How much to buy and install a charging station?

Contact your local electric company to see if they have an electronics contractor that will evaluate and give you an estimate on costs. I contacted DTE in the Detroit area and they supplied a contractor which gave me a free estimate.

 

here's the link to DTE:

DTE Energy - An Overview

 

Depends on how far the panel is from the site where you wnat the 240 volt outlet installed in my case they gave me about $1900.00 which included the EVSE

 

yeah, true, but in my case, because my outlet would be on commercial property I'm not qualified , fortunately, the parking spot that I have at my apartment already has a 120 volt outlet.

 

Does it have lights?

 

To get the rebate you not only have to install the charger but also a separate meter. Running a new meter can be expensive as well.

 

Do you really need more than a 120 volt outlet with a PiP?

 

and the separate meter probably not included in the rebate

 

Not if there is not much on the circuit when the car is charging. I have mine plugged into a regular garage outlet. Works fine.

 

well the rebate is $2k. if you can do everything under that money – more power to you. but as you mentioned, the EVSE install alone will probably be that much, so the meter wouldn't get covered.
btw, an option is to just run a 240 V outlet+meter and do an OpenEVSE. then you could potentially fit into the 2k.

 

No idea, but you should be able to call 1-866-484-0433 to find out.
Also check out this PDF if you haven't already about the rebate program: http://www.nissanusa.com/ev/media/pdf/incentives/nissan-leaf-incentive-90.pdf

 

meters cost in the $25-$40 range but typically they are supplied by the utility company and you pay for them in the monthly utility bill or as part of a "connect fee". my local electrical coop has a monthly base charge of $19 for each account (meter). Your utility will be different.

watthour electric meter in Test Equipment | eBay

 

Don't let the prospect of a $2k rebate for a charging station divert you from the simplicity and lower cost of just installing a 110V outlet in the shared condo garage.

simply adding a 110V outlet can cost about $150-$250 and a locking cover can easily be added. install the outlet in the least expensive location, and least desirable parking spot, to avoid complaints from other condo owners.

Thomas Betts Weatherproof Locking Receptacle Cover WTG100 CVL | eBay

you can calculate how much your charging will cost of a monthly basis and write a check to your condo association to reimburse the electric expense rather than having it separately metered. If your condo's electric rate is $0.11/kWh, write them a $10 check each month.

 

If you buy a charger, go to the post office and get the "new resident" package thing they mail out to all new home owners. It has a Lowes 10% off card in it. You can then drop the priceof the GE Watt station to under 1,000$ after tax.

If you do not hard wire it then you should not need permitting on it. so that could save you permit fees. Depending how far your service panel is from the charger location you could probably get away without permitiong it also since it will probably be all external conduit since you said the walls are concrete. I believe if it's external mounted and less then XXX outlets it does not require permiting. If you are hard core "Mr. Permit" obviously check on that. I'm pretty anti bull shit permits so I wouldn't permit something like that.

 

OpenEVSE is not UL, so it does not qualify for the LADWP rebate.

LADWP supplies the meter for free, but it goes into a meter box which you must pay for and wire. The meter box must also be placed where it can be read by LADWP (probably where the existing meters are), which may be far from where you want the EVSE installed. There is also a charge of $8 a month to read each TOU meter/submeter.

You should call the LADWP EV hotline. There a lot of details and the easiest way to get them is from the EV hotline.