dlass0123 said:
what about the home fast chargers advertised on this forum?? are they good starting at $395
and who will install it and how much ??
I suspect you are referring to the Clipper Creek 15A EVSE. It is a great unit at a great price, but it is only half the capacity of what the i3 can use. That is, their 30A EVSE which is about a hundred dollars or so more, will charge in half the time as this cheapest unit. Dollar for dollar, the Clipper Creek units are very hard to beat. Recently, the Jesla Juice Box became available with better features at a lower price, and I would seriously consider them, but they are new, and not yet UL listed (so I've heard).
There are many great review sites for EVSEs and you should visit a few. So many good units available, but the prices are ALL OVER THE MAP. Clipper Creek is a sure bet for value and reliability and warranty. The Juice Box looks great to me, also. The BMW unit is 2x what other similar units sell for, but it looks GREAT and has a nice small cabinet built in for storage of, something??!! Bosch and others also have good reasonably priced units. The various units have various "better" features, such as delayed start function, longer cords, higher current capacity, prettier lights or displays, weather protection, portability, etc. Figure out what features are important to you, and make sure you get a unit with those features.
Any licensed electrician will be able to install your unit. If you already have a 240V outlet near where you want your EVSE, then you can plug it in yourself (just buy a unit that has the right 240V plug on it). If not, find an electrician first (I would get 2 or 3 install estimates) to make sure you have adequate current available so that you don't buy, for example, a unit that requires a 60A circuit when you can only get a 30A circuit to your garage for a reasonable cost. Any electrician will be able to answer this for you easily and quickly. I was quoted $150 to tap into my existing dryer circuit (30A - and not used by the gas dryer!), or $700 to run a new 40A line from the breaker box. I ended up adding the 30A outlet myself, and it was as easy as adding a 120V outlet to a wall that already has the 120V line running inside it. The parts I bought at Home Depot cost about $30. I saved over $800, but only have 20A charging, requiring about 5.5 hours for a full charge from empty.