Aside from the higher price of an electric vehicle, there’s also the price of the home electric vehicle charging station which needs to be considered.
Depending on how much work the electrician needs to do to get your home up to speed for the extra load of an LII electric vehicle charger, this might get up over $3,000, up to half of which is the charger alone. The Tesla Model S wall-charger and onboard twin-chargers cost $2,700, and that’s before installation.
Various companies have been working to increase the efficiency and reduce the price of these devices, hopefully without sacrificing safety. Last year, for example, Bosch had the cheapest efficient LII electric vehicle charging station, just $450, bringing up to 30 amps of LII charging into the garage.
This year, ClipperCreek introduces a new cheaper LII electric vehicle charger, just $395, further freeing up funds for pure electric driving. The new ClipperCreek LCS-20 charger is capable of 15 A at 240 V, and includes pre-wired flexible conduit for easier installation in an existing junction box. The weatherproof enclosure is good for indoor or outdoor installation, and includes 22 ft of charging cable. It’s not quite as capable as the Bosch, but it’s $50 cheaper and comes with a three-year warranty, which should be attractive to homeowners looking to upgrade their garage for an electric vehicle.
Perhaps something else for electric vehicle drivers to consider when looking at installing an LII charger is the fact that it basically pays for itself. I was running some calculations on how much it costs to drive an electric vehicle compared to a conventional vehicle. If the Nissan Leaf costs 3.5 ¢/mi, a conventional vehicle 14.2 ¢/mi, and the average American drives 11,500 miles per year, that 10.7 ¢ difference translates to about $1,230 in fuel savings every year. Go ahead and splurge on the Bosch.
Image © ClipperCreek
up on clipper creek she sends me…