Dedicated EV Charging Meter

[chargeup]

Let me begin by saying I don't own a Tesla but opted for a Volt. I would love to be able to afford a Tesla, but not now. I know, this a Tesla forum, but we all have the same charging issues.

I love my car but I was somewhat shocked to discover what it was going to cost me to charge this car where I live in Southern California. To gain 38 miles of driving I was looking at $4 for a fill up. To mitigate this expense I installed a dedicated Electric Vehicle meter yesterday and I am now enjoying .12 a kilowatt hour when charging from 9pm until noon. I was so intrigued by the entire process that I built out a web site dedicated to electric car charging.

Specifically, I have a section detailing the process to install the EV meter:

Start here: http://www.evelectricity.com/evmeters

Detailed installation experience: http://www.evelectricity.com/evmeters/install.php

 

[xray]

Thanks for the post. Figuring out how to recharge an electric vehicle economically in Southern California is not as easy as it may seem at first.

 

[Pantera Dude]

I'm in the same SCE boat. i signed up for the intermediate plan but I noticed that the summer time charge during peak hours is 55 cents per kwh! For people that use their AC alot, it looks like this plan may not pay off? I'm down here in Long Beach so my AC use should be less than yours in Santa Clarita. I don't understand why Edison won't let us splice a meter into an existing separate line for our cars? That would eliminate most of the installation cost and it seems like it would be a simple process to separtate how much electricity is going thru both meters?

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My electrician said he could do the second meter for $1200. I will probably add on to my garage which would mean having to do the electrical all over again which makes the investment now, impractical for me.

 

[chargeup]

I'm in the same SCE boat. i signed up for the intermediate plan but I noticed that the summer time charge during peak hours is 55 cents per kwh! For people that use their AC alot, it looks like this plan may not pay off? I'm down here in Long Beach so my AC use should be less than yours in Santa Clarita. I don't understand why Edison won't let us splice a meter into an existing separate line for our cars? That would eliminate most of the installation cost and it seems like it would be a simple process to separtate how much electricity is going thru both meters?

Some municipal owned utilities will let you splice to the existing meter which would be a lot less invasive. Edison and PG&E won't. Another option is to install solar on your home to offset your peak usage. Rather than buying energy at .55 kwh you could be getting it from your solar panels. In Long Beach this might not be a good proposition as overcast days will severely limit energy generation.

I am currently installing solar on my house and I have a sizable 7k system going on. Originally, I had planned for a 5k system, but I was able to get 7k for $5000 more. If I had done my homework better I would have probably passed on the 2nd meter as the larger solar system will give me enough power to keep me in Tier 1.

 

[Pantera Dude]

Some municipal owned utilities will let you splice to the existing meter which would be a lot less invasive. Edison and PG&E won't. Another option is to install solar on your home to offset your peak usage. Rather than buying energy at .55 kwh you could be getting it from your solar panels. In Long Beach this might not be a good proposition as overcast days will severely limit energy generation.

I am currently installing solar on my house and I have a sizable 7k system going on. Originally, I had planned for a 5k system, but I was able to get 7k for $5000 more. If I had done my homework better I would have probably passed on the 2nd meter as the larger solar system will give me enough power to keep me in Tier 1.

It seems rediculous for the utilities to make us jump through these expensive hoops when it should be a simple process for them to accomodate us. It is a disincentive for people to buy electric cars and help get the country off foreign oil. Perhaps it is just a way for them to make a few extra bucks?

I always thought my house was not well situated on my lot for solar, I may take another look at that.

Thanks