Bay area electrical contractor recommendations

[chithi]

I am looking for a contractor that can do Ecotality's blink EVSE installations. The default contractors they suggest are just out to fleece you!

Older posts suggested Robert Whitaker(?) at a-1electrical.com - but his status is in limbo with Ecotality. Anyone else knows a decent contractor preferably someone that did their install?

 

[GoingGreener]

Are you able to choose/request another electrical contractor? Ecotality said we would need to use the one assigned. It would be great if a second quote is allowed.

 

[chithi]

Are you able to choose/request another electrical contractor? Ecotality said we would need to use the one assigned. It would be great if a second quote is allowed.

Yeah - thats what the lady on the phone told me -
she didnot quite know what the contractor needs to do to be on their list and I didnot press for more info but I had hoped to work with Robert. He had received favorable reviews from others on the board but said that he was having a payments issue and was unsure of when that would be resolved.

 

[davewill]

My understanding was that the DOE grant required the contractor to pay union scale, and that is part of the reason the quotes are coming out higher than hiring you own contractor. One thing you might try is getting part of the work done on your own so that the install will then fit within the $1200 that Ecotality is paying toward the install.

 

[FremontRider]

I am looking for a contractor that can do Ecotality's blink EVSE installations. The default contractors they suggest are just out to fleece you!


Hello. This is my first post -waiting for the delivery of my silver SL Leaf on October 12. I cannot wait. Anyway, Meandal Electric installed my EVSE through Ecotality. The transaction was pretty smooth. Meandal called me for an appt. Tom came in two days after to evaluate - he was nice and straightforward. They forwarded the quote which is very reasonable. I signed and they called two days after to set-up the installation appt. At the day of the appt., they called that they will may be 30 minutes late but they arrived on time. Installation was smooth - 2 hours with the testing. I highly recommend them - very professional.

 

[chithi]

Hello. This is my first post -waiting for the delivery of my silver SL Leaf on October 12. I cannot wait. Anyway, Meandal Electric installed my EVSE through Ecotality. The transaction was pretty smooth. Meandal called me for an appt. Tom came in two days after to evaluate - he was nice and straightforward. They forwarded the quote which is very reasonable. I signed and they called two days after to set-up the installation appt. At the day of the appt., they called that they will may be 30 minutes late but they arrived on time. Installation was smooth - 2 hours with the testing. I highly recommend them - very professional.

So if I may ask : was the installation at a relatively new home and did they have to update your wiring? The problem with the older homes (like mine) is that they need to update the wiring as dave mentioned, and that is what makes it unfeasible.

 

[chithi]

My understanding was that the DOE grant required the contractor to pay union scale, and that is part of the reason the quotes are coming out higher than hiring you own contractor. One thing you might try is getting part of the work done on your own so that the install will then fit within the $1200 that Ecotality is paying toward the install.

Getting it done through someone else still leaves open the issue that the Ecotality based contractor may not accept it.

Is there some wiring/guage that is acceptable? 40Amp is what I believe everyone has said?
Best would be if the contractor can separately bill me for the upgrade and bill etec for the evse

 

[FremontRider]

So if I may ask : was the installation at a relatively new home and did they have to update your wiring? The problem with the older homes (like mine) is that they need to update the wiring as dave mentioned, and that is what makes it unfeasible.

Lost my other post. Anyway, my house is 10 years old. The 50 amp breaker in my main panel was changed to a 50/40 breaker - 50 goes to AC, 40 goes to EVSE. Just have Meandal evaluate you and they will tell you what is needed. The electrician told me that if I have to upgrade, it is cheaper to go to another electrician since they have to charge market rate due to federal requirements. They can come back to do the EVSE.

 

[FremontRider]

So if I may ask : was the installation at a relatively new home and did they have to update your wiring? The problem with the older homes (like mine) is that they need to update the wiring as dave mentioned, and that is what makes it unfeasible.

Or you can start a thread and ask the members here to help you evaluate your house. There are members here that are very knowledgeable and helpful. I've read it in some threads here before. Good luck to your project!

