Have you researched the best option for installing chargers at your office?

Yes, I lucked into a deal on the cost of the EVSE. However, the Leviton unit was a lower end 16A unit and the one I got from cwerdna is a 32A unit. If I had wanted a 32A capable unit from Leviton, the price for the unit alone is $1395, not including installation. I believe that they quoted me somewhere around $1800, not including permits, if I had wanted to go with a 32A unit. I still think that Leviton and their contractors are overcharging for an inferior product. GE, Schneider Electric, & Legrand all are selling 30A units via Lowes & Home Depot for $999 or less. The 16A unit from Leviton? $999.

 

Certainly the Leviton unit you were comparing with the one you bought handles less current, but I think "inferior" is too strong of a word as it implies issues with quality. Anyhow, the prices you quote from Home Depot don't include installation, while the Leviton 16A unit $999 price includes standard installation (but not permit fees or taxes) or ~$1079 with the $80 pre-wire kit. The 32A unit should be $1499 (pre-wire kit and standard installation, no permit fees or taxes) from Charging Solutions for the RAV4 EV | Leviton Information Exchange. I think the price advantage is smaller or even non-existent installation is taken into account for an apples to apples comparison.

 

About a year ago, disney installed about a half dozen 120v recepticles. Realistically, that's all you need. And what company doesn't want to do it on the cheep.

 

If you opted for 240V/30A outlets, then you would get sixteen 120V/15A outlets and ONE 240V/30A outlet. A 30A service would require larger wires than the 15A services. If you standardized on the 15A outlets (120V and 240V) you can easily reconfigure between 240V and 120V service using the same wiring and just reconfiguring at the breaker panel.

A 120V outlet requires 3 conductors, HOT, NEUTRAL, and GROUND.
A 240V outlet requires 3 conductors, HOT, HOT, and GROUND.

A 15A service provides about 4 miles of EV range per hour at 120V charging and 8 miles at 240V.

I would go for quantity of outlets, with a couple of "premium" spaces for early birds or EV carpools.

I wonder what the threshold is that would require one of the EV spaces to be designated for Handicap use?

 

When they state "starting at $XXX", what they really mean is you get that low rate only if the installation is very very very simple. Basically you have to already have an outlet right near your panel that they can easily re-wire, hang the unit on the wall and plug it in. Anything beyond that bumps the price up by at least $280. I was told I had to pay $1279 plus permits, fees & taxes. The reason? The location I wanted was 24 feet from my panel. If it had been less than 20, I might have qualified for the $999 price. I can't see how Leviton is making much money if they're selling the 16A unit with installation for the same price as Lowes & Home Depot are without installation.

Maybe inferior isn't the right word. Less capable is probably a better way of describing it. I get half the capacity for the same price. Not a good deal in my opinion. Especially if I'm looking to future proof my house for future EV purchases.

 

No, you don't have to have an outlet right near your panel to rewire. One of the options I was quoted was for standard installation. They will add a circuit up to 20 feet so long as your panel does not need to be upgraded to support it. When I first got my custom installation quote, I was surprised at the high cost as well, but once it was broken down, it made sense. $280 for 4 more feet does seem like a lot, but was that the only difference?

Which is why I looked up the price of the 30A (couldn't find the 32A unit I got) for comparison. Anyhow, my point is that comparing a EVSE w/o installation price (various units from Home Depot) vs a EVSE w/ installation price vs an EVSE that was won w/ installation isn't a fair comparison to determine if its a good deal. And that the installation details are important as well.

 

I built an openEVSE for about $300 and plugged it into an existing dryer outlet. I also built a Quick220 for about $20 as an accessory so that my kids can plug the openEVSE into a couple of 120V outlets at their friend's residence. That said, most of the charging takes place at the public charging stations around town. AE offers a $25 subscription that provides unlimited charging for 6 months, from 100% renewable energy sources.

 

I was told a basic install, if they don't have to do much, was $999. A standard install, which is what I would end up with, would be $1279. And yes, it was a lousy 4 feet that pushed me into the standard install. The way that my electrician ended up doing it, probably would've qualified for their basic install, but we didn't know that it could be done that way at the time. There was room in my panel since we were just taking the old dryer circuit (and breaker) and reusing it for the EVSE, so no upgrade to the panel was necessary.

