My experience getting a dedicated EV TOU 2 electric meter with SDGE

[earlyretirement]

I bought a new Tesla Model S and got it last week.

I thought I’d take the time to post about my experience getting a second dedicated TOU (time of use) meter with SDGE in San Diego. I researched extensively online to try to get information about people that had gone through the process but I didn’t have much luck at all with anyone that had actually gone through the process.

It seems like many people have switched over to the EV-TOU 2 rate, which uses your existing electric meter at your house, but I couldn’t find anyone that went through the process of getting the 2nd dedicated EV-TOU meter. You can find information about the differences here at this link below:

http://www.sdge.com/clean-energy/ev-rates

I have to say the process was extremely frustrating to go through. And the process took over a month from the time I started the process to the time I actually got the meter. I thought I’d outline my timeline of the process.

August 2, 2013 – I filled out the online application on SDGE’s website at: https://ev.sdge.com/EVIS/faces/evratechangerequest.jsf I didn’t hear back from anyone for a while so I called in and finally I got someone to call me back on August 7. She indicated to fax in a form, which I did.

August 7 – I faxed in the form that SDGE sent me to apply for the 2nd dedicated EV TOU 2 meter.

August 12 – SDGE calls me back and tells me to find an electrician that can install the wiring/housing for the meter. SDGE explains that it will cost between $1,500 to $2,000 with an electrician to do the wiring and getting the permits, etc. They say they don’t actually charge anything for actually hooking up the EV TOU 2 meter.

I actually had a really difficult time getting an electrician that wants to do this. I have a great electrician that does things around the house but it didn’t seem like he had any interest dealing with SDGE on the installation and permit process of going through this.

I contacted Rob Guillory from Calray Electric (http://www.calrayelectric.com ) who was going to install my charger. I asked him if he would be willing to venture down this path with me. He told me that he hadn’t done any yet but he was really wonderful in willing to go through the process of it. (I was actually referred to Rob by David. G. The founder of the San Diego Tesla Group. David has been really great sharing valuable information and contacts.

I waited for over a week for SDGE to contact me back to tell me that I was approved for him to install the housing for it. First they said they had to come out to the house to inspect my existing meter.

August 16 – Nancy Amyot, a Service Planner with Sempra Utilities emailed me and told me she came by the house to inspect my meter and just needed to know the make/model of the car to get the final approval to get the permit for my electrician to install the housing and wiring for my meter.

She was going on a 3-week vacation so I asked her if I could get the permit and schematics to start this project ASAP before she left on vacation. She was really SUPER and it was only after making contact with her did I make progress.

The key to this process seems to be the “Service Planner” with SDGE so try to find out ASAP who the service planner will be for your project and only communicate with them.

That same day on August 16, she emailed me a PDF with the schematics and drawing/design to give to my electrician where exactly he should install the meter.

August 20 – Rob came out as scheduled to install the housing but he had a bit of bad news. One of the housing parts he needed to install the meter was out of stock so I had to wait until it came. Rob was great however and he said that he would install my HPWC ((high power wall charger) so that I could use my high-speed charger as my car just arrived.

He said that he would come back out once the part came and re-connect the HPWC to the dedicated meter housing. I was VERY happy at least I could charge my car on the fast charger until the part came in.

September 4 – Rob came out to install the housing so that SDGE could install their meter. The process involves the electrician installing the housing for the meter. Then that same day, the electrician arranges directly with the City of San Diego to come out and inspect it and pass it so that SDGE can inspect it. (# for City of San Diego inspections is 858-581-7111). I was told that the information is sent to SDGE electronically and they should have it within 24 hours.

I called SDGE the next day and they still didn’t have the information so I got the # for the guy with the City that installed it and he helped me confirm that he sent it over to SDGE. (James Michael was the inspector and he was very friendly on the phone).

September 6 (Friday) – SDGE was supposed to come out and install the EV TOU 2 meter. I was waiting around most of the day. They told me I didn’t have to be home but I still wanted to be home as I had a bad feeling about everything as the communication didn’t seem to clear.

