$999 installed 240v charger

Gee I Though this was a Herman Cain Story. Never Mind.

 

Re: $300 240v charger

$300 for 240V charger
You can also have your 120V charger that comes with the car modified by these guys to use 120 or 240V. They've sold hundreds to Nissan Leaf owners. (The Leaf portable charger is very similar to the Prius Plug In portable charger)

EVSE Upgrade - Products

Some dealers are even selling these...so customers can charge their car on 240V right away without waiting for electrician, permits, etc.

The EVSE upgrade requires no "installation", just use an existing 240 clothes dryer type outlet, or get a http://www.quick220.com/220_volt.htm and use two 120V receptacles from different circuits.

 

For those familiar with this process, here is my question: My electrical panel is directly on the other side of the garage wall from where the car will be parked. Couldn't I have an electrician put in a 240V plug and a 30 amp fuse as a dedicated circuit on the panel? Is there something special about the charging tower that is depicted in the pictures of the car being connected while charging?

Thanks

 

It depends. Is your garage panel the main panel for the home? How old is the panel? Does it have 240V? How many "amps service" does your utility provide? 60? 100? 150? How much available capacity is in the panel? (there are rules as to how many circuits you can install per panel based on size of panel and total service entering your home). An electrician would have to look at your panel, or you could post a picture here and perhaps there's an electrician amongst that could give you a preliminary answer.

Assuming the panel has available capacity, it would be easy to run another circuit to a dedicated vehicle receptacle if in the same room.

And remember, the production Plug In Prius has the J1772 power inlet on the PASSENGER SIDE REAR fender...you may need to back in or use an extension (or ceiling cord) depending on where you install the receptacle and how you park the car.

 

A J-1772 EVSE is required, the car does not have an "outlet" to plug in, it has a J-1772 inlet.

As far as modifying the EVSE that comes with the PiP, "PeeF" (Ingeneer on the Leaf board) has not evaluated that unit yet, to see if its able to be modified. If its made by Panasonic, to the same specs as the Leaf's unit, then the answer will probably be yes.

FYI, you can buy EVSE's now from Home Depot, and not have to wait to order one. the %30 Federal Credit has to be taken when you file your taxes, so if you don't have the EVSE installed in 2011, you will have to wait for your 2012 Tax filing (which won't happen until the early part of 2013), that's why I have already installed my EVSE.

Also for the PiP, the difference in charging time is 3 hours on 120V, versus 1.5 hours on 240V, not too big a deal, with the Leaf, its 18 hours versus 8 hours overnight, a much bigger deal. So you don't really need a 240V EVSE with the PiP, for the most part.

Here is the Home Depot links to EVSE's, the best deal is still the Schnieder unit at $799, its capbable of 6.6KW for the next generation of EVs as well, but it requires a 40A breaker, the Legrand at $749 is just 3.3KW capable, but only requires a 20A circuit. The ampacity difference might mean you need an electrical service entrance upgrade or not, which is why I call your attention to both units.

Tools & Hardware - Auto - Electric Car Chargers at The Home Depot

 

This is so true. If you never plan on getting an EV or PHV with a larger battery, 120V will be good enough most of the time.

 

I am a novice, so excuse the questions - Is the J-1772 plug the side the goes to the car, goes to the wall, or both types of plug. Assuming my panel can support the circuit, I am assuming the cord would reach from the right side of the car to the wall, which is on the left side of the car.

Appreciate the help!

 

The J1772 is the car side. The portable charger that comes with the car has a 120V "3Prong" plug on the other end...and a "tumor" in the middle of the cord with all the electronics etc. The 120V charger will plug into any standard outlet. If cord is too short you can always use a standard 120V extension cord to extend it.

 

But if I put a 240 outlet(like an electric dryer) is there a separate cord that Toyota supplies for this as the 3 prong plug that goes to the wall would be totally different - or am I missing something?

 

The unit from Toyota only takes 120v. You cannot plug it into a 240v outlet (unless it can be upgraded by a third party).

 

I think I get it....The 120v plug, with the special tower, can pull 240v. It's not a matter of a 240 outlet....thanks for the clarification....

 

From the article:

It could be a simple installation job for a professional electrician if you have a garage or car port. Or it could be a $3,000 job to trench a conduit out to your detached garage or the end of your driveway. Having an EV manufacturer pick up the cost of installation removes a huge risk to consumers interested in buying an electric car.

This seems to imply that $999 would get the EVSE installed, at whatever the cost. I find this highly unlikely.

 

Hmm. I am getting confused with your reply.

Let's start from the beginning. The unit that connects from your home power supply to the car is called the EVSE.

EVSE comes in different shapes and sizes. The one that comes together with the car is a portable unit, and as far as I know, it takes only 120v. You cannot plug it into a 240v outlet (unless upgraded by a third party).

If you want to charge faster, you can purchase 240v EVSE units separately. 240v units can be portable, or hardwired to the electrical panel. If the 240v unit is a portable one, one of the possible outlet it can plug into is the electric dryer outlet.

I hope this helps.

 

Sorry for the ignorance - not my area of expertise...So the EVSE unit is that little box that they show the car being plugged into...and then that plugs into the wall. And if I want to purchase the 240v version, that is the one that will cost an additional $1K - approximately. Am I on the right track.

Thanks

 

Yes, that's correct.

 

Ohhh, I like this thread

 

Hugh? Talk about a mumbly jumbly article. First the guy says,

ok, that sounds do-able ... maybe a $100 typical cost for an adviser that gets passed on via the cost of the car. But THEN the writer says,

So, who does he think the "EV manufacturer" is. Are they calling the PiP an EV? Are they talking about the manufacturer of the EVSE? Are they saying Toyota is going to pay to trench a new main line to someone's home? upgrade a main panel? I can see some install costs running into the thousands! And from experience, a lot of that kind of work ends up being way over-kill.

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