Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Tele man
What's the basic co$t difference between 120VAC and 240VAC chargers (not including installation)?
|
I bought a used 120VAC Leaf charger for $200, and a used 120VAC Prius charger for $200. The new price of a Prius charger is something silly like $700.
As mentioned already, an OpenEVSE can be had for $350-$400, if you already have a 240VAC outlet.
It would take me ages to recoup the cost of a $400 240VAC charger in the energy savings it has over 120VAC.
Quick math:
1 charge per day @ 3 kWh measured at the wall on 120VAC @ $0.08/kWh = $0.24 per day to charge the Prius. Assuming 240VAC is 13% more efficient, my daily charge cost would be reduced to $0.21, saving $0.03 per day.
It would take me 36.5 years to recoup the cost of the 240VAC charger.
Granted, my vehicle only uses 3 kWh per charge and has a range of 15 EV miles. If I had a Nissan Leaf, I would for sure upgrade to 240VAC charging. Assuming I averaged 15 kWh per day on the Leaf, I would recoup the $400 in 6.5 years.
*My electric rate is among the lowest at $0.08/kWh. Most people will have a faster payback time to recoup the cost of a 240VAC charger since their rates are likely higher.