$5000 Blink EVSE?

[Spies]

Just my two cents but if Ecotality requires a 40 amp circuit even though you already have a usable 30 amp circuit installed in the garage and the Blink can be set to 20 amps for that circuit I would drop out of the program. The Leaf only draws 16 amps max and I seriously doubt you will have access to a vehicle that draws more before the program is over at the end of next year.

 

[surfingslovak]

A question about the EV project. Why do they pay for your quick charge port? Doesn't the Blink only do L2 charging, or do they have a CHAdeMO charger in the works?

Yes, that's a very good question. I would like to know that too. I wrote an email to Nissan CS and contacted both ChargePoint America and ECOtality. They wouldn't or couldn't give me a straight answer. The funny thing is that the Volt qualifies for both programs, and it does not come with a QC port.

 

[TomT]

Actually, there is a three year commitment, unless that has changed since my contract of last year.

...the program is over at the end of next year.

 

[Spies]

Actually, there is a three year commitment.

Not according to the document I signed. According to my document its less than two years.

1
Term of Agreement
This Agreement shall commence on the Effective Date and shall continue until December
31, 2012 unless terminated earlier (the “Term”). The Agreement may be terminated
early in accordance with Section 7.

 

[Rat]

This matter has been resolved. Ecotality did not give me authority to get another quote from someone else (which means they would not pay the $1200 for anyone else to install it), but they did get back with Sprig to find out why the quote was so high. Sprig came back with a significantly lower quote after that, which I accepted. I will get the regular Blink unit with a new 40A line installed in the preferred location. This shows that you shouldn't just accept the first quote given you (unless it's 100% covered by the EVP, I suppose).

 

[Spies]

Glad to hear it is resolved to your satisfaction Rat!

 

[Volusiano]

I must be missing something. When I applied and got approved for the EV project in AZ, the Blink installation in my garage was completely free. It wasn't just a $1200 discount off of the total cost of the installation.

When the subcontractor came out to install the Blink, he told me that basically Ecotality pays them $1200 to do the installation, and that it's enough to cover their cost of up to a 25 foot run of wiring from the circuit panel to where I want the Blink located in the garage. It's not clear to me whether the $1200 pays for both the labor and the cost of a Blink unit, or just for labor. But the bottom line is that I didn't have to pay a dime for anything.

They said that if the run is longer than 25 foot, then I'd have to pay some more out of my own pocket to cover the extra length. My wiring run ended up to be 50 foot total. But in the end for some reason the subcontractor decided not to charge me for the extra 25 foot, which he estimated to be around $200 extra. He said it didn't take him much longer in time to do the whole job for 50 foot so he decided to not bother with charging me extra. I think it helped that I was nice to him and offered him water and helped clear out everything to make his work environment easy and comfortable. He said he ran into other people who were rude to him and didn't show him respect and demanded to know when he'd be done so they could get him out of their hair, etc.

As for the free QuickCharge option, I thought that as long as you qualify for the EV project, you'll be allowed to order the SL-e automatically with the price of the SL, and the -e denotes that the QuickCharge is already built into this model SL-e. You won't even see a $700 option for the QuickCharge port to put on your order, even though you'll see all other options. So I fail to see how opting not to pay for the Blink installation can jeopardize your $700 free QuickCharge entitlement because they're 2 different things. I already placed my order for the car at the end of Feb'11, well before Ecotality came out in May to install my Blink. So there's no way declining to pay for the Blink installation could have jeopardize my free QuickCharge because the dealer quote had already been finalized and accepted and the car order had already been placed and the car had already been manufactured and was on the way to being shipped to the US.

 

[davewill]

I must be missing something. When I applied and got approved for the EV project in AZ, the Blink installation in my garage was completely free. It wasn't just a $1200 discount off of the total cost of the installation....

What you describe is exactly the same thing. The EV project paying up to the first $1200 of the install), the homeowner having to cover any overage. Your contractor chose not to charge you for the extra run because he didn't end up actually using any extra time, and the parts probably didn't amount to much. However if he had noticed the longer run when he bid the job, he might have handed you a big quote, too.

I had the same experience as you, only they told me up to 18ft of conduit. The guys who did the actual install ended up using much more conduit than that in order to make the install neat and clean.

BTW, The $1200 goes toward labor and parts, excepting the Blink which is simply free to program participants.