Plus my service planner, Nancy was on vacation and she left the # for an assistant but no one seemed too organized compared to her. It all left me feeling like there would be problems and there were.

I had to run to go pick up my son from school and when I got back there was a tag from SDGE on my door that said, “You have a 100 Amp breaker installed for your EV meter and we require a 40A breaker for this circuit. Please contact your contractor/electrician”.

Unbelievable! I call my electrician, Rob, who told me that obviously SDGE made a mistake as he just got done installing one of these meters for another Tesla customer in La Jolla. (Through it’s a small world, I connected via the Tesla Motors Club forum and meeting up with that owner this week for coffee). He also had a very frustrating experience dealing with SDGE and might want to chime in on his experiences.

My electrician was really great and called me back late on Friday night trying to make a few phone calls helping me to solve things. To make matters worse, I had to go to a meeting in Chula Visa earlier that day and drove around quite a bit so I only had about 30 miles left on my car.

It was the start of the weekend and I didn’t realize that the normal charger you plug in only charges at 4 miles per hour! My fast charger was charging at 60 miles per hour!

I can’t tell you how great it was dealing with Rob at Calray Electric. He called me on Saturday morning and told me that he wanted to come by and at least hook up my HPWC back up to my main electric meter so I could charge at the 60 miles per hour recharge rate for the weekend until SDGE could figure this out. This went a long way to show me how wonderful and a true professional Rob is. He didn’t have to do this but it was clear that he really cared about me going through the weekend and not being able to fast charge.

September 9 (Monday) I called Estela in the Service Planning department and told her about how frustrated I was and in the meantime my electrian though his own contacts got me the name and phone number of the executive over at SDGE that is in charge of the EV program. His name is Randy S. I called him and he was INCREDIBLE. He explained to me that there must be a breakdown in communication with the installers. He apologized and we got to chatting and he explained that he also owns a Tesla and really went the extra mile.

He emailed me and sent me his personal cellphone number. He said if the installer had any problems to call him on his cellphone. Also, through it’s a small world… I actually had met Randy from SDGE! We met at a San Diego Tesla Club meeting I went over at SDGE’s Innovation Center back in July. Randy was one of the speakers and he was so friendly. So it was amazing that I had actually already met him.

Well I get a call from Estela from the service-planning department and she tells me that the installer got lost and couldn’t find his way to the entrance of the development where I live. So he just left! I couldn’t believe it. I asked her to PLEASE send someone back TODAY and she said she would.

Imagine my surprise when a few hours later there was an employee from SDGE that was there to install the meter. He was the same guy that came on Friday. Fortunately I was home! Because if not, he would have left again. My wife was leaving so she told me he was out there. I went out to talk to him and he said, “nothing is changed on the meter..it’s the same as Friday”. So it was clear to me that SDGE isn’t communicating from their main office to their installers in the field.

I asked him to call Randy S. with whom I spoke to earlier in the morning. He called Randy and it went to his voicemail. He told me he wasn’t willing to install it unless he said some directive from an official above. He called his supervisor who was also clueless. I also had him call Estela with the Service Planning department and he said that really she wasn’t providing him with the technical information that he needed. He said that he could only install it if he spoke to Randy.

I called Randy on my cellphone and THANK GOD he answered the phone! Randy spent about 15 minutes speaking to the SDGE installer and I could hear Randy convince him to install it. I had the proper permit from the City to get it installed but the installer just felt uncomfortable, as he didn’t get any paperwork on it he claimed.

Well, he just left now and I see a second EV TOU 2 meter installed. Now I need Rob (electrician) to come back out tomorrow to reconnect my HPWC to the EV TOU meter 2 that is a dedicated meter only for my EV.

All in all it was a frustrating process dealing with SDGE but it should be worth it. I spent $1,500 with Calray electric getting the housing installed and pulling the permits for the dedicated EV TOU 2 meter. But I figure that it will be worth it over the long haul as I’m confident I won’t sell this house and I might even get a Model X next year to replace my SUV. The off peak rate for the EV charger is 0.14 cents per Kilowatt hour and I pay almost triple that on my average electricity bill as I go into tier 3 and 4 much of the year.

