July experience with Sunrun is good - so far

[Alan168]

Sunrun Experience
I am keeping my fingers crossed because so far I am having a good experience with Sunrun.

On July 20th I received an email saying it was time to get ready for my new Lightning by calling Sunrun at a number they provided in the email. I called them the same day.

The Sunrun rep asked me if I wanted the bi-directional inverter for $9,400.00. I told him no. He asked if I wanted a solar system installed on my roof. I said no. He then explained they wanted to schedule installation of the Ford Charge Station Pro. I asked him the cost and he said about $1,650.00, assuming there aren’t any unusual circumstances (electrical panel upgrades, long wire runs, etc.) at my house. See details below on my specific circumstances.

I asked him several questions such as: does the cost include labor, materials, wiring and permitting. He said it is all inclusive. I confirmed with him that they would supply the CSP at no extra cost because I ordered a Platinum trim level. He said yes. I told him to sign me up and paid a $150.00 deposit. He scheduled a tech to come to my house on July 25th. The tech called ahead and showed up on time. He spent about 45 minutes at my house and said I should hear from Sunrun in a week or so. I received the contracts within a week and they were exactly as we discussed with no change in price or scope.

As it stands now (August 3rd), Sunrun is scheduled to begin the install on August 16th. This means I could have the CSP about 5 weeks before my scheduled build date!

By the way … the contract says if I cancel the truck order, I must pay Ford $1,310 for the CSP.

Specific details about my house electrical service: I have a 200 amp panel because the house was built with baseboard electric heat. I have since converted to natural gas so I was able to remove five 220volt, 20 amp breakers from the panel. That gives me the 100 amp capacity required for the CSP. The CSP will be mounted in my garage and is about 50 to 60 feet from the electrical panel.

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[run4tacos]

My process with them has looked somewhat different.

I started with them in late April - I had a 5/20 blend date. I asked them to quote me Solar along with the CSP installation. I decided to go with CSP installation only.

From April to May 20th, I had a lot of back and forth with my rep and it seemed apparent that Ford and Sunburn had some kinks to work out and I was told it was through permitting although I hadn't signed a contract yet, but they've taken the deposit.

In the mean time it's looking like my truck is going to arrive around 6/30, so the last week in June I reach back out to my rep and get an email bounce back. Apparently he's left the company and nobody is assigned to work my case.

They get somebody assigned and he works quickly to get things back in order. I find out the design hadn't gone to permitting. At this point it's not the end of the world, because Ford has pushed back my ETA a full month. My new rep works to get the order through design and permitting and I sign a contract. Middle of July I go into my account and I see that the design shows the CSP in the wrong spot. I reach out to my rep we have some back and forth and send new pictures.

And sense then I have no response from my rep and I'm picking up my truck in a day or two and I won't have the charger even though I was trying to get it before the truck arrived. I could have pushed them harder, but I shouldn't have to. I was using them to simplify my life and get my install done before the Truck cam and all its done is complicated it.

 

[LSP]

That's very interesting. I have been a satisfied Sunrun customer for over two years for my solar and so far the Lightning experience with them has been good as well. FYI, I am adding a few more panels and upgrading my control panel with them as well as adding the HIS.

What is different about my experience is that although Sunrun is ready to go, they told me a while back that the Charge Pro will be shipped directly to me from Ford after I have taken delivery (which was last Monday) and then they can schedule the installation. Anecdotally, from other threads the chargers have been shipping to the customers two weeks after vehicle delivery and confirmation of delivery address. If they do have your charger for you and install it well in advance of your getting your truck that will be good for you!

 

[Alan168]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. My experience may still go south - time will tell!

So far my experience is what customers have a right to expect. Ford should have always planned to provide the chargers before the trucks arrive in order for customers to get them installed and ready to charge. In my opinion, anything short of that is corporate incompetence. My contract says If I decide to cancel the truck, then I owe Ford $1,310.00 for the charger. Or Ford could build the cost of the charger into the order down payment so they don't have to chase a customer for payment of the charger. There are ways to handle this without creating angry customers, and a major black eye for Ford!

 

[cvalue13]

So, what did time tell?

 

[Alan168]

Update to July experience with Sunrun - Sept 13, 2022

Sorry for not responding sooner but I wanted to hold off the update because a major step was scheduled for Sept 13th.

To briefly recap my story so far, Sunrun was scheduled to install my Ford CSP on August 16th. As nearly everyone on this forum predicted, that did not happen. I reached out to the Sunrun rep and on Aug 17th he said they were still working on my design. He also told me to watch for an email that would ask for my VIN number. I received the email on Aug 30th and provided the number. I received a second email on the same day asking to confirm my home mailing address, which I did.

