Find Reviews by Make:
Bosch has introduced a home charging point for EVs that costs half as much as current competitors, which will no doubt be welcome news for current and prospective EV buyers.
Dubbed the PowerMax, the charger is said to be capable of 240V charging at half the time of the equivalent Level 2 chargers currently available on the market. The PowerMax comes in a 16 amp configuration with a 12 foot cord or a 30 amp version with a 25 foot cord. Bosch said that it was able to lower the price of their charger by eliminating the overly-long cords featured in many competitive units. Sales begin in June, and while a home evaluation is included in the price, installation is extra.
14 Comments on “Bosch Launches EV Home Charger With Sub-$450 MSRP...”
Read all comments
This seems to be priced about right.
My (excellent) Schneider Electric unit was $750 (installed myself), but Nissan wanted a ridiculously-high $1100+ (after $1k discount!) for theirs.
No surprise there…Schneider bought Square D a number of years ago. Square D makes some of the finest electrical distribution equipment made. I always spec’d out the D on all my designs. Any contractor who tried to request GE as an equal got a nice red “Use specified Item” on the submittal.
Regarding cost and cord length, how much could a shorter cord save? $10 per foot?
“Bosch said that it was able to lower the price of their charger by eliminating the overly-long cords featured in many competitive units.”
Wow that must be some pretty expensive cords.. would another 20ft of cord cost as much as the unit itself?
I didn’t know Monster made EV charging cords.
Heh — ‘Cleaner Power, Faster Charging!’ only $100/ft! (Available exclusively at Radio Shack).
I’m not buying the cord story. The cord on my charger is maybe 16 ft long. Too much shorter, and it won’t be enough to lay on the ground properly. Shortening it a few feet would only save about $2-3/ft in price.
dang these go-cart chargers are expensive!
Copper is expensive. Between that and a “make it cheaper” design emphasis they could’ve saved enough to allow it to be profitable at half the price.
What really matters is the time it takes to charge a depleted battery to its full capacity, which should not exceed 5 minutes or so. Otherwise it makes more sense to buy a petrol car, which allows a complete refuel in 5 minutes or even less.
My Volt costs 4 cents per mile to run on electric. How much does your gas cost per mile?
My feet cost me nothing to travel a mile.
Reductio ad absurdum.
If it’s raining, I’ll take the EV.
There’s a good argument to make for neglecting food costs for human powered transportation, particularly in the US.
Most people that walk the Appalachian Trail (2200 miles) will go through about 3 pairs of boots ($50 each if you’re being cheap). That’s about $0.07/mile.
My Zero electric motorcycle costs about $0.045/mile to operate.
* $0.01/mile electricity (126 Wh/mi, $0.085/kWh)
* $0.03/mile tires ($100/tire, rear every 5k, front every 10k)
* $0.005/mile drive belt ($50/25k miles)
Jumping from comparing an EV car to an ICE car to talking about walking costs is patently ridiculous.
***
Charging my bike takes about 5 seconds in the morning and 5 seconds in the evening to plug in. I always leave home with a “full tank” (50-80 miles).
I took my gas car on a trip this weekend, had to fill up first because the tank was low. Filling up added about 10 minutes to the trip (small detour to fill up at a E0 gas station).
$299 at a big box store would be just about right for the 16A version.
Paid ~$800 for my 60A refurb charger, including shipping and a 3yr warranty..