(No Longer Available) Free charger program from CEC is back!

Just a heads up for everyone who's looking to purchase or lease a Spark EV: there is a new allotment of free chargers from CEC! http://evsolutions.avinc.com/products/cec/cec_program_overview There are 264 available as of right now, but from what I've seen, usually they run out in a week, so now's the time to make a move.

I signed up for the program when I got my Spark EV, and they came and installed my charger in about 2 weeks!

For those who don't know, you have to register for the program the same day you purchase the car-we have done a number of these already, so we can definitely assist if you get a Spark EV from us!

Do you have to purchase the car within the period that the chargers are available or can you do so later in the month? Can the dealer still submit the application if the month's allocation is finished? Will it be considered for the next month?

You have to purchase the car and apply for a charger on the same day while there are still chargers available. You cannot apply later, and if they're out of chargers, they will not waitlist you for next month. It's a bit tricky but you are getting an EVSE and free installation (just have to pay for permit fees).

There are now 233 chargers left, so they go fast.

GeorgeChevy said:

You have to purchase the car and apply for a charger on the same day while there are still chargers available. You cannot apply later, and if they're out of chargers, they will not waitlist you for next month. It's a bit tricky but you are getting an EVSE and free installation (just have to pay for permit fees).

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Yeah, I know what the web site says but my Leaf dealer told me otherwise. My saga below:
http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6872#p6872
http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7513#p7513
http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8264#p8264

I'd have gotten the free EVSE (except for the city permit fee and the work for the electrician to do and submit load calculations) if there weren't $5K of additional (non-covered) work needed.

cwerdna said:

GeorgeChevy said:

You have to purchase the car and apply for a charger on the same day while there are still chargers available. You cannot apply later, and if they're out of chargers, they will not waitlist you for next month. It's a bit tricky but you are getting an EVSE and free installation (just have to pay for permit fees).

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Yeah, I know what the web site says but my Leaf dealer told me otherwise. My saga below:
http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6872#p6872
http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7513#p7513
http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8264#p8264

I'd have gotten the free EVSE (except for the city permit fee and the work for the electrician to do and submit load calculations) if there weren't $5K of additional (non-covered) work needed.

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If it's not too instrusive, may I ask when was your home built? I have a similar concern that my home (built early 80s, breaker box outside) may be insufficient for a clean/free installation and might need more work on top of what's covered by the program.

MysteriousJ said:

If it's not too instrusive, may I ask when was your home built? I have a similar concern that my home (built early 80s, breaker box outside) may be insufficient for a clean/free installation and might need more work on top of what's covered by the program.

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I would say it's more about your existing load and if you'll exceed it by installing an additional 40amp circuit. My home was built in the 40s (with the breaker box outside), and I was able to do a standard install (but just barely).

Also, as of right now they are down to 140 chargers already... wow.

MysteriousJ said:

If it's not too instrusive, may I ask when was your home built? I have a similar concern that my home (built early 80s, breaker box outside) may be insufficient for a clean/free installation and might need more work on top of what's covered by the program.

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It was built in 1979.

GeorgeChevy said:

Just a heads up for everyone who's looking to purchase or lease a Spark EV: there is a new allotment of free chargers from CEC! http://evsolutions.avinc.com/products/cec/cec_program_overview There are 264 available as of right now, but from what I've seen, usually they run out in a week, so now's the time to make a move.

I signed up for the program when I got my Spark EV, and they came and installed my charger in about 2 weeks!

For those who don't know, you have to register for the program the same day you purchase the car-we have done a number of these already, so we can definitely assist if you get a Spark EV from us!

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I leased my Spark EV from George Chevy couple months ago, no one at the dealer told me about this program. I guess I just lose the chance of a free charger.

I've leased a Spark EV, I love the car it's made for Palm Springs. Too bad I can't say the same thing about Chevrolet. Initially, about 2 months ago I started looking for a car at the nearest Chevrolet dealer, Jessop Chev of Cathedral City. At that time, no one on staff knew anything about them, other than what the brochures said and that information was mis-leading at best. The Chev/SparkEV website said that DC fast charging was an 'option'. From my research, I had a good idea of what it was. First more current coming in faster from a 440 Volt circuit. Volts x Amps = watts so 440x30A=13,200 watts an hour coming in. From forums like this and other Internet sources I've learned that the Spark E comes with a 3.3 kwh charge controller, but the DC 'fast charge' system would require a controller that allowed 13.2 kwh, from my arithmetic.

