AV/Nissan EVSE install pictures

Thought I would post pictures of my Aeroenvironment (Nissan-branded) EVSE install.


Closueup of the EVSE mounted on the outside of the garage.


Longer shot.


Shows the gate next to the house.


Car all plugged in and happy.


Closeup of how the EVSE is mounted to the garage wall.


Another view of how it's mounted.


The smaller conduit runs into the main panel. The large conduit is the main feed from PG&E into the main panel.


As you can see, the cord is kinda short (15 feet), so I have to back the car into the driveway to plug in.

I had planned on building a little shelter for the EVSE since AV/Nissan says not mount it in direct sun, but so far it's been okay, but then again, I'm only using it at night. It is in a NEMA rated outdoor enclosure, so it's supposed to be weatherproof, which should include sun exposure. The gate opens up against it and the garage door, which could be a problem. I had a thought to cut a hole in the fence that would allow the EVSE to pass through the fence, and then build a little door behind the fence that could open and close as necessary.

 

I'm trying to get a longer cord from AV. Apprently it requires that they come out and swap the cable due to the breakaway nature of the cable, which requires some special crimping tools. Otherwise I would just buy a longer cable and do the swap myself.

 

Cost of the EVSE was $500 because I lucked into a deal. It's normally around $900 for this unit. Circuit breaker size is 40A, but the unit will only pull a max of 32A. I don't know what wire size was used since I had an electrician do all the work. I haven't gotten a final bill from the electrician yet, but it was estimated to be around $600 or so. This includes the $140 permit fee from the city. This is way cheaper than what Leviton wanted, and their unit was only rated at 16A.

 

29' is probably too long. I need around 22' to 25'. I would prefer UL listed components. I'm painfully aware that most of the cost is the J1772 head. TusconEV has some cables in the length I need, but they haven't finished getting UL certification for the J1772 head. The cable itself is UL listed, however. They have a 20 foot cord rated for 45A for only $230. Or a 70A 26 foot cord for $250. Extra cable length is $2.50 per foot.

 

Well, just got off the phone with AV. I'm pretty much stuck with the cable length I've got if I want the special breakaway cable to work. They won't do a service call, (which costs a minimum of $273, not including any necessary parts), to swap the cable, and I can't send the original unit in for a swap for a unit with a longer cable.

And apparently I'm stuck with no warranty whatsoever should the unit have a problem. The warranty is only for the original purchaser, who in this case is cwerdna, who won the unit in a contest and then sold it to me. The issue of warranty came up in my mind when I bought the unit, but the price was too good to pass up. Given the fact that what I paid for this EVSE is about what I would've had to pay to make my own, which would've had no warranty as well, I'm not all that upset.

Since I'm clearly out of warranty at this point, and I'm not likely to drive the car away with the cable attached, I'm likely going to go ahead and buy a longer cable and do the swap myself and forgo the breakaway feature.

 

Don't stress about it. I knew it was a kind of "as is" deal. Supposed to be a 3-year warranty for cash-n-carry customers. If you had AV install the unit (at outrageous prices), then it was supposedly a 10-year on-site warranty.