I suggest anyone going through this process, find out right away your Service Planner and really depend on them to guide you through the process. I’d also HIGHLY recommend Rob at Calray Electric who was really great and I wouldn’t have been able to have completed the process without him.

He just texted me and said he will swing by tomorrow afternoon to hook up the HPWC to the dedicated meter.

I’m LOVING the car and never stop getting wowed by the performance day in and day out. People constantly stop me asking me what kind of car it is. It was funny this morning. My wife and I went over to the beach in Del Mar this morning to go running on the beach.

We came back to the car parked in the street and I had a towel in the frunk (front trunk). So I had it opened and we were on the curb brushing off the sand off our legs and shoes. A guy that lived in one of the nice houses in front thought we were having engine problems so he came up to us and asked us if we needed help.

You should have seen the look in his eyes when he saw there was no engine or battery in the frunk. LOL! He asked what kind of car it was and was really blown away by it.

I told him to go stop in the showroom at UTC Mall and check it out. He said he would.

I hope this post helps those of you interested in getting the EV TOU 2 meter from SDGE.

[moneymaker]

So how many amps does the EV charger actually need? My calculations say you need at least 77 amps to charge fully in 1 night from 12-5 AM if you got the 85KWH car.

[njtosd]

Wait – there are people in San Diego who haven’t seen a tesla? It seems like I pass at least 2 or 3 every time I drive anywhere. And everytime I see one I ask myself why there is a grille on the front …. (Or anywhere on the car for that matter).

[earlyretirement]

Ha, ha. Yeah, there are people that have never seen a Tesla or know what they are. Typically older vs. younger. But more and more being sold here in San Diego the past few weeks. I’ve noticed more and more people with them driving around. I’m the 3rd one in my development to buy one in the past few weeks.

I went with the 85 Performance Model S. With the dual chargers. I got the High power wall charger. It charges the battery at a rate of 60 miles per hour so it’s only a few hours and it’s fully charged.

I just set my timer on my car to start charging at 1 AM and it’s easily fully charged by the time I wake up in the morning. I typically only drive about 50 miles per day but since I’ve got it, It’s more like 100 miles per day. I find excuses to drive it. It never takes more than 2 hours to charge back those 100 miles.

Really really amazing technology. The car is amazing.

You can go to Tesla’s website:

http://www.teslamotors.com/charging#/installation

To estimate how much it would be to charge and how long it will take.

For example, with the TOU meter and charging of peak, it takes less than 1:42 minutes to charge 100 miles. And at 0.14 cents per kWh it will only cost $4.61 in fuel/electricity.

[no_such_reality]

New Energy Bill to alter Electricity Rates and Grid Charges

Cool, just as we ramp up solar, let’s impose a $10/month ‘grid maintenance’ charge.

[The-Shoveler]

Nice ER,

I really want to get an EV, I also really like the way Tesla is marketing their cars.

[UCGal]

Thanks for the write up and details.

We’re looking at an EV car in our future (to go with our hybrid SUV which will take us on vacations and longer trips.)

We’ll be timing it all when our roof needs replacing – EV car, Solar Panels, new roof, all concurrent. Right now I can’t justify solar since we’re barely into tier 2… it doesn’t pencil out. Plus our cars are reliable and I don’t like the idea of replacing something that is reliable and functional.

But 4-5 years down the line – we’ll be reviewing our options again.

[earlyretirement]

[quote=UCGal]Thanks for the write up and details.

We’re looking at an EV car in our future (to go with our hybrid SUV which will take us on vacations and longer trips.)

We’ll be timing it all when our roof needs replacing – EV car, Solar Panels, new roof, all concurrent. Right now I can’t justify solar since we’re barely into tier 2… it doesn’t pencil out. Plus our cars are reliable and I don’t like the idea of replacing something that is reliable and functional.

But 4-5 years down the line – we’ll be reviewing our options again.[/quote]

You’re welcome. I’ve NEVER been interested in EV’s until I test drove the Model S. I went to the UTC store literally dozens of times and I said to myself that I’m not an early adopter and I’ll wait until next year to buy one.

But then I test drove it. Long story short…I put a deposit down the same day. But it’s easily the best car I’ve ever owned. The car is a game changer.

I can’t justify solar either. We do use quite a bit of electricity in the summer but the rest of the year we don’t use much and I calculated it will be better to do what we have done with the dedicated meter and only charging super off peak.

I am enjoying the Model S so much that I think we will replace our other SUV (Audi Q7 TDI) next year to a Model X (Tesla SUV) when it comes out so that we will be completely with EV’s.

This technology really is amazing and it should only get better as battery technology improves.

[spdrun]

Why do you even need an SUV in San Diego — doesn’t the Model S sit seven people in a pinch?

[spdrun]

And everytime I see one I ask myself why there is a grille on the front …. (Or anywhere on the car for that matter).

Believe it or not, power electronics generate quite a bit of heat that needs to go somewhere. Plus intake for front brake cooling, HVAC blower, you get the idea.

It may not need to be as large as it is, but an air intake is definitely needed.

[BoomerAang]

Thanks for the information ER. The thought crossed my mind to get a separate TOU as well, but I thought it would be too much of a hassle and would be a good payout considering our usage. We were typically in tier 1 for usage, so I will see where we are at after getting an EV this month.

I couldn’t afford the Model S, but opted for the poor-man’s Tesla (Rav4 EV).

[earlyretirement]

[quote=spdrun]Why do you even need an SUV in San Diego — doesn’t the Model S sit seven people in a pinch?[/quote]

We definitely need an SUV as we have 2 young kids (and plan to have another). We do a lot of sporting stuff with 4 bikes and also have driven to Lake Tahoe to go skiing. We have roof racks that hold a lot of stuff when we go to the mountains.

The SUV has third row seating as well. I’ve been happy with the Audi Q7 TDI. I went with the diesel option and it gets really great gas mileage for being so heavy.

But yes, the Model S if you get the $2,500 rear seat option (which I did) has room for 7. But only kids can ride in the back until about 12 years old or so. But the kids LOVE it and always want to ride back there. But with the trunk and the frunk, there is TONS of room.

I think we will always keep an SUV around as we find use for it when we need more room. I think the battery technology still has room for improvement but the Model S shows what is capable these days.

[quote=BoomerAang]Thanks for the information ER. The thought crossed my mind to get a separate TOU as well, but I thought it would be too much of a hassle and would be a good payout considering our usage. We were typically in tier 1 for usage, so I will see where we are at after getting an EV this month.

I couldn’t afford the Model S, but opted for the poor-man’s Tesla (Rav4 EV).[/quote]

You’re totally welcome BoomerAang! I really had trouble finding information on doing this. The positive thing is SDGE reached out to me this morning as they read my post on one of the forums I posted this on. They asked if they could use my post internally to improve communications within their company.

So net net the post should improve things internally so other people have an easier time going through the process. I also asked them to look at my numbers and see if I made the right call going with the dedicated meter and they did believe that I did.

Besides the summer, I don’t use high amounts of electricity in tier 3 and 4 and I use the bulk of my power in peak times. So adding the entire house TOU 2 rate I don’t think would have made sense.

This way, I can simply pay the super off peak rates for my EV use. That use would have been at the higher tier 3 rates. So although it was a hassle and I spent $1,500 getting it installed with the permits, I think over the long haul it will be worth it.

I would have spent $400 anyway getting the HPWC (high power wall charger) for my Tesla installed and they did that. So net it was $1,100 more to get the 2nd dedicated EV TOU 2 meter installed with the permits.

I’ll try to keep detailed records now and monitor the usage with the miles used.

[no_such_reality]

How’s that seat do in a rear end collision? I can’t tell if it’s about the same distance from the rear as a 3rd row minivan (about 2 feet) or if it’s much closer to the rear of the car.

They’re beautiful cars if you can afford one, but $80K before tax incentives is pretty steep compared to sub-$20K and $150/month in gas for many really good sedans.

