I should have done more research

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
VWeGolf84
before you spend more money (did you say $2000) on an upgraded charger and electrical work, make sure it makes sense to do that.
I think PGE off-peak is 9pm-7am, and if those 10 hours at 100V gets you back to a full tank using, it may not be worth the cost to buy 240V charger and upgrade your electrical.
 
VWeGolf84 said:
@miimura I am in the process of installing a 220v line at home which should help my situation. Should cut down my charge time in half if I understand it correctly.

You probably are installing residential 240V at home, not 220V. You probably only get 208V commercial voltage at work. Your charger on board limits you to 15 amps. What voltage you run at 15 amps makes a difference in charge time, when charging at level 2 EVSE's.

At home, when I am seeing 245-246V , and running 30 amps, at 7.2 kwh, charge time is 16-20% less than almost all public charge stations where I am lucky to see 200V at 30 amps, or 6 kwh, due to voltage sag, it starts out at 208V.

A 240V outlet on a dedicated line rated at 20 amps is good for 16 amps continuous draw. That will not future proof you though, if you get something with a 7.2 kwh or 10.6 kwh charger in the future. 50 amps, 40 continuous would be better for your next electric car.
 
To be fair; the Monroney sticker on the 2016 e-Golf SE states charging in 3.7 hours as well. Seems like a big opps at the least or deceptive at worst.
 
Yes, 240v homeline. No, I'm not going to pay $2k for it. That's just what Boschs recommended electrician quoted me :lol:
I will install it myself on a dedicated 40amp circuit. I just received the Bosch charger today!
 
VWeGolf84 said:
Yes, 240v homeline. No, I'm not going to pay $2k for it. That's just what Boschs recommended electrician quoted me :lol:
I will install it myself on a dedicated 40amp circuit. I just received the Bosch charger today!
You might have to pay to have it installed in order to qualify for the 30% tax credit.

Legally, you'll need to pull a permit and get everything inspected even if you do it yourself.
 
Hmm, I always thought if you are doing work on your own house, your fine from the legal aspect. I agree with you that if I want the tax incentive I would need a permit but in my case I don't think its worth the $2k when I'm only spending less than $100 in parts
 
VWeGolf84 said:
Hmm, I always thought if you are doing work on your own house, your fine from the legal aspect. I agree with you that if I want the tax incentive I would need a permit but in my case I don't think its worth the $2k when I'm only spending less than $100 in parts

50 amp breaker, 40 amp continuous, and 6 gauge wire for both hot and neutral, 8 gauge for ground wire, in 1" conduit for a NEMA 14-50 and you are good to go.
 
VWeGolf84 said:
Hmm, I always thought if you are doing work on your own house, your fine from the legal aspect. I agree with you that if I want the tax incentive I would need a permit but in my case I don't think its worth the $2k when I'm only spending less than $100 in parts
That's what Bosch quoted you. You should be able to find an electrician willing to do it for a couple hundred bucks.
(I reviewed IRS Form 8911, which states "the credit for all property placed in service at your main home is generally the smaller of 30% of the property’s cost or $1,000." I don't see anything in there requiring installation from a professional.)

You need a permit regardless of whether you do it yourself or pay someone else do it.
There are very few things you can do without a permit but that's not to say people don't ignore the law in that regard.
For something that's visible on the outside of the house, like a car charging in your driveway when the inspector rolls around, and something dangerous like electricity, it seems like a poor place to try and save a hundred dollars...especially if you end up losing a finger, dying, or burning your house down and getting a rejection notice from your insurance company when they find out you did un-permitted electrical work.
 
I surveyed 3 Local electricians. They want $800-$900 plus additional $300-$350 for a permit. The charger is goin inside my garage about 5ft away from the electrical panel (not outside or the driveway). Pretty simple job. But $1,200-$1,300??? Definitely not worth it, in my opinion...
 
VWeGolf84 said:
I surveyed 3 Local electricians. They want $800-$900 plus additional $300-$350 for a permit. The charger is goin inside my garage about 5ft away from the electrical panel (not outside or the driveway). Pretty simple job. But $1,200-$1,300??? Definitely not worth it, in my opinion...

At most, that should be a $60-70 permit, and $200-300 tops and and if the electrician is local and close by, a Saturday morning job, not even a half day, 1.5 hours, tops. Sounds like they are trying to bill for a full day.
 
Yes! I completely agree. I tried telling them the same thing. Bosch's electrician wanted to charge $2k. These guys want ~$1,200.
If anyone knows of an electrician in Orange county that can do it cheaper, please chime in.
 
bizzle said:
I'm in California and pay a flat rate regardless of time. My utility company doesn't have a TOU plan, but it's also a co-op. My wife and I are installing solar in the next couple months, so it's irrelevant, but we pay 11 cents/kwh. I grew up in San Diego and our rates were about 4x that. In Irvine, the university paid our home's utility bills so I don't know what the rates were there but I suspect similar so I do sympathize with the rest of Southern Californians.
I have solar, but if I had 11c/kWh flat rate all day long, I don't think I would do it. I think my 20 year amortized cost of solar generation came to about 12c/kWh. Solar City wanted me to sign up for a 16c/kWh PPA. I ended up buying the system outright from another installer. Prices are way down from when I did mine a little over two years ago.
 
bizzle said:
VWeGolf84 said:
Hmm, I always thought if you are doing work on your own house, your fine from the legal aspect. I agree with you that if I want the tax incentive I would need a permit but in my case I don't think its worth the $2k when I'm only spending less than $100 in parts
That's what Bosch quoted you. You should be able to find an electrician willing to do it for a couple hundred bucks.
(I reviewed IRS Form 8911, which states "the credit for all property placed in service at your main home is generally the smaller of 30% of the property’s cost or $1,000." I don't see anything in there requiring installation from a professional.)

