What's everybody paying?

[gatedad11]

Thanks for the encouragement. I am still learning the nuances of the car, but I think this will be a very fun ride...

 

[Don]

Level 1 charger, not looking to pay $1500 or so for 240 volt Level 2 installation(at least not yet, anyway). If a free progarm comes along for Level 2 charger, I'll look into it.

Look into www.evseupgrade.com - It's probably all you'll ever need for about $300

Don

 

[archie_b]

Yesterday two new 2012 ES with salvage titles due to water damage were at auction in NC. My friend was advised today that his bid on the burgundy ES, while below reserve, has been accepted by the seller. The silver ES, which he also bid on, had the auction end date extended from January 29th to January 31 at 9:00pm EST. Current bid price on that car is $5,900.

Looking forward to this project.

 

[gatedad11]

Level 1 charger, not looking to pay $1500 or so for 240 volt Level 2 installation(at least not yet, anyway). If a free progarm comes along for Level 2 charger, I'll look into it.

Look into http://www.evseupgrade.com - It's probably all you'll ever need for about $300

Don:
I was aware of the EVSE upgrade, but not much about how it worked, etc. if I understand it correctly, it would allow me to use an elctric dryer type 240V outlet to charge my I, after having the charging cable adapted, all at a cost of about $300. I don't have 240V in my garage. I am going to ask an electrician friend what he might charge to run a 240V line and install an outlet into my detached garage. It would be a great option, I'd love the freedom of having to spend only 7-8 hours to charge...

Lou

 

[danpatgal]

I was aware of the EVSE upgrade, but not much about how it worked, etc. if I understand it correctly, it would allow me to use an elctric dryer type 240V outlet to charge my I, after having the charging cable adapted, all at a cost of about $300. I don't have 240V in my garage.

I am currently using an EVSE upgraded Nissan Level 1 from a friend plugged into a 240 (30amp) dryer circuit. It's quieter than the Schneider unit (only $850 at the moment, but then I did the install) I had ... but I will probably get the Siemens unit since it has some additional features that the Schneider doesn't have.

The EVSE upgraded unit comes with a pig-tail with a standard 120v outlet plug on one end and a twist lock on the other. The unit will adjust automatically to 120v or 240v, depending on the supply voltage. The nice thing is that the 120v charging on the upgraded unit improves to 12amps over 8 amps ... which makes a full charge on the 120v roughly 6 hours faster.

To plug into a dryer (like NEMA 6-30R or 14-30R) or welder (6-50R or 14-50R) outlet you'd need to create or buy a pigtail to use that plug. I had two plugs (6-30R and 6-50R) installed in my garage for $275. I needed a third outlet for my Schneider unit, so I did that myself (< $50 in materials). You do need to make sure you have capacity (physical and electrical) in your box in order to do that - but an electrician could do that and it shouldn't cost more than $300 to do it.

As Don said, the EVSE upgrade could be all you ever need. I like having a backup unit and not having to always pack up my charger if want to be able to charge while I'm out - either intentionally or in a jam. But, to buy a "new" EVSE (instead of just the $300 for the upgrade) is as much as any other level 2 EVSE. So, I'll keep my wimpy Mitsubishi supplied level 1 charger in the back of the car along with the faster level 2 installed at home.

Good luck!

 

[Don]

Level 1 charger, not looking to pay $1500 or so for 240 volt Level 2 installation(at least not yet, anyway). If a free progarm comes along for Level 2 charger, I'll look into it.

Look into http://www.evseupgrade.com - It's probably all you'll ever need for about $300

Don:
I was aware of the EVSE upgrade, but not much about how it worked, etc. if I understand it correctly, it would allow me to use an elctric dryer type 240V outlet to charge my I, after having the charging cable adapted, all at a cost of about $300

Yes - The upgraded EVSE will come with a NEMA L6-20P pigtail on it and you can then adapt that to plug into anything you like . . . . either 120 or 240 volts. To use any standard socket (of whatever type) you just need a short adapter pigtail with a NEMA L6-20S on one end (to connect to the EVSE) and then a plug on the other end for your standard household outlet, dryer outlet, welder outlet, or whatever you like

If you're having new outlets installed in your garage, just have them run a 240 wire and a 120 wire and connect the ends to separate L6-20S sockets and then you can plug directly into either 120 or 240 without using any adapters at all. This is what I did in my garage. Both of the sockets can be mounted in a standard 4 inch square box, side by side. Whatever voltage you plug it into, the EVSE senses it and operates in either L1 or L2 mode. 120@ 12 amps charges 50% faster than an unmodified EVSE, 240@12 amps is 3 times as fast - 5 to 7 hours for a full charge

If the wiring is to be run underground, both wires can be run in a single 3/4 inch PVC pipe. Standard 12/3 wire works for either 120 or 240. Assuming your breaker box has 3 unused slots for breakers, this is something you could even do yourself. The power panel would need a single 20 amp breaker for the 120 and a pair of 20 amp breakers for the 240. The wiring is very simple and basic

Don

 

[gatedad11]

Thanks Don. I am looking into the upgrades, it would be nice to be able to charge up faster, and the cost is reasonable.

