How I keep track of how much it cost to charge.

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Scottybm

Member
Joined
Aug 14, 2018
Messages
7
I am currently using a the level 1 charger that came with my car and have found it hard to calculate a good idea on how much it is costing me to charge my car each month. We are moving to a new house and will be purchasing the ChargePoint Level 2 charger which will give you more detail on what it cost. Can't wait to get Level 2 charging and for this cold weather to be over so I can get my mileage back. :D

In the meantime I purchased a wifi smart plug that calculates it for me.
61R0Q8fvOKL._SL1500_.jpg

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GDFQ38D/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Just to be clear I do not work for this company or saying it works for everyone but it has been working for me and for 20.00 it's worth it.

This plug can handle up to 1800w and my car charges at a max of 1400.
It took a minute to setup but once it started working it's been great.

Here are some photos of the app.
You can put in what you pay per kWh and it calculates what it cost running through that plug.
It seems to be an average of about 25.00 per month and we pay 0.89 per kWh

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Just thought I would share this with the group.
 
When I had my level 2 EVSE installed, I put an inline voltage/current/power meter on the input line. Now, the EVSE does draw about 3-4W in standby, and maybe a little more when it is applying power, but the meter shows me the full amount of power going in on that line. Bought the meter on Amazon as a panel mount. Added an extension box over the original junction box. Took a blank cover, cut a hole in it that fit the meter. Snapped it in, wired it up, and it works. You can reset the accumulated power drawn if you wish.

Having an app and a smart device can give you more data, especially if it can be graphed. Knowing your inlet voltage has some advantages. FWIW, mine typically is about 247vac, so my (older) 30A EVSE can usually max out my i3's input where a nominal 240 might not quite make it there. Most newer ones are 32A, but at my input voltage, it wouldn't be drawing that full current.
 
Does that device feel warm to you when you are charging? Some of these smart outlets are not well made and can be a fire hazard—is it UL listed, or other carry some sort of safety certification?
 
Did not notice that it was getting warm. Have been using it now for 2 months. I did not see any UL Cert for this device.
Only certification that I found was. ETL and FCC certified.

This is the only plug that I could find that would give me these readings that I was looking for.
In a month or so we will be installing a L2 ChargePoint charger which will have everything I need including cost to charge.
 
I would also caution against running a high current load through a cheap Chinese smartplug.
The car maintains a long term power efficiency number, which is in my experience is fairly accurate. You can easily calculate your costs from it.
BTW, charging on L1 is less efficient compared to L2.
 
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