Source
r/volt•
Justforthrow

Questions about installing a charger

Hi, I'm picking up a 2016 chevy volt tomorrow. Today I also recieved a quote to do a hardwired installation for $800 for L2. I was told to also get a $600 charge point hardwire on amazon. Altogether this would end up costing $1400, which seems a bit high to me. Is there another way for me to get L2 charging at home for cheaper? Thank you.

Edit: forgot to mention that the install is for outdoor, and I have no outlet at the front of my house. So its wiring from my panel to out front.

Posted Jan 7, 2019, 1:26 AM UTC · edited

633
donnysaysvacuum2014•

You don't need a hard wired charger, there really isn't much of an advantage. Just get something like the amazing-e for <$300 and get a plug wired in. You only need 30amp, but if you want to future proof it, get a 50 amp rated circuit installed.

I got a $500 rebate from my electric company for installing a level 2 charger. Plus I get off peak rate of $. 08 a kwh.

9
frosty952014 Volt Owner•

Buy a dousuda (spelling might be off) for 200$ off of Amazon. Works fabulous.

8
AGSuper•

Pay the money to have it done right. Don't screw around with electric stuff. I paid close to that for mine,b but I also got a huge rebate back.

6
idrinkcoldcoffee•

Buy a Clipper Creek LCS-20 and con a friend with electrical experience into helping you.

Total cost $425 + wires. And beer for your friend.

5
x31b•

Do you have a dedicated single outlet in the garage for a refrigerator? The single round receptacle?

That can be converted quickly and less expensively to a 220v 20a outlet for the Duosida EVSE on Amazon. I did that in my garage.

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JustforthrowOP•

Unfortunately not. After looking into a few suggestions above, I realize that its a high price probably mainly due to the fact that I have no outlet at the front of my house to begin with. So hard wired is probably the best option for me.

1
adambadam•

I still think it is worth having the electrician run wiring to an outlet in your driveway vs hardwiring an EVSE. If you ever take in the Volt for a Tesla or the J1772 becomes obsolete it will be a lot easier to just unplug the old EVSE and install a new one. Could also take the EVSE if you move with you this way.

3
hiroo916•

Not OP, but is that what this is? https://imgur.com/brmNarn

what's the wiring inside?

unfortunately, it's also not the greatest position for my potential future EV, but it's something.

1
x31b•

As canuck points out it is a 20a 120v circuit. What I was mentioning to OP. You often find these in new construction for a refrigerator or washing machine. Most often they are the only outlet on the circuit, and that is KEY. If it’s the only outlet on the circuit, it can be converted to 20a 220v by replacing the breaker and the outlet. No wire pull or box. Would cut the cost in half or more. The Volt on Level 2 charging only draws 12a, so you would be able to charge at the highest rate the Volt will take, and do a full charge in four hours.

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The_Cynical_Canuck(2018) Volt•

20amp 120v outlet

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sasquatch_melee2012 Volt•

That will run the stock 120v wall charger no issue.

If you want faster L2(240v) charging you may still need an additional circuit pulled.

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Notorious4CHAN2018 Volt LT•

Electrical work really isn't as hard as most people make it out to be.

In summary: buy the right wire and screw it in to 4 contacts in the panel and 4 inside your charger or outlet. Google the wire you need. Make sure the wire isn't touching anything that might cut into the sheathing -- especially metal. That's it. Everything that follows is just a longer version of this.