I'm assuming that the DC Fast charge option wasn't available because they were still working on how to let that much power in so fast, without burning up from resistance. Now I see level II chargers (Leviton is one) with 6.6 kwh controllers required, and even some needing 9.7 or 9.8 kwh, from level II (220 Volt @ 30A) charging stations. The 2nd dealer, Diamond Hills Auto Group Chevrolet from Banning, Riverside county, California found a car right away, but when I started asking questions about it, they didn't know squat, (zip, nada) but weren't afraid to make things up. Things like where does the $7,500 federal tax credit go when someone leases one? Things regarding a consumers life style, like having to run new cables in their houses or otherwise review electric distribution in preparation for an EV, the location and type of charging stations, (critical) and actual market value of the cars, when new and after a three year lease. Consequently I have an old Spark, that they insisted could be retrofitted to have the same charging options as the new ones will have, which was an UN-deliverable promise. There were half a dozen other things they screwed up, like trying to charge it without 'conditioning' it first (that's what they said) so the first three days I had it, it would only charge itself while running, or sometimes from a level I charger. I think the 8 Amp or 12 Amp option to charge at level I (8 Amps if you dedicated 120 V circuit has a 15 Amp breaker, 12 Amps if it has a 20 Amp breaker) has to be set correctly, when in doubt use the 8 Amp setting.

Also, "DC" fast charge is going to be a lot different than "AC" level I and level II charging stations, because it's Direct current. Can anyone add to my limited scope of things regarding the new Sparks with DC Fast Charging, and if the old Sparks can take advantage of the faster level II chargers that need 6.6 kwh or higher/faster 9.7 kwh charging?

^^^
You seem pretty confused and you have your units wrong (e.g. using kWh when you mean kW).

The Spark EV has a 3.3 kW on-board charger. The 120 volt L1 charging cordset that EVs and PHEVs come with and L1 and L2 AC J1772 charging stations are all EVSEs, NOT chargers. For L1 and L2 AC charging, charger is on-board your car.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=14728&p=332668#p332668 and the TIME USED CHARGING at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=101293 might help (even though it's for a Leaf which has larger battery capacity than the Spark EV). From the above:

Nissan LEAF hours to charge LEAF with warm new condition battery
From Turtle mode ("dead") to 100%


Amps/Volts -- Where ---- Time

12 / 120 ------- Any ------ 22.8 hours (supplied cable with car in USA/Canada)
12 / 208 ------ Public ----- 11.4 hours (EVSEupgrade.com 2011/12 LEAF)
12 / 240 ------ Home ------ 9.9 hours (EVSEupgrade.com 2011/12 LEAF)
16 / 208 ------ Public ------ 8.6 hours (EVSEupgrade.com 2011/12 LEAF)****
16 / 240 ------ Home ------ 7.4 hours (EVSEupgrade.com 2011/12 LEAF)
20 / 208 ------ Public ------ 6.7 hours (Clipper Creek LCS-25)
20 / 240 ------ Home ------ 5.9 hours (Clipper Creek LCS-25)
25 / 208 ------ Public ------ 5.4 hours (EVSEupgrade.com 2013 LEAF)
25 / 240 ------ Home ------ 4.7 hours (EVSEupgrade.com 2013 LEAF)
30 / 208 ------ Public ------ 4.5 hours (unverified at 30 amps**)
30 / 240 ------ Home ------ 4.2 hours (limited to 27.5 amps)


**** will likely pull 18 amps at 208 volts****

**I don't know if its been measured at 200 or 208 volts yet to see if it increases to 30 amps.**

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Diagram at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=262630#p262630 might prove useful.

Spark EV should be able pull no more than 16 amps at 240 volts = ~3.8 kW, so nothing beyond 16 amps applies to you. Many other EVs (e.g. '13+ Leaf w/optional 6 kW OBC, Fit EV, Rav4 EV, Ford Focus Electric, etc.) have 6+ kW OBCs.

The Tesla Model S and Rav4 EV come w/a 10 kW OBC. http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3517#p3517 has an examples of miles gained per hour of charging for the less efficient Rav4 EV, depending on the line voltage and EVSE max amperage.

For DC fast charging, the charger isn't in the car, unlike for the above.

For DC FC, GM has decided to support J1772 CCS (combined charging standard aka combo plug aka Frankenplug) along with the other Frankenplug cast members at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=279363#p279363.

Out of that cast, only BMW has a serious BEV program but their i3 isn't shipping in the US until 2Q 2014. But even they, for Japan (I'd guess) figured they have no choice but to support CHAdeMO for the i3 there (http://transportevolved.com/2013/11/15/in-japan-bmw-i3-gets-chademo-slow-charge-connector-hidden-under-hood/). There are 1858+ CHAdeMO DC FCs there vs. almost certainly 0 J1772 CCS DC FCs. Run http://news.bmw.co.jp/press/2013/11/13a.html thru http://translate.google.com/ if you want to confirm their CHAdeMO support for yourself.

There are virtually 0 publicly accessible J1772 CCS DC FCs in the US. See http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/12357-SAE-vs-CHAdeMO/page28?p=489485&viewfull=1#post489485. On the other hand, there are over 3000 CHAdeMO DC FCs in the world (http://www.chademo.com/).

I've started a thread to discuss the 3+ DC FC standards at http://www.mychevysparkev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3555. There is plenty of discussion of Frankenplug (J1772 CCS and Mennekes CCS) at http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/12357-SAE-vs-CHAdeMO. Skip to the last 10 pages or so...

SittingBull said:

if the old Sparks can take advantage of the faster level II chargers that need 6.6 kwh or higher/faster 9.7 kwh charging?