 

[EVDRIVER]

My understanding was that the DOE grant required the contractor to pay union scale, and that is part of the reason the quotes are coming out higher than hiring you own contractor. One thing you might try is getting part of the work done on your own so that the install will then fit within the $1200 that Ecotality is paying toward the install.

Getting it done through someone else still leaves open the issue that the Ecotality based contractor may not accept it.

Is there some wiring/guage that is acceptable? 40Amp is what I believe everyone has said?
Best would be if the contractor can separately bill me for the upgrade and bill etec for the evse

i did all my wiring with no permit, Ecotality had no issue screwing the unit to the wall and plugging it in in 20 minutes and then having the nerve to ask me sit through the inspection after. The electrician also got paid the full amount to do almost nothing, not even follow up to get the inspection. I don;t use the unit that often regardless and use my upgraded unit for reliability.

 

[cwerdna]

I'm also curious about recommendations for good electricians in the South Bay to do an inspection to ensure the circuit and wiring in my garage is up to the task of continual L1 charging. (No, I don't plan to install a L2 EVSE as I'm mostly likely leasing and have my Prius as a 2nd car anyway.)

The house was built in 1979 and I don't own it (my parents do but aren't living at it). The GFCI outlet in the garage might need changing (piece of cake for me) but it is wired to a 20 amp circuit on the breaker. Let's just say (to make a long story short), my mother (again, she's one of the owners, not me) w/no science background nor engineering background would totally flip out, yell, refuse to listen to reason, etc. if I were to charge an EV w/o an inspection.

I can go into a story relating to CATV where she did just that (i.e. had fears of fire (!!!) :roll: of me re-attaching the CATV feed from the street back to the house's internal CATV cabling after it was cut/disconnected to carry signals to/from a DirecTV dish previously) that but probably should in another thread...

It'd give me more piece of mind anyway, as we've never had anything in the house that draws 12 amps @ 120 volts unattended for many hours at a time.

I recall some people needing to sign some waiver/disclaimer about having someone inspect and confirm the circuit can handle the load (and that it can't be in a house that uses fuses) but I can't find the disclaimer or thread.

 

[cwerdna]

^^^
Bumping an ancient thread.

Anyone have any electrician recommendations to look at the circuit, wiring, breakers, etc. in the garage of the above house and possibly another that was built in the late 70s? I might move to that latter house.

Scenario is still the same. It looks like I'm closer to FINALLY leasing a Leaf.

 

[QueenBee]

^^^
Bumping an ancient thread.

Anyone have any electrician recommendations to look at the circuit, wiring, breakers, etc. in the garage of the above house and possibly another that was built in the late 70s? I might move to that latter house.

Scenario is still the same. It looks like I'm closer to FINALLY leasing a Leaf.

Wait, you've posted here 2600+ times and still haven't gotten a LEAF?! That's some serious patience

Maybe give Mother Nature Solar a call as I would trust any electrician referrals he have you.

 

[cwerdna]

^^^
It's because of my situation that I posted about at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=135203#p135203" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and probably other threads. I've told the story many times already.

I just recently started working again and the Leaf's range is no prob for this new job (~12 miles each way). And, there's free L2 charging at work. So, I figure a 2 year lease isn't too huge a risk. If for some reason I'm out of work within 2 years, I'm ok. I can afford it.

If you lived somewhere rent-free but weren't working and were far from everything, and a fair # of companies in your field are not within comfortable distance of the roundtrip range of a Leaf (or outside it), would you buy or lease a Leaf, in light of NMAC's crappy lease takeover policy? Would you want to limit your job choices (by distance or having workplace charging) or be forced to move and thus pay much more to live somewhere not rent-free, because of a car?

 

[QueenBee]

^^^
It's because of my situation that I posted about at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=135203#p135203" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and probably other threads. I've told the story many times already.

I just recently started working again and the Leaf's range is no prob for this new job (~12 miles each way). And, there's free L2 charging at work. So, I figure a 2 year lease isn't too huge a risk. If for some reason I'm out of work within 2 years, I'm ok.

Congrats! Definitely send him a message, he's a great guy and I'm sure he has his preferred electricians in the area.