Only 31% of Americans want an EV or PHEV. What about you?

[Zorba]

Interesting article from the NYTimes on where people are buying EVs. Also, I love the narrative that EV sales are plummeting, when it is actually just the rate of growth is slowing as things do when they have a massively large denominator. "Analysts expect the American electric vehicle market to continue growing in 2024, but at a slower pace. Nationally, E.V. sales were up 46 percent between 2022 and 2023, according to Kelley Blue Book. This year, sales are forecast to grow around 20 to 30 percent."

Where Electric Vehicles Are (and Aren’t) Taking Off Across the U.S.

New data show where E.V.s are booming and reveal some surprising places where they’re getting a foothold.

www.nytimes.com

 

[IronWing]

Things are moving faster with EV now. When we bought our last car, there was no local Tesla dealer and no local repair facilities for the other manufacturers. That has all changed. EV will definitely be on the list when we replace the wagon. We have an unused 220V circuit so hooking up a charger shouldn't be terribly expensive.

 

[Brainonska511]

Things are moving faster with EV now. When we bought our last car, there was no local Tesla dealer and no local repair facilities for the other manufacturers. That has all changed. EV will definitely be on the list when we replace the wagon. We have an unused 220V circuit so hooking up a charger shouldn't be terribly expensive.

For those that might have a washer/dryer in their garage, I've also seen semi-smart outlets/devices that can be installed to split the 220V for those devices to a charger, but then only open the car charging circuit when the dryer is not in use. An even lower cost option for those that lack an open 220V, don't want to just use a 110, or don't want to pay to add more wiring to a distant circuit breaker panel.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

For those that might have a washer/dryer in their garage, I've also seen semi-smart outlets/devices that can be installed to split the 220V for those devices to a charger, but then only open the car charging circuit when the dryer is not in use. An even lower cost option for those that lack an open 220V, don't want to just use a 110, or don't want to pay to add more wiring to a distant circuit breaker panel.

It's not really that hard to run an additional 220 circuit if you need to. What sucks is that an electrician will charge you a couple thousand dollars for an afternoon's work and $250 worth of parts & wire.

I get that it's a skilled trade but geez, man, my mechanic only gets $125 an hour, and I get less than half that. Have some decency.

 

[sdifox]

It's not really that hard to run an additional 220 circuit if you need to. What sucks is that an electrician will charge you a couple thousand dollars for an afternoon's work and $250 worth of parts & wire.

I get that it's a skilled trade but geez, man, my mechanic only gets $125 an hour, and I get less than half that. Have some decency.

You can do the work yourself and just get it inspected no?

 

[K1052]

It's not really that hard to run an additional 220 circuit if you need to. What sucks is that an electrician will charge you a couple thousand dollars for an afternoon's work and $250 worth of parts & wire.

I get that it's a skilled trade but geez, man, my mechanic only gets $125 an hour, and I get less than half that. Have some decency.

Cost me half that and they ran neatly done conduit all the way around the exterior of the house.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

You can do the work yourself and just get it inspected no?

That’s what I do. But there’s a labor shortage and people take advantage. My dad got effed hard for a generator and cutout installation last summer.

 

[Zorba]

You can do the work yourself and just get it inspected no?

Depends on the jurisdiction, many won't allow owner electrical work. It's specifically banned in the NEC.

That said just don't get it inspected .

 

[bbhaag]

You can do the work yourself and just get it inspected no?

That's what I did but I suspect most people skip the inspection part. I pulled around 120 feet of 6 AWG Thhn wire through 3/4" conduit so I could hardwire my Emporia for the full 48 amps on a 60 amp circuit. Pretty easy to do if you know your way around this kind of stuff but when it comes to electrical work a lot of DIYers seem to struggle.

Costs were much lower doing it myself so that was nice. I don't remember the exact amount but I think it was around $300-350 for all the materials minus the EVSE and of course it took me and my dad around three hours so there is the time factor to consider. Either way it was much cheaper than the three quotes I got from local electricians.

It has been over a year now since we installed the Emporia and it has worked great. I would do it again in a heart beat.

I took this photo shortly after the installation was completed.

 

[bbhaag]

Depends on the jurisdiction, many won't allow owner electrical work. It's specifically banned in the NEC.

That said just don't get it inspected .

That thought did cross my mind as well but since this is our first EV my wife insisted on getting the local inspector out to make sure everything was done correctly. For more than a minute though I was thinking hard about skipping that step.

 

[sdifox]

That's what I did but I suspect most people skip the inspection part. I pulled around 150 feet of 6 AWG Thhn wire through 3/4" conduit so I could hardwire my Emporia for the full 48 amps on a 60 amp circuit. Pretty easy to do if you know your way around this kind of stuff but when it comes to electrical work a lot of DIYers seem to struggle.

