plug/cable for home charging. Is there a 240V plug/cable that can be purchased and the cost? I was wondering if I can just have an electrician install a 240V outlet in my garage and just do a plug-in to charge. Therefore, I would not need to purchase a separate charger to plug into the same 240V outlet.

evseupgrade.com, excellent work product and dozens here on MNL have had their chargers upgraded (including myself)...

Yes, you can absolutely buy anyone's EVSE and have any competent electrician do the install. The install is no different than adding a circuit for an electric dryer or stove.

BTW, just so you know, the thing on the wall and/or plugs into the wall is not a charger; it is a charging station or EVSE. The charger is under the rear seats in your car.

I know this is nit-picking, but it can get confusing at times and we communicate better if the right terms are used.

Well, if nit-picking...
The charger is behind the seats, not under it...

Oh, I get it now. You mean the charger is that thing I have coiled up in the bag behind the back seat! :lol:

No, Mr. Ital, you still don't get it. To be really specific, the charger is buried inside that hump between the back seat and the hatchback storage well.

So what is that brick on the cord that came with the car, then? It sure looks to me like the same kind of charger I use for my laptop computer. Or are you you going to tell me that isn't a charger, either?

Oh, that brick on the laptop cord is a charger, all right. It takes 120 volt alternating current from the wall, and converts it to direct current at a lower voltage, like maybe 15 to 20 volts, depending on what computer you have. The brick on the trickle charge cord may look the same, but it doesn't do the same kind of thing at all. It takes alternating current from the wall and feeds the same alternating current at the same voltage to the car. It's really mostly just a safety switch, that doesn't let any electric voltage get to the "nozzle" end of the cord until it has checked the house circuit for safety and gotten a signal from the car that there is a good connection.

Riiight ... That's a good one. Let me see you plug it in to the wall and then poke a hairpin in the nozzle.

Sure, no problem. Here, how about if I stand in a puddle of water while I do it.

Ray

EVSE- Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment. No charger.

i have the same question...apart from fast charging time, are there any other benefit ? Does 110V have more leakage or conversion loss then 220V ? is there any monetary benefit ?

I have the same dilemma, the Ecotality contractor gave me a gouged installation price of 1450 dollars for Ecotality vs. 125$ from a local electrician (excl. permit which might be max 200$ i believe).

Charging overhead to run the cooling system takes a small amount of power (100w?) so the longer charge time will use more power.

Convenience is a huge benefit to 240v 16a charging. Have your electrician install the wiring then decide if the new quote is worth it or get the unit from Home Depot etc.

ekbaazigar said:

i have the same question...apart from fast charging time, are there any other benefit ? Does 110V have more leakage or conversion loss then 220V ? is there any monetary benefit ?

I have the same dilemma, the Ecotality contractor gave me a gouged installation price of 1450 dollars for Ecotality vs. 125$ from a local electrician (excl. permit which might be max 200$ i believe).

Click to expand...

120v charging wastes about 10% of the power comparred to 240v charging.
BTW - AV now sells an EVSE with a plug on it . . . no longer do you need to hard wire 'em.



install takes a whopping 4 minutes to install ... do it yourself.

there are less expensive ones that'll do the same job.