EVSE Installation, Info and Cost Comparison Thread

[LEAFfan]

Looking ahead 30 years, some kind of "really-quick" Quick-Charge stations will probably be common, with new battery chemistries to match.

I'm thinking some form of supercapacitor that can take/give 100% of it's energy in seconds without melting down, exploding, etc.

You mean like the EESU?: 52Kwh/charges in about 5 mins./300#/300 mi./$3000.

 

[garygid]

EESU ... well, perhaps, but I was actually hoping for something "real".

Has anybody tried Ni-Zink rechargable batteries (1.6v per cell)?
I just saw them for the first time.

 

[evnow]

Looking ahead 30 years, some kind of "really-quick" Quick-Charge stations will probably be common, with new battery chemistries to match.

I'm thinking some form of supercapacitor that can take/give 100% of it's energy in seconds without melting down, exploding, etc.

Interesting thing is - when Lithium is oxidized, it actually releases enough energy to be comparable with hydrocarbons on a energy density basis. Question really is how to control it.

Already Li batteries can hit 50C (i.e. 1 minute) - realistically 5 minutes seems to be quite possible. Then it becomes a question of getting enough juice from the grid for continuous operation ...

ps : Look at Li Titanate batteries. Extremely fast, safe but expensive. That is why Altair has no takers. May be Toshiba will make that workable ... with their SCiB.

http://www.scib.jp/en/product/detail.htm

 

[daniel]

Looking ahead 30 years, some kind of "really-quick" Quick-Charge stations will probably be common, with new battery chemistries to match.

I'm thinking some form of supercapacitor that can take/give 100% of it's energy in seconds without melting down, exploding, etc.

You mean like the EESU?: 52Kwh/charges in about 5 mins./300#/300 mi./$3000.

Didn't this turn out to be make believe? I never heard of them producing an actual prototype. Charge time for a capacitor is nil, energy release is almost instantaneous, and weight is slight compared to batteries. EEStor claimed to have refined a dielectric that they hoped would do the job, but until they actually demonstrate a prototype, it's all hypothetical. And cost is purely speculative. Factor in needed safety features, and cost could end up being astronomical. That's because if the dielectric is breached, the release of energy is instantaneous and explosive: Potentially you could have enough energy to move a car 300 miles released in an eye-blink, and BOOM!

I'm hopeful that all these issues will be resolved. But they are not trivial, and I've heard nothing about EEStor since they failed to meet their own promised date for delivering EESUs to Zenn in large enough quantity for the mass production of a freeway-capable 300-mile car.

 

[EVDRIVER]

PLease tell me we are not going to start discussing EEStor.

 

[garygid]

We are not! ... PLEASE!

 

[LBCev]

How many people have received their requested revised quote from AV? Every week it seems that I get an another week added to their expected timeframe within which to deliver the revisions. At this point, even if it comes in at a semi-reasonable rate I may still look to Leviton or another provider (EV Charge America) for a home charger solution.

 

[EVDRIVER]

How many people have received their requested revised quote from AV? Every week it seems that I get an another week added to their expected timeframe within which to deliver the revisions. At this point, even if it comes in at a semi-reasonable rate I may still look to Leviton or another provider (EV Charge America) for a home charger solution.

Was promised 2 days max, been almost 14 days. It really is pointless as I will be doing my own. I also plan to ask for a refund of my assessment as they have not done every single thing they promised and they have wasted my time with repeated calls to get it right. If you must pay for an assessment they should get it right.

 

[smkettner]

My initial quote was 40 days and too much money for a prewired home. I don't do second quotes.

 

[prberg]

How many people have received their requested revised quote from AV? Every week it seems that I get an another week added to their expected timeframe within which to deliver the revisions. At this point, even if it comes in at a semi-reasonable rate I may still look to Leviton or another provider (EV Charge America) for a home charger solution.

I'm still waiting for my revised quote. It's been about 2 weeks since I told them the initial quote was way too high. I'm thinking about the EV-Charge America unit, or maybe the Leviton one (although I would like to get it installed by November).

-Peter

 

[daniel]

I'm not waiting for the revised quote because I'm not going to buy from AV period! But I have not yet received a revised quote. I'm also still waiting for them to refund me the promised $50. They had promised to charge me only $50 for the evaluation in compensation for canceling and rescheduling. But then they charged my card $100. They are crooks! If I don't get the refund soon I'll report it to my bank as fraud.

 

[daniel]

I just phoned them to ask about the promised refund. The woman I spoke with recognized my name, acknowledged that they had promised to charge me $50 rather than $100 and said she didn't know why the $50 refund had not gone through yet, and said she would check on it. She promised to send me an email or phone (I have no preference) once the problem has been resolved.

