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Electric Vehicle Charging Station
updated: Sep 26, 2012, 5:29 PM

By Edhat Subscriber

I'm taking the plunge and getting a Chevy Volt. I would like to put a 240-volt vehicle charging station in my garage. This task seems simple but I am somewhat overwhelmed with all the details and possible costs. Electrical Design needed? County Permit needed? Ventilation needed? PG&E permission needed? Who can do this at a reasonable price? Who has experience doing it? Need some advice? Thanks.

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 324536	2012-09-26 05:44 PM
Isn't that the kind of info your Chevy Volt dealer will provide you? Surely all potential buyers have these same FAQ that they must address ad nauseum.
COMMENT 324543	2012-09-26 05:52 PM
Set up some solar panels. Drive on sunlight.
COMMENT 324548	2012-09-26 05:57 PM
Run an extension cord from your neighbor’s outdoor outlet... this should solve the problem, no permits needed.
COMMENT 324559	2012-09-26 06:10 PM
I have a friend with a tesla that set up a solar system, and I can also refer you to electricians that can do this setup on the grid. I would be happy to advise, and am a licensed GC, as well as an environmental advocate. You can reach me through SBBA.ORG
SBJULES	2012-09-26 06:36 PM
I thought that the city has charging stations. look for it in the independent(do a search.
COMMENT 324580	2012-09-26 06:53 PM
Do you have a "smart meter"? If so, check the times that you're electrical use doubles.
COMMENT 324583	2012-09-26 07:02 PM
Electricity is dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. I would recommend Murphy electric 306 East Cota Street (805) 965-0313 . They have been around forever and are affordable.
COMMENT 324584	2012-09-26 07:09 PM
Gobs of useless responses here. Any good electrician should be able to pull a dedicated 240 circuit into your garage for your charging system. Easy work. Simply supply the installation manual and you should be able to get a bid. Garages are already designed in a manner that should not require any additional ventilation for your electric car charging. A permit may be required, a reputable electrician will know. There is no permission needed from your electrical utility if you simply want to use more energy. You may also consider requesting a kWh meter installed just to monitor consumption from the car alone. Over time you can easily calculate your kWh's of energy used per mile driven in the car. Then take that data and give it to a solar electric company for a quote on solar panels to off-set your electric car consumption. Do your homework and take your time. Good for you on the electric car.
COMMENT 324591	2012-09-26 07:27 PM
It's not too late. Do the math on the payback for the Volt. After you calculate that you'll never breakeven, do the right thing and buy a four-cylinder Honda Civic. Donate the extra money to a great charity that you would have thrown away on the Volt, the 240 connection, the replacement batteries, etc. You'll feel better about the decision and your neighbors will respect you more.
COMMENT 324592	2012-09-26 07:28 PM
GET A CLUE: Americans have completely shunned GM's Volt, and rightfully so. What a joke. You might as well buy a Prius, with better technology, range and mileage. Lets all let GM die on the vine in a very Darwinian manner.
COMMENT 324604	2012-09-26 07:51 PM
The energy equations for electric cars simply don't work out to be beneficial for the individual consumer, society, or the world. Go with the Honda Civic, or something similar. Unsurprisingly, I have strong objections to public charging stations. My money going into someone else's batteries - that's not right.
COMMENT 324615P	2012-09-26 08:51 PM
324592: not all Americans have shunned the Volt. Our very own Assemblyman, Das Williams, bought one and was pictured with it in the late (and very much lamented) Daily Sound.
COMMENT 324627P	2012-09-27 01:33 AM
I do not own an electric car or a hybrid. Can someone please tell me why I should pay to charge someone else's car. If a store like Walgreens does not charge the person plugging in, the cost is passed on to all customers whether they use the chargers or not. There should be a per hour charge for using any public charging station that covers the cost of the charge.
COMMENT 324643	2012-09-27 07:12 AM
The Volt vs. a Civic is not an apples-to-apples comparison. The Volt is really geared toward the luxury car set, those who want a really nice car but are sick of paying $70-$80 to fill up their BMW's and Mercedes. Telling a potential Volt owner to buy something like the Civic to Hyundai Sonata presupposes the buyer is in the market for a small, cheap car. Most potential Volt owners are not. Good for you for buying the Volt, a car designed, manufactured, and powered in America. I think the technology is really cool. Hopefully the tech will get cheaper over time and we can all afford an gas-electric vehicle one day. I'm sick of handing over my hard earned money to ExxonMoible and to countries that hate us.
