TINSTAAFL: The costs of plug-in charging
Wiring can be a big hidden cost of plug-in charging
The ability to charge your plug-in car at home can cost thousands
A number of plug-in fans were rejoicing over the fact that Toyota was going to offer a $1000 240 volt charger that included free installation, but that excitement has been squashed. Turns out that Toyota will offer free installation, assuming that all the wiring for a 240 volt charger has already been completed.
Unfortunately, such wiring can cost up to $2000 or more, especially on older homes. There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.
And, honestly, whom can blame Toyota or any other automaker for not covering such costs?
This news comes on the back of an SPX Service Solutions — a group that has been working on plug-in charging installations with GM and Daimler — recommendation for charging infrastructure best practices that leads off with “Use a realistic business model.”
Public plug-in charging isn’t free and someone is going to have to pay for it. So, those offering plug-in charging need to be aware of the costs and ensure that those costs can be recovered — such as by extra sales at a retail outlet.
There just isn’t any way around TINSTAAFL.
Source: AutoObserver
and GreenCarCongress
I read this story and was just wondering why on earth anyone would pay someone $2000.00 for someone to install a 240V, 30A circuit for an EV?
I went to a large home improvement site and checked out some prices.
1. New 30 Amp 240V breaker, either $7.29/$13.97 depending on type needed for most existing panels.
2. 100′ of 10 gauge, 3 Conductor wire, $124.80. Should be enough for almost any home.
3. OPTIONAL item for old home. New disconnect/sub panel $20.83.
I get a total of $147.60 assuming the new sub panel is required. So let’s wrap in a few more proposed needs like maybe a piece of 3/4″ conduit and some fitting. Let’s just call the parts needed for almost any installation about $200.00.
I don’t have the data on the cost of building permits from around the country but I would imagine $100.00 should cover the permit in most location for the installation of a single electrical outlet so we are at $300.00.
A licensed electrician should be able to do the work in about 3 hours; 4 tops adding in a lunch break. Union scale [IBEW Site] varies from about $12.00 to $31.71 an hour depending on location and experience. Let’s take the highest rate X 4 hours = $126.84. O.K. so we are at $426.84. Let’s add in a 50% profit margin on both the parts and the labor and we arrive at a final price of $640.26.
Someone is making a whole bunch of money at $2000.00 a pop. I wonder who that would be?
The only way I can see $2000.00 is if a new entrance panel would be needed [whole new panel, entrance head and lines]. This would be required for a very old home that still used the old screw in type FUSES.
All the hype about electric cars and now the ‘hidden’ costs are arriving in droves!
It’s such a shame. Maybe the green car companies aren’t that green.
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