 

[jsharvey]

I just picked up a base ES. No additional options for $99 per month, 15k miles per year for 24 months.

I didn't even know the car existed until I came across the $69 lease in IL in Autoblog. So I think I got myself a decent deal, anyone else been able to get something similar?

 

[gatedad11]

Don:
"120@ 12 amps charges 50% faster than an unmodified EVSE"

Does that mean that just using my same 120V wall outlet, with no modifications(in conjunction with Phil's EVSE Upgrade) could result in a 50% faster charge? Going from say 22 hours to 11 or 12?

Thanks,
Lou

 

[NeilBlanchard]

If it is a 15A or 20A circuit, then yes. If it is only a 10A circuit, then no.

 

[gatedad11]

Neil:
Thanks for the response. I have no idea what my line is rated for, but I will find out. If it is capable of the higher amp, then the EVSE Upgrade is a no brainer...

Lou

 

[jray3]

If it is a 15A or 20A circuit, then yes. If it is only a 10A circuit, then no.

A 10A 120V circuit in an American building?
Never heard of it- must be colonial-era wiring.
Seriously though- you can get a 10A breaker to de-rate a circuit, but since all outlets are a minimum of 15A, doesn't the installed wiring have to match that capacity?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEMA_connector

 

[gatedad11]

The home was built in 1969, so not Colonial era...although we have plenty of them in the Phila area, mine is a modern looking brick rancher...

Lou

 

[danpatgal]

I just picked up a base ES. No additional options for $99 per month, 15k miles per year for 24 months, with no money out of pocket. DE taxes also rolled in. I even had them throw in the USB adapter.

Nice! That is a very good deal, and I've seen similar deals up the road near Philly. You basically get the car for $2400 and pay only 2-3 cents/mile for electricity. So, it's easy to determine TOTAL costs per mile. If you add insurance (500/year?) to that:

20,000 miles = (2400 + 1000 + .03*20000)/ 20000 = 0.20/mile
30,000 miles = (2400 + 1000 + .03*20000)/ 30000 = 0.14/mile

When I did this calculation for my efficient gas car (a little Mazda 3), it was roughly 0.30/mile over 8 years (average ICE sedans are 0.58/mile). And I did a similar calculation buying the i, as I've done, and it comes out to 0.30/mile also, mostly because of an uncertain/conservative resale value. So, with a $99 lease, even if you add another $2k for a downpayment, you definitely come out ahead. And, if the only downside is that EVs will go UP in price in two years (because of demand > supply), you could always just buy your i for the relatively high residual value and keep on saving.

 

[Don]

Don:
"120@ 12 amps charges 50% faster than an unmodified EVSE"

Does that mean that just using my same 120V wall outlet, with no modifications(in conjunction with Phil's EVSE Upgrade) could result in a 50% faster charge? Going from say 22 hours to 11 or 12?

Yes . . . . and no - 12 amps is 50% more than 8 amps, (3 units vs 2) but the time involved is also shortened by the same ratio, so instead of 21 hours you'd be at about 14. As Jray mentioned, I don't see 12 amps being any problem with any house built in the past 100 years or so . . . . you have many other appliances you couldn't use if your outlets only supported 10 amps or less

The OEM EVSE charges at 960 watts and the upgraded EVSE at 1440 watts, which is 50% more than the 960. Now if you add a 240 volt socket, your 960 turns into 2880 watts, which is 3X the original 960, so your 21 hours would then be about 7, give or take

Don

 

[gatedad11]

Wow on the 240 socket charge time. I am going to have an electrician in when the weather gets warmer. Since we have a detached 2 car garage, I am sure that we'd have to dig a trench for any PVC piping to be laid, and the ground is too hard for that right now. Plus, even though the EVSE Upgrade is very reasonable, it's still around $300. That plus the elctrician's cost(even a friend has to get paid for his time), I'll want to wait until my Uncle(Sam) sends me some money after we file. But it sure sounds good to be able to cut charging time down to 14 hours(even 7).

Thanks,
Lou

 

[blownb310]

I too, tried to negotiate a good lease deal with my local dealers in the Albany NY area, after hearing about the super discount deals last month in IL. No dice. They wouldn't come down from their full regular price of $229 a month.

 

[blownb310]

I just picked up a base ES. No additional options for $99 per month, 15k miles per year for 24 months, with no money out of pocket. DE taxes also rolled in. I even had them throw in the USB adapter.

I didn't even know the car existed until I came across the $69 lease in IL in Autoblog. So I think I got myself a decent deal, anyone else been able to get something similar?

That's an incredible deal I think we'd all like to have gotten. Any idea why some dealers will offer deep discounts like this and others won't budge at all?

 

[Zelenec]

Last spring in my area the price was 35k€, in august and september 21k€, end september back to 29k. In last 5 months I-miev and clons are unavailable. I never was able to find the real reason for such price jumps.

 

[aarond12]

When I did this calculation for my efficient gas car (a little Mazda 3)...

A fellow Mazda 3 to i-MiEV owner!

I managed to jump on the $69/month lease deal. I emailed the nearby dealers to ask who would match/beat the lease deal O'Brien Mitsubishi was offering. I got it at the first dealership that responded. Took all day to do the paperwork though... they never saw such a deal before. :shock: