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Thread: Electric Cars and Charging at Home

  1. #1
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    Default Electric Cars and Charging at Home

    I've been studying electric cars for a year and a half now, and finally bought one, it's a new adventure. Mine is an Audi, and they partner with Amazon right off their website to come install the 220-50 receptible in your home (pretty much same thing your dryer uses). I was stunned when I saw the charge that Audi/Amazon does to come out and do this. Here's the price for my house $ 4,412.00 !

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    Wow. There's a lot of fingers in that pie. Ridiculous. I'm comfortable working with electricity and know how to work to code (self-taught) and decided to install my own outlet to the garage, over the objections of my wife who is concerned I would wind up on the basement floor as a smoking corpse! Naww.....I'm careful. Took me four hours and $ 293.00 worth of parts, most of which was 58 feet of 6-3 NB wiring. My install is perfect, and the charger works great. Now I realize many people are not comfortable working in an electrical panel, but there are so many YouTube videos these days you can get up to speed pretty shortly. The point is, don't be so quick to click on Amazon. That price is ridiculous and I would imagine a local electrician would be half the price, or even less. Amazon is not the end all to be all. Be smart and shop wisely.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
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    Default Re: Electric Cars and Charging at Home

    Wow, that is ridiculous! A few years ago I had my electric service to the entire house upgraded with an additional box in the basement, 2 new boxes in the garage, and a generator switch installed and it cost me about 2500.00.

    I had a much smaller but similar experience when I went to Toyota and they said I should get a new drive belt, it was time. They quoted me 250.00. My nephew, a mechanic, said "No way, get it to me". I picked up a new belt for 20.00 at the parts department of the same dealership for 20.00. My nephew installed it literally in 15 minutes, including stopped twice to chat. I gave him 50.00 for his time. The dealer told me they charge 110.00/hr for labor. If it takes them and hour and a half to install that, they need some better mechanics. Just had to shake my head. Its nice having someone you can trust who really knows what is involved in a job. That means they were really going to charge me about 1000.00 an hour for that repair.

    Figuring in the time it took you to do it, even without figuring in that an electrician may or may not have been able to get done a little faster, what do you think the labor charge to you would have worked out to be, lol? I bet it would be even more than 1000.00/hr.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Electric Cars and Charging at Home

    Yes, and I don't make $ 1,000 an hour in the furniture business, that's for sure. I work on all my own vehicles as well (when they are out of warranty) and have saved quite a bit over the years. Like I tell my wife, "I can put a transmission in a car but I can't build a flat panel TV" so I do what I can and that frees up cash for the things I can't do.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  4. #4
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    Columbus, OH
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    Default Re: Electric Cars and Charging at Home

    Congrats on the new car Duane, the Audi's are nice. I thought you were a BMW guy though! Typical electrician charge to run 220 for electric car charging is around $1,000 from what I have seen. That Amazon price is crazy.

    Car dealers charge 'book rate' which is the quoted labor time from the manufacturer warranty, so if a customer has that warranty problem that is the labor hours they get paid from the manufacturer, regardless of how long the repair takes. That is one reason it is usually a bad idea to get anything done at a dealer once you are past your warranty.

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Electric Cars and Charging at Home

    Thanks! Not may EV's to choose from in the marketplace yet, and I just can't warm up to Tesla, so Audi it was. I don't think I will probably ever buy another gas (ICE) engine car again, the electric is really tremendous.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Electric Cars and Charging at Home

    Congrats on the new car. How has it been running during the colder months?

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Electric Cars and Charging at Home

    I love it. It may be one of the best cars I have ever owned. Its super-quiet with insulated glass, super-smooth with air-ride suspension, and is quite powerful on the batteries. I only recharge about every third day as my daily drive is usually no more than 40 miles per day. I don't miss trips to the gas station and about $ 11.25 in electricity to drive 150 miles vs $ 26.25 in gasoline (20 mpg average) that was on my BMW X4 for the same miles. I tried a high-speed charger once at the Wal Mart nearby just to get the hang of on-the-road charging and it was done in 20 minutes, before I even got back to the car from the store.

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    My favorite feature has to be when its 20 degrees outside the store, I go to the Audi App and press a button five minutes before locking up and when I get to the car and get inside, its a toasty 73 degrees in there with the seat heater on. All without an engine having to start and run. Technology!

    With the aggressive discounts on the Audi E-Tron right now and the $ 7,500 Federal Tax Credit on them (there is none on Teslas now) its a real bargain.
    Last edited by drcollie; 02-06-2020 at 02:19 PM.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Electric Cars and Charging at Home

    Thanks for the mini review sounds like a nice ride. Do you still have the BMW x4 or did this replace it?

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Electric Cars and Charging at Home

    Sold my X4 to my buddy in order to get the E-Tron. Can't say I miss it !
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

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