Ford's Leviton 240 volt charging station

[Taylorjd]

Can anyone tell me if there is an advantage to getting the Ford's Leviton 240 volt charging station over some other one? Seems like you pay a premium for the Ford name on it (even though I like having that). Does it have more features? Getting it installed is no problem for me. Is there another Charge Station that anyone would recommend and why? Thanks.

 

JD Taylor

Edited January 25, 2013 at 10:12 PM by Taylorjd

[meyersnole]

Where do you see the Ford station? Is this available at the dealer?

[murphy]

Every Ford dealer that has been certified to sell and service electric cars must have at least two charging stations installed.  My dealer has one on the wall of the building adjacent to the parking lot right outside the main entrance.

[Taylorjd]

As I understand it, If you want the Ford one, you call your car dealer and they will setup an appointment with a Best Buy Geek Squad. The Greek Squad comes out and takes measurements and photos (and they charge you for this) and sends that to Mr. Electric. Mr. Electric provides you an installation estimate and sets up an appointment to install it. I think Ford send the unit to Mr. Electric.

[Taylorjd]

I am looking to install my own and was wondering what would be the best Level 2 240V Charge Station. I was wondering if there was a technical advantage to the Ford one.

[meyersnole]

I did see the charger installed at the dealership. But when I asked them about it they pointed me at bestbuy or the leviton site.

 

I am very interested in what others are doing, but I was looking at this one...

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-EVB22-3PM-Evr-Green-Charging-Station/dp/B004G6ZSZG

 

and this kit... http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-EVK02-M-Evr-Green-Installation-Charging/dp/B004G6YGBI/ref=pd_bxgy_hi_img_y

 

My neighbor has 2 Volts in the garage and installed his own... but I probably will have an electrician come out and do it.

 

There is also a step up to http://www.amazon.com/Leviton-EVB32-5ML-Evr-Green-Kilowatt-Charging/dp/B007Q0YYV8/ref=pd_cp_hi_3 which has a longer cable and a 7.7Kw output vs the 3.8 above (faster, but harder on the battery? Usually slow charging is better right?) But given where my panel is this actually may work better for me (the 25 foot cord vs 18 foot cord).

 

I would be interested in hearing about what others plan to do. Given the Ford home charging station says it has a 18 foot cord I am guessing its the first one with a different cover.

[Mr. Fusion]

It looks like the first link you have is 120v and the 7.7Kw is a 240v???

 

Best Buy has some nice ones, including a 240v 7.2Kw for $799

 

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Car-Accessories/Electric-Car-Chargers/pcmcat265100050011.c?id=pcmcat265100050011

[meyersnole]

It looks like the first link you have is 120v and the 7.7Kw is a 240v???

 

Best Buy has some nice ones, including a 240v 7.2Kw for $799

 

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Car-Accessories/Electric-Car-Chargers/pcmcat265100050011.c?id=pcmcat265100050011

Both are 240v, one charges at 3.8Kw and the second at 7.7Kw. Both are L2 chargers. I think the first one is the same as the Ford charger.

 

Bestbuy has that same charger for almost a thousand dollars.

[shaggy314]

I would also like to suggest looking at amazon.com. It has the Leviton (same manufacturer as Ford's) for $750 & and an install kit for $80. Just need to arrange an electrician for the 240 line... It looks to be a few hundred cheaper than the Ford/Best Buy and you cut out two middlemen.

[FusionEnergi]

I have done plenty of research of several units and decided on the Leviton 32amp 7.7kilowatt version. I also liked the simplicity of the unit and the fact it can be safely and easily be removed by me if I so desire. It's made in the USA which is also a plus. I decided this unit would be the best option to help me future proof my garage. The 2013 Leaf now has a 6.6 onboard charger and I am just guessing, that Ford may follow the same technique in a year or two. I need the quicker charge due to our several short trips a day a 120 wouldn't cut it. Good luck, only you can decide which is best for your lifestyle. Just keep in mind the 2013 Energi only had a 3.3 Kilowatt onboard charger.

Edited January 31, 2013 at 10:16 PM by FusionEnergi

[Mr. Fusion]

The Focus Electric had the 6.6 KW charger on board right from the get go.

 

It was Nissan that finally caught up.

 

I wonder what the cost difference would have been to put a 6.6 on the Energi's?

[pluggedin]

As I understand it, If you want the Ford one, you call your car dealer and they will setup an appointment with a Best Buy Geek Squad. The Greek Squad comes out and takes measurements and photos (and they charge you for this) and sends that to Mr. Electric. Mr. Electric provides you an installation estimate and sets up an appointment to install it. I think Ford send the unit to Mr. Electric.

I wanted to take this idea for a test drive today because I can find no post anywhere, on any forum, that talks about having your Ford Dealer set up the installation of a charging unit for you, so I decided to start with my certified Ford dealer's parts department.

 

It all ended up being a big joke. The parts guy told me I needed to talk to my salesman and he would set the whole thing up for me. When I told him I knew more then my salesman he put me on hold. He apparently called the sale department because when he came back to me he said he was told a charger came with the car. Yes, I know, I said. How do I get it installed in my garage? He didn't know. So much for Ford.

 

So I thought maybe the Best Buy Geek Squad would know the process. And when I called one of our local stores they gave me an 800 number, and they gave me another local number and they transferred me to their automotive installation guy. He had no idea what I was talking about but was very helpful in that he took my call back information and promised to try to get to the bottom of things and call me back tomorrow (it was after 4 pm).

 

I really intend to buy my own unit and have it installed but I just wanted to see if I could find anyone at two Ford dealerships that were ready to help their new Energi owners get started. If the guy from the Geek Squad calls back I'll let you know what he says.

Edited February 12, 2013 at 12:52 PM by pluggedin

[meyersnole]

The event is already over, but you might want to contact the even organizer in your area. The focus here was city infrastructure, but the people probably have some clue about home charging as well. Let us know what you find out!

 

http://tucsonplugsin.blogspot.com/

[pluggedin]

By the way, I have also emailed and called EVSE ( http://evsellc.com/garage-overhead-ev-charger.shtml) about the cost and distribution of their overhead L2 charger. So far they have ignored me.

 

I believe EVSE was involved in the 2012 Tucson Plugs In event as well.

[yojroz]

Have you been to this site?  http://www.ford.com/technology/electric/evready/  I find it funny that the first sentence says that the best place to start is at your knowledgable Ford dealer and yet your dealer doesn't have a clue.  But I will say that the Ford dealership I've gone to had one Leviton charger set up and showed it to me and had the pricing and the phone number to get in touch with Geek Squad to get the initial home check going.  I don't have the number but it isn't the main Geek Squad number...it's a specific number to their car charging center.

[yojroz]

By the way, I have also emailed and called EVSE ( http://evsellc.com/garage-overhead-ev-charger.shtml) about the cost and distribution of their overhead L2 charger. So far they have ignored me.

 

I believe EVSE was involved in the 2012 Tucson Plugs In event as well.

Wow I like that overhead one.  Please let us know if you do get any info from them about it.

[pluggedin]

Have you been to this site?  http://www.ford.com/technology/electric/evready/  I find it funny that the first sentence says that the best place to start is at your knowledgable Ford dealer and yet your dealer doesn't have a clue.  But I will say that the Ford dealership I've gone to had one Leviton charger set up and showed it to me and had the pricing and the phone number to get in touch with Geek Squad to get the initial home check going.  I don't have the number but it isn't the main Geek Squad number...it's a specific number to their car charging center.

 

 

Wow I like that overhead one.  Please let us know if you do get any info from them about it.

Yes, I have seen what Ford has to offer in advice on Ford.com but it takes you to the Focus on their site and not directly to EV Certified Dealers in your area. Although I figured out how to do that after about the 8th time to the site.

 

There was one more dealer in Tucson I had not yet called, who is certified, so made the call to their Parts Dept and they eventually advised me to call Best Buy as well.

 

What I decided to do is let my salesman figure all of this out so I called him and told him I wanted to get my garage ready for my car so I needed him to tell me how to buy and install a 240 volt L2 charger through Best Buy. He needs to learn the process anyway so I'll let him do the leg work. In the meantime I will buy one and have it installed myself.

 

Assuming he figures it all out and calls me back, I'll post what he come up with.

 

As for the overhead charger made by EVSE, I was surfing the web a month, or so, back and came across a price of $4,000 for the unit. That is way out of line for the unit and that is why I was trying to contact them directly, in hopes they could do better then that. Still no word from them though.

Edited February 13, 2013 at 01:31 AM by pluggedin

[yojroz]

Yes, I have seen what Ford has to offer in advice on Ford.com but it takes you to the Focus on their site and not directly to EV Certified Dealers in your area. Although I figured out how to do that after about the 8th time to the site.

 

There was one more dealer in Tucson I had not yet called, who is certified, so made the call to their Parts Dept and they eventually advised me to call Best Buy as well.