  • First, make sure you have two open slots in your panel right next to each other. Buy a 20A double-breaker. You can only install it one way. It has two holes; they are both hot and it doesn't matter which is which.
  • The biggest thing you can fuck up is getting the wrong size wire and if the gauge is too high it could start a fire. You can look online to see what gauge wire is rated for 20A - I think I bought 8ga but honestly I can't remember and would have to Google it myself. I'd recommend getting solid wire and not stranded as it's easier to strip the ends without cutting any copper -- the drawback is solid wire is less flexible and if you bend it over and over in one place the metal will weaken and break but this is a permanent installation and none of the wire should move so solid is good here.
  • There are 4 wires -- ground (green or unsheathed), neutral (white), hot1 (black), and hot2 (black with probably a stripe). When you pass the wire into the panel, screw the ground wire into the bus with the rest of the ground wires. Screw the white into the bus with the rest of the white. Put the hots into your breaker -- again it doesn't matter which is which. You can do this last so that is isn't possible for any power to be on in the rest of the work but you can also just do it first and turn off the breaker. Turn main power off before wiring this -- should only take a couple of minutes after everything else is done.
  • Running the cable follow a few simple guidelines: don't pinch the wire between anything -- if you need to secure it to a beam, use long staples that do not pinch or nick the sheathing; if the wire lays against any metal edge such as passing through the panel, make sure there is a rubber grommet to keep the edge from cutting into the sheathing; if you need to connect wires end to end, use wire nuts and put the connection inside a box -- again with the rubber grommets if it's a metal box. You probably won't need to do this at all. If you have to drill through concrete I honestly don't know the code, but I'd bore it big enough to pass a pipe through and then grommet each end of the pipe.
  • Edit to add: If you aren't passing the wire through the wall directly to the charger unit, you'll need to put a box where the wire comes in and cover the wire with conduit that attaches to the wall from the box to the charger unit. Use a second wire and connect the wires inside the junction box with wire-nuts (not sure if that's required by code or if you can just sort of slide the box over the wire and skip the connection, but it feels like a good idea).

That's basically it. I wired mine up to a standard 120v cord (clearly marked so no one plugs in a 120V device and blows it up) and just use the charger that came with my car. Neutral goes to the ground pin, and hot1 and hot2 go to the left and right. I think 2016 has the 2nd gen charger so that may be all you need to do. This isn't quite as fast as a L2 charger, but pretty close. Otherwise, buy a L2 charger and wire that in -- it'll be as simple as tightening 4 screws.

As nervous as electricity makes people, it isn't really very difficult at all. The hardest part is making sure the wiring is to code (which you should try for even if you aren't pulling a permit and getting an inspection). I spent more time reading electrical codes from the government than I did actually wiring it up.

5
jdg455•

I was under the impression that the wire needed to be in conduit. Is that not the case?

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sasquatch_melee2012 Volt•

In the garage it does need to be in conduit as it's considered to be subject to physical damage if run bare. Some jurisdictions might let it slide, and I've read others accepted it if it was run above a certain height (7' maybe?). You may be able to substitute MC cable for plain romex and your local jurisdiction may accept that.

I did my own install and used 1" electrical PVC conduit in the garage. In the basement it's just bare romex with the other wiring.

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Notorious4CHAN2018 Volt LT•

That may be the case. The wiring I did was actually slightly different as my garage already has 240v and I made a little breaker box that plugs into that and adapts it to a 120v cord. I also used stranded wire in mine because it's not a permanent installation. Conduit is a good idea if the wire is going to be exposed in the garage whether it is required or not because again you don't want anything flexing that wire. I was envisioning passing the wire through the wall at the charger, so it didn't cross my mind but the way you describe yes you'd want a junction box at the point of entry with conduit running from the box to the charger.

1
Adventurer_By_Trade•

Not much you can do about the electrical work costs other than shop other contractors. There are less expensive EVSEs (chargers) but the ChargePoint one is one of the better ones, especially if ChargePoint has a lot of public charging available in your area. They had a really good sale last month for Christmas. If you're just picking up the Volt, maybe wait a bit and see how well you do on L1 charging for a month while you shop for charging equipment. I've been charging my 2015 Volt off of L1 at home, and an overnight charge to full at 12 amps is more than adequate - though I am also looking at installing L2. It's just not an urgent case for me.

4
RogerO3•

I’d agree with this. I’d love to have L2 at home but when I work out the math I just can’t justify it. I have averaged $20/month in gasoline costs since I’ve purchased the Volt. Even a cheap $200 charger will take at least a year to break even on the charger cost alone.