[earlyretirement]

[quote=no_such_reality]How’s that seat do in a rear end collision? I can’t tell if it’s about the same distance from the rear as a 3rd row minivan (about 2 feet) or if it’s much closer to the rear of the car.

They’re beautiful cars if you can afford one, but $80K before tax incentives is pretty steep compared to sub-$20K and $150/month in gas for many really good sedans.[/quote]

@ no such reality, it’s supposedly the safest place in the entire car! I had that concern before I bought but Elon Musk, the CEO has 5 kids and that is why he originally designed them in the first place. They reinforced that back area so it’s the strongest part of the car.

No, it’s not too close to the back but the thing that makes it so strong is the reinforcement. The car is a tank! Literally the safest car they have ever tested!

http://www.teslamotors.com/about/press/releases/tesla-model-s-achieves-best-safety-rating-any-car-ever-tested

They couldn’t even get it overturned without help. The car is so heavy with the battery on the bottom.

They ARE pricey. And the price is kind of gimmicky on their website as they back out the $7,500 federal tax rebate already which I don’t think is fair from a marketing standpoint as you still have to come up with the money at closing.

Plus, add on extras and the car adds up quickly. With TTL I spent $125,000 on mine. Plus several thousands more adding on various things like premium floor mats, tinting for the entire car, I’m going to get the XPEL wrap on the front as the paint is VERY soft. (I will however get back $10,000 of that. $2,500 from the State of California for a rebate program they have. Checks take about 2 months to get. Then I’ll get $7,500 credit on my federal taxes when I do my taxes for 2013 tax year).

Then it’s probably wise to prepay the annual service check ups and 4 year extended warranty which adds on another $8800.

People aren’t really buying these to “save money”. LOL. Yeah, you WILL save money in gas but not that much money. LOL. The people that I personally know buying them are people that love cutting edge technology, love cars, want a performance car or all of the above.

I was never a “car guy” but I LOVE LOVE LOVE technology and to me this is as cool as it gets. It feels like driving a spaceship. The power and acceleration is unreal.

For those of you that haven’t seen it in the showroom, you can do a walk through here:

http://www.teslamotors.com/models/walkthrough

Plus there is an iphone/Android app so I can control my car from anywhere so for example if it’s hot out and I want the car to be 65 degrees when I leave the restaurant I can control that from my App. Just amazing technology.

Most younger people know the car/model already but I’ve had several older people ask me “is that an Aston Martin”. LOL. I’ve gotten that about 4 times. And speaking of Aston Martin, I thought this video review was pretty cool from the UK of the Model S smoking an Aston.

[an]

[quote=earlyretirement]Most younger people know the car/model already but I’ve had several older people ask me “is that an Aston Martin”. LOL. I’ve gotten that about 4 times. And speaking of Aston Martin, I thought this video review was pretty cool from the UK of the Model S smoking an Aston.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUW0l7bZn1s%5B/quote%5D
The guy did say briefly that the interior quality is not even in the same league. But he only said it in 1 sentence and never mentioned about it again. As for performance, that Aston is a dog. Saying they beat the Aston is like saying you beat the slowest kid in your class. That’s not saying much. I love to see the pit the Model S against the latest S63 AMG. Or better yet, compare it against this beast: http://blog.caranddriver.com/brabus-builds-an-838-hp-s-class-the-new-one-its-ibusiness-time-2013-frankfurt-auto-show/?src=spr_GOOGLE_PLUS_PAGE&spr_id=1458_22864379 😀

I wonder if they’ll put more battery in the Model X to greatly extend the range, since they have a lot more space to work with. Imagine a 6000lb Model X tank that can go 500 miles. I think I’ll be totally interested in that.

I’m loving all these new tech that’s hitting the car market. Love this one from Toyota as well: http://www.autoblog.com/2013/09/11/toyota-yaris-hybrid-r-frankfurt-2013/#continued. Super-capacitor vs traditional batter. That’s cool. The new MBW i8 sounds cool too. For the car that size, I’m really impressed that they can get it to weigh ~3200 lb.

[Author]

Posts