It has been close to two months since the installation and one month since the city inspection, so…read moreI feel ready to give a fair review.
I needed to install my own Emporia Pro charger with a load balancer and wanted to get it done quickly and with a permit. I reached out to EV Charger Expert. I communicated with two people from the company: Kirill, the sales manager, and Erin, the electrician/installer.
**The Good**
Kirill is very prompt and responsive. He always answers the phone and is willing to discuss the details. He clearly knows the intricacies of EV charger installations, even in more complex situations. He was able to schedule the installation very quickly, and the work was completed on time. The city inspection was done one month later and passed without any issues.
So, my primary goal was achieved: I had my charger installed, permitted, and running ASAP.
**The Bad**
The cost of the installation was fairly high. I paid $2,450 for installation, materials, and the permit. Since I provided my own charger, I believe the labor and other installation costs represented the majority of that amount. For this price, I expected a very high-quality job.
Erin installed and set up everything within one day. Two relatively minor problems occurred. If the company had handled these issues better, I would have given them four or even five stars.
**1. The load balancer antenna**
My charger includes a load balancer with a small antenna. The antenna is supposed to stick out from the metal subpanel so that it can receive a Wi-Fi signal.
After the installation, the antenna was hanging through a large round hole in the subpanel. It looked unfinished and, in my opinion, was both unattractive and potentially unsafe. I could not convince the installer to cover the opening, so I had to do it myself.
I made a trip to Home Depot, spent about $10 on parts, and made a simple cover myself. The antenna is now secure and the opening is properly covered. Please see the before-and-after pictures.
**2. Stripped subpanel screw**
During the installation, one of the four screws holding the subpanel door was stripped. I considered this a safety issue. I notified both the installer and the sales manager by SMS that evening, as soon as I noticed it.
The installer called me back two days later and, to put it mildly, was quite rude. He told me that it was not an emergency and that they would take care of it on the day of the inspection.
On the day of the inspection, Kirill did not have the appropriate replacement hardware. I suggested using a tap and a slightly larger screw to repair the stripped hole, but he declined.
Once again, I had to make a trip to a hardware store, purchase a set of taps and screws, and repair it myself. To be fair, Kirill reimbursed me $30 for the cost of the screws and taps.
In total, I made several trips to a hardware store and spent several hours fixing issues that I believe should have been addressed by the installer.
**Overall**
The installation was completed quickly, on schedule, and passed the city inspection without any problems. Kirill was also very responsive throughout the process.
However, given the high price, I expected better attention to detail and better handling of the two relatively minor issues that came up. Neither problem was particularly difficult or expensive to fix, but in both cases, I ultimately had to resolve the issue myself.
For me, the installation achieved its main objective, but the quality of the finishing work and the way the problems were handled left something to be desired. For these reasons, I am giving EV Charger Expert three stars.