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sasquatch_melee2012 Volt•

Yeah. At some level it has to be for convenience, not financial gain. I got a great deal on a 2012, but without a L2 for preheat I wouldn't have enough range in the winter for my daily commute. So I had no issue taking some of the money I saved on the car (versus a newer one with more range) and installing a 240v outlet plus buying a charger.

2
RogerO3•

I’m lucky to have a 15 mile commute and free L2 charging at work.

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Solkre2015 Volt•

I get along just fine with a L1, but I'm going to get an L2 after I get the car paid off in a year or so.

I'm also going for a 40Amp charger with a 50Amp run so I'm ready for a full EV.

1
B25urgandy•

Where is your breaker panel in relation to your level 2 charger location?

I installed mine myself. I bought 6/3 cable, 125 feet? And ran it from my basement breaker panel, all the way to the far garage wall. Literally the longest possible run that could be done at my house.

I got a Charge point 32A hardwired charger 20% off when they ran a sale. Then the 40Amp breaker ran me $4. All together I installed a level 2 for $700 give or take.

The catch? I had to install a new 200A breaker panel because I only had a 100A panel. $120 in a new panel and wires, and 5 hours from 12-5A.M. and I had a 200A box. I labeled every wire and it's breaker size and unconnected everything. Put up the new box, ran the wire from the meter and I had it all done. Was a monster pain in the ass. I think later this year I'm going to upgrade my wires from aluminum to copper. I didn't like the aluminum and the twisting to get the aluminum to fit wasn't the best.

3
JustforthrowOP•

Envious of what you can do. Unfortunately my knowledge of electrical work is non existing. Most likely going to spend the extra to have it done right instead of me killing myself trying to install it lol

2
B25urgandy•

If your in mid MI I would be happy to lend a hand lol.

3
JustforthrowOP•

Appreciate the offer, but I'm in NE.

2
sasquatch_melee2012 Volt•

I have a 100 amp panel/service and had no issue adding a 20a circuit for the Volt L2. 🤷‍♂️

We have all electric appliances too except the furnace and water heater. When we got smart meters I was able to see how much watts we actually use peak and it's nowhere near 100amps.

1
B25urgandy•

We have a 1400 sq/ft house with a 700sq foot finished basement. Our panel only had 1 open space. All our lights are LEDs so I know we would never go over 100 but I didn't want to consolidate circuits just in case we overload a breaker. We also want to install a whole home fan and a fireplace that will require 240v circuit for the blower fan itself.

1
Solkre2015 Volt•

Did you have a lot of other high draw appliances that needed the 200 Amp service?

I have 100Amp as well, but all my stuff that can be gas powered is.

0
B25urgandy•

Electric dryer, electric stove, AC unit. So we're the opposite lol. My wife likes electric ranges over gas and I don't mind off electric dryer.

We have the plan to build a shed on the back yard and running power to it and making it a home gym back there, but concrete pads look like it will run is a few thousand; so we might pass on that plan.

1
pinellaspete•

200 amp service is the new normal in homes. We have a lot more electrical devices and larger appliances than they did 20 years ago.

0
sasquatch_melee2012 Volt•

I got a duosida EVSE for $200 (on Amazon) instead of $600. It charges at 16 amps which is the max the Volt (excluding some 2019s) can charge. The charge point home charger is overkill for the Volt.

Only way to get electrical cost down would be DIY or if you know someone handy who would do it with you on a weekend for beer and a little cash.

2
patb2015•

well outdoor installs do run a bit higher...

Depending where you are that part isn't grossly out of hand, but you should be able to get

a charger for about $499..

​

https://emotorwerks.com/products/charging-stations/juicebox

​

go for hard wire, you don't want it stolen

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stignordas•

FWIW I’ve been getting along with L1 on my Gen2 without any need for more. Sure L2 would be nice, but honestly there has only been 1 time in 3 months where it would have made any effective difference.

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MaidenLocks2013 Volt•

got an outdoor 240v outlet put in for about $300. duosida portable charger was $185.

1