Costs were much lower doing it myself so that was nice. I don't remember the exact amount but I think it was around $300-350 for all the materials minus the EVSE and of course it took me and my dad around three hours so there is the time factor to consider. Either way it was much cheaper than the three quotes I got from local electricians.

It has been over a year now since we installed the Emporia and it has worked great. I would do it again in a heart beat.

I took this photo shortly after the installation was completed. I was so excited the first time.
View attachment 94946

Inspection is crucial for insurance porpose.

 

[Zorba]

That thought did cross my mind as well but since this is our first EV my wife insisted on getting the local inspector out to make sure everything was done correctly. For more than a minute though I was thinking hard about skipping that step.

Truthfully the vast majority of electricians wouldn't have it inspected unless you insisted on it. I got mine installed through GM, and they did pull a permit and got inspections. The inspector came and glanced at the wire in the attic and left, 2 minute inspection, didn't even check the plug or the panel.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Running a residential circuit is not that hard, I'd just do it and call it a day. Just make sure the job is done in a clean and professional way and looks like it's always been there.

 

[bbhaag]

Truthfully the vast majority of electricians wouldn't have it inspected unless you insisted on it. I got mine installed through GM, and they did pull a permit and got inspections. The inspector came and glanced at the wire in the attic and left, 2 minute inspection, didn't even check the plug or the panel.

Yeah that was my experience as well. Cover was off the charger, ceiling tiles in the basement were not in place to see the conduit, sub panel cover was left off to see the connections.......Then after a couple of minutes and a few questions later it was good.

 

[Zorba]

Inspection is crucial for insurance porpose.

Your insurance company has a layout of all the electrical service in your house and knows what has and has not been inspected?

My FIL was an electrical contractor for 30 years and never pulled permits for adding one or two circuits to house unless the homeowner requested it (and paid for it). My mom has also had 240V plugs added by an electrician with no permits.

 

[sdifox]

Your insurance company has a layout of all the electrical service in your house and knows what has and has not been inspected?

My FIL was an electrical contractor for 30 years and never pulled permits for adding one or two circuits to house unless the homeowner requested it (and paid for it). My mom has also had 240V plugs added by an electrician with no permits.

Pretty sure there were no EV Chargers when I bought the house and they will see a charger and demand permits and receipts if they suspect the fire started in the garage.

 

[Zorba]

Pretty sure there were no EV Chargers when I bought the house and they will see a charger and demand permits and receipts if they suspect the fire started in the garage.

Insurance companies don't keep a record of what was in your house when you bought it. Yeah, if you do it wrong and burn down your house and it was obvious it was installed wrong, you might have an issue, but otherwise I highly doubt it.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Pretty sure there were no EV Chargers when I bought the house and they will see a charger and demand permits and receipts if they suspect the fire started in the garage.

Lots of people have a 240v plug in their garage for big tools like welders etc.

 

[sdifox]

Insurance companies don't keep a record of what was in your house when you bought it. Yeah, if you do it wrong and burn down your house and it was obvious it was installed wrong, you might have an issue, but otherwise I highly doubt it.

I guess you are more risk tolerant than I am.

Mind you I spent more than a decade in insurance...

 

[sdifox]

Lots of people have a 240v plug in their garage for big tools like welders etc.

Them be the minority.

 

[Zorba]

I guess you are more risk tolerant than I am.

Mind you I spent more than a decade in insurance...

I'll have to look through my policy and see if there are exclusions for owner installed items or noninspected work.

But in my experience the vast majority of pros don't get permits or inspections for repairs or minor additions.

 

[sdifox]

Honda Prologue is on sale here in Canada in limited release. Based on the GM Altium platform. I hope theirs doesn't suffer the same issues the GM ones have.

https://www.honda.ca/en/prologue

 

[sdifox]

LoL GaoHe HiPhi is halting production for six months. This is supposed to be a premium brand... Except several things don't match the advertised spec...

HiPhi is shutting down production for half a year - electrive.com

The premium electric car brand HiPhi from Chinese manufacturer Human Horizons has stopped production with immediate effect. According to local media, this is

www.electrive.com

Top trim of HiPhi X is 123,000 Euro

 

[manly]

Previous interim CEO at Hertz green lit the purchase of its Tesla fleet at pandemic inflated prices, so now the current CEO gets the boot:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/18/business/hertz-ceo-departure-ev/index.html

Hertz's previous CEO Paul Stone was demoted to COO in 2021, where he remains? How unusual is that? He must have been involved in the Tesla buy as well.

 

[sdifox]

How else will other CEOs get golden parachutes if they don't replace them