EVSE Installation, Info and Cost Comparison Thread

[DarkStar]

Correct, after 3 years it becomes a basic EVSE. You can pay extra for the monitoring services they will be providing for free while your part of the study.

Congrats, it's a free EVSE!

 

[Gonewild]

So it becomes the same as the Nissan AV evse then right? I don't think it matters if I can talk to the charger if I can talk to the car is that correct?

 

[Boomer23]

This also means that I have no choice but to upgrade my main panel, which is currently at capacity of 20 breakers, to connect an EVSE circuit.

I would ask about a subpanel.

Advice please: I now have a revised quote from AV to add a "load center" or sub panel to their scope of work to resolve the issue of the physically maxed-out panel.

Note that I currently have a 100 Amp main panel with solar pv, a total of one 40 amp breaker, two 30 amp breakers for the solar, and a total of 15ea 20 amp breakers, making up a total of 18 breakers and 20 poles. The panel is rated at 20 poles max. Most of the breakers are already half-height. The only high amp appliances are the oven and cooktop. The 40 amp breaker is for the oven, and a full size 20 amp breaker is for the cooktop. There is no A/C, no spa, no electric dryer or water heater. Leaf charging will be done primarily from midnight to 5 am, when no cooking will be done.

Here's the proposal to add the EVSE. "Install (1) new 60 amp 4 circuit load center. Install 50 amp 240 volt breaker in existing panel. Install 40 amp 240 volt breaker in new sub panel and relocate (2) 20 amp circuits from main panel into sub panel."

For my electrical brain trust friends, does this look do-able and would you do it? Or would you just upgrade your main panel to 200 Amps at a cost of about $2,000 over and above the AV quote? Note that I'd like to add something like a TED metering device in the near future to track my solar pv production and my power usage.

 

[garygid]

If your main panel can take more load, the sub-panel is an option,
moving some of the existing breakers to the sub-panel to make room
in the main panel for the breaker that "feeds" the sub-panel.

The sub-panel should be bigger than 4 circuits, at least 10, at little extra cost.

If the main panel is already "fully" loaded, since the sub-panel load also flows through
the main panel, the service and panel main upgrade might be your only option.

Your elecrician should be able to figure out what is needed for the EV (and future) loads.

 

[smkettner]

Advice please: I now have a revised quote from AV to add a "load center" or sub panel to their scope of work to resolve the issue of the physically maxed-out panel.

Note that I currently have a 100 Amp main panel with solar pv, a total of one 40 amp breaker, two 30 amp breakers for the solar, and a total of 15ea 20 amp breakers, making up a total of 18 breakers and 20 poles. The panel is rated at 20 poles max. Most of the breakers are already half-height. The only high amp appliances are the oven and cooktop. The 40 amp breaker is for the oven, and a full size 20 amp breaker is for the cooktop. There is no A/C, no spa, no electric dryer or water heater. Leaf charging will be done primarily from midnight to 5 am, when no cooking will be done.

Here's the proposal to add the EVSE. "Install (1) new 60 amp 4 circuit load center. Install 50 amp 240 volt breaker in existing panel. Install 40 amp 240 volt breaker in new sub panel and relocate (2) 20 amp circuits from main panel into sub panel."

For my electrical brain trust friends, does this look do-able and would you do it? Or would you just upgrade your main panel to 200 Amps at a cost of about $2,000 over and above the AV quote? Note that I'd like to add something like a TED metering device in the near future to track my solar pv production and my power usage.

I know I said subpanel and that may well be the low cost method. Honestly if it was my house I would go with a new 200 amp panel that had plenty of slots and some room to expand.

I would however hire my own electrician to do all the work including pull wire to an outlet for the evse. If it is all built in I would rip and repair the walls as needed to make it look as if originally installed by the builder. That is extra but not huge in the scheme of things.

 

[aqn]

I am starting this thread as a place to post any info on EVSE installation costs, parts, etc. This will be a good way to get ideas of what people are being charged and what info is being communicated.

Location: Austin, TX 78750
Contractor:  AeroVironment
Sub-contractor:  Wright 1 Electric, Burleson, TX

Installation Permit and Processing         94.50
Custom Installation                     1,607.90
Charging Dock, Wall Mount 25' Cable       721.12
Shipping and Delivery                      49.95
Total(before tax)                       2,473.47
Sales Tax                                 192.93
Total US                                2,666.40

This thread would be much more useful split into three separate threads: installation, info, and cost comparisons. Wading through 70 pages of three related subjects is not a good or quick way to educate oneself.

 

[Gonewild]

Wow sure glad I got mine for free.

 

[Boomer23]

Wow sure glad I got mine for free.