COMMENT 324646	2012-09-27 07:22 AM
The carbon footprint of a Volt is far far worse than that of a traditional vehicle. The Volt is just another example of greenwashing.
COMMENT 324655	2012-09-27 07:40 AM
Let's go back to the way of the chumash.... no cars.... no gas... no emissions.....
COMMENT 324656	2012-09-27 07:42 AM
The volt a nice car.. HAHA. GM is one of the worst companies to cheap out on their cars. Even their top of the line Cadillac XLR interior was completely plastic feeling. Don't be so sure all those parts for the volt are made in the USA, either. The electric motors are made in Mexico.
SKOOBY	2012-09-27 08:00 AM
We have a Honda Civic Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV) and love it. It gets about 35-40 mpg and costs about $1.91 to $2.60 per gallon, which translates with its smaller tank of about 7 gal. to about 250 miles a fill. Do the math on that fill up. It's comfy, easy to park and the cleanest of all cars on the road. There's plenty of natural gas available as a resource including the flame that always burns up into the atmosphere in La Conchita. If I drive alone through L.A., which isn't often, I can use the car pool lane. The disadvantage is that our govt. isn't getting behind the NGV except for its own cars and providing more accessible filling spots. The installation of a home fueling device is not available at this point, was and is suppose to be in the future, so we have to do some planning on fill-ups. In SB that's not so difficult with a station off Milpas. Please don't go there about the car blowing up if in an accident. The tanks are made of kevlar so the danger is about the same as a gas tank in most cars. Remember that natural gas rises so doesn't pool around the car like regular gas. All in all, I like the NGV car and consider it another option in the fuel dilemma
COMMENT 324671	2012-09-27 08:06 AM
615P, that was the best laugh I've had in some time. Yeah, buy the Volt because Das Williams drives one too. Community organizers like Das, and others, aren't exactly known for their financial insight. Knowing Das, he probably just borrowed it for the photo shoot anyway. 643, if I'm trading in my BMW or Mercedes there is no way in heck I'm settling for a POS like the Volt. The Civic is a nicer car in every way. All electrics may have their day but it ain't today.
COMMENT 324677	2012-09-27 08:14 AM
Dont take the plunge. The $$$ dont pan out.
RHS	2012-09-27 08:48 AM
627, can you advise why those of us without children in school should pay for schools? Or why those of us who don't eat meat should pay for the USDA inspectors? Or why healthy people should pay for the FDA? Or....? Come on, some things are in the greater public interest. In any event, the charging stations I have read about are charging $1 and hour to use. That won't pay for the construction but should offset the energy cost. Until a critical mass of users and service providers is met this is going to be awkward but the end result will be a better environment. Or, if this experiment fails, a better alternative will come along. It's part of change that is more civilized than the Darwinian economic model advocated by investment bankers and their financiers.
COMMENT 324695	2012-09-27 08:57 AM
My business owns a fleet of 6 Volkswagen diesels. We average 60 MPG on the highway. We have over 400,000 miles on the fleet without any mechanical breakdowns. Buy diesel. They're clean and run forever.
RESIDENT	2012-09-27 09:21 AM
It's interesting that there have been several analyses that show the Volt actually has a significant impact on the environment when battery construction, electrical generation, etc. are factored in. And the cost per mile for the owner is higher than a conventional car at the present time. GM admits that it costs them more to build each car than they can sell it for. So they are losing money on every one that they sell but they look at as a learning experience for future cars. Someday this technology may make sense. But right now it is a development
COMMENT 324745P	2012-09-27 09:55 AM
671 - Glad you got the joke! But, yes, Das was pictured with his new Volt and a expletive-deleted grin. I've occasionally wondered whether GM has used it as a selling point anywhere. <-- smile. In April, Edhat ran reviews of the Volt here
JUKINJAY	2012-09-27 10:28 AM
I have a Volt and a 240V charging station. There is a lot of FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) promulgated by the SPX people who will want to charge exorbitant amounts for installation. I wired my own, it isn't really any more difficult than adding an outlet if you have a spare slot in your breaker panel. A local electrician can do it at a cost far lower than SPX if you're not comfortable with doing your own wiring. On a side note, you will LOVE the Volt. Awesome tech car, fun to drive, and VERY inexpensive to run on electricity.