My main problem with Leviton was their electrical contractor who tried to stiff me for extra money. My electrician charged me a total of $200 for the permit. $140 of that was the fee, and the other $60 was his time to go pull the permit, and the time to wait around for the inspector to show up for final sign off. That's reasonable to me. Had I pulled the permit myself, I might've saved $20 or $30. But for Leviton's contractor to want to charge an extra $435 was ridiculous.

To Leviton's credit, they tried to work with me to figure out what was going on with the contractor and the huge difference in permit fees, and when it was clear that we were at impasse, they were willing to refund the non refundable $100 deposit to me. They listened to my concerns and tried to work with me.

Lest you think this is just an isolated problem with Leviton and their installers, check out the Nissan Leaf & Chevy Volt boards. You'll see all sorts of similar stories from Aerovironment, etc.

I think it's possible to read between the lines to figure out a somewhat fair comparison between the 3 scenarios here. I still feel that I got a better deal installation-wise by using my electrician instead of using their contractor.

 

Sounds like you had a much better contractor than I did. Perhaps some of the feedback I provided to Leviton trickled down.

 

I'm in the know, because that's where I've been receiving a pay check for over a quarter century. You've heard no info because the charge stalls are for employees only. Customers have already started to complain about no charging. There ARE several outlets in the 20 acre / 6 story customer lot, but they're not advertised, and getting permission to use them is real hit & miss. Not only are our charge stalls for "employees only" ... but the employee multi-story parking structure that our charge stalls are located in requires coded access that not all employees qualify for (popcorn sellers, ride operators, dish washers, janitors, store clearks, etc can't get in). It's all about the hierarchy, apparently. Here's a shot I posted in the EV forum of PC ... for those who never venture out of the PiP threads :

Company Plug-In Parking Maxed Out | PriusChat

In case you're curious about the little green signage over our parking stalls, here's a close up. We used to have WAY cooler looking signs, but someone decided the mono green looked better:



We now have 3 PiP's at work. Fortunately the 3 PiPs, 3 Leafs, and 2 Volts don't ever show up all looking for juice on the same days.
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I'm on the opposite end of the question, and am trying to compel my employer to put in just a few 110v outlets in dedicated parking spots, and have even offered to pay for the fractional cost of a single spot installation myself, along with prepaying 5 years worth of electricity usage (between us, that would only be about $55 at my current usage pattern of one drive to work per week). No luck so far, but perhaps my reasoning attempting to demonstrate the low cost impact could aid your decision...

Your company is providing the benefit at what could and should be neglible cost. Regardless of whether you are charging a PiP, a Volt, a Leaf, or a Tesla, a 110v outlet supplying 12 amps gives all EV owners roughly 4 miles of range per hour at an average cost (around here, anyway) of roughly 7 cents per hour per outlet. That should thrill all PiP and Volt owners, since they can completely charge up in an 8 hour workday, and any Leaf or Tesla owner that complains should be reminded that they get 32 miles or so of free fuel, and the added cost for infrastructure to give them more than that is not only cost prohibitive (orders of magnitude more expensive than simple 110v outlets) for the initial capital expediture, but a bit unfair to other EV owners who reap the benefit of charging only 4 miles of EV range per hour.

Okay, so the boss gets his own dedicated charger for his own dedicated parking spot. But hey, it's good to be king.

 

If you want to implement a simple access control method, have the electrician install NEMA L5-15 outlets and then issue L5-15 to 5-15 plug adaptors to employees that agree to the terms of use and safety procedures for the outlets.

Here is a link to a plug adaptor.

NEMA Locking 15 Amp Adapters


Having the unusual outlet will discourage unauthorized users from randomly using the outlets for appliances like margarita machines and inflatable jump castles on the weekends.

 

Those pictures are of the parking structure right next to the 5 freeway in Anaheim. They hired outside electrical contractors to do the 120v plug install. Each of the five 120v boxes has four receptacles. They should be on 20 amp breakers. But even if they were installed on 20 amp breakers - there should be no more than 1 vehicle per junction box. The circuits have blown on at least a couple of occasions that I know of. The nature of hiring contractors is the job usually goes to the lowest bidder. But who's complaining. Not me. I'm just glad 1 of the VP's ( who got 1 of the very first volts ... Disney has real real close ties with GM) had enough pull to get the electrical plug/install/reserved charge stall sinage work done.

The only advice I can think of relates to verious States Disabilities Acts. There may come a day when charger stalls are required to be up close for the handicapped. Our charge stalls at work are out in the boonies. That may come back to bite em in the rear someday. I hope not - but they didn't ask my opinion.