Grrrrrrrrrr :evil:


(Oh, sorry, was that out loud?)

 

[jfy]

I previously leased a Toyota RAV4 EV so have an existing 40 Amp 240 Volt circuit in the garage and a TOU meter. The AV subcontractor that did the my home assessment indicated that my installation cost should be lowest of all the assessments that he has done to date. But he didn't know how much it would be because he doesn't generate the actual quotes. He sends AV the home assessment form and photos. After I got the quote below, I called Nissan customer service and was forwarded to AV. I requested a breakdown of the hourly rate for the electrician and estimated job duration but AV declined to provide the details.

Installation Permit and Processing $0.01
Custom Installation $604.50
Charging Dock, Wall Mount 15' Cable $721.12
Shipping and Delivery $49.95
Total(before tax) $ 1,375.58
Sales Tax $ 63.10
Total US $ 1,438.68

Your quote details
Charging Dock will be installed to customer location with existing 40 Ampere 240 Volt circuit. Charging Dock will
be fully tested and certified with proprietary service tool. Customer will be trained on operation and
troubleshooting. This quote assumes that the existing branch circuit is installed correctly and has been permitted.
Expires on 12/31/2010

 

[sparky]

...After I got the quote below, I called Nissan customer service and was forwarded to AV. I requested a breakdown of the hourly rate for the electrician and estimated job duration but AV declined to provide the details. ...

Same here. I also had a previous EV 40A hookup, my quote came in with identical "quote details" as yours, my "Custom Installation" fee was $664 though. I also called Nissan, and complained that AV had not provided the minimum level contractor details about the time and materials for the job. AV agreed to let me buy the unit and install myself; "cash and carry" option, but wouldn't justify their quote. Since then, I've qualified for the EVProject, but I wouldn't have let AV do the install (60 mins of labor?) at that price under any circumstances.

 

[EVDRIVER]

I previously leased a Toyota RAV4 EV so have an existing 40 Amp 240 Volt circuit in the garage and a TOU meter. The AV subcontractor that did the my home assessment indicated that my installation cost should be lowest of all the assessments that he has done to date. But he didn't know how much it would be because he doesn't generate the actual quotes. He sends AV the home assessment form and photos. After I got the quote below, I called Nissan customer service and was forwarded to AV. I requested a breakdown of the hourly rate for the electrician and estimated job duration but AV declined to provide the details.

Installation Permit and Processing $0.01
Custom Installation $604.50
Charging Dock, Wall Mount 15' Cable $721.12
Shipping and Delivery $49.95
Total(before tax) $ 1,375.58
Sales Tax $ 63.10
Total US $ 1,438.68

Your quote details
Charging Dock will be installed to customer location with existing 40 Ampere 240 Volt circuit. Charging Dock will
be fully tested and certified with proprietary service tool. Customer will be trained on operation and
troubleshooting. This quote assumes that the existing branch circuit is installed correctly and has been permitted.
Expires on 12/31/2010

If you have power to the EVSE then it's about a 30-45 min job. Buy an EVSE and do it yourself or hire and electrician and save $400. $600 to connect an EVSE is far too much.

 

[Tesla]

I received the following email from Coulomb. The representative seems to think the CT500 will charge the Leaf faster than a 3.3Kw EVSE (see "Other items to consider" point #1 below). Is he misinformed?

Thank you for your inquiry regarding Coulomb Technologies EV chargers. While Coulomb offers units for both commercial and home locations, including multi-family dwellings, we are currently offering a special deal for the CT500 charger for the home. Please see the details of this special offer below. If you are interested in commercial chargers for public or workplace chargers, please let us know and we can get the information to you on Coulomb’s CT2000 and CT2100 series chargers.

CT500 Special Offer for Home Installation:

CT 500 unit only (excluding sales tax)$1850

Shipping for charger $ 50

Site Visit—deducted from installation if use CFCI$ 100

Standard Installation—approximately 35 feet of conduit, mounted on the exterior of the home, no trenching, coring or boring, one penetration from exterior to garage, sign quote at the time of site visit. Excludes permits. $ 900 (approx.)

Permits (if pulled by installer)$ 200 (approx.)

Installation if you have had an EV charger and already have a 40 amp circuit (includes removal of existing charger if necessary) $ 450

We have units in stock for immediate delivery.

Other items to consider:

1. If you are buying the Nissan Leaf and the faster charging option on the Nissan Leaf, I believe the CT 500 will charge your car twice as fast, as it is a 7.2kW charger.
2. You can choose to install the unit yourself or have your own electrician install it, however, we will ask you to sign something indicating that you will follow electrical codes and local procedures for installation. If the unit is not properly installed or is tampered with, the one year parts and labor warranty will be void.
3. If purchased by December 31, 2010, the unit comes with two years free network software license; after two years you may need to pay a license fee of $140 per year. We are currently discussing this with the manufacturer.

