$6,700 estimate to install Blink EVSE by Sunwest Electric

[EVDRIVER]

You should be able to have this wired by an electrician of your choice, I did my own and Ecotality came out and plugged the Blink in, done in no time. You may not get the $1200 credit but perhaps you can ask if they will give it to you if you provide documentation.

 

[azdre]

We needed a new panel as well, the first bid was about 3000 above and beyond the included 1200, so we asked ecotality to send us a new contractor for another bid. The new bid was 400 out of pocket after the 1200 credit. The work was completed last Thursday and we couldn't be happier.

your friend will need to keep in mind that the electicians will need to coordinate with the electrical company to shut down the service during the upgrade and that scheduling took 2 weeks for us in Phoenix. If he goes forward with the LEAF, he might be charging on 110 for a while.

 

[DaveEV]

My thoughts:

1. Sunwest will be charging "competitive rates" aka "union rates" for EV project work as it is a DOE funded project. As such - you will want to have them quote the panel upgrade separately.
2. Sunwest will likely be 100% swamped the next 2 months with installs and related work. It's quite likely they have priced themselves high on purpose as they don't really "want" the work.

So given those 2 things I would get 2-3 other bids for the panel upgrade with the idea that Sunwest will only handle the EVSE install after that (and it should be a standard install by that point so no extra cost).

Comments on the quote itself:

Total amount seems to be 2-3x higher than it should be assuming the house as above ground service (considering that no trenching is noted and it mentions a mast/weatherhead). I would expect this type of upgrade to cost no more than $2-3k at the most. Cost of the panel is at least 2x more than it should be. Stucco repair cost the same - that's a 2-3 hour job.