When to get EVSE - before or after taking delivery

[shade]

I am thinking about leasing the RaveEV this month. I am wondering about the timing of the EVSE installation for the folks here in the forum. Did you have your EVSE installed after getting your Rav? Before? It's clear that the EVSE is essential, so I am curious how that works.

Also, for those that used Toyota and Leviton, how long did it take for installation after the pre-inspection by the certified electrician?

Thanks!

 

[user 340]

I got the Toyota-recommended Leviton 40 amp unit from Amazon and had my own electrician install it. That whole process took a week, and inspection came a few days later.

 

[cwerdna]

It's clear that the EVSE is essential, so I am curious how that works.

Why?

It depends. If your drives are short enough, you won't need to have a L2 EVSE installed. If you're running it low enough daily and need to replenish from low SoC overnight or in a short time, yes, you'll need it or evseupgrade.com (down right now) and a 240 volt outlet installed (or you might be able to use Quick220)...

 

[pchilds]

Two days for delivery of the EVSE, installed day three. What's an inspection? :twisted:

 

[arnolddeleon]

I had a 2002 RAV4-EV previously so it was an easy swap for me to install the the used CT-500 that I had acquired in place of the small paddle charger. Primary benefit of looking into it before delivery is to find out what your total cost will be in case there are surprises.

Because the car does come w/ a 120V EVSE you will not be stuck if you don't get an EVSE installed ahead of time. With my current commute a 120V unit would be sufficient however I really like having 240V EVSE because I can add energy a lot faster to the car when I need it. 240V charging is also a little for charging (less total time charging so fixed overhead is less).

arnold

 

[madcow]

I just got my Leviton L2 EVSE installed today. I've had my car for 1 week. I didn't really need the L2 since my daily commute is very short. Even when I drove a lot (for me ~ 40+ miles) I could still charge it overnight.

I travel a lot and I wanted my wife to try driving the car when I'm away so we can really try to minimize our gas expenses. She has a much farther commute and would not have been able to use the car everyday with just the included L1 EVSE.

I bought a Leviton EVB40-P5T, 40A EVSE from Amazon. This was supposed to be the flush mount model where the outlet receptacle is mounted behind the unit (cleaner look). However, Amazon can't manage to ship the right product and instead shipped me the version where there is a short dongle that exits the bottom left of the unit. I blame Leviton as well because they STUPIDLY numbered the "other" product EVB40-PST <-- an S instead of a 5. My electrician was already scheduled to come today, and Amazon realizes that they can't tell the difference between a 5 and an S and so they have stopped directly selling either of these units while they go back to pre-school and learn their letters and numbers. I got them to give me a discount since they would have had to pay for return shipping, shipping a replacement to me, and I'd have to wait until they graduate from pre-school before they could ship it out.

Luckily, the units are physically identical and the short power cord whip can be moved to the other location converting it to the correct model. It took more time since the electrician had to open up the box to perform the surgery (similar to what they would have to do if they hard-wired the device - not recommended).

 

[eschatfische]

We had the Toyota/Leviton charger installed by Leviton. It took four business days to get an pre-inspection and then quote after placing an order for the initial inspection, around a week for Leviton to ship the charger to the installer, and then four business days to get the install done after that. We bought the car after the pre-inspection and quote (and after speaking with a PG&E engineer), and then had the installation done 6 calendar days after we purchased the car. The installers were very nice, the install and city inspection went smoothly, and we haven't had any issues with charging.

We've put around 50 miles a day on our RAV4 EV on average - most days 70 or more - and in order to do that, you really do need a level 2 EVSE. The included 120V EVSE draws less than 1.5kWh, which ends up being around 3 miles of range per hour of charge. If my wife has 14 hours between commutes, that's not enough to fully replenish the range used the day before, and that's even assuming the car isn't used for any other purpose. With a 240V/40A EVSE and the onboard 9.6kWh charger, on the other hand, you get around 25-30 miles of range per hour, meaning that for us it's topped up with a standard charge after just 2-3 hours each day.

The timing was a little awkward for us, as we knew we'd need to rely on the EVSE, but we didn't want to schedule a final installation until after we actually purchased the car. If I did it again, I'd probably have the EVSE installed first, as we were nervous about having enough charge until it was installed. (That said, the network of free Level 2 chargers here in SF is pretty good, and it was fun planning nightly outings to restaurants or movies close to the free Level 2 chargers in the city to keep the car topped up.)

 

[eplantz]

What's an inspection? :twisted:

In some localities, a permanent charger installation and/OR new wiring in the home requires a building codes inspection afterwards to ensure it meets existing building codes.

 

[Ampster]

In some localities, a permanent charger installation and/OR new wiring in the home requires a building codes inspection afterwards to ensure it meets existing building codes.

And, in some localities the building permit fees are waived for an EVSE.

 

[user 340]

And, in some localities the building permit fees are waived for an EVSE.