She also said they are "working on" getting the revised estimates for all the folks who had been promised them.

I told her that it would be nice to know how they arrived at my $4,702 estimate, since the dock and transfer switch together could not come to more than $1,000, and the job would probably take about an hour to do. (Maybe they're charging by the hour for trip time from California to Spokane, but I didn't say that to her.)

I ended by telling her I thought it would be the decent thing to do to refund my entire $100, since the service they provided me was not what had been implied: When they offered to do an assessment and estimate for $100 (later in my case they promised to charge only half, in compensation for the inconvenience of rescheduling my original appointment) there is an implied promise that the estimate will be an honest one; and in my view the estimate I received was not honest.

 

[mwalsh]

Just a quick reminder to be as nice as you can to the poor girl at AV. She's only a temp and it's not really her fault that she's been landed with the crappiest job there (and by that I mean dealing with us :lol: ).

 

[daniel]

Just a quick reminder to be as nice as you can to the poor girl at AV. She's only a temp and it's not really her fault that she's been landed with the crappiest job there (and by that I mean dealing with us :lol: ).

I was so polite I was oozing treacle. I laid out the facts so calmly you'd have thought I was making a meditation tape. I asked for my money back in the same tone of voice I'd have used while petting a kitty. My tone when talking TO criminals is quite the opposite of my tone when I'm talking ABOUT criminals. The woman I spoke with, however, is probably not a temp. She seemed familiar with my name, my case, and the numerous other people who are outraged at the estimates they have received and the delays they have endured from AV.

 

[mitch672]

daniel, the easiest thing to do is to dispute the charge with your credit card company, then print out the emails or or document the conversations to the credit card company with dates/times/names, as backup.

 

[daniel]

daniel, the easiest thing to do is to dispute the charge with your credit card company, then print out the emails or or document the conversations to the credit card company with dates/times/names, as backup.

Actually, the bank will ask me to try to resolve the dispute with the merchant before filing a claim with them. I've been through this with full-on fraudulent charges (from a company with which I had never had any dealings).

News from AV: I got an email saying the $50 refund is in the works and should come through within a few days, and that she has asked her superior about my request for a full refund (which has about a snowball's chance in hell).

Also she filed a revised estimate, which now shows on my Leaf page. She says there was an "error" in the cost of parts. They've cut roughly two thousand dollars off the estimate. It is now $2,643.68, or something in the neighborhood of $900 more than my electrician would charge. AV would give me a full 3-year warranty only if they do the work, but my electrician would guarantee his work without charging the extra $900.

Here's the deal: If I believed it was an honest mistake, I'd say, Okay, AV just charges twice as much for labor as a local guy charges. But it's not just me. They've been giving fraudulent estimates to nearly everybody. What they are apparently doing is giving rip-off estimates, and then revising downward only if people complain. A few will not know any better and will pay. In my opinion this is a crooked way to do business, and I don't do business with crooks.

I expect to get the $50 back. They promised that and I don't doubt they will do it. I'll pursue the other $50, but I know I'll never see that again. I blame Nissan for sticking it to us by partnering with a crooked company in the first place.

 

[gasmiser1]

This is really weird. I just checked my AV quote on my Nissan dashboard. Originally, it was $2,300 for a custom install. Now it's $1,139.95! Seems quite a bit more reasonable.
I never contacted them or asked for a lower price.

Maybe the MyNissanLeaf forum is starting to pay off. I'm still going to wait until Leviton announces their pricing.

 

[jason98]

I just noticed that my quote was changed on 9/7/2010:

custom installation 1 1,040.00 1,040.00
installation permit and processing 1 50.00 50.00
shipping and delivery 1 49.95 49.95
total US$1,139.95

The previous number was about $2,500
However this quote is confusing as it now states "custom installation" instead of "standard".
And it also does not list the price of the unit ($700).
Does it go extra or is it included in the installation price?

 

[gasmiser1]

I just noticed that my quote was changed on 9/7/2010:

custom installation 1 1,040.00 1,040.00
installation permit and processing 1 50.00 50.00
shipping and delivery 1 49.95 49.95
total US$1,139.95

The previous number was about $2,500
However this quote is confusing as it now states "custom installation" instead of "standard".
And it also does not list the price of the unit ($700).
Does it go extra or is it included in the installation price?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yea, good question. My install quote was standard originally and now custom.

My new quote is good until 12/31/2010, so some investigation in Leviton and other pricing is in order. I'll call AV to fine tune the price, since the "product/service description" section doesn't mention a charging dock unit.

However, the title on the page is "Home Charging Dock and Installation Quote." Seems like maybe the quote is incomplete?

 

[mwalsh]

Mine's still the same. Well I had to check, didn't I! :lol: