So my company CEO agreed to add charging stations. I need help!

[Rule_of_72]

So I had a turn of good luck today. I took delivery of my first Model S a few weeks ago and never thought to ask my company about the possibility of adding charging capability Work. I thought they would shoot me down! Anyway, I was in a meeting today in which the CEO was a participant. He caught wind I bought a Tesla and he told me it would be his next car. He then asked if we had charging options at work, to which I said no. He said, "we should work on that". He then gave me permission to ask the VP of operations to look into it. This is where I need the forums help. I have no idea where to direct the operations VP. Is there somewhere I can send him to assess the various charging options and cost this out? Any companies people can recommend that install charges at companies looking to do this sort of thing?

Any help here would be of tremendous value. Thanks!

 

[davewill]

Might help if people knew where you were ("Here, Not there" is unhelpful). I can always recommend ClipperCreek with enthusiasm, but they only supply equipment. I will put in a word for NOT installing a Model S only solution. Other folks might like to be able to charge, too...and probably have a greater need to.

 

[Cosmacelf]

Please give us info on the company. Big parking lots, multi story building? Ie. what's the employee population it would serve?

 

[Saghost]

Not sure what country you're in. Here in the US, it seems like the solution that's most useful for the largest number of people is the simple, low tech one - a whole bunch of standard 120 V outlets on separate circuits. The drivers then plug in with the portable EVSE that came with the car (in Tesla's case, the UMC.)

You can put a couple dozen in for the price of one or two dedicated charging stations, and that way there's less arguing over who gets to use it or moving cars during the day. Obviously, it limits the amount of energy a given car can gain from a day to something on the order of 12 kWh (depending on just how long your work days are...) - but it'll easily cover most people's commutes.

Not quite as dramatic as a brand new polished Clipper Creek out front, but more practical for less money.
Walter

 

[kuttakamina]

This is a good video.
EV Buyers Guide - All About Charging - YouTube

From my limited knowledge, (and this is based on US)

A Tesla only charger works with only Teslas.
Tesla can however work with most other EV charging solutions.
However, the other charging solutions do not charge Tesla as fast as Tesla only solutions will, except chademo.
And chademo is still very limited in it's applicability and you need to carry a huge adapter to charge a tesla with chademo.

Speeds/options,

1. 110V - Most portable/convenient/available, charges Tesla at 3-4mph (miles per hour). Okay for the likes of Volt (10-12 hours). Even though its impractically slow for Tesla, in an 8 hour day, you still get 20-25 miles of charge. Tesla charging at destination isn't so important in commute situations. The other EVs need it more. The biggest advantage of 110V is, you can have many of these for cheap.
2. 240V NEMA 14-50 plug - Works only with Teslas, people will have to leave their UMC out there (not ideal). Can charge Teslas at 40A ~ 28mph.
3. 240V HPWC - can charge at 40A ~ 28 mph. Tesla only.
4. 240V HPWC with more work for electrician - can charge at 80A ~ 58mph. Tesla only.
5. J1722 charger - most portable/compatible, will charge Tesla at 17mph, but will also work with numerous other EVs.
6. Chademo - charge Tesla at 60mph, less portable than J1722

Finally, to keep costs low, you could just approach chargepoint and tesla and have chargers installed.
Chargepoint installation will be billed to whoever charges.
And Tesla will have the equivalent of destination charging (option #3 and #4 above)
And who knows, maybe your CEO is willing to have a solar + EV charging setup, its clean and the tax breaks are good (for now).

Probably the easiest option is to just go for a chargepoint or blink installation with J1722, its the most compatible/portable between all models, and probably going to not break the bank. The cheapest is option #1 above, followed by option #2.

 

[ChadS]

Installing charging is complicated. Many of the decisions, including what equipment to buy, where to install it, and whether/how much to charge depend on the goals of the site host. And even once it's installed, there are still issues with signage, lighting, contention, maintenance, etc.

So there is no single "answer"; doing it right is a process. Plug In America has created a guide book to walk site hosts through the whole process, starting with what they are trying to do with the charging. (Is it an employee perk? Communicating a green message to customers? Business enhancing? Direct money-making venture? Etc). The guide is HERE.

