After getting 2 proposals that I thought were too high to install a 240V line for me, I'd pretty much resigned myself to doing without that 'luxury' for a while. But this morning I found a low cost solution that appears as if it may solve my problem.
I was reading an article in the NY Times about charging and came across a reference to a 'Smart Splitter. It was linked to this site: Smart Splitter. It's a 220/240V outlet splitter that plugs into an existing dryer or stove-top outlet and gives you two outlets instead of the original one. The 'smarts' in the box allow you to give priority to one of the outlets so that if you are, for example, charging your car and your spouse starts up the dryer, the charger outlet is disabled (turned off) until the dryer stops running. Instead of the expense of upgrading your electric panel and installing a new outlet, you intelligently share the outlet you already have.
However you still have the issue of getting a receptacle to where the car is. In my case the laundry is located directly across an interior hallway from the door out to the garage. I've purchased a 15 foot 50A extension cord from Amazon. I'm familiar with these types of cords from years ago when I owned an RV that required 50A service to run the air conditioners.
The installation involved is to cut out a hole behind the dryer, run the extension down to the basement and then snake it into the wall and cut a hole in the garage wall. Once the cable is in place, seal up the holes to keep critters (and the cold) out and I'm done. This is a simple DIY job that most anyone can do, without requiring an expensive electrician.
The total cost of this solution is $549 (from Amazon) or $480 direct from the manufacturer (with an $80 discount). [Right now the manufacturer is quoting a 6 to 8 week delivery while Amazon can deliver almost overnight. How much of a tightwad are you? I went for the discount.] Plus $90 for the extension cord.
There is a 24A version of the splitter that's $499 but that still offers the $80 discount, but even I'm not that big of a tightwad. I went for the 40A version. It will be a few weeks before I have the splitter but I can be patient. I'll update this once everything is done with a review.
I was reading an article in the NY Times about charging and came across a reference to a 'Smart Splitter. It was linked to this site: Smart Splitter. It's a 220/240V outlet splitter that plugs into an existing dryer or stove-top outlet and gives you two outlets instead of the original one. The 'smarts' in the box allow you to give priority to one of the outlets so that if you are, for example, charging your car and your spouse starts up the dryer, the charger outlet is disabled (turned off) until the dryer stops running. Instead of the expense of upgrading your electric panel and installing a new outlet, you intelligently share the outlet you already have.
However you still have the issue of getting a receptacle to where the car is. In my case the laundry is located directly across an interior hallway from the door out to the garage. I've purchased a 15 foot 50A extension cord from Amazon. I'm familiar with these types of cords from years ago when I owned an RV that required 50A service to run the air conditioners.
The installation involved is to cut out a hole behind the dryer, run the extension down to the basement and then snake it into the wall and cut a hole in the garage wall. Once the cable is in place, seal up the holes to keep critters (and the cold) out and I'm done. This is a simple DIY job that most anyone can do, without requiring an expensive electrician.
The total cost of this solution is $549 (from Amazon) or $480 direct from the manufacturer (with an $80 discount). [Right now the manufacturer is quoting a 6 to 8 week delivery while Amazon can deliver almost overnight. How much of a tightwad are you? I went for the discount.] Plus $90 for the extension cord.
There is a 24A version of the splitter that's $499 but that still offers the $80 discount, but even I'm not that big of a tightwad. I went for the 40A version. It will be a few weeks before I have the splitter but I can be patient. I'll update this once everything is done with a review.
