Boomer23
Well-known member
The AV electrician just left here. The contractor is Aliso Electric for my area.
General information, word of mouth from the AV guy to my electrician, so take with a grain of salt:
* Mine was only his second assessment. Someone in Newport Coast with a Tesla who's also getting a Leaf was his first appointment this morning.
* EVSE installations will begin October 1
* First Leaf deliveries will be around Dec 21
* My area will be among the first, but he had no real concrete info about San Diego timing
For my electrical installation:
1. My 100A panel will not need to be upgraded. I don't have house air conditioning or a pool or spa and no other large amperage hogs. He was only concerned about physical space on the panel and the physical location of my 30A solar system breakers in terms of heat generation and "nuisance" breaker trips due to heat. We found a 20A breaker that doesn't seem to power anything, so that may be able to be removed and provide extra space.
2. He'll give me a quote for a Southern Cal Edison (SCE) TOU meter, already mentioned by others, that will attach to the grid side of the panel and possibly make things even easier in terms of not disturbing the existing panel. He didn't know about SCE's charges for the additional meter, if any, or any additional monthly charges. He plans to find out in the next few days because he know's he'll be asked about that constantly.
3. My panel is mounted on the exterior wall of my rear bedroom wing and not convenient to the garage. He'll run conduit through an attic and across a patio cover to the garage and then flex conduit inside the garage. The run was estimated at 60 feet, which is longer than the 35 foot run that Nissan has been quoting as standard. I take that to mean extra cost for the materials and labor for the longer run. This may also mean that my City will require a cutoff switch in the garage since the main panel is not in line-of-sight to the EVSE.
4. We discussed running larger (one inch) conduit in place of the 3/4 inch, and/or running larger gauge wire (#6 instead of #8, I think) in case I get an EV with a larger capacity charger in the future. I think he'll quote me on the standard conduit and wiring run, and then a separate quote for larger wire and/or conduit.
5. I expect an email in the next 48 to 72 hours with a pricing estimate, which I'll post here. Not sure if the weekend will extend that timing.
6. I now have a paper image of the AV EVSE taped to my garage wall in the location of the future EVSE. The paper has the words "Your Home Charging Dock" and my home assessment number written on it. Since this is the first concrete evidence that I'm planning to get an EV, it's surprisingly fun to look at.
7. The electrician asked, and I agreed, to take pictures of the installation locations, the area of the conduit run, etc, to help with the estimate. No problem for me, but be aware if you have issues with photos being taken. He said the guy this morning didn't want him to take pictures.
8. As Kei said above, I was also asked if I wanted a quote on a 120v line for Level 1 charging. For me, especially because I'm limited on space on my panel, it would probably just be a GFCI receptacle replacing a standard receptacle in my garage. But there are some technical details that make that a little more complicated. I asked for that to be itemized separately.
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See the old evse assment thread here --> http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=594
General information, word of mouth from the AV guy to my electrician, so take with a grain of salt:
* Mine was only his second assessment. Someone in Newport Coast with a Tesla who's also getting a Leaf was his first appointment this morning.
* EVSE installations will begin October 1
* First Leaf deliveries will be around Dec 21
* My area will be among the first, but he had no real concrete info about San Diego timing
For my electrical installation:
1. My 100A panel will not need to be upgraded. I don't have house air conditioning or a pool or spa and no other large amperage hogs. He was only concerned about physical space on the panel and the physical location of my 30A solar system breakers in terms of heat generation and "nuisance" breaker trips due to heat. We found a 20A breaker that doesn't seem to power anything, so that may be able to be removed and provide extra space.
2. He'll give me a quote for a Southern Cal Edison (SCE) TOU meter, already mentioned by others, that will attach to the grid side of the panel and possibly make things even easier in terms of not disturbing the existing panel. He didn't know about SCE's charges for the additional meter, if any, or any additional monthly charges. He plans to find out in the next few days because he know's he'll be asked about that constantly.
3. My panel is mounted on the exterior wall of my rear bedroom wing and not convenient to the garage. He'll run conduit through an attic and across a patio cover to the garage and then flex conduit inside the garage. The run was estimated at 60 feet, which is longer than the 35 foot run that Nissan has been quoting as standard. I take that to mean extra cost for the materials and labor for the longer run. This may also mean that my City will require a cutoff switch in the garage since the main panel is not in line-of-sight to the EVSE.
4. We discussed running larger (one inch) conduit in place of the 3/4 inch, and/or running larger gauge wire (#6 instead of #8, I think) in case I get an EV with a larger capacity charger in the future. I think he'll quote me on the standard conduit and wiring run, and then a separate quote for larger wire and/or conduit.
5. I expect an email in the next 48 to 72 hours with a pricing estimate, which I'll post here. Not sure if the weekend will extend that timing.
6. I now have a paper image of the AV EVSE taped to my garage wall in the location of the future EVSE. The paper has the words "Your Home Charging Dock" and my home assessment number written on it. Since this is the first concrete evidence that I'm planning to get an EV, it's surprisingly fun to look at.
7. The electrician asked, and I agreed, to take pictures of the installation locations, the area of the conduit run, etc, to help with the estimate. No problem for me, but be aware if you have issues with photos being taken. He said the guy this morning didn't want him to take pictures.
8. As Kei said above, I was also asked if I wanted a quote on a 120v line for Level 1 charging. For me, especially because I'm limited on space on my panel, it would probably just be a GFCI receptacle replacing a standard receptacle in my garage. But there are some technical details that make that a little more complicated. I asked for that to be itemized separately.
-----
See the old evse assment thread here --> http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=594