EVSE with long cord recommendation?

[mcornwell]

So we just picked up the wife's new Chevy Volt. With it, we're eligible to get a free L2 charger and install credit ($1200) from SPX:
http://www.homecharging.spx.com/volt...?id=28&menu=21

Since our cars are in separate garages (2 car + 1 car, separated by the front door), and "my" garage doesn't have any 240V hookups (wife's garage doesn't have 240V either, but it has the electrical panel on one side of the wall which will make for a relatively short run), I was thinking of using the wife's J1772 charger to charge my Tesla. It looks like the charger that this program uses (ECOtality Blink) is capable of 30A at 240V, or 7.2KwH (which is much more than the Volt can ingest), which will be fine for my Model S, as I have a very short commute and also have an ICE vehicle if I ever needed to go somewhere and the Tesla wasn't charged enough.

My problem is that the charging cable on the ECOtality Blink charger is only 18', which is going to be a little short to reach where my Model S is going to be installed (unless I can talk my wife into having the EVSE installed on the outside of her garage, near the porch). From my initial measurements, to reach my garage with both garage doors closed (cord going under the door and up to connector behind the turn signal), I'd need a charging cable that is about 25' in length. Anyone know of a 30-40A L2 charger that has one?

There is a chance that we won't even go with SPX, I've read stories on the Volt forum's talking about how some of these install companies come in with a crazy quote (we should have a price by Wednesday), because they know that they are going to be able to tout the $1200 credit, and that often times it is less expensive to buy an EVSE on your own, and have an independent electrician install it.

[bonnie1194]

Could you split up the garages to 'electric' and 'ice' (instead of his and hers)?

[mcornwell]

That would be too easy!

My Toyota Tacoma wouldn't fit in her stubby garage. The Volt only has about 2-3' of space left when she parks in there.

I just found a pretty good list of EVSE manufacturers that I'm going through now. Aerovironment may have one that fits the bill...

[dhrivnak]

Realistically the Volt can EASILY reach a full charge overnight with a 110 outlet. The Volt only has a 3.3 KW charger on board which is not much more than the 1.8kw a 110 plug offers. Now if you get a Model S with the 85 KWH pack these 30 amp units will take over 13 hours for a full charge. Make sure you are OK with that. In my humble opinion I want to be able to get a full charge in 8 hours or less (over night).

I am also not sure I would mount it outside as I am not sure the home units are really designed for outdoor use.

[dsm363]

While it would be nice to use the free charger, would it be prohibitively expensive to install a 240V 50A outlet in your garage? You'd still have to likely pay an electrician to install your free charger anyway unless you do it yourself. If you do, the electrician would already be there and could install a 50A outlet in your garage too. You could use the included UMC with the Model S and at least charge at 40A.

[mcornwell]

I haven't received a quote for putting a NEMA 14-50 outlet in my garage, but guessing it's about 50' of up and down and across one garage and over a porch to get to where I would want it installed at. I'm guessing it would be close to $2000 for the breaker, conduit, wire and labor.

We redid our driveway about 6 months ago. I was thinking of doing a trench from near the panel towards my garage at the time, but by the time I thought about doing it to the point where they poured the new one was too short for me to get off my butt and do it...

[dsm363]

That's probably an accurate estimate. As people have pointed out previously, if you go through the trouble to run a tunnel, keep future upgrades in mind (maybe 100A cabling, ethernet...etc).

[mcornwell]

The Jackholes that SPX sent out, tried telling my wife that our 5 year old house couldn't handle the measly 15A Voltec charging station, and that we needed a new panel in order to accomplish the task.

I called an electrician who had flawless ratings on Yelp, who came out and quoted $350 to run the 220V circuit from the panel to her garage and hard wire it. I'll most likely have him run a second 50A circuit and put a NEMA outlet and outdoor enclosure near our porch, where I can reach my garage with the (hopefully) 20-25' cord that Tesla will provide. Using time-of-day pricing, I'll most likely be charging only at night, so I'm not too worried about the cord crossing our front door. Heck, it could be a good intruder alerting device if someone trips over it between midnight and 8AM. I believe there are some short extensions that can be made/bought in-case I need a few more feet to reach.

[mcornwell]

Just to follow-up, the second electrician that we found on Yelp arrived EARLY to complete the job today, and while he was running the wire/conduit for my wife's Volt, ran a 50A circuit to the exterior wall of where her Voltec charger is installed. He hasn't given us the final bill yet, but it should only be a few hundred dollars more for the additional copper, breaker and outlet/outside box for the NEMA 14-50 outdoor box which should reach the garage just fine where my Model S will be parked (about 20').

I'll post his info in the California forum for any San Diegan's who might need a quality electrician.