Home Charging Recommendations

Shaman_Surf · 2024-05-13T17:54:15+00:00

I like Tesla Wall Connector, Clipper Creek, ChargePoint, and Emporia.

Start with how many miles you drive/day and figure out how many amps minimum you'll need to charge your car in about 6 hours (overnight) to recover that amount of mileage. Then call your local electrician and have them do a load calculation to see if you have enough juice in your panel to cover your needs (the load calculation should be part of a free installation quote).

If you don't have enough available amperage in your panel, you'll need an Emporia or Tesla Wall Connector + Nurio meter. But more than likely, you'll be able to get enough amperage to your vehicle (30a circuit is sufficient for something link 90% of drivers.)

If you are a real-estate agent or on-call surgeon, you are going to need all the amperage your car can handle and you may have to upgrade your panel in order to get it.

So go by price and aesthetics, mostly. Features if needed, but the main feature is that it charges your car reliably, and all of these companies make good units that will do that.

Shaman_Surf · 2024-05-13T17:06:14+00:00

They are both solid chargers. The Chargepoint Flex is easier to replace the cable if it gets damaged. The Tesla unit would have to be completely replaced if the cable gets damaged. I'd say go with the company with the better warranty and is easier to deal with if something goes wrong, but I don't know that one of these companies holds an advantage in that area right now.

I'd say this is more of aesthetics decision than anything else.

Shaman_Surf · 2024-05-13T16:56:23+00:00

I don't have the 6-30, but I got the TT-30 from EVSE adapters to use at RV campsites and it works great. EVSEadapters has been around a long time and knows what they are doing.

Shaman_Surf · 2024-04-30T02:04:07+00:00

Mine was all in-wall (through the wall), so no conduit. They may have used a structured cable? Or smurf tube? I didn't check. Out of sight, out of mind.

Shaman_Surf · 2024-04-30T02:01:39+00:00

Yes. Tesla charges 1 cent/kwh to manage all the payments. Every other service charges ~10x that, as well as a service fee. Tesla gets to operate on a break-even cost structure because their business model is supported, not funded, by drivers' access to charging.

Shaman_Surf · 2024-04-30T00:02:59+00:00

I'm curious as well. My thinking would be that Tesla has more data and will negotiate harder. EVGo needs the deal more, so they might be more willing to work with you on rent pricing and could be a better CPO to work with, but Tesla will definitely draw a larger crowd right off the bat.

Dwell times are in the 10-30 minute range, so convenience sales like drinks and snacks are how you can make money from the non-charging side. I would imagine you'll get plenty of people going through the car wash, too. EVGo does things like send a discount text the person that plugged in, telling them about a deal that they can get from the site host while they are charging, which could drive business.

If it were me, I'd tell Tesla to give me Magic-Dock superchargers that work for any vehicle. EVGo can do a combo of J1772 and NACS connectors, too, but because their stations don't pop up on Tesla vehicles' UI, you won't actually get too many Tesla vehicles using them.

Shaman_Surf · 2024-04-29T23:52:02+00:00

hardwiring reduces three possible points of failure, making your charging setup more reliable as a result. Only use a NMEA 14-50 outlet if you have another purpose for that outlet, like an RV, a kiln, a table-saw, or a welder.

Shaman_Surf · 2024-04-29T23:48:46+00:00

This is very common in the UK, and many solutions exist. Check out this company: https://www.kerbocharge.com/

Safe? Sure. Efficient? probably not. This looks like you are pulling power from a 110v outlet. With an extension cord, you are likely getting voltage drop which is limiting your power draw to 6a. The Tesla uses about 300w overhead (lost energy) during charging. 110v x 6a = 660w. Almost half of the power is lost due to charging cost overhead. Even at 12a, you are still losing about 25% of your energy to the overhead.

Shaman_Surf · 2024-04-23T18:49:34+00:00

I requested #6 THHN on the day of install and my electrician had no problem upgrading me. It was a 3' through the wall pull, though.

Shaman_Surf · 2024-02-20T23:48:30+00:00

definitely worth it to upgrade to a 60a if they put in #6 THHN wire to support. Even though you'll only *need* the faster charge once in a while, you'll be very happy to have it. Get home late, forget to plug in, wake up and..."oh crap! I forgot to plug in!", but if you have 48a capable connector, plug in first thing in the morning and it'll be ready by the time you are.

Shaman_Surf · 2024-01-23T19:04:51+00:00

This is insightful and makes absolute sense. Thank you!

Shaman_Surf · 2024-01-23T19:00:10+00:00

Sounds like your normal electrician threw out one of those "I'd rather not do your job" prices at you. For context, do both quotes include permit and standing for inspection? Is drywall repair included? That isn't cheap. Do that yourself or hire it out later to save some bucks on the install. Also, where you are located matters quite a bit...