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The limiting factor is that YOUR car has only a 3.3 kW on-board charger. It won't do any good if you plug into a 208 or 240 volt EVSE that can supply 20+ amps, as your car can't pull that much via J1772. Only alternative for faster L2 AC charging is to replace the OBC w/a higher wattage one or retrofit a 2nd one (e.g. like the Brusa charger some have put on '11 and '12 Leafs). See http://www.mychevysparkev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4583#p4583

At my work, we have EVSEs like the CT2021 and CT2101 shown at http://web.archive.org/web/20130403092428/http://chargepoint.com/products-chargepoint-stations.php. When my '13 Leaf (w/6 kW OBC) charges, it pulls ~5.8 to 6.0 kW, per the display. Those are running at 208 volts. When I see a '11 or '12 Leaf charging (which only have 3.3k kW OBC), I see ~3.7 kW being pulled.

There is a Tesla Model S that sometimes charges and IIRC, I see it pull ~6.2 kW. Model S has a 10 kW OBC and an optional 2nd one. But, to fully utilize the 10 kW OBC, you'd want to have a 40 amp, 240 volt EVSE. The 6.2 kW makes sense as the CT2021 is limited to a max of 30 amps @ 240 volts but at work, they run at 208 volts (per conversation w/Chargepoint tech who came on site to work on them).

To utilize the 2nd OBC, you'd need to use/have their "High Power Wall Connector" EVSE. See bottom of http://www.teslamotors.com/charging#/installation and http://www.teslamotors.com/sites/default/files/downloads/highpowerwallconnector.pdf. To take full advantage, you'd need to have 100 amp breaker. I believe it'd pull 80 amps @ 240 volts, at max. This is still AC charging though.

SittingBull said:

I'm assuming that the DC Fast charge option wasn't available because they were still working on how to let that much power in so fast, without burning up from resistance.

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Nope. Others have done it (CHAdeMO and Tesla Superchargers at even high power levels). See http://www.mychevysparkev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4730#p4730 and the post below it.

I have no idea why GM delayed the availability of the of the DC FC option (adds support for Frankneplug) until late December 2013 (http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1087390_first-car-sold-with-ccs-fast-charging-now-delayed-to-december and http://insideevs.com/official-2014-spark-ev-to-get-dc-combo-fast-charge-option-starting-in-late-december/) or if it's been delayed further. Doesn't matter, as even if you had it, it's be near useless. See above.

You're a perfect example of the unwashed masses that Tony and I refer to at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=332791#p332791.

He's brought this subject up here before at http://www.mychevysparkev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3794#p3794 and http://www.mychevysparkev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3806#p3806. I haven't read the rest of his posts in that thread as it doesn't really concern me. (I have a '13 Leaf SV w/optional CHAdeMO DC FC port.)

I'm patiently waiting for the DC fast charging option to be made available. Yes, I know there is only that one charging station in San Diego that supports the SAE connector, and yes, I know it may take a while for the roll out of this infrastructure. However, I plan on owning the Spark for the lifetime of the battery warranty. I want this to be an investment that will pay itself off; after 6 - 8 years of use, I'm sure the infrastructure will be in place for SAE. For those wanting to lease and at the end of that lease trade in for a newer EV, then going with the current models is fine.

Of course the battery will be worn out by the end of 8 years or 100k, but I know folks with the first generation Rav 4 EV with close to 150K on their original battery and still are able to get 90-100 miles if they drive conservatively. So I figure with the active cooling system of the Spark EV, battery longevity will be good and the warranty will protect against absolute failure.

An electric car is a great investment for the future, and I'm going to make the bet that SAE will be rolled out more quickly than was the case for the CHademo standard.

xylhim said:

I'm patiently waiting for the DC fast charging option to be made available. Yes, I know there is only that one charging station in San Diego that supports the SAE connector, and yes, I know it may take a while for the roll out of this infrastructure.
...
An electric car is a great investment for the future, and I'm going to make the bet that SAE will be rolled out more quickly than was the case for the CHademo standard.

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What makes you say that?

Please post your reply and continue the debate at http://www.mychevysparkev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3555 as this has nothing to do w/the CEC free home EVSE program.

Do consider the Frankenplug cast at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=279363#p279363 and the seriousness (or lack of) that each them has with respect to BEVs and DC FC. Also consider http://www.mychevysparkev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3794#p3794.

Just a bump, the program is back! http://evsolutions.avinc.com/products/cec/ As of right now, there are 291 chargers available.

Just thought I would update everyone: the program is DONE! There will be no more EVSEs from this program.

GeorgeChevy said:

Just thought I would update everyone: the program is DONE! There will be no more EVSEs from this program.

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By DONE do you mean that the program ended in 2013?

Yes, the program has ended as the allotment of chargers has run out. Here's what the CEC website says:

UPDATE (December 11, 2013): The CEC Program charger allocation is now complete. We are NO longer accepting applications.

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I've locked this topic and updated the subject to reflect the end of the program.