 

[EVDRIVER]

They tried to scam my friend in LA and he found another company that did it for the allotment so no charge to him.

 

[Rat]

I thought this was resolved, but it still isn't. The final inspection is scheduled for Monday. I don't know why it took them so long to get it scheduled, and I'm not at all sure that will be the end of it. There is still the nasty problem of the new California carbon monoxide (CO) law. If the inspector refuses to sign off because I don't have the interconnected CO detectors then this may go on indefinitely. Then there is still the cut open stucco around the new main panel that was installed. With rainy episodes already occurring the electricians need to get that sealed up quickly.

 

[Volusiano]

I thought this was resolved, but it still isn't. The final inspection is scheduled for Monday. I don't know why it took them so long to get it scheduled, and I'm not at all sure that will be the end of it. There is still the nasty problem of the new California carbon monoxide (CO) law. If the inspector refuses to sign off because I don't have the interconnected CO detectors then this may go on indefinitely. Then there is still the cut open stucco around the new main panel that was installed. With rainy episodes already occurring the electricians need to get that sealed up quickly.

I had to wait several weeks before the subcontractors sent me the permit, too. Don't know why so long. But it's different locations so you can't compare anyway. As soon as I got the permit, I called the city and scheduled the inspection and they came out within a couple of days and approved it within 5 minutes.

I wouldn't hold my breath and wait to have the electrician come back and seal the stucco cutout. I'd just do it myself.

Not sure why this inspection has to do with your CO law. It should be a separate issue. How did you pass inspection in your garage wiring before (prior to the EVSE installation) if you didn't have to CO detectors? If the law came into effect after your garage had been built, then aren't you grandfathered out of the CO requirement?

 

[Deleted member 3147]

This posting greatly concerned me as I have a long run (~50ft) from panel to front of garage, with no crawlspace (slab) or accessible attic (2nd story). I was even more concerned when I found out that Sprig was my assigned contractor.

A representative came out to do the site assessment and said that they would run conduit around the outside of the house (fine with me). Imagine my relief when the quote came in at $800 cost to me. Considering that I'm getting my $700 QC port free, the EVSE is almost free!

Unfortunately, it took Sprig over two weeks to get the quote to me and they say to expect "5-10 business days or more" for permitting before they even schedule the install. My Leaf is scheduled for week of Oct. 10 so I may be L1 charging for a while.

/Ted

I just got my quote for installation of the Blink EVSE under the EV Project and it was almost $5000, but discounted by the $1200 into the mid-$3000 range. It's still more than the quote from AV, which I thought was outrageous. I had to jump through hoops to get my SV order upgraded to an SL at Nissan's urging in order to take advantage of the incentives of the EV Project, the biggest one being the $1200 discount on the EVSE, but now the discounted unit is more expensive than the non-discounted one. I could be out the ~$2000 for the upgrade to SL+QCP and have to refund the $700 for the QCP if I drop out of the EVP and have no EVSE beyond the level 1. The Homelink and backup camera are nice, but I wouldn't have paid $2K for them. This stinks. Nissan called me to encouraged me to upgrade; I feel like it was a bait and switch.

Has anyone else had this experience? Is it possible to get Ecotality to use the electricians who quoted for AV? If the $1200 was taken off their quote I would be satisfied. If I drop out of the EV Project will I get hit for the $700 QCP (that is currently - pun intended - useless)? The company that quoted the Blink is Sprig Electric. Of course I have called the Blink network support line and they suggested I forward the quote to them, which I have done, but they have screwed everything up so far. They just sent me a second membership card and had an email address and phone number I've never heard of down as mine, but the correct street address.

I don't understand why the quotes are so high. My panel is at the opposite corner of the house from the garage, but I don't need a new panel or trenching. The run through the attic shouldn't be so hard, and in fact there is already an unused 220V Romex cable running to the garage now for dryer (but we have a gas dryer).

Any advice or thoughts?

 

[Rat]

Finally had the inspection today, but it turned out not to be the final. The inspector was mainly interested in the way the system was grounded, and made the electrician redo some things. He was satisfied with the arrangement of CO and smoke detectors in the house, and took my word for it since he said all the permitted work was external (my view also) and he "had no business" going inside to "prowl around." He would not sign off until the stucco around the new main panel was resealed. The electrician had left the cut open for the inspector to see the wiring connections. So it looks like no additional costs beyond what I agreed to.