How long did it take for your L2 charger to get installed?

Hello all!

I bought my 2014 FFE back in the beginning of June and I've still not gotten my home charger installed. I was just wondering what others experiences were with getting their chargers installed?

Let me give you a little bit of background:

I live in a condo in San Diego. I contacted the condo leasing office before purchasing the vehicle to see if I could go about installing my own charger in my assigned spot and they informed me that they had already contracted with NRG to install eVgo charging stations for any resident that requires one. Great! I get my own charger that I won't have to share with other residents. Fast forward 3 months and still no charger. I have been in direct contact with NRG for more than 2 months regarding the status and they keep telling me the installation has been delayed because the permits are being held up by city hall. At this point, I'm starting to feel like I'm getting a runaround. I've contacted them by email approximately every 2 weeks to obtain status updates and they have been responsive, however no one responded to my last inquiry earlier this week.

Has anyone had experience with getting a charger installed at their multiple dwelling unit? What kind of hoops did you have to jump through and how long did the approval process really take?

In the meantime, I've been charging at work and we've been using my spouse's Explorer to go places on the weekends. I love my FFE by the way, best car I've owned. Over 2000 miles and not a single problem.

Thanks for any feedback!

Mike

krenim191 said:

...they keep telling me the installation has been delayed because the permits are being held up by city hall.

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I don't have experience with a condo install. But I think the best thing to do is to call your city planning department (or stop by) and ask them about permits and explain your situation. Primarily, you want to find out if a permit has been pulled for your address. See what records the city has. If the city can't find any record of your permit, call NRG and ask them to provide you proof that they have applied for the permit. If NRG cries foul or otherwise won't give you the info, call your condo association and explain that you have been waiting forever on NRG and you think they are playing games. Your complaint to the condo association should get results since NRG isn't being cooperative. Your primary leverage is through the condo association. NRG could care less about you, but they certainly don't want to piss off their association client.

Good luck.

Our apartment complex was all for it. It took them about 1 month after we received our FFE to get the L2 EVSE installed. We charged on L1 in the meantime. In the summertime the underground parking garage is mostly empty so it was no issue for us to park next to an outlet instead of in our assigned space temporarily. The delay on the EVSE install was because their electrician on staff was out of the country for a month visiting family in Europe. Our complex paid for everything, but if we move out they keep the EVSE.

Are you having to pay for the installation? What permits are needed?

Thanks for the suggestions. I will contact the city planning office on Tuesday to see if permits have been requested for my location. My assumption is they need the permits to install the electrical infrastructure, since none currently exists in the parking garage. I'm paying a $99 installation fee for the charger, then monthly rent to maintain the charger.

On my next communication with them, I will CC my condo's community director. The management company that owns my property and 12 others throughout San Diego and is very hot and heavy for the green initiatives... so they are all for it as well. They have plans to install eVgo stations at each property, so I'm sure some communications into my property management team would help light a fire under NRG.

Many States and municipalities have created laws and policies to simplify EVSE installation. A permit to install and connect an EVSE to an existing breaker panel is an "over the counter" permit that is frequently approved online.

But it sounds like your installation is more involved; they're probably putting in a whole new load center, conduit for multiple EVSEs, a metering system. The design review, zoning review, signage requirements... it's a much bigger deal than just installing one.

A great San Diego overview of the process and its hurdles:

http://energycenter.org/sites/default/files/docs/nav/programs/pev-planning/san-diego/fact-sheets/ResComm%20EVSE%20Permit%20Guidelines%20v3_Final_attach.pdf

So yes, be the squeaky wheel, but understand that the permits for this installation are probably complex enough to take a few weeks to arrange.

krenim191 said:

[...] I'm paying a $99 installation fee for the charger, then monthly rent to maintain the charger.

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I can understand a fee for power you use, perhaps, but to maintain the device?
Unless you damage the cord (or the contacts get weak so the connector gets hot during use ... it can happen), what is there to maintain?