Have you researched the best option for installing chargers at your office?

i woudl also talk to the Chargepoint folks, they have lots of units in Calif already and there might still be some stimulus dollars available for the systems although in think that may be finished now.

I also think you need to at least install level 2 chargers as just 110 v oultes will mean folks have to carry there own charger and also will not be viable for many of the pure EV vehicles or larger battery vehicles. i think you would find them not used and a wasted investment not to mention negatively viewed from those with EVs.

you could also look at just buying level 2 chargers from the many suppliers available and having them installed without the fancy networked model.

 

I requested information to Charge Point, was pointed to my local "CP" dealer; I was never contact by him. I'm talking about 3 month ago.
By other means, I found out the the average price for a dual Charge Point ground mounted appliance goes about $6500.00 with out the complicated and expensive interfaces.
There it went ( to the trash) my idea of having professionalal charge port station on the company parking lots.

 

We've discussed the idea at work a couple of times with a couple different departments at work. For now, we have 4 120V outlets, 2 at each of the main buildings. As a PiP owner, my needs arent that great since I can get a full charge in before lunch and after lunch with the provided outlets.

However, there are 2 Leafs and 1 Volt. The Leafs owners have been pushing for dedicated charging stations so they can charge up at 240V and get a full charge before heading home. From what I understand, they have contacted Ecotality and SPX. From the way it sounds, they will pretty much give you the charging station (at least in California?), but you need to pay them for installation (which is where the big price tag comes in).

I personally think the company should just buy basic EVSEs from Home Depot for $700 or so and have an electrician install them. I think that would be the best compromise. For me, I just want an EVSE at work so I dont have to pull mine out, put it away at lunch, bring it back out, etc etc.

Our discussion with the company about providing charging has been much more productive since one of the owners of the company is also getting a plug-capable car

 

I'm not sure if its just Ecotality that charges, but from what I understand, if you buy the charging station and pay for the associated costs, then you, as the owner, can decide what you want to charge or if you want to charge (like at malls and stores, for example). I believe there is also some kind of monthly fee associated with the connectivity (internet related access, rfid card access, etc) and maintenance if you go that route.

If a company like Ecotality is installing the stations at their expense, then I can understand the need to charge.

I think from the building owner's standpoint, the most economical options are in this order:

1. Provide 120V outlets
2. Install basic EVSE
3. Chargepoint/Blink/Ecotality/Wolf Creek, etc etc

Since its "not my money", my order of preference would be exactly the opposite . Which is why I felt that going with option #2 is a good compromise for everyone.

After our second meeting with the facilities folks, I havent heard anything. But I'll check in with them to see what progress has been made.

 

This sounds like what I am about to attempt myself...

Where can I find stats for NYS that show how many EV's and PHEV's are registered here? | PriusChat

 

I would start with 120V/15A outlets and a few 240V/30A outlets, each with a dedicated circuit breaker. People can bring their own portable EVSE, 120V or 240V.

There are some folks working on multi drop EVSE for just what you are doing, private company garages with multiple EVs that need to intelligently share a common electrical service without negatively impacting other loads in the facility. ie. throttle the current down to the cars when the chiller unit needs to kick on motors.

 

The advantage of Ecotality/Blink/ChargePoint/etc installed units is that they typically provide extra features like the ability to monitor and control who uses the charging stations. This sort of info can be very valuable in determining how they're being utilized, and the ability to recover some of the costs involved in getting them installed. The other advantage to them is that the vendor handles the installation and any related repair and maintenance cost, but the end users end up paying for them. In theory you think it would be possible to designate that the chargers are free to the end user, but the building owner is the one who is actually charged.

Your other option, as suggested by others, is to buy some units yourself and have a local electrician install them. Lowes & Home Depot carry a number of outdoor rated ones. They aren't fancy, don't include monitoring abilities, and cost about $1000 a piece. Figure another $500 to $1500 per unit to have a local electrician install them.

 

Avoid Leviton like the plague. God help you if you have a problem with one of their chargers. You'll need to keep bus fare or taxi fare handy if you have an all-electric vehicle.

PS: can you tell I am furious with their customer service? Or lack thereof?

 

Heather for a car like a Rav4 EV or a Tesla, a 110 won't cut it.

 

I was pretty disappointed in them when I looked into getting their L2 EVSE. $1800 for a 16A capable unit. $575 of that was for supposedly for the permit. Turns out that the permit was only $140 from my city. Their electrical contractor was jacking up the prices to make more profit. I passed on their install and managed to get my site survey fee back from them.

 

Kinda like installing toll booths where 95% of the revenues are consumed by the salaries of the toll booth staff.

A 120V/15A circuit loaded for an entire work day is something like $2 worth of electricity. Just one of those charge stations is the equivalent of 10+ years of charging.

 

Sounds like there's a story there. Would you care to share? If not publicly, then perhaps by PM?

Interesting, did you compare with other electrical contractors? Initially, I thought Leviton's quote was high as well, but then I got quotes from two other electrical contractors, one who does the Leaf EVSE installations in my area, and both were several hundred dollars higher. As for the unit itself, the 32A unit is only about a hundred bucks more.

 

Another approach to providing free charging at work by employers, perhaps a bit selfish, is that 120V/15A service provides about 4 miles of EV range for each hour of charging, so a 10 hour work day provides a 40 mile EV charging benefit. If you install a 240V/15A service you will be providing an 80 mile EV charging benefit during the course of a 10 hour work day, or a 40 mile benefit for a 5 hour work day.

Do you want to provide a 240V/50A service and see your work force leave for home at the first morning coffee break?

Another approach is economical installation.

A typical 200Amp service can provide twenty 120V 20Amp circuits. This can be configured to provide sixteen 120V/15A outlets and two 240v/15A outlets. If you install chargepoint or blink stations (240V/32A) you will only get five total stations, and the sixth EV driver will be pissed that a PiP is plugged into one.

 

That is the best option and most flexible. Lots of places you can plug and play around most facilities with outdoor 120V, 10A outlets. Probably more places than most companies have Plug-ins. Mostly it ends up with reserved spots near the building so people can plug and charge.

My suggestion to our company is mark some spots "Plug in only" within 50 feet of marked outdoor plug with GFI receptacle and driver brings his own cord and car charger.

Going to the expense of installing 240V circuits and chargers is not a good idea, too costly, no added utility.

 

I detailed my experience with Leviton in Leviton wants $1800+ to put in EVSE | PriusChat

I ended up spending a total of $2000 to put in my EVSE. $500 for the EVSE itself and $1500 to my electrical contractor. That $1500 included $200 for the permit for the EVSE and also covered the cost of putting in a new ceiling fan, adding a new circuit for garage door openers, installing grounded outlets, and fixing another ceiling fan. I'm pretty sure I got a much better deal with my electrical contractor.

 

Those should be 240V/30A circuits. And in reality they'll end up being 40A circuits.

 

But it seems like most of the savings was from purchasing an EVSE for $500 from cwerdna who won it in a contest. If you had to purchase it for full price it would be about $1000, making the total $2500, which means about $700 to pay an electrical contractor to do all the other work. It seems like the Leviton price would have been competitive if not for the EVSE savings, which is a fluke occurrence.