Level 2 Charging for under $20

This thread has 100% convinced me to have an electrician install at 240V NEMA 14-50 and get a correctly rated EVSE.

Appointment set for next week to install the outlet and getting the EVSE through a rebate from the electric company.

 

If your EVSE is pretty much going to be a permanent installation, why not just have it hardwired instead of using a receptacle. Both of the Siemens 32A Versicharge EVSEs in my garage are hardwired (did it myself).

 

Good question. We tend to move every 3 years, so I wanted to take the charger with me.

But… can a non licensed electrician do a hardwire himself? Would it be significantly cheaper to do a hardwire install by an electrician?

 

Absolutely. If newbie@EV has a 240V circuit that is protected by a 20A breaker, and that is the maximum amperage the wire can handle, just get a 16A L2 cable with a 6-20 plug,

I’ll be having a 14-50 outlet installed this spring.

 

That doesn’t answer either of the questions that were asked. You may want to take a look at the Envi heaters available from eHeat.com. They only use ~500w.

 

Sure you can do it yourself, unless your city has some stupid code requirement that demands it be done by somebody licensed. Somebody who actually does a lot of electrical work probably also orders copper wire in bulk and can get it a bit less expensive than you. Whether they pass that savings on at all isn't a sure thing, though.

 

You could have the electrician do the hardwire installation; when it's time to move you'll find it's a piece of cake to turn off the circuit breaker and un-wire your EVSE.

 

But… can a non licensed electrician do a hardwire himself? Would it be significantly cheaper to do a hardwire install by an electrician?

Absolutely. The wiring for this is no harder than that for a new stove. If you are comfortable installing breakers in a breaker-box, running "big" romex-style copper from the breaker to your install site, are familiar with local code regarding the size of the wire / allowable height of the outlet / etc. and interpreting the instructions provided with the charger, you can do this. I wouldn't recommend it as a first effort in home wiring for anyone, but the circuit itself is simple- just run the cable from the breaker to the charger and make the right connections there. So if you're comfortable with the things above, you can do it, and save yourself a lot of money. And if you have to, spend $10 of what you plan to save on an illustrated "Complete Guide to Home Wiring". As others have said taking it off the wall is super simple. Turn off the breaker, disconnect the wires at the charger, and take the charger with you.

 

Don’t forget to cap the unused wires, put a cover on the box and tag the breaker.

 

For the past year I've been using the honda oem evse plugged directly in a nema 5-20 outlet with a 20a 240v 2-pole breaker.
Clarity charges in around 4 hours

haven't died just yet

 

We all hope you continue to be not dead. The charger should be regularly inspected as more energy is traveling through it. The Juicebox thread is a good warning that even when rated for heavy use, some wiring eventually overloads.