Home charger

[Porschefreak]

Just leased a 2012 Leaf and looking for information on purchasing a home charger at the most inexpensive cost, used or best deal. Please help?
Thanks Ron

 

[downeykp]

Have the supplied evse upgraded at evseupgrade.com. You send in your unit Phil sends you back your unit upgraded to a full 220 16 amp charger. They work great.

 

[srl99]

OpenEVSE - google for OpenEVSE, for the same price as Fill you get a whole EVSE - which you could, for instance, install at home.

 

[keydiver]

I bought a Schneider EVSE from Home Depot for $699, and installed it myself for practically nothing. I also did Phil's http://www.evseupgrade.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; which is a great bang for the buck.

 

[ebill3]

Have the supplied evse upgraded at evseupgrade.com. You send in your unit Phil sends you back your unit upgraded to a full 220 16 amp charger. They work great.

The OP leases. Does that cause a problem when the lease ends?

 

[KJD]

When I got my car I bought the GE Wattstation from Lowes. I have never had a problem with it, but other people did report problems, so not sure if I would do that again or not.

You can buy the aerovironment EVSE from Amazon and the price is reasonable.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_4_4?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=evse+aerovironment&sprefix=EVSE%2Caps%2C253" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you hire a local electrician to install the unit and save some bucks over what AV will charge you to do the install.

 

[smkettner]

I bought a Schneider EVSE from Home Depot for $699, and installed it myself for practically nothing. I also did Phil's http://www.evseupgrade.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; which is a great bang for the buck.

I did same. I also bought a Leviton 160 for charging at Mom's house ~$900 shipped.

 

[dgpcolorado]

Have the supplied evse upgraded at evseupgrade.com. You send in your unit Phil sends you back your unit upgraded to a full 220 16 amp charger. They work great.

The OP leases. Does that cause a problem when the lease ends?

From http://www.evseupgrade.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; home page:

I am leasing my LEAF, and am worried I might be penalized if I turn my car in with the upgraded EVSE.
At the end of your lease we will be happy to swap you for a non-upgraded unit for free. (you cover shipping) I'm sure any other LEAF owner with an original unit would also be happy to swap you as well. In a pinch, you could simply cut the molded L6-20 connector off and install a standard screw-on plug just like the EVSE is originally shipped with, which you can purchase at any hardware store. Another option is to simply buy an additional already upgraded unit from us and keep your original unit in the trunk.

 

[davewill]

Have the supplied evse upgraded at evseupgrade.com. You send in your unit Phil sends you back your unit upgraded to a full 220 16 amp charger. They work great.

The OP leases. Does that cause a problem when the lease ends?

Nope. You can handle it a couple of ways. The easiest being show up at your local LEAF owner's club meeting (if you have one) and offer to swap your upgraded one for a non-upgraded one. You'll likely get plenty of takers. You could do the same thing here, but might have to deal with shipping. Finally, Phil (@EVSEUpgrade) promises to make the same swap for you if you just can't find any other way.

Personally, I plan to keep mine to use for my next EV, whatever it might be. I'll just buy a new one and turn that in if I have to.

 

[Flatirons]

You can get AV for 999 and Schneider for 700. But I am guessing that the prices have to come down drastically soon given that EVSE is relatively simple item. Why in the world should they cost $700 or $1000 ?

EVSE upgrade appears to be good enough for the Leaf but it wouldn't work for future car needs.

 

[bigdogldr]

I have a Blink Home charging station for sale if you are interested. Retail was $1500. It is one year old. Selling for $900. Located in Southern California. Shipping to MN should be around $45 UPS ground. Let me know if you are interested and I can email you pics. Email address is [email protected]

 

[planet4ever]

EVSE upgrade appears to be good enough for the Leaf but it wouldn't work for future car needs.

Of course it will work! That's what standards are all about. It won't allow you to charge any future cars faster than you can charge today's LEAF, but we're talking about an EVSE for home use. Most people who charge overnight at home wouldn't find much value in faster charging there. You plug the car in at night. It's fully charged in the morning. End of story. Yes, there are exceptions - people who have only a very few hours of super off-peak rates, people who work two jobs or share the car with someone who works nights, etc.

But for most people, the EVSEupgrade will work just fine until you get that mythical car with a 40kWh battery, or the very real Tesla, if you can afford it. And once you get much beyond 40kWh, the 30A EVSEs (which is all the others we're talking about) won't "work" either, in the sense that they won't give you a full charge overnight.

The real question is, how far do you drive in a day? 10 hours a night with a 16A EVSE will give you maybe 100-150 miles, or would if your car battery could hold that much. That number won't change much, no matter what future car you drive. Certainly a faster EVSE is valuable for charging away from home, but I just don't see that it buys anything in my garage.

Ray

 

[yorkhung]

I was almost going to use the EVSEUpgrade route for my 240V charger, but then I find it might not be as good deal as seem.

1. The Leaf L1 EVSE is the only thing I had, so l need to pay Advance Replacement and adapter. With CA tax and Shipping it turns out to be $407.

