EVSE Home Assessment Reports

[prberg]

I just got my custom quote from Nissan/AV. Ouch. $2086. My install is also very simple. I would think less than an hour of work. I'm installing the EVSE about 2 feet from my main circuit panel. Just seems too high to me. I'm in Los Angeles by the way.

-Peter

[EVDRIVER]

I just got my custom quote from Nissan/AV. Ouch. $2086. My install is also very simple. I would think less than an hour of work. I'm installing the EVSE about 2 feet from my main circuit panel. Just seems too high to me. I'm in Los Angeles by the way.

-Peter

They use military spec wire and sold gold circuit breakers so it will last. They also give away a free air freshener if you sign the contract before you discover you can save money elsewhere.

[mwalsh]

Getting this from a posting on Leaf's FB page. Don't know the whole story yet (yes, I've asked), so I'm not sure why the guy is being forced to deal with his own permitting issues when it's a job that AV is supposedly being paid for:

Regarding the charger installation, my city's building permit office (West Sacramento) is requiring all sorts of weird information about the charger before they approve the permit. They want official documents which clarify whether the charger needs venting installed, as well as confirmation of the required conductor s...ize & number of conductors. Aerovironment could not answer these questions. HELP!

[JPC2822]

I've been waiting 40 days for my EVSE installation quote.

I was one of the first to get an assessment, on July 1. I've had a few conversations with Nissan and AV, with apologies and reassurances from both for the delay. All the while, my account on the Nissan site read "Looking forward to seeing you on July 1."

I recently took one of those surveys on the Nissan site "Please rate our web site" and told them I was not impressed. A day or so later, my account now reads "We visited you on 8/10/2010. We'll get back to you with a detailed quote on 72 hours." The visit date is inaccurate by 40 days. We'll see how soon they respond with a quote.

Oh, and the site also says "Amount Charged $-1". So I'm waiting eagerly to see that dollar in the mail soon.

I'm bracing myself for a quote resembling Cinmar's quote. I don't need trenching, but I have a packed 100 amp panel with 30 amp breakers for my solar PV system and a conduit run of more than 60 feet from the panel to the garage. I also asked the AV contracted electrician to investigate and quote on a separate TOU meter from my utility, SCE. So they might be taking some time to get the details on that from SCE.

Meanwhile, I got an independent quote to just install a new 40 amp 220V breaker and wiring, conduit and a new junction box in the garage. This quote was $1,783.

Sorry to hear that your quote is taking so long! You can be sure that your AV quote will be close to double (maybe more) than your independent quote! PLEASE call AV and tell them you want to be put on the "list" of those who want to purchase the home charger system by itself. Maybe AV will then bring down the price of their price gouging contracted electricians!

[JPC2822]

I just got my custom quote from Nissan/AV. Ouch. $2086. My install is also very simple. I would think less than an hour of work. I'm installing the EVSE about 2 feet from my main circuit panel. Just seems too high to me. I'm in Los Angeles by the way.

-Peter

Hi Peter!
My AV quote in San Gabriel is also very high. I encourage you (as I am the rest in this forum) to get a quote from an outside licensed electrician for the work and compare it to what AV's quote. My price comparison for an outside licensed electrician was HALF the price for the work-wiring, installation, and permit! I then called AV and they apologized- didn't say they would do or could do much about it. I asked if I could purchase the home charging station by itself- they were hesitant; said that there are only a "few" people on the list and said they would put my name on this list. I encourage you to consider doing this.
The amount of money saved from having an outside licensed electrician do the work is enough $ to buy another home charging system!

[prberg]

Yeah I wonder what 'special' wire they are using that would drive up the cost of the install by so much. Maybe they sprinkle some moon dust on the cables when they are done to improve connectivity.

Some great advice here. I am going to talk to my local electrician to get a price from him. But what exactly do I need him to do? Install a new 220V 40 amp circuit? Do they need some special outlet to connect to the AV unit? Seems like the Leviton unit is more friendly to independent installers. I should also ask for a 120V GFCI 20amp plug at the same time in the same area for backup?

thanks,
Peter

[JPC2822]

Yeah I wonder what 'special' wire they are using that would drive up the cost of the install by so much. Maybe they sprinkle some moon dust on the cables when they are done to improve connectivity.

Some great advice here. I am going to talk to my local electrician to get a price from him. But what exactly do I need him to do? Install a new 220V 40 amp circuit? Do they need some special outlet to connect to the AV unit? Seems like the Leviton unit is more friendly to independent installers. I should also ask for a 120V GFCI 20amp plug at the same time in the same area for backup?

thanks,
Peter

Hi Peter.
I don't know much about electricity and istallation. I took my AV quote estimate opened up the work section and I showed it to my local licensed electrician I contaced through the yellow pages. Here is the AV contracted electrician description of my install (feel free to copy it and show it to your electrician)
Pull permit. Install Tandem circuit breakers. Install (1) 40 Ampere 240 Volt circuit breaker in existing utility panel.
Install 30 feet or less of feeder from utility panel to wall mounted Charging Dock. Feeder (Conduit or Romex
wire) will be mounted to existing surfaces or run through crawl space or attic. Charging Dock will be installed on
customer preferred location and will be fully tested and certified with proprietary service tool. Customer will be
trained on operation and troubleshooting and inspector will be called for verification.

[JPC2822]

Peter, et. al. (others),
My quote from a contracted licesned electrician NOT AV's contracted electrian was a total of $700! He said about three hours. Three hours because I am putting the charging dock about 8 or 9 feet away from my panel along the wall of my garage. This takes time for the electrician to run the new wiring and metal covers over the wires...

[garygid]

Perhaps the "install" fee includes:
The 3-year AV warranty: $420
The special EVSE testing: $80
The AV coordination, federal overhead, etc. "expenses": equal to the real install costs.

So, take the "install" bid, subtract $500, then divide by 2 ...
is that closer to the "real" install cost?

(just guessing)

[DeaneG]

Still waiting for my AV quote 5 weeks after the visit. Went to Home Depot today, came home and changed a well-located and unused 30A dryer outlet in my garage to a 6-30R receptacle, total cost $9. Now I just need Leviton to sell me the 24-amp EVSE.