Wednesday, October 30, 2013

AeroVironment Residential EV Charger, 25' cable (Level 2 EVSE-RS: 7.2kW, 30A)

AeroVironment Residential EV Charger, 25' cableI would avoid AeroVironment's charging station. I have one and my charging station is 11 months old now; it fails about once a week, sometimes more often. By "fails" I mean vehicle charging stops and the trouble light illuminates. The charging station trouble light can only be reset manually by cutting off the circuit breaker to the unit (hopefully you've installed one near the charging station, otherwise you'll have to go to the panel box). This is annoying when this happens during overnight charging cycles and the vehicle doesn't get charged. Big unpleasant surprise in the morning. Despite repeated calls to AV and promises from them, nothing has been resolved to date.

I know others have had good luck...that hasn't been my experience. And, my charging station was professionally installed through the vehicle manufacturer's ordering website.

PROS:

same unit used by vehicle manufacturer dealerships, at least in Central Ohio

AV was recommended by vehicle manufacturer's ordering website as preferred supplier

CONS:

unreliable, in my experience, as I described above

expensive vs. alternatives

serial number (necessary for warranty work) is located on a label affixed to the bottom of the unit, and is printed in a font requiring a scanning electron microscope to read.

I've had this product installed in my garage for 14 months and have had no problem with it. It interfaces perfectly with the timer on my Leaf to insure that I charge during off-off-peak hours without fail. I'm confident every morning that I will be on my way with a full charge.

Buy AeroVironment Residential EV Charger, 25' cable (Level 2 EVSE-RS: 7.2kW, 30A) Now

This charger is well made of high quality component parts, but it's grossly overpriced. If the ultimate goal here is to have legions of EV's out there then critical accessories such as this charger (must have item for any EV owner) must cost much less than I had to pay here ($1,100 incl. shipping), and the unit must be professionally installed (could easily cost another grand). In my own case, I'm an electronics engineer, I installed this myself, and configured it so it is portable. Taking it with you is necessary, there are not enough stations out there yet. And as I say, it's too damn expensive, could really be had for much less (hello any capitalist business types out there especially green ones!). Ultimately, this is a very well made, quality and very EXPENSIVE product, delivered in good condition and in a timely fashion, by those good folks out there at AMAZON. A pleasure to spend my money there, as always. JEFF

Read Best Reviews of AeroVironment Residential EV Charger, 25' cable (Level 2 EVSE-RS: 7.2kW, 30A) Here

If you are trying to support the Tesla, don't buy this product!

You can save about $1000 buy getting the NEMA 14-50 dryer socket ($20) instead. (Made by many vendors.)

This is the same socket you find in RV-parks.

This product is a glorified extension cord. The Telsa cars come with their own cord.

If you do buy this product, be sure to make the electrician install it using the NEMA 14-50 plug and socket.

It is not clear to me why auto companies want to make it so difficult to plug in, and require a "charger".

Want AeroVironment Residential EV Charger, 25' cable (Level 2 EVSE-RS: 7.2kW, 30A) Discount?

My electrician was able to install this charger very easily. The cord is quite long so accommodates my driveway with tandem parking. I use it to charge my Chevy Volt. It was a lot cheaper than the cheap GE product that Chevy referred me to after getting my own installation. If you have a washer/dryer nearby then it will be easy to access the 240V. Very happy and it also is fully sealed in the rain. Highly recommended.

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