JUKINJAY	2012-09-27 10:48 AM
RESIDENT's comments about cost and environmental issues for the Volt are simply wrong. It requires more electricity just to produce a gallon of gasoline (drilling, pumping, refining, transport) than the volt uses to go 50 miles. So, not only does the Volt use power from California's relatively clean grid (very little coal here), but in terms of just electricity, driving a Volt uses LESS power than just refining the equivalent amount of gasoline. http://forum.bmwactivatethefuture.com/showthread.php?t=652 So... If you drive a gasoline car, you're using more electricity *just to pump, refine, and transport the gasoline you use* than the Volt uses to travel a further distance. Plus you're generating tailpipe emissions and sending American dollars to countries whose governments want to kill us. If you *really* want to thumb your nose at OPEC, do this: http://www.west.net/~jay/images/voltsolar.jpg
COMMENT 324779P	2012-09-27 11:07 AM
627P, If a restaurant, shopping mall or movie theater wants to provide a charging station for free, it doesn't cost you anything should you not use it, nor does it cost you if you do. It's actually good business. The cost to the business is about 40 cents of electricity per hour of use. An EV owner is more likely to spend some time shopping, eat a meal, take in a movie there than at their competition. Doing so, the customer will almost certainly spend far more than 40 cents per hour at the business. Smart move on the part of the business. Do you also take issue with grocery stores issuing loyalty cards that offer a discount on gasoline? Same principle applies there.
COMMENT 324781	2012-09-27 11:10 AM
No permit needed as it's just an appliance, but I do recommend a licensed electrician if you're not comfortable doing electrical work (as does your home owner's insurance). We use Sandor for jobs of all sizes around our house: 805-451-4961
COMMENT 324786	2012-09-27 11:15 AM
They just installed a charging station at the Bates Beach lot. Utterly pointless, absurd, and complete waste of money.
COMMENT 324809	2012-09-27 11:53 AM
You WILL need a permit if you need to pull a new circuit from your panel....BUT...You will HATE the Volt after 4 - 6 months. You will HATE the Volt after it spends more time in the GM repair yard than yours. You WILL be supporting the American tax payer though, thanks.
COMMENT 324813	2012-09-27 12:01 PM
A quick google search shows that a public charging station in SB costs $1/hr to use. If the electricity cost is $0.40/hr like a previous poster said, that's a good profit for the City. Some people may be confusing the cost with the word free that was used originally about the charging stations. What was "free" about them was that a grant was used to pay for the installation so they didn't cost the city anything. If you paid taxes to the grant-making entity, however, then you subsidized it. It is also usually true that every new technology is not cost efficient at it's inception. The government has decided that we should subsidize these new technologies if we have any hope of avoiding catastrophe in the form of climate change in the near future. If you don't like this, stop electing the people passing this legislation!
JUKINJAY	2012-09-27 12:23 PM
809 - wrong. Just wrong. 16000 miles on the Volt in 18 months, no downtime for repairs. Not even an oil change yet, and likely not for another year. Brakes will last pretty much forever. Electric motors require far less maintenance than gasoline engines. The Volt has a nine-gallon gas tank and I fill up about every two months if I take long trips out of town. I usually charge at home and drive mostly on daylight, for free. 813 - Some businesses have installed EV charging stations that are indeed free to use. Rabobank in Goleta is one. Another at the Nissan dealer on Kellogg. The idea is that EV drivers will spend money at the business while charging and result in net profit for the business. There was an old-school charging station at Costco for a long time, recently removed. Hopefully they'll upgrade it soon. The city charging stations at $1 per hour are still cheaper than equivalent gasoline costs but not really a good deal if you have alternatives. Most of them are also in lots or garages where you also have to pay to park, so a really bad deal if there is street parking available.
