$749 Leviton EVB22-3PT Evr-Green 160 3.8kW on Amazon

My wife and I just ordered a RAV4 EV, so soon we will have the following in our garage:

2013 Chevrolet Volt
2013 RAV4 EV
2013 Brammo Empulse R

All use the J1772 plug. This is basically my dream garage... ok so perhaps a Tesla Model S would be in my dream garage but this is damn close, and in real life I cant be that picky.

Anyway, we have been doing fine with just the standard 120V circuit for the Volt, but I think with the Brammo and Toyota arriving this month we will need something that can supply a little more juice for top-ups and such. I really dont need anything crazy, whatever gets us fully charged overnight will work. I plan to get this installed by an electrician:

http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-EVK02-M-Evr-Green-Installation-Charging/dp/B004G6YGBI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364960964&sr=8-1&keywords=Leviton+EVK02-M

And obviously I can hook the wall unit up myself, and simply plug it into that outlet:

http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-EVB22-3PT-Evr-Green-Charging-Station/dp/B00B2GWRLQ/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1364872962&sr=8-6&keywords=j1772#productDetails

Seems like a great deal for 749.00 shipped free via my Amazon Prime account. What do you guys think? -Jeremy

Looks pretty good if you're ok with only 3.8 kW. You might find others at homedepot (or elsewhere), 30A for about the same price, and may have extra features like delayed start, and are probably as easy to install as the Leviton kit.

scooter said:

Looks pretty good if you're ok with only 3.8 kW. You might find others at homedepot (or elsewhere), 30A for about the same price, and may have extra features like delayed start, and are probably as easy to install as the Leviton kit.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the fantastic advice. Home Depot has some pretty solid deals on this stuff. That and the fact that most can be picked up at the store is a huge plus!

The 20 amp Clipper Creek is still on sale for $599.

http://stores.intuitwebsites.com/ClipperCreekInc/-strse-6/Level-2-EVSE%2C-Level/Detail.bok

I got my refurbished C-60 Clipper Creek last weekend for $725 (the EBay guy). If you can put a 60 amp breaker in your service pannel it is the way to go. This will future proof your garage with 48 amps of charging (Rav4 EV only draws 40 amps). I may be selling my 32 amp Blink I got for free or just keep it as a spare.

I bought this unit about 2 weeks ago from Leviton through their Toyota website for $699 plus tax and shipping including the pre-wire kit with the plate mount. It's under the Toyota Plug in Prius options. The pre-wire kit is usually an extra $79.99. Total was about $770.00.

They've raised the price a couple bucks, but here's the link:

http://toyota.leviton.com/home-charging-station-16a

Bassman said:

I bought this unit about 2 weeks ago from Leviton through their Toyota website for $699 plus tax and shipping including the pre-wire kit with the plate mount. It's under the Toyota Plug in Prius options. The pre-wire kit is usually an extra $79.99. Total was about $770.00.

They've raised the price a couple bucks, but here's the link:

http://toyota.leviton.com/home-charging-station-16a

Click to expand...

Is that only 16 amps?

EDIT: it is 16 amps, and more expensive than the $599 - 20 amp Clipper Creek.


Miles Gained per Hour Charging
Amps/Volts -- Where ---- City Drive ----- 65mph

16 / 208 ------ Public ----- 7.5 miles ------- 9.5 miles
16 / 240 ------ Home ----- 8.9 miles ------ 11.2 miles
20 / 208 ------ Public ----- 9.4 miles ------- 11.9 miles
20 / 240 ------ Home ---- 11.0 miles ------ 13.9 miles (Clipper Creek LCS-25)
30 / 208 ------ Public ---- 14.8 miles ----- 18.7 miles
40 / 240 ------ Home ---- 22.7 miles ----- 28.5 miles

That Clipper Creak is a smokin deal, only thing is that I would prefer not to have a hardwired unit. The Toyota Leviton deal seems like the best deal for my needs. Home Depot is also selling the 30amp version for 849 w/ the install kit free, so that is also at the top of my list. The only limitation for me is the damn breaker panel thats loaded up to the hilt... it may be tricky finding even a 20amp circuit to use.

Imho, with only an 18' charge cord and a maximum output rating of 3.8kW, I think you will likely become dissatisfied with THREE EVs in your garage that need periodic charging. The price may seen a lot lower at $749 with free shipping, but for another $100, just get the Leviton 30A plug-in EVSE, especially if it has the 25' long cord. Trust me, any extra cost for a longer cord will pay for itself!