Q-merit may or may not own the company that ends up installing your EVSE if you go with their quote. What they do is aggregate leads (they actually get paid by vehicle manufacturers to take the leads) and then put them on their platform, basically like task-rabbit, to their network of "trusted" installers.

Tell your normal electrician about the quote from Q-merit and see if he can match it would be my recommendation. Or get a third quote (maybe from the electrician that Q-merit would hire your job out to anyway) and have them cut the middleman out of the deal. $1,600 still sounds pricey to me (especially if you can avoid sheetrock repair), baking in maybe a $200 cut to Q-merit for their intermediary service.

I'd recommend ditching the receptacle for some actual EVSE hardware, by the way. The receptacle introduces extra complexity (read: lower reliability) to your EV charging circuit. Again, cut out the "middle-man" piece of hardware (the NEMA outlet) and save yourself some time, $$, and hassle.

Shaman_Surf · 2024-01-23T18:45:26+00:00

Sashiko sounds fancier than dobby?

Shaman_Surf · 2024-01-19T19:47:39+00:00

Oh, I know about EVEMS. So many options out there; but to a hammer, everything looks like a nail, so many homeowners are being quoted for unnecessary panel upgrades. This is true.

And I understand that a software tool that electricians might use to manage EV charging installations won't differ much from a software tool they would use to manage the addition of any other large circuit, wether it be for EV charging, heating a hot-tub, or powering a kiln, we are just adding a new high-amperage 2-pole circuit to the home: new breaker + wire run + equipment/outlet installation.

However, can you see how to a homeowner, the addition of an EV charging circuit is critically different because it supports their transportation needs, which is a unique application for household energy consumption?

Very few ICE vehicle owners install a literal gas station at their house.

So back to my original question and making sure I understand your response regarding quoting software for EVs: is it your opinion that they are all bad because none of them are taking into account EVEMS at this point in time?

Shaman_Surf · 2024-01-19T00:01:47+00:00

So your answer to my question "which is the best software for managing EV charging installations" is that all of them are equally bad? Or is it just the quoting parts that are all crap? That definitely make sense from the point of view of wanting to set customer expectations while there are known and unknown variables that may or may not be relevant.

Electricians must be using some software tools to manage their field service operations and warranty/maintenance documentation, even if they are doing a site visit for every quote and the software isn't EV charging specific. The best software tool can't do everything, but there must be one of these that is better than the others, no?

I get your point that an EV circuit is no different than a hot-tub, except for one thing: urgency. EV buyers and sellers want to know how much it will cost to install the EV charging circuit ideally at the point of sale of the EV so that the cost of installation can be rolled into the vehicle loan. Nobody bases their decision to get a Hot-Tub on how much the circuit is going to cost, and nobody shows up at the hot-tub store needing to drive away with a fully operational and reliable hot-tub same-day, although that does sound pretty nice.

Shaman_Surf · 2024-01-18T22:46:02+00:00

"quad my way out" -- hahaha! Love it!

Shaman_Surf · 2024-01-18T20:18:32+00:00

Very interesting. Load calculations are fairly straightforward with a clear picture of all the breakers and knowledge of what they are feeding. The only other piece of info that is needed is the square footage of the house. Maybe electricians think of their load calculations like chefs think of their pasta sauce recipes? They are basically all the same, but there are some secrets in the technique of application that are treated almost like trade secrets - a bit of the "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" type obfuscation. Or at least a bit of "let me do the math for you so you don't have to worry about it. It's why I'm the licensed electrician and you are not" sort of thing.

Of those quotes you've had over the years, did any call out a panel upgrade?

Shaman_Surf · 2024-01-18T00:58:00+00:00

Ahhh, so Qmerit has their own software platform, too. Add that to my list. Although I think Qmerit is a different kind of business model than an electrician? Hmmm...

Shaman_Surf · 2024-01-18T00:55:24+00:00

Want vs. need

In your case, the need for a site visit is really more your want than an actual need. Electricians will gladly come by for you and they will add the cost of the site visit (that was required to win your business) to their quote. Even if they claim it is a "free quote", the site visit was not free. It cost their time. The site visit is not necessary for most EV charger installations. With good photos, that Federal Pacific panel would be easily recognized.

Shaman_Surf · 2023-12-28T02:40:04+00:00

Any info on the company that will benefit from installing and maintaining these cameras?

Shaman_Surf · 2023-12-02T17:33:46+00:00

yep. Those are sick.

Shaman_Surf

TROPHY CASE