Level 2 Charger Confusion

[EVDRIVER]

(muffled voice on the phone)
... gasp, burp, gulp, ... hey boss, what do I tell this guy?

I spoke to the install appt people who called me and they acted as though the price would not go down if I did work like this. Most likely they are wrong but perhaps someone with an early appt can ask these questions! It will be easy to compare estimates.
I'm starting a thread.

[LEAFer]

Some interesting info on J1772 ( the coupler) and J2847, TBD (the upstream comm protocol)

REMA - http://www.rema-ev.com/information.html

IEEE - http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/earthobs ... Kissel.pdf

http://www.nepower.org/NPA_presentation ... liwell.pdf


Nissan http://www.franklin-gov.com/Modules/Sho ... entid=3119

CPUC - http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/NR/rdonlyres/022 ... utions.pdf

EV Project http://www.nwppa.org/web/presentations/ ... n_eTec.pdf

I won't add anything to what Andy has said ... other than to say, if you have the time to read thru the info in the above links there are some interesting tidbits. Like, a photo of the Residential AV with the cover off while being installed. Like, the eTec EVSE units will "smartly" communicate with the grid (and Zigbee is mentioned). etc etc.

Interesting readig, thanks.

[DaveEV]

Is it ok if I go to my local county building department pull a permit and run the EMT conduit from a new 40A breaker in my 100A secondary panel in my garage and 3 #8 red, black and white plus #10 green ground THHN wire indoors in my garage to a metal box exactly where I want the EVSE. I can get it inspected for NEC code and county compliance and then all AV has to do is run a couple feet to my box or pull my box and wire directly to the EVSE. That way the installation is a snap and already approved and NEC compliant.

Definitely OK to do and should significantly reduce the EVSE installation costs.

To save on permit costs, I wonder if you can combine the 240V 40A line run and EVSE installation inspection - sometimes permits can be expensive.

[evnow]

In any case at $2200, the EVSE is more than 10% of the whole Leaf Net price after credits. And ITS AN EXTENSION CHORD!

After credits the EVSE is $1,100. So, it is less than 5% of the car cost of 25K after credits.

[evnow]

Since nobody from Nissan is looking at these questions, I'll merge this with your other thread.

[pgrovetom]

In Telecom is often the case where one supplier closes an interface so it can charge whatever it wants. BUT - If a Federal Tax credit is being paid - Is it really ok and fair that taxpayers flip the bill so I only have to pay $1100. Of course not! Just because something has a tax credit, it doesn't make it ok, it makes it fraud. In free markets, anyone can charge whatever they want so long as the market will bear it. If the market will bear it because all the other American taxpayers have to pay 1/2 its just wrong!

After credits the EVSE is $1,100. So, it is less than 5% of the car cost of 25K after credits

Nissan USA CAN say that they will only 'support' using an AV EVSE - all that means is that 'if you need help operating your Coulomb EVSE, don't call us!'. Think about this for a moment - the EV Project is NOT using AeroVironment EVSE hardware - they're using Coulomb. There are a number of companies selling J1772 EVSE devices - and they ENTIRE point of these standardized devices is that they work with all EVs that use J1772.

Here's a real-world example of how this can affect a manufacturer. Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP) stated in their 2009 owners manuals that "Use of other engine oils may cause severe engine damage and may void the limited warranty" and "no known equivalent” to Bombardier (BRP) oil on the market. When notified by a US oil manufacturer that the language in the owners manuals violated Federal law, BRP agreed that it will no longer say that using non-BRP branded products may void the warranty, that they will make clear that their product recommendations are clearly labeled as 'recommendations rather than requirements, and they will no longer comment on availability of equivalent products.

[EVDRIVER]

Nissan won't sell any future EVs if they only make you charge at approved stations, this simply is NOT going to happen, they don't own the EV charging infrastructure and this is why their are standards. They are being political and attempting to protect deals with partners. It's silly to think they ever could or would do such a thing and it would vastly limit their charging network, besides there is no way to really know. All the car needs is the control signal from the charger to be correct. This is all very silly misinformation.

[johnr]

I agree. It is in their best interest to make cars that conform to the J1772 standard and can charge at as many locations as reasonably possible, even if some of the chargers are built by non-affiliated companies. Anything to increase the utility of the vehicle and put to rest range anxiety is all good.

[pgrovetom]

It's pretty clear you're not listening, pgrovetom, and that's unfortunate, as a number of people here have taken a bunch of time to take you by the hand and show you exactly how and why the sky is NOT falling.

Clearly the sky isn't falling and I do listen.

[pgrovetom]

http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradviso ... -leaf.html

By the way. This Chargepoint unit is a Commercial Networked Station, not one intended for a garage. I have yet to see any of the low cost garage EVSE's claim compatibility with the Leaf as yet. I'm sure they will but early Leaf adopters as yet can only use the Aerovironment unit. If you read my post about the San Diego Infrastructure document, they indicate a $780 unit price for the EVSE. The rest of the $2200 is labor and wiring material costs.