If Home Depot has Leviton's 7.2kW (30A) home charger on sale for $849, with the companion wall plug installation kit added for free, that should be a total no brainer. I think I paid around $1159 for the 32A version + $79 for install kit back in November, also from Home Depot Online, so you would most definitely be getting a great deal!

As far as your breaker issue, so long as you can fit a "double pole" breaker, regardless of the protection rating, necessary for a dedicated "240V" branch circuit to a wall plug in your garage, you should be good to go with the appropriately rated, higher current charger. Otherwise, the cost to upgrade to ANY "Level 2" EVSE will go up considerably unless the Electrician you hire is willing to work for free. :mrgreen:

I bought the 16 amp because my work only has a 20 amp 208 volt plug. The CS-25 wouldn't work as it would trip the breaker. I use the Leviton as a portable EVSE and have a Quick 220 adapter for using at residences. Most circuits are 20 amp max for 120 volt, so it gives me maximum versatility.

I'm looking very hard at a Rav4 EV right now but my daily usage will be fairly light. I don't need the quick charging capability of the full 40 amp models although I wouldn't mind being future proof. For maximum battery life though would it be better to use a lower power EVSE? Unless you have severe TOU metering or high daily mileage would it be better to use a lesser charger?

the2bobs said:

For maximum battery life though would it be better to use a lower power EVSE? Unless you have severe TOU metering or high daily mileage would it be better to use a lesser charger?

Click to expand...

Even with a full 40A rate, that is still very slow to the battery, because of its large capacity. Charging it slower will not necessarily add any benefit to the longevity of the battery. However, if you are concerned about peak loads on your house panel, charging at only the rate required to fill the battery for the following day's journey is preferred. For instance, if your house has one or two electric heaters running full power on a cold and windy night, you probably don't want another 7-9kW load added on top if you can avoid it. In that case starting earlier and charging at a reduced rate would be easier on your electrical panel.

The much S L O W E R charging rate you get with the OEM (Panasonic) 120V charge cord takes "52" hours to fully charge a depleted RAV4 EV. I believe that translates to about 2 miles per hour in charging time. No way is this acceptable, so if you are like most EV drivers, the first thing you'll want to do is upgrade to a 240V EVSE to significantly speed up the charging rate.

Charging with a 3.8kW EVSE is acceptable. The 120VAC (1.5kW) is only good for opportunity/convenience or emergency use. It also seems to be less efficient at 120VAC than 240VAC. If I charge my car with the 120VAC EVSE, the GOM shows 2 miles per kWh of charge. If I use my 7.2kW EVSE, I get 2.5 miles per kWh.

Thank you for the feedback, my primary concern is battery longevity so knowing that the full charge rate won't hurt it is very helpful. I had the battery back on my 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid fail (under warranty thankfully) and it would have been $4k just for the dinky battery pack on it. My Prius thankfully has never had that problem. I'm hoping that by the time the battery pack on the Rav4 EV fails or is too low the price will be dramatically lower but just in case I want to make sure I do everything I can to baby it. I found the information at http://www.plugincars.com/eight-tips-extend-battery-life-your-electric-car-107938.html to be very helpful as well. I'm a little nervous that they can't get scheduled charging working properly, there seem to be a lot of quirks with this car that the Leaf doesn't have. That being said, the deals on the Rav4 EV are ridiculous right now and you get a hell of a lot more car (quirks included at no extra cost) for very little extra money.

Inspite of a few "quirks" the RAV4 EV is still a good car - no, a GREAT car - especially now that the dealers are practically giving them away. It succeeds very well as an electrified SUV. In that regard, there is NOTHING BETTER!

Looks like are gonna get a 40amp circuit ran to the garage and get one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B4KR18Y/ref=gno_cart_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3MCJRJSWQ4NUB

Thats a pretty good price and its NOT hardwired, uses the plug, which is what we want.

Anyone have this particular charger? It has a great rating on amazon and it will ship via prime... 2day for free

Spiffster said:

Looks like are gonna get a 40amp circuit ran to the garage and get one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B4KR18Y/ref=gno_cart_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3MCJRJSWQ4NUB

Thats a pretty good price and its NOT hardwired, uses the plug, which is what we want.

Anyone have this particular charger? It has a great rating on amazon and it will ship via prime... 2day for free

Click to expand...

There have been LOTS of problems with GE units blowing the Nissan LEAF's onboard charger. I wouldn't buy one.

I actually changed my mind and got the Siemens VersiCharge unit. I figured these things are practically empty boxes with a simple circuit board and some wires thrown in. To me 850 is an insane price for how simple these chargers are. Anyway, this is the only unit I found that actually has some usable and handy features, plus the 3 year warranty is nice.