Help with electrician's quote to install EVSE

[mrcharlesho]

I recently leased a 2013 Leaf SV and love the car! I've been exploring different Lv 2 EVSEs and am pretty settled with the Leviton EVB32. I'm pretty inept at electric work, so I've been in contact with my electrician about getting it installed.

Just some quick info, I park the Leaf in my garage, and my garage shares a wall with my circuit box. In fact, where I want the Leviton installed is almost directly behind where the circuit box is. I let my electrician know and told him this should minimize the amount of copper that he needs to run.

I also sent him the installation manual for the Leviton so he would have an idea of what is involved.

Today, he emailed me a quote of $390 to install!!! The breakdown was $75.63 for part, wire, and hardware and about 4.5 hours at $70/hour.

This is obviously WAY more than I expected (I was looking for neighborhood of $200), but since I don't know much about electric work, I'm not sure how to best communicate to him that this job will probably be way easier (to him at least) than he thinks.

Do you guys have any tips?

ALSO on an unrelated note... I've been looking at the Leviton EVB32 and the EVB45. Other than one being 7.7kW and the other 7.2kW and some cosmetic differences, they seem pretty similar. Are there other differences between the units I should know about?

Thanks in advance!!!!

 

[davewill]

Did he come out to your home to prepare the estimate? Maybe he just decided to pad it from unfamiliarity. Anyway, just tell him it seems a little high, and then go get a couple more bids. You will either:

• A) Convince him to lower it
  B) Find another electrician willing to do it cheaper
  C) Find out that it's a fair price in your locale.

 

[smkettner]

Is 4 hours the minimum charge? If it takes 2 hours will he reduce the invoice?
Does it include any permit, drywall patch etc?

 

[apvbguy]

not knowing where you are or the actual conditions in the location where the work is to be done it is hard to offer advice, the bid given you is on the high side, it should run under $300. to install everything

 

[pauldesr]

I have a similar situation in my garage and paid $450. I thought it was very important to have a professional installation, so hired a well-known electrician. This was in Dallas.

 

[LeftieBiker]

I have a similar situation in my garage and paid $450. I thought it was very important to have a professional installation, so hired a well-known electrician. This was in Dallas.

We got a well-known, well-reviewed 'Master Electrician" to do some work at our house, and he screwed up *every single job*. In one case he wired a new fridge outlet into an already-overloaded lighting circuit, so the fridge shut off whenever we turned off the cellar lights. I had installed a new circuit with a junction box for the outlet, and showed him where it was. Cost doesn't equal quality.

As for the quote for the EVSE, it's either a case of professional Robbery or the guy is afraid of doing his first EVSE and quoted the worst-case scenario. In any event, you can get it done, and done right, for less. Since it's an unfamiliar device, get several estimates, having them come to look at it, and one of the electricians will finally realize that it's no different from installing an other similar device.

 

[cgaydos]

I'd ask if he's going to direct-wire the EVSE to the panel or going to install an outlet and plug the EVSE into that. The latter option gives you flexibility for later, such as if you move. It also requires more parts and more time. If the latter case the the parts cost isn't out of line. The labor still seems high - if the installation is as you describe it probably could be done in under 2 hours. However, if he hasn't done an on-site assessment he may be adding extra time to cover unexpected complications.

The other question is if this will be fully permitted. If so some of the labor cost would apply to that process.

 

[Deleted member 9999]

We just got our quote to install the EVSE from Bosch, literally 2 feet away from the main breaker panel, and parts + labor (on top of the EVSE) came out to ~$600 for the estimate. I'm hoping that it will come down. I think that Bosch adds some on top of that for working with the electrician, but it also guarantees the unit and the electrical work for many years.

 

[RobertC]

Just a suggestion.
Do you have a friend who is an electrician, or a friend who knows an electrician?
It is perfectly legal for homeowners to do electrical work on their own houses.
Many homeowners go to their local municipality and get their own electrical permit and perform the work themselves, or have a friend who is an electrician help them.
Electrical inspectors are usually very thorough when inspecting homeowner installations, so you can feel confident that the installation is up to code and safe.
Many electricians earn extra income by helping friends with electrical work on their homes at night or on weekends, and are very reasonable.
You can also save money by getting the material yourself. Home Depot has everything you'll need.