RESIDENT	2012-09-27 04:49 PM
Jukinjay's 10:48 comment says that my previous comment is wrong wherein I referred to recent analyses that show the Volt actually does have a significant impact on the environment when battery construction, electrical generation, etc. are factored in. And factoring in all purchase and operating costs, the cost per mile for the owner is higher than a conventional car at the present time. I understand that Jukinjay, as a Volt owner, seems to be proud of his car as he should be and is defending his decision. But my comment isn't an opinion; I was referencing some recent studies that I've read. And there is no doubt that the Volt is costing GM a lot of $ to produce. They readily admit to losing money on every one that they sell. ... maybe they can make it up on volume? :-) Oh, I guess not. That too is a problem for them. They say that not many people are buying them, certainly not as many as they had predicted. Good luck with it. I like the high tech concept but think it needs to be more developed before I'll jump in.
JUKINJAY	2012-09-27 05:32 PM
Building anything has some impact on the environment. Electrical generation impact of the Volt and other EVs is actually negative with respect to gasoline vehicles as it takes more electricity just to extract, ship, and refine gasoline than an EV uses to go the same distance, before even factoring in the impact of burning the gasoline. The oil industry tends to omit this fact in their comparisons. Lithium-ion batteries are very environmentally friendly compared to other battery types such as lead-acid and nickel-cadmium. Offsetting this are the reduction of environmental costs of burning gasoline, used motor oil, asbestos used in braking as opposed to regenerating energy, etc. Operating costs per mile are obviously dependent on the number of miles driven. At any reasonable electricity cost and trip length between charges, the Volt comes out ahead, even at today's gasoline prices. Factoring in the purchase price of the car is highly subjective in any such comparison. Comparing to a Ferrari or a Bentley, the Volt is a very clear winner in cost per mile. Comparing to a Kia econobox, the Volt per mile will probably cost more, but you're paying for a much more enjoyable ride. Every new product has engineering costs. The same was true of the Prius during the first few years of production, as well as the Volkswagen beetle. Once the engineering costs are amortized over the production live of the car, things change. And they're changing for the Volt. http://tinyurl.com/8v6njkq
COMMENT 325087P	2012-09-27 07:58 PM
Have any of the negative commenters here ever driven a Volt, or are they just regurgitating blog posts of haters?
COMMENT 325109	2012-09-27 08:44 PM
I have driven in a Volt as a passenger and it was a very cramped experience.
COMMENT 325286	2012-09-28 10:26 AM
Most Volt owners and many LEAF owners are just sticking with a regular 120 outlet, have you considered this? It might save you some money and time. Your Volt will charge overnight and you'll have 40 miles/day electric range before the gas range extender kicks in. For when you visit Ventura, Santa Maria, Solvang, etc there are now 100 public charging stations in the tri counties. The Community Environmental Council is doing great work with EV Readiness infrastructure and planning, check their site for all the info www.PlugInSB.org
COMMENT 325471P	2012-09-28 03:01 PM
Thank for all our comments. Time will tell the future of electric cars and of course the economic math will talk the loudest. There is one ecomonic cost and ultimate cost not mentioned here that is hard to quantify but surely true. The cost to this country to keep the oil flowing from the middle east, and what would happen if the oil from the middle east stopped flowing? How many countries would we NOT be putting boots on the ground in if the middle east oil was not a critical engine of our lives? What would be the effect on our economy if all the money sent to the Saudis was spent here on renewable energy instead? I think of the men and women who have sacrified for this country and why they had to do it. A very big reason is the oil.
COMMENT 325997	2012-09-29 04:28 PM
The Toyota Camry Hybrid has a far greater range on a fully charged battery, is a more comfortable ride, and costs about 20K LESS than the boondoggle, Government Motors, Volt.
COMMENT 326000	2012-09-29 04:35 PM
That darn Government Motors with its successful IPO and profitability as a private corporation. What a boondoggle!
COMMENT 326207P	2012-09-30 09:22 AM
I am buying a Volt because it is an American company and the car is 40% made-in-America. The Toyota Prious is 0% and the Leaf is 0%. http://abcnews.go.com/WN/MadeInAmerica/page/made-america-car-american-made-13795239 "We have met the enemy. They are us."
JUKINJAY	2012-10-04 03:04 PM
The Camry hybrid as well as other Toyota hybrids burn gasoline at speeds above about 35 MPH regardless of battery charge. The Volt burns no gasoline at any speed for trips of 35 to 40 miles distance. Not an apples-to-apples comparison by any means. Daily commute less than 40 miles (or 80 if you can charge at work)? Zero gasoline consumed. As far as the ride and the features, in my opinion the Volt is a much better car and I've driven both.

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