There are relatively cheap alternatives for L2 charger, and besides what you point out, its convenience IMHO offsets 'recovering its cost'. I bought one of those ZenCar 120/240 V 16 A portable L2 chargers less than $200 on Amazon, plus a 20A dual breaker, 3 feet of wire #12 and and a NEMA 6-20 outlet (less than $50 at Home Depot), did the whole install in half an hour and it has been working great the last couple of months. My electrician friend helped me install it for free (except for a few beers after) but that could be accounted as cheating so I apologize. In any case, if you use the car only for commuting to work and charging there as I used to, and charge only at night, you may not need an L2 charger but now when I have to drive 50-some miles in the morning and still having to go out and do other stuff in the afternoon (retirement can be really strange), I really appreciate being able to take off again after 3 hours and nor having to wait 8-10. But I haven't received my electricity bill yet. Fingers crossed!
The point, for me, was multiple: 1. My next vehicle will be an EV and I wanted to be future-proof. 2. A 240V EVSE is slightly more efficient than a 120V "granny cable" so less electricity is wasted. 3. Being plugged into a 240V EVSE means there's never a problem preconditioning the cabin as power is drawn effortlessly from the grid. 4. My electrical utility offered a $250 rebate to install an EVSE.
