Author Topic: EV Charging  (Read 1872 times)

flannel

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 22
EV Charging
« on: November 05, 2018, 05:24:19 PM »
I needed a way to charge my wife’s new electric car and got a quote from an electrician to install a charging station in the garage.  Their quote was over $3100 including a new electric panel and increasing the electric service to the property.  I did some research and figured out that a 240v outlet could be run off the existing panel with a quick change to a couple tandem breakers with no upgrade to the service (already 300 amps!). Same charging capability, and doesn’t require buying special equipment from manufacturer.  $280, installed by a licensed electrician, and working great.   

Lesson learned: do research before paying more than seems reasonable. 

MasterStache

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 2912
Re: EV Charging
« Reply #1 on: November 06, 2018, 06:07:15 AM »
I needed a way to charge my wife’s new electric car and got a quote from an electrician to install a charging station in the garage.  Their quote was over $3100 including a new electric panel and increasing the electric service to the property.  I did some research and figured out that a 240v outlet could be run off the existing panel with a quick change to a couple tandem breakers with no upgrade to the service (already 300 amps!). Same charging capability, and doesn’t require buying special equipment from manufacturer.  $280, installed by a licensed electrician, and working great.   

Lesson learned: do research before paying more than seems reasonable.

$3100!!! Holy F***

Good work on doing your research and not being suckered in.

Mississippi Mudstache

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2171
  • Age: 40
  • Location: Danielsville, GA
    • A Riving Home - Ramblings of a Recusant Woodworker
Re: EV Charging
« Reply #2 on: November 06, 2018, 06:12:12 AM »
First guy was looking for a sucker. Glad he didn't find one.

Syonyk

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 4610
    • Syonyk's Project Blog
Re: EV Charging
« Reply #3 on: November 11, 2018, 08:27:33 PM »
First guy was looking for a sucker. Glad he didn't find one.

Likely fishing for Tesla owners.  "Oh, yeah, I just dropped $100k on a car, I suppose a few grand to charge it is reasonable."

I need to mess with tandem breakers for my outdoor box.  I've got a couple 240V devices in there and am nearly out of slots.  The Volt currently charges on 120V/12A, which... actually, works well enough for now.  But I'd like to get 240V out there in case we upgrade to a pure electric at some point.

moof

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 809
  • Location: Beaver Town Orygun
Re: EV Charging
« Reply #4 on: November 11, 2018, 11:02:57 PM »
Ended up DIY on mine.  Turns out the “Heater” circuit was unused after the previous owner installed a natural gas system.  So I popped out the 60A tandem, and popped in the 25A spec’d breaker and routed the wires in via a box for the AC wiring.  Took about an hour and $20 of stuff.

Chaplin

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1893
  • Location: Le Canada
Re: EV Charging
« Reply #5 on: November 12, 2018, 09:01:30 AM »
I had planned to install a 240V outlet, but I’ve been finding it more than adequate to charge on 120V.  I can get 70km of range back in the evening and my round trip commute is 50km so I can gain ground over the week. If it’s really necessary, I can go work for an hour at a coffee shop where there’s a free charger that gives almost 40km of range per hour. I’m reconsidering whether it’s worth adding the  240V at all. There’s a good provincial incentive that helps with the cost, but so far I’m not seeing the need.

Abe

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 2647
Re: EV Charging
« Reply #6 on: November 12, 2018, 08:50:20 PM »
Good job avoiding that scam. I think a lot of people find charging the car a bit scary but it's not really that complicated unless you need a really long range vehicle.

We're using a 120V outlet every other night to charge my wife's car. She doesn't drive more than ~10 miles in a day, though. I generally bike to work. As a result, we haven't used more than 1 gallon of gas in the last month!