You need a permit regardless of whether you do it yourself or pay someone else do it.
There are very few things you can do without a permit but that's not to say people don't ignore the law in that regard.
For something that's visible on the outside of the house, like a car charging in your driveway when the inspector rolls around, and something dangerous like electricity, it seems like a poor place to try and save a hundred dollars...especially if you end up losing a finger, dying, or burning your house down and getting a rejection notice from your insurance company when they find out you did un-permitted electrical work.
In California, a homeowner does not need a contractor's license to work on their own home, but if the work needs a permit, it needs a permit and it needs to be inspected. Installing an EVSE needs a permit, especially if a new circuit is installed. I paid about $100 to the County of Santa Clara when I installed my first EVSE and all I did is change the socket from 14-50 to 6-50 and hang the box on the wall. The wire and breaker were already present from new construction 18 months prior.

If you do the install yourself, you can only claim cost of materials on the tax credit. If you pay an electrician, you can claim all monies you paid out for parts and labor.
 
miimura said:
bizzle said:
I'm in California and pay a flat rate regardless of time. My utility company doesn't have a TOU plan, but it's also a co-op. My wife and I are installing solar in the next couple months, so it's irrelevant, but we pay 11 cents/kwh. I grew up in San Diego and our rates were about 4x that. In Irvine, the university paid our home's utility bills so I don't know what the rates were there but I suspect similar so I do sympathize with the rest of Southern Californians.
I have solar, but if I had 11c/kWh flat rate all day long, I don't think I would do it. I think my 20 year amortized cost of solar generation came to about 12c/kWh. Solar City wanted me to sign up for a 16c/kWh PPA. I ended up buying the system outright from another installer. Prices are way down from when I did mine a little over two years ago.
I was tempted not to move to solar, but with the federal and local incentives I'll be paying 9K out of pocket for a 6kwh system ($17K quote - 30% fed - .50 cents/w local). The utility company will buy back excess for a little over 5 cents per kwh.
 
I was tempted not to move to solar, but with the federal and local incentives I'll be paying 9K out of pocket for a 6kwh system ($17K quote - 30% fed - .50 cents/w local). The utility company will buy back excess for a little over 5 cents per kwh.[/quote]

Can you share the details on which company you are working with for Solar?
Thanks
 
jeep said:
I was tempted not to move to solar, but with the federal and local incentives I'll be paying 9K out of pocket for a 6kwh system ($17K quote - 30% fed - .50 cents/w local). The utility company will buy back excess for a little over 5 cents per kwh.

Can you share the details on which company you are working with for Solar?
Thanks[/quote]
It's a local, family owned and operated company in Yuma, AZ. I'm out in Imperial Valley so I finally gave up trying to find someone local/SD area and expanded my search to Arizona since I'm fairly close to the border. I can PM you their info if you're nearby but they aren't a large outfit.
 
bizzle said:
jeep said:
I was tempted not to move to solar, but with the federal and local incentives I'll be paying 9K out of pocket for a 6kwh system ($17K quote - 30% fed - .50 cents/w local). The utility company will buy back excess for a little over 5 cents per kwh.

Can you share the details on which company you are working with for Solar?
Thanks
It's a local, family owned and operated company in Yuma, AZ. I'm out in Imperial Valley so I finally gave up trying to find someone local/SD area and expanded my search to Arizona since I'm fairly close to the border. I can PM you their info if you're nearby but they aren't a large outfit.[/quote]

Are they licensed with the State of California with the State Contractors Board? Otherwise, they are limited to no more than $500 in parts and labor on any job in California.
 
bizzle said:
It's a local, family owned and operated company in Yuma, AZ. I'm out in Imperial Valley so I finally gave up trying to find someone local/SD area and expanded my search to Arizona since I'm fairly close to the border. I can PM you their info if you're nearby but they aren't a large outfit.

Thanks I just got solar, but 4.5kW for 17k, I went with a larger known outfit due to their warranties, but 6kW for 17K is a fantastic price, hence piqued my interest.
 
VWeGolf84 said:
Yes! I completely agree. I tried telling them the same thing. Bosch's electrician wanted to charge $2k. These guys want ~$1,200.
If anyone knows of an electrician in Orange county that can do it cheaper, please chime in.
I sent you a PM '84.
Mine did it for $250 but all he had to do was move a jack from the laundry room to the garage wall.
 
You can buy a Juicebox ($599 for the 40A Pro model w/ wifi) and they'll do the install in OC for $299
http://www.emotorwerks.com/store-juicebox-ev-charging-stations/202-juicebox-pro-40-smart-40-amp-evse-with-24-foot-cable/category_pathway-23
 
Back
Top