Really need a charging station?

Can't seem to find an answer for this.

Do I really need a charging station? Can't I just hardwire the SAE J1772 plug into a 220V line and be done with it (although those SAE J1772 cords aren't cheap). Since the car handles the actual charging, what does the station offer?

Thanks!

The station also provides a signal to the car for the max amount of current the car can consume.

In addition the station provides some GFI protection.

If you are looking for something low cost there are some open source EVSE's available for cheap (even cheaper if you build it yourself).

That's the thing. It doesn't look like the "do it yourself" ones really save anything.

Bottom line seems to be approx $500 for a station.

Not sure if they are going to renew the tax credit or not......

Most of the price of the EVSE reportedly is the connector and cable anyway.

Here's everything you need to build your own EVSE.

They are overpriced for what they are, but the manufacturers need to deal with the burdens of listing, insurance, etc. And its not a huge market.

How often does someone propose a juicebox or open EVSE and someone else shakes their finger and says "It's not UL listed!" I once built and sold a piece of equipment that was listed by ETL (who are much easier and cheaper to deal with than UL) and it was a huge burden. Their inspectors dropped by unannounced four times a year to inspect what I was doing.

And as Nighthawk says, the cord and connector are fairly expensive.

In my area, the electrician labor cost quotes just for adding a 240v circuit (breaker + wire) was more than the cost of the EVSE.
I got a Schneider 240V/30A EVSE on sale thru Home Depot online for $500, but the electrician wanted $700 to string the 240V heavy gauge wire from the breaker box outside to the other side of the garage, plus add a 240V/40A circuit breaker. Took him less than half an hour to do the work, I probably could have done the wiring myself now that I know how to - I installed the EVSE myself, so he only had to hook up the 3 wires to it.

Right, one of the most off-putting things about the EVSE is the need to start dealing with permits and an electrician. People are worried about falling into a money pit.

I did the work myself, spent a ton of time doing it in a way my wife found visually acceptable. Anyone familiar with DIY work around the house can do it, but the is the scary "what if your house burns down" issue. But in truth, it's no bigger a deal than installing an electric oven or dryer.

It's not necessary unless you do lots of driving (>50miles/day).. I found a great option with EVSE Upgrade since I am a renter and didn't want an expensive charger and electrician I bought their upgraded Leaf cord and an adapter that plugs into my dryer outlet. It uses a 30A breaker instead of the larger 40 or 50A required by the EV chargers, doesn't require a permit or electrician, and can charge the car from dead in 5 hours. We have lots of free charging at the shopping malls around here, so I do most of my charging while I shop However, it is great to have if I need it. I love my FFE and wish that I got it sooner! Hopefully, Ford will keep up production of the electrics and not the plug in hybrids like the reports have said since it is a much better design and ride. I do a lot of driving and use the battery percentage as my gauge for how far I can drive since it doesn't fluctuate with my driving pattern

Installed the GE EVDSWGH-CP01 this weekend. Between the charger and the wire it was about $475 to purchase.

So far so good.