There are several EVSE guides available, but most of them are marketing tools for companies that sell EVSEs. AFAIK this is the only comprehensive one that takes all of the site host's interests to heart.

 

[Half Dollar Bill]

I agree that more information about the company and location would be most helpful. And I further agree that universal charging solutions are generally the most helpful.

So so pardon me for going way out of the box but in this specific case you have THE CEO saying that he plans to get a car. And you're going to be the one responsible for coming up with a solution where he plugs into a 110 outlet? That's my definition of career suicide. I have to look for the thread but my understanding of the destination charging program right now is that Tesla donates the equipment and directly pays for the labor once you have the vendor and scope identified. I'd at least line up two of those puppies, throw in a J1772 solution and maybe a couple 110's for kicks.

Having buy-in from the top echelon is going to make this a breeze to pull off. Great job and good luck!

 

[Rule_of_72]

Good questions. Dallas, Tx. Company with about 650 people. We have a leaf owner in the building as well so a charger that can accommodate different types of EVs is needed.

Again, operations will have no clue where to start their research. Any companies that people can suggest that sell charge stations might be a good start. Any websites that discuss the topic wouldn't hurt either. Thanks for the quick responses!

 

[Saghost]

Good questions. Dallas, Tx. Company with about 650 people. We have a leaf owner in the building as well so a charger that can accommodate different types of EVs is needed.

Again, operations will have no clue where to start their research. Any companies that people can suggest that sell charge stations might be a good start. Any websites that discuss the topic wouldn't hurt either. Thanks for the quick responses!

As I think someone mentioned up above, Clipper Creek is pretty much the gold standard for J1772 (=universal) EVSEs that don't need to record sessions and authorize by individual accounts. Generally well priced for what they are.

If you do want to track users and sessions, Chargepoint and Blink are places to look.

 

[gimmi80]

I would suggest that you install 2 HPWC (80 Amp) next to each other in the parking lot, those will be for you and the CEO. Parking next to the CEO is your next step to become VP...
You can also have them instal a few standard ESVE for Leaf, Volt and other EV owner.

 

[kuttakamina]

I would suggest that you install 2 HPWC (80 Amp) next to each other in the parking lot, those will be for you and the CEO. Parking next to the CEO is your next step to become VP...
You can also have them instal a few standard ESVE for Leaf, Volt and other EV owner.

Very smart. The leaf charger is just because the CEO and VP care for their employees of course, no other reason!

 

[Khatsalano]

I think you can contact ChargePoint directly and have them work with your company to install commercial stations. Theese stations are able to log sessions, restrict access to employees only, and even charge money if desired.

My company has deployed both Clipper Creek (CC) and ChargePoint stations en masse. We use the CC's for our fleet vehicles (we have a lot of plugins and BEVs). We use ChargePoint for employees' personal vehicles at various office locations so we can restrict access and also charge an appropriate cost for serving electricity.

Commercial - ChargePoint

Also, if your company is mid-sized in one location only with lots of parking space, a low-cost solution is to deploy wall outlets. That's right, 120V NEMA 5-20 outlets!

This gives 1.8kW of charging power and in a Model S, an 9-hour session will give you 36 miles of charge. Slightly more in a Leaf. This is actually widely deployed at the Tesla Fremont factory for employees ... maybe like 25 of them. When my friend drove his i3 to drop me off for my delivery, he picked up 10 miles of charge in 2 hours during our factory tour/delivery experience!

To deploy this NEMA 5-20 solution, all you have to do is call your location electricion--no special equipment needed. The advantage is low-cost and simplicity, with downsides being lack of session/user control and per-use billing.

- K

 

[TexasEV]

d

I think you can contact ChargePoint directly and have them work with your company to install commercial stations. Theese stations are able to log sessions, restrict access to employees only, and even charge money if desired.

My company has deployed both Clipper Creek (CC) and ChargePoint stations en masse. We use the CC's for our fleet vehicles (we have a lot of plugins and BEVs). We use ChargePoint for employees' personal vehicles at various office locations so we can restrict access and also charge an appropriate cost for serving electricity.

Commercial - ChargePoint

- K

The cost difference between networked Chargepoints and the "dumb" but bulletproof Clipper Creeks is so great that you're better off with Clipper Creeks and forget about keeping track of anything.

