Charge Timer

Since I'm now on a time of day meter, I need to take advantage of the lower rates after midnight by using a timer.
If I was using 110 vac I could have used a $3.00 timer - actually, probably not, but a cheaper one, just the same...
I use 220 vac so I needed to use a high end timer designed to control an electric water heater - $41 at Home Depot.
The instructions were pretty clear and wiring it up was pretty simple.
Now I'm charging at $.05 a KWH.

Discount Power

Power companies have excess power in the early morning hours. There generators are running, but since everyone is asleep, most of the power isn't used. Hence, this is the best time from the power company's perspective, to charge EVs - no need for additional power plants and extra revenue for the power companies. To encourage us to use this late night charging, many power companies have time of day metering where the late night power is significantly cheaper.

The local power company, PG & E has a special rate schedule for "experimental electric vehicles" called E-9. Applying for E-9 is tricky - you can find the rate schedule and a form to apply, but it doesn't tell you where to send the form and references a E-Net application that isn't mentioned on the web site at all. I sent them an email which gave me a contact that gave me the address.

After reviewing the rates, we decide to have a second meter installed for the car - that way we aren't paying $.28instead of $.11 a KWH for household appliances during peak summer months.

Okay, the form filled out I pop in in the mail and hear nothing. Friday morning a blue truck pulls up and a guy has a work order to swamp our residential meeter with a time of day unit programmed for E-9 rates. Not what we wanted, but after talking with him, we could either have him put the house on E-9 or not, he couldn't put a second meeter in. We decided we'd give it a try for a month and see how it worked.

Now I need to put in a timer on my charger circuit so that it only kicks in after midnight...

Drain AC system

Found a guy willing to buy my engine for $100. I might have been able to get more, but I can’t get really started until the engine is out and it’s easier to sell it when the buyer can hear it run in the car rather than sitting in the corner of your garage. The waiting is getting to me, so need to let it go. So the AC needs to professionally emptied because the R12 coolant is nasty stuff. Found out there are only two places in SF that do it. I picked one, topped off the coolant (leaky water pump) and drove off. After $35 and an hour it was done. Car rides pretty nice, too.