Coulomb or Voltec Charger, 15A vs 30A?

[ocryan]

I have a "free" charger from Coulomb available, they also credit $1,200 towards the installation as long as you use SPX for the install. There are some strings attached to the "free" part, so my question is this.

As I understand it the Voltec charger output is 15A as opposed to the Coulomb output at 30A

https://www.homecharging.spx.com/vol...83_VOLTECH.pdf
https://www.homecharging.spx.com/vol...t-sept2010.pdf

What difference does the 15A vs 30A output make?

Thanks!

[musicman]

I have a "free" charger from Coulomb available, they also credit $1,200 towards the installation as long as you use SPX for the install.

Out of curiosity, did you get a quote for the cost of the installation?

[ocryan]

No, they haven't done the site visit yet. You have to sign the agreement before they'll come out and give you a quote.

[ssj4vegita2002]

Wish I could have gone this route, but it is a tax credit, just like the one for the car itself and wouldn't help me at all. [I already get a rebate]. And I just can't justify spending that much on installation right now.

[LGA]

What difference does the 15A vs 30A output make?

No difference. The Volt will only charge at the 240 v 16A rate regardless of the capacity of the charging station -- the 3300 watt charger itself is built into the car, not in the charging station.

[ocryan]

Well, I guess I should elaborate. I also have a Leaf on order so I was hoping this one charger could handle both. On the day the Leaf is charging I would just use the Level I charger for the Volt. So the 16A may be fine with the Volt, but I'm guessing the Leaf will want more juice and the Voltec may not be enough?

[ocryan]

If you have concerns about not getting the tax credit because you have no taxes due. For the car at least...lease it. They pay the rebate to the leasing company directly which lowers your residual, then you can buy it outright after a payment or two for the balance of the residual + principal left on the lease. This way you get the $7,500 discount on the purchase without having to use it as a tax credit.

[Rusty]

So the 16A may be fine with the Volt, but I'm guessing the Leaf will want more juice and the Voltec may not be enough?

The Gen I Leaf uses a similar 3.3 kW charger. It's one of the things Nissan has said they are going to change in Gen II. Given how slow the Gen Is are coming out... Who knows.

The Leaf will take about as long to charge with Level 2 as the Volt will take with Level 1 (maybe a little less).

[ssj4vegita2002]

Oh I am leasing. Today was my second full day with my Volt

I front loaded my options on the lease and ended up with $337/mo for my lease. 12k miles per year, I didn't need to add any.

[ocryan]

Thanks Rusty, didn't realize my Leaf would be limited to 3.3kw, so as you said anything above 15A would simply be wasted/not used anyway. So now I just have to figure out if the strings are worth the free charger or not.