 

What I decided to do is let my salesman figure all of this out so I called him and told him I wanted to get my garage ready for my car so I needed him to tell me how to buy and install a 240 volt L2 charger through Best Buy. He needs to learn the process anyway so I'll let him do the leg work. In the meantime I will buy one and have it installed myself.

 

Assuming he figures it all out and calls me back, I'll post what he come up with.

 

As for the overhead charger made by EVSE, I was surfing the web a month, or so, back and came across a price of $4,000 for the unit. That is way out of line for the unit and that is why I was trying contact them directly, in hopes they could do better then that. Still no word from them though.

$4000 is way too much for the unit...seeing as I think $1500 for the Leviton Ford one is too much.  I also noticed that when you click "find an EV certified Ford dealer in your area" it just takes you to the Focus site, but you said you found out how to work it?  Could you let me know how?  I've been trying to find out what other dealers around me are EV certified but haven't found a way to know.

[pluggedin]

$4000 is way too much for the unit...seeing as I think $1500 for the Leviton Ford one is too much.  I also noticed that when you click "find an EV certified Ford dealer in your area" it just takes you to the Focus site, but you said you found out how to work it?  Could you let me know how?  I've been trying to find out what other dealers around me are EV certified but haven't found a way to know.

Go to Ford.com and select either a Focus or Fusion Energi; click Search Dealer Inventory; enter your zip code and click Search Dealer Inventory again; in the upper right corner of your screen, look for and click on Change Dealer; under Dealer closest to: your zip, there is a box that says Electric Certified Dealer only...check that box and it will show those dealers only.

 

Hope that helps.

[meyersnole]

Wow I like that overhead one.  Please let us know if you do get any info from them about it.

 

I also really like that. Used the site to send a request to them to find out more information and also ignored. Can not really find any information on that charger, makes me wonder if that is a failed start up or something.

[pluggedin]

I also really like that. Used the site to send a request to them to find out more information and also ignored. Can not really find any information on that charger, makes me wonder if that is a failed start up or something.

Yes, it could be a failed start up but I think its more that they are interested in the commercial market rather than trying to sell to the residential market...just guessing.

 

I know that EVSE has public charging stations installed in Tucson so I suspect they do elsewhere as well.

[shaggy314]

Have you been to this site? http://www.ford.com/technology/electric/evready/ I find it funny that the first sentence says that the best place to start is at your knowledgable Ford dealer and yet your dealer doesn't have a clue. But I will say that the Ford dealership I've gone to had one Leviton charger set up and showed it to me and had the pricing and the phone number to get in touch with Geek Squad to get the initial home check going. I don't have the number but it isn't the main Geek Squad number...it's a specific number to their car charging center.

Aw see you skipped a word... "the best place to start is at your knowledgeable Ford dealer..." still true. They just didn't say how hard it was to find one. /snap

Edited February 15, 2013 at 08:10 PM by shaggy314

[yojroz]

Aw see you skipped a word... "the best place to start is at you knowledgeable Ford dealer..." still true. They just didn't sy how hard it was to find one.   /snap

Haha.  True.  What's sad is how often I think one knows something because they give me an answer, only to get a completely different answer from another.  "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with B.S."

[Brad Schuck]

It's not Ford's charger. Leviton makes a home unit which will either plug in to an existing 240V 40A outlet or can be wired into the circuit. The Leviton EVB40-5PT is the hardwired unit and the EVB40-SPT has a 220V plug. You can purchase them online for $1099.00 from Home Depot and set them up yourself if you have the ability. California will rebate 30% of the cost back to residents

This is a true Level 2 Charger and charges the Energi in 2.5 hours.

[pluggedin]

It's not Ford's charger. Leviton makes a home unit which will either plug in to an existing 240V 40A outlet or can be wired into the circuit. The Leviton EVB40-5PT is the hardwired unit and the EVB40-SPT has a 220V plug. You can purchase them online for $1099.00 from Home Depot and set them up yourself if you have the ability. California will rebate 30% of the cost back to residents

This is a true Level 2 Charger and charges the Energi in 2.5 hours.

A couple of things. First, there IS a Ford charger made by Leviton. The unit you quote, at Home Depot, is similar to the Ford/Leviton L2 charger but the HD unit has a 25 ft cable where the Ford cable is 18 ft, but the Ford unit costs $800 when purchased thru the Geek Squad/Mr Electric.

 

The Ford charger is different in how it looks and plugs into your outlet. See my post on this here: http://www.fordfusionenergiforum.com/topic/569-geek-squad-install-of-l2-charger/. I bought this one and I like it...runs very cool, even though it is mounted on an outside wall and, in general, I show 25 EV miles available after a charge.