$14K Tesla Charger Install

[TurdSnack]

To make a long story short I recently purchased a Model 3 and was going through the usual process of seeing what I am able to do in regards to charging since I currently drive 40-60 miles a day and get about 4 miles of charge an hour each night on a standard outlet. I purchased the wall charger and after reaching out to an electrician that Tesla recommended a couple months ago they call me back yesterday stating that they have good news and bad news. The good news was that So Cal Edison would run higher wattage cabling to my condo unit for free. The bad news was that it would require trenching, running new conduit from the street and cutting up the driveway and alleyway leading from my unit to the street to accomplish this. For a total cost of $14,000.

Apparently the condo unit I am living in is a single 100A line from the street to a dual meter panel. So each unit has 50A available max. Now if I do the napkin math per Tesla I save about $5000 a year so this new construction would pay for itself over a period of 3 years technically. Is it normal for these upgrades to cost so much? Am I crazy for wanting to be able to charge faster than 4 miles an hour? Any suggestions here?

 

[kbecks13]

Wow that's rough. Any chance you can charge at work? Your employer might actually be willing to install some chargers, mine did!

How does the current 100A line run now? I don't understand why they'd need to trench if you have an existing line. I would think they could just pull another cable through the existing trench?

 

[iluvmacs]

Surely they can still manage a 30A, 20A, or even 15A circuit for you at 240V without all that. Even if you had to go (slightly) crazy and install a transfer switch for an existing dryer or range circuit, it would come out far, far less expensive. Don't pay $14K. You would probably set a record of some kind if you pay that much. Also, I don't know what you were driving previously that supposedly enables you to save $5K/year, but damn that must have been an expensive-to-operate vehicle!

 

[traxila]

Surely they can still manage a 30A, 20A, or even 15A circuit for you at 240V without all that. Even if you had to go (slightly) crazy and install a transfer switch for an existing dryer or range circuit, it would come out far, far less expensive. Don't pay $14K. You would probably set a record of some kind if you pay that much. Also, I don't know what you were driving previously that supposedly enables you to save $5K/year, but damn that must have been an expensive-to-operate vehicle!

This.

You don’t have to get to thirty mph with a 240 / 40 amp. Even 10mph will solve your issues. Just get something more than a standard wall plug.

 

[ewoodrick]

50A max for the panel is definitely going to be a problem. And yes, when additional lines are run, you might as well bend over.

See if the existing 15A 120V plug can be switched to a 20A plug. That should push your numbers up a little and get some cushion.

 

[brkaus]

I had a similar quote when asking about moving from propane heat to electric. Dig up, new conduit, replace concrete, etc. yuck.

So you have 50a available. What does your load call look like? What are your main electric loads?

Could they put a second meter (or tap the existing one) and get you power elsewhere?

What @iluvmacs said. If you can get 240v/20a you are still better off by a good margin.

 

[ba2002]

I think I would move.

 

[Kuhz]

I have 100A running to my house. Luckily I ran a gas line to the range (from the water heater one wall over, very simple) which freed up that 30A outlet. Turned off the breaker for that plug and installed a new 60A breaker for the HPWC and never had a problem. Even during high load times like running electric washer and dryer during charging. Can something like this be done at your place?

 

[Kuhz]

I think I would move.

No guarantee that it’ll be a better situation in the next place....

 

[P85_DA]

To make a long story short I recently purchased a Model 3 and was going through the usual process of seeing what I am able to do in regards to charging since I currently drive 40-60 miles a day and get about 4 miles of charge an hour each night on a standard outlet. I purchased the wall charger and after reaching out to an electrician that Tesla recommended a couple months ago they call me back yesterday stating that they have good news and bad news. The good news was that So Cal Edison would run higher wattage cabling to my condo unit for free. The bad news was that it would require trenching, running new conduit from the street and cutting up the driveway and alleyway leading from my unit to the street to accomplish this. For a total cost of $14,000.