2. With the EVSEupgrade I will still have only one charger, so I can see the EVSEupgrade will stay in my garage and not bringing with me in car.

3. Siemens VersiCharge 30A was $840 from Amazon without tax last month, and Pass & Seymour L2EVSE is $750 + Tax now.

So the comparison comes down to
EVSEupgrade $400 = One EVSE that works only for this year's car
VersiCharge $840 = One 30A EVSE that works for new car two years down the road + Nissan L1 EVSE for backup at friend's house.
Pass & Seymour $810 = One 16A EVSE for home + Nissan for backup at friend's house.

With about $430 more, I was able to get a more future proof EVSE at home while keeping Nissan L1 EVSE for outside and backup use.

 

[planet4ever]

EVSEupgrade $400 = One EVSE that works only for this year's car
VersiCharge $840 = One 30A EVSE that works for new car two years down the road + Nissan L1 EVSE for backup at friend's house.
Pass & Seymour $810 = One 16A EVSE for home + Nissan for backup at friend's house.

I guess you must not have read my post before adding yours. Your "works only" vs. "works for new car" points are nonsense. I will agree that there can be an advantage to having two EVSEs. I felt the same way myself in the beginning, and went for the EVSEupgrade to a second EVSE. (Which is now $1000+, though I didn't pay that much way back when I got it.) If you charge regularly away from home using a plug, you should have two EVSEs for convenience. Personally, I have used the original EVSE in the car only three times in seventeen months, so it was a poor decision.

Ray

 

[mazdaboi]

EVSEUpgrade is the most inexpensive, and has the biggest incentive as it can be carried from place to place (friends homes, work, trips, etc) But another option is the $795 Clipper Creek L2 charger. Its has been discounted from $995. both a 15AMP 2.2kwh or the 25AMP 3.89Kwh (240V) option and is just as small as the Panasonic L1 we are supplied with.

Other than that, there isnt much available sub $795 range for outdoor use. Ill be sending my L1 in for the EVSE upgrade for a backup. Cant beat the price and overall positive feedback from current customers.

 

[yorkhung]

Your "works only" vs. "works for new car" points are nonsense.

Ray

Just like you said yourself, there are people only able to charge 6 hours per day for the Super-Offpeak rate.
And when talking about new car, you also need to consider the bigger battery size can increase charging time significantly.
Thinking about if you are getting a Tesla, 6 hours of 3.3W charging can't even get your tank half full.
There are also times you have to make two trip in a day and having faster charging can help a lot.

My primary point is not about 30A is better than 16A for Leaf, it's about the future proof and convenience of owing additional 6.6W EVSE compare to just having single EVSEupgrade.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

Just leased a 2012 Leaf and looking for information on purchasing a home charger at the most inexpensive cost, used or best deal. Please help?
Thanks Ron

For $549, you can buy the SPX Voltec charger, but only if you own a Volt. I happen to have a good friend who owns a Volt. They are allowed to buy 3 of them at that price - one for home, one for work, one for a vacation home. Something like that. (I have to assume GM is subsidizing the price, otherwise, why the limit?)

Anyway, my friend was nice enough to buy a second one, and sell it to me at cost. That plus the wiring, I was able to install a nice 16A L2 EVSE for under $650. If you know anyone with a Volt, I would talk to them about this.

 

[smkettner]

Your "works only" vs. "works for new car" points are nonsense.

Ray

Just like you said yourself, there are people only able to charge 6 hours per day for the Super-Offpeak rate.
And when talking about new car, you also need to consider the bigger battery size can increase charging time significantly.
Thinking about if you are getting a Tesla, 6 hours of 3.3W charging can't even get your tank half full.
There are also times you have to make two trip in a day and having faster charging can help a lot.

My primary point is not about 30A is better than 16A for Leaf, it's about the future proof and convenience of owing additional 6.6W EVSE compare to just having single EVSEupgrade.

When you get the $100,000 Tesla I believe you will be buying the propriatory Tesla EVSE. You will not be bothered with the flimsy 30a J plug.

BTW Leviton 160 is about $900 shipped. Works perfect for me.

 

[davewill]

When you get the $100,000 Tesla I believe you will be buying the propriatory Tesla EVSE. You will not be bothered with the flimsy 30a J plug. ...

Unwarranted assumption. At 6.6kW, 12 hours is good for nearly 80kWh. Since I would be unlikely to drive the 250+ miles that represents on a daily basis, I see no real need for a higher capacity EVSE in my garage.

 

[smkettner]

When you get the $100,000 Tesla I believe you will be buying the propriatory Tesla EVSE. You will not be bothered with the flimsy 30a J plug. ...

Unwarranted assumption. At 6.6kW, 12 hours is good for nearly 80kWh. Since I would be unlikely to drive the 250+ miles that represents on a daily basis, I see no real need for a higher capacity EVSE in my garage.

So you would not actually get the Tesla home EVSE?