Building outside charging station for home

there are some pics from the past year or so if you do some searching, all the best!

 

I would recommend two options. Depends on your parking configuration. How far do you plan to park from the entrance to your garage when charging? Easiest would be to use a existing interior garage outlet if the factory EVSE (charge cable) will reach. If not, a proper gauge extension cord might work. Best scenario, again depending on parking location outside, run a exterior 110v, preferred 240v, exterior garage wall electrical outlet. I would avoid running underground exterior wiring if other options would work. I ran a 240v line to a exterior electrical outlet at work, and installed my Level 2 charger at home, later moving to a ideal garage location. If not capable doing it yourself, hire a electrician.

 

I have an external Leviton L2 and a separate 240V plug on the corner of the house just to charge either of our plug-ins, as that location covers our whole driveway. The Leviton L2 is on a separate electric meter. I'll get around to posting pics this weekend.

 

Have her park outside use the excuse you have to plug in. See if that works. Buy her a new umbrella for when it rains.

 

I posted pics of my installation in this thread:
AV/Nissan EVSE install pictures | PriusChat

BTW, which 4-door Mini is she getting? The Countryman or the Paceman? My wife has a 2011 Countryman (non-turbo) that she loves, but is now contemplating a new model because they made a few cockpit changes that corrects some annoyances that she has (sun visors, side-window switches, door-lock switches) with the car. I told her she's crazy, but it's her car...

 

Did you ever get around to posting the pics of your outside install? Which brand of charging station did you use for the 240V? You're from northern Virginia, how has the outdoor charging station worked out during this year's (Dec 2013-March 2014) very cold, very snowy winter? I'm considering doing the same thing, but since I live in northeast Ohio I have concerns about snow, sleet, ice, and rain falling on the charging station as well as the car while it is plugged in and charging. I welcome any advice.

 

If you're using mains power I'd just buy an IP66 lockable box, put a GPO and switch in it, and leave enough room for a coiled cord and a can of contact cleaner. You could mount this box any where.

 

I never posted any pix but thanks for the reminder - I will take some tomorrow in daylight.

Despite the record cold and snow this Winter, the 16-amp Leviton works just fine since installation back in April 2012. It's a well-designed powder-coated white metal box with good seals. Rain, snow, wind - nothing seems to affect it. I ran a metal conduit and 6-gage copper wire (in case I ever upgrade the charging box for a future larger battery plug-in car) from the circuit breaker panel in the basement to the Leviton box. The Leviton plug and the car's power receptacle are well-designed to drain water and I never had any problems yet.

I mounted the Leviton box on the corner of the house so that its cord reaches anywhere on the driveway, which matters when my son with his Ford Fusion Energi comes for a visit - both cars can be plugged in in turn without switching places.

One other mod helped a whole bunch all Winter long: the optional Toyota Engine Block Heater, which is powered by a 120V plug next to the Leviton. It's covered in another thread here, and it really helped to rapidly warm the cabin and clear the inside of the windshield on the many mornings after the car had been freezing all night on the driveway this Winter. A good yellow 12-gage extension cord and plugging the EBH in as soon as I woke up and got the morning paper off the driveway did the trick every time.

 

I installed a Lawn Light Post with outlet next to where I park my PIP.
I added an Outlet cover to protect it from the weather.
Works great. I hang the cable on the horizontal post rod to reduce any strain on the plug.
Notice also that I replaced the straight plug with a right-angle plug which reduces the possibility to unplug itself.