Sunrun said they would ship the CSP directly to my home. On Friday, Sept 9th, I received an email from Sunrun informing me the charger had been shipped via Fedex and was expected to arrive on Tues, Sept 13th. A tracking number was included and the Fedex site stated someone had to be present at the time of delivery to sign for the package. The CSP was delivered on the 13th as promised. I am waiting for the electrician to get back to me with an installation date. FYI, the electrician is an independent contractor from my local area (Western Massachusetts) hired by Sunrun to pull permits and perform the work. My guess is the work will be complete around the first or second week of October, which will be about six to eight weeks later than Sunrun’s original schedule. I will try to photo document the installation and post it on this site.

My truck has a production date of Sept 26th so I am one of the fortunate customers that will (probably!) have a home charging station installed before taking delivery of the truck. I can’t imagine how frustrating it must be for those that received their trucks and had to rely on public charging stations!

 

[Alan168]

Update to July experience with Sunrun - Oct 13, 2022

On Friday Oct 2nd, a local electrician hired by Sunrun installed my Ford CSP. He was skilled and competent, and completed the install in about 4.5 hours. He had recently installed an identical charger so he had experience with the equipment. I had no trouble connecting the charger to my Wi-Fi network and the Ford CSP app, but could not get the CSP app to connect to my FordPass app. Later I entered the VIN number of my yet-to-be-delivered Lightning and the apps began talking to each other. Now all I need is my truck! It has been built and is expected to arrive at my local Ford dealer by Nov 1st.

I have included some pics of the installation. The first pic shows my breaker panel (200 amp) with the new 100 amp breaker for the charger. The brass device is to lock the breaker in the "off" position for safety before doing any work on the charger. The second pic shows the finished installation with the charger and conduit. I insisted on copper wire so the electrician used #3 gauge wire. The third pic shows a "pass-thru" I made in the wall to allow me to route the charger plug directly to the charging point on the Lightning. If you look closely, you can see the F-150 logo of my current ice F-150. The final pic is my truck rolling off the assembly line. She's a beauty!

I expect that Sunrun will contact me soon for payment (they quoted me $1,650.00) but I haven't heard from them as I write this update.

 

[Pioneer74]

Is that 3/4" EMT and Liquidtite?

 

[Alan168]

Yes, it is EMT and Liquidtite. I'm not sure what the official size is because I'm not an electrician. (If it were tubing or piping I would know immediately.) I measured the OD of both and here are those measurements:
EMT is about 1 1/4 inches
Liquidtite is about 1 3/8 inches

Hope this helps!

 

[Maquis]

Yes, it is EMT and Liquidtite. I'm not sure what the official size is because I'm not an electrician. (If it were tubing or piping I would know immediately.) I measured the OD of both and here are those measurements:
EMT is about 1 1/4 inches
Liquidtite is about 1 3/8 inches

Hope this helps!

That’s 1” trade size. Good for 3 #3.

 

[Pioneer74]

Yes, it is EMT and Liquidtite. I'm not sure what the official size is because I'm not an electrician. (If it were tubing or piping I would know immediately.) I measured the OD of both and here are those measurements:
EMT is about 1 1/4 inches
Liquidtite is about 1 3/8 inches

Hope this helps!

Yeah. That is 1". Looks smaller in the picture. I have 1" going to my Emporia because I'm still waiting for my charger to come from Sunrun, and the size of the FCSP makes it look smaller.

 

[petemill]

Are any of you adding a disconnect in line of sight with the FCSP? My local codes (and many others from what I've seen) seem to state that if the EV charger is more than 60A, that there needs to be a means of disconnect or lockout visible. My 125A breaker subpanel is on the other side of the wall, so isn't line of sight. I was considering putting a small 100A subpanel next to the FCSP but seems overkill.

 

[Pioneer74]

My local jurisdiction didn't specify line of sight, but said if my panel wasn't in the same room as the EVSE that I needed to add a disconnect.

 

[Maquis]

Are any of you adding a disconnect in line of sight with the FCSP? My local codes (and many others from what I've seen) seem to state that if the EV charger is more than 60A, that there needs to be a means of disconnect or lockout visible. My 125A breaker subpanel is on the other side of the wall, so isn't line of sight. I was considering putting a small 100A subpanel next to the FCSP but seems overkill.

Sometimes a breaker lock is an acceptable alternative to disconnect in sight. Check the exact wording in the applicable code.

Not all brands of panels have breaker locks available.

 

[Alan168]

A breaker lock was installed in my panel by the Sunrun electrician. The electrical inspector was supposed to inspect his work 3 hours ago and so far has not shown up. I'll update this post after the inspection is completed, which at this point is completely unknown.

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