Not in San Mateo County! My permit fee was about $250, while it is only $60 in nearby Redwood City (about 500' away from my house). The County inspector also came into my house (EVSE is outside) to make sure that I have HARD WIRED CO and smoke detectors installed to code. Lucky I did that for my recent solar PV installation. I also had to pay my electrician a couple hours labor to deal with the county permits. Good thing that PG&E also approved my EVSE application: they inspected my transformer, nominally to ensure that it wouldn't be overloaded with multiple EVSEs or other large loads.

 

[madcow]

Other than to be compliant with the local codes, was there some other reason for going through all of this paperwork/inspections, etc? I mean, I don't remember the tax credit form requiring us to turn in some kind of report that there was an electrical inspection done. I remember someone posting that they delayed their purchase so they would qualify for a free/discounted EVSE, but I'm not sure if that requires you to pay for all the installation/permitting/inspection fees yourselves.

 

[Ampster]

Other than to be compliant with the local codes, was there some other reason for going through all of this paperwork/inspections, etc? .......

I don't know of any other reason. But let me add that compliance with codes is important because if you have a fire and your insurance company finds it is somehow related to a non code installation then they can deny coverage. That is a huge downside.

 

[user 340]

Other than to be compliant with the local codes, was there some other reason for going through all of this paperwork/inspections, etc?

I only did it for 2 reasons:
1. I had to have an inspection / evaluation by my utility (PG&E) to be accepted into their EV time of use rate plan (E-9A).
2. I needed to install a 50A circuit for the Leviton, something I didn't want to deal with myself. My electrician was keen on on getting the permit & inspection. I installed an SPX Power Xpress for my Volt 6 months earlier and didn't go through permits because I was able to use my existing dryer outlet for it (30A circuit).

 

[miimura]

Other than to be compliant with the local codes, was there some other reason for going through all of this paperwork/inspections, etc?

I only did it for 2 reasons:
1. I had to have an inspection / evaluation by my utility (PG&E) to be accepted into their EV time of use rate plan (E-9A).
2. I needed to install a 50A circuit for the Leviton, something I didn't want to deal with myself. My electrician was keen on on getting the permit & inspection. I installed an SPX Power Xpress for my Volt 6 months earlier and didn't go through permits because I was able to use my existing dryer outlet for it (30A circuit).

I'm in unincorporated Santa Clara County. I pulled the permit myself for my self-install. They charged me about $100 - I don't remember the exact amount. They also didn't ask for any documents when I pulled the permit, they just told me to present my documents about the EVSE and install to the inspector. My house was built less than a year ago and I was using an existing 50A circuit, which I designed into the house for this purpose.

PG&E never asked me about a permit or even which EVSE I would be using - they just asked what kind of car I purchased when I requested the E-9A rate. PG&E just put in a new transformer to service my house and my two neighbors about 2 weeks after I moved in, so I'm sure it was "in the system" so they didn't need to look into anything.

 

[mhkp]

I've had my RAV for a week now and have been charging 110V only. Its adequate but we also have a number of other cars to use if we need to go longer distance. The RAV recharged fully a couple of times on Extended Charge.

I'm scheduled for the Leviton inspection this week and hope to have the EVSE installed the week after. I'll need the L2 capability once I turn in my leased Prius at the end of August and start driving longer distances back to back. Also my wife drives with a heavier foot and tends to bring back the RAV with a lower charge, so I need L2 to charge up faster.

My permit cost is $75 and I hope I can pull it and get the Leviton installer to just sign it, instead of charging me $200 to pull it himself.

SoCal Edison came out to my home last week and basically confirmed I have an EV car in my garage. They did not look at anything else to approve my Residential+EV plan.

Unless you drive long distances each day you can make do with the 110v for a week or two and install the EVSE after you lease the car, IMHO.

 

[J R Judd]

It has been about three weeks since we got our Rav-4 and we started the process of getting our charger the day we leased the car. . We got one of the free EVSE from the state. There have been delays mostly to do with getting the permit. The city of Alameda is slowwwwwwwwwww and expensive. Our permit is $325, not sure what the inspection fee will be. Once we get the permit the contactor will set an install date. As for charging at 120, we had to sign a disclaimer when we got the car that we would charge primarily at 240 to extend battery life.

 

[Dianne]

I bought a Siemens Versi-charge, and my electrician's installing it Monday.
Plugging it into the 110 works fine overnight for me to add to the charge, but I only get about 32 miles on an 8-hr plugin time in the 110. At the office, on the Leviton 40, it's about 5 hours to charge it from near-dry to full... the Siemens is a 30, so it won't be as fast as here at work BUT that's OK. I'm here all day and there most all night, but I am certainly at work many more hours than I am here and we have 2 Levitons here, with a 3rd being installed next week.

If your commute's not bad, you may be able to limp along just plugging to a 110 for a while.