Clean Fuel Connection (CFCI) has been in the electric vehicle infrastructure business since 1999 and the President has 18 years prior experience with a major investor-owned utility. CFCI has sold and installed approximately 8,000 chargers from multiple manufacturers. We are currently the exclusive California distributor of Coulomb ChargePoint charging units. Over the past two years, we worked with BMW to install the infrastructure for the MINI E program.

If you are interested in purchasing the charger and/or installation, please let us know where you live and we will have one of our dealers contact you immediately.

Thanks,

George


George P. Bent
Project Manager
Clean Fuel Connection
(626) 445-1445
[email protected]

 

[evnow]

I received the following email from Coulomb. The representative seems to think the CT500 will charge the Leaf faster than a 3.3Kw EVSE (see "Other items to consider" point #1 below). Is he misinformed?

I think so - may be he thought the DC fast charge option is 6.6KW charger option ?

 

[garygid]

$1900 + install, plus $140 per year. Sorry, no thanks!

 

[Danny]

It looks like someone wanted to compare the AV quote to another electrician's quote. The quote I received from AV is pretty simple in the work that has to be done, and I don't think it can be done as they expect, so I had another electrician figure out what he think needs to be done which is much more extensive, and he still came out lower.

AV quote: $2757.84
Install 40 amp circuit breaker in existing panel
Pull number 8 wire 50 feet from service panel through existing buried conduit
Install charging doc. Test, certify with proprietary service tool.

My electrician doesn't think AV will be able to pull the wire through the very old conduit that is burried beneath my driveway and probably corroded, so he is proposing a little bit of trenching. In addition to that, I want another meter so that I can get onto the TOU-EV1 rate just for the car.

My electrician's quote: $1600 + cost of AV EVSE $721.12 = $2321.12
Separate panel, riser pipe, wire, weather head, roof jack, ground rods, ground wire, breaker, and other misc. supplies. This includes the trenching and the cost of an AV EVSE.

The only thing I am uncomfortable about is the part about testing and certifying with AV's proprietary service tool. I guess I won't really know if it is hooked up right. My electrician is licenced though. I know he does good work, but this is a new product.

 

[Danny]

Whoever is controlling this forum, I just posted to GE Announces WattStation Electric Car Charger. Oct 23, 2010 at 5:28pm. It looks like it should be in this thread. Can it be moved?

mod edit : Did it this time. You can just copy & paste the post in the right thread - and delete the old post (or I can, if you don't have access).

 

[EVDRIVER]

This goes to show how sales people at these upstart EVSE companies know little to nothing about EVs and what an EVSE is. They call it a charger because some of them think it's a charger. I have spoken to people at many of these companies and they are mostly poorly informed order takers.

 

[playtimeover]

I am starting this thread as a place to post any info on EVSE installation costs, parts, etc. This will be a good way to get ideas of what people are being charged and what info is being communicated.

That's good.. Many people you can help.

 

[Boomer23]

New page on Plug In America Site for EV Accessories, specifically a clickable listing of available EVSE. Nothing new here to most of us, but a nice listing with links to product illustrations and spec sheets.

http://www.pluginamerica.org/accessory-tracker?ul=All&type=EVSE&level=2

 

[Boomer23]

I got an email from Charge Point America this evening that seemed designed to rub it in my face that I've never been eligible for a free EVSE or other regionally favored perks.

The email, with pictures of a Coulomb EVSE, announced that Charge Point America is now accepting applications for free EVSEs AND, get this, for this Federal Transportation Electrification Initiative funded program, my Orange County zip code IS now eligible, even though it was not included in the EV Project. BUT, the current program is ONLY for buyers of the Volt, Ford Focus Electric, Ford Transit Connect and Smart ForTwo Electric Drive. So if I was only getting one of these vehicles, I'd probably be IN. But no, I'm OUT again. Sob...

The listed metro areas for this program are: Austin, New York, Los Angeles, Orlando, Sacramento, San Jose/SF Bay Area, Bellevue/Redmond, Washington DC, and Southern Michigan.

Interestingly, for the Focus and the Smart, you are instructed to see your dealer. For the Transit Connect, you're supposed to contact Azure Dynamics. But for the Volt, there is a link to the SPX Volt site. So I guess if you qualify for the Volt free EVSE, you'd get the $490 Volt SPX charger, rather than a $2,000 Coulomb.

Oh well, I'm glad to see that these programs are out there to encourage EV adoption.