 

[Cottonwood]

I agree! ChargePoint fees are high...

For a company benefit, the ClipperCreek solution is the best. I think the sweet spot in cost effectiveness and speed of charge is the ClipperCreek HCS-60 at $899. It can be connected with #6 wire and 60 Amp breakers, which is pretty straight forward stuff, and will provide up to 48 Amp charging, depending on what the car can take.

As to control of non-employees, a simple sign that states something like, "For use of XYZZY, Corp employees and guests only. Please register with receptionist. Violators will be towed." should get the message across.

Good Luck!

 

[Cosmacelf]

I agree with the folks that are suggesting installing two Tesla HPWCs (which you should be able to get for free from Tesla), along with some Clipper Creek J1772 chargers and 120V outlets (NEMA 5-20).

Contact Tesla about their "destination charging" program and see what they say about getting a couple for free.

First thing you have to do is figure out where the parking spots will be, and how many. You'll need to work with the facilities guy to find where the closest electrical panel is. And to figure out how many spots you want to dedicate to EV charging.

You also need to verify with the CEO whether or not he is willing for employees to use these spots for free. Collecting money for charging is a pain, and expensive in its own right. Giving free charging won't cost that much money, but may cause people to start fighting to use the spots. In other buildings, employees work out an online reservation system.

Each HPWC will need a 100 amp breaker (240/208V). And some way of mounting it. J1772 chargers will typically need a 40 amp breaker.

A good J1772 to use is this one from Clipper Creek: ClipperCreek | EV Charging Stations | EVSE | Electric Vehicle Charging - it comes with a pedestal.

 

[ggr]

I second the Clipper Creek recommendation, with J1772 connectors. Put in at least 4 (based on what you said above). Have a plan for how to expand the charging spaces. Then, when a few more cars show up and the boss starts getting locked out, he should be firmly on board with expanding the facilities. Also, since the chargers are faster, be pro-active with an internal web site or mailing list or whatever so that people can move their cars around. This all achieves the goal of further EV adoption, much moreso than the otherwise more sensible idea of putting in lots of standard outlets. Non-EV drivers are not swayed by NEMA 5-20. Also remember that the 5-20s need to be on separate circuits! So putting in lots of them still requires lots of work at the breaker panel, and lots of little wires. I don't think it's much better than a few decent chargers.

At my old work, the garages had a few 5-20 outlets, but they weren't all on separate circuits. Whenever some new owner discovered an unused outlet they'd plug in and promptly blow the breaker not only for themselves but for the poor guy in the dedicated charging spot two floors down! This, despite a note on the outlet saying "don't plug in an EV here!"

 

[Cosmacelf]

To deploy this NEMA 5-20 solution, all you have to do is call your location electricion--no special equipment needed. The advantage is low-cost and simplicity, with downsides being lack of session/user control and per-use billing.

- K

And the nice thing about these outlets is that the electricity cost is minimal. At $0.10/kWh (which is probably on the high side for Texas commercial rates), we're talking about $1.50 per day in electrical costs.

 

[dsm363]

I agree about ClipperCreek. Check out their LCS-25.
ClipperCreek | EV Charging Stations | EVSE | Electric Vehicle Charging

$469 each and charge at 20A. Not very quick but at 208-240V it's fast enough to get you a good charge over 8 hours.

 

[mackgoo]

Your boss is getting a Tesla, you have a Tesla. Start by just wiring a couple of 14-50"s for you and he. Don't do any option that would cost you that's foolish.

 

[TexasEV]

Why do you need to charge Teslas at work? Workplace charging is mostly needed for short-range EVs like a Leaf or i3. For those cars it's not worth spending more on a J1772 that's greater than 30A because that is all those cars can handle. For the unusual time a Tesla may need to charge at work, 8 hours of 30A would give 144 miles. I don't see the point of installing higher amp charging in locations where cars would be parked for a full day unless it's a tourist destination that people may take a day trip to, where they may arrive with less than half a charge and need to get back home. Then go for the 80A charging stations.

I really doubt Tesla would give HPWCs for destination charging program to a workplace installation as someone suggested. There are none that I have seen on the list. Destination charging is to attract Tesla owners to patronize the business. It's not for employee parking.