Apparently the condo unit I am living in is a single 100A line from the street to a dual meter panel. So each unit has 50A available max. Now if I do the napkin math per Tesla I save about $5000 a year so this new construction would pay for itself over a period of 3 years technically. Is it normal for these upgrades to cost so much? Am I crazy for wanting to be able to charge faster than 4 miles an hour? Any suggestions here?

I assume u r in LA/OC area as u list SCE as provider ..there are more than enough SCs in LA area I would use that over paying 14k ..there were some recent code changes inCA requiring different conduit sizes for upgraded service ..which is probably why they want to trench out and put new conduit ..

 

[TurdSnack]

I had a second totally different electrician come out and take a look. He word for word told me the exact same thing the first did. Just didn't say anything about the price other than it would require trenching and would cost a pretty penny, he said there wasn't anything he could do until So Cal Edison upgraded the service to the unit.

I think a transfer switch is out of the question since the unit has no air conditioning and only a gas heater (no real high electrical load at night)

I've been digging around and seeing what options I have but so far I think the interior panel is oversized for the feed to the building. I have 50A service but the interior panel is a 100A panel with only one or two slots free. Anyone in southern california and have an electrician they recommend to come make sure I'm not getting ripped off here. As others have said if I could get 10mph of charge even that would make a huge difference.

 

[ReddyLeaf]

Sorry about that. Apparently lots of places in CA are 100A, and unfortunately you are sharing, so 50A. That is approaching Japan-style electric. I don’t see a good way out of this, except to charge on 120V, 20A preferably as someone else mentioned, or at a minimum keep charging at 12A. I have a 200A panel, but still charge at 120V because my panel is in the basement, 100 ft from the garage and through two 8 in concrete walls. I didn’t even bother to get a quote. All of my Tesla miles are out of town, so not a problem to spend 3 days getting to full.

 

[P85_DA]

I have 50A service but the interior panel is a 100A panel with only one or two slots free

You mentioned the street service is only 100a that is split between 2units ..that is the limiting factor

 

[TurdSnack]

I assume u r in LA/OC area as u list SCE as provider ..there are more than enough SCs in LA area I would use that over paying 14k ..there were some recent code changes inCA requiring different conduit sizes for upgraded service ..which is probably why they want to trench out and put new conduit ..

That actually explains a lot, after searching online I found info saying that my existing conduit should handle 150-200amp service. That means if I had the service upgraded a couple years ago it would probably have been fine with the old code.

 

[kbecks13]

Yea you should get a 240V/20A or 30A connection, seems like its possible with your existing panel and low electrical load, but may require new wiring from panel to your charging location. Still a lot cheaper than 14K

Model S/X/3 Gen 2 NEMA Adapters

 

[Saghost]

That's a lot of money, but overall it doesn't sound like a horrible idea. There are a lot of EV owners in Cali now, and likely a lot more in a few years, so in addition to the fuel savings in the Tesla, having the better wiring and charger install (or location for an install if they don't get a Tesla) seems like it should add to the value/desirability of the condo in the long run and make it easier to sell.

 

[TurdSnack]

Yea you should get a 240V/20A or 30A connection, seems like its possible with your existing panel and low electrical load, but may require new wiring from panel to your charging location. Still a lot cheaper than 14K

View attachment 364293

Model S/X/3 Gen 2 NEMA Adapters

After checking my breaker I believe my service is technically 120V/50 total for the unit. The exterior 50A breaker lists 120V on it not 240V....I need to move

 

[Saghost]

After checking my breaker I believe my service is technically 120V/50 total for the unit. The exterior 50A breaker lists 120V on it not 240V....I need to move

That's insane. You could have three sets of standard outlets on that, and nothing else.

 

[kbecks13]

After checking my breaker I believe my service is technically 120V/50 total for the unit. The exterior 50A breaker lists 120V on it not 240V....I need to move

In that case, if you own it, you should really consider just investing the money in upgrading the electrical service as it will transfer to equity in the property. Any chance you could (or someone could) install AC in the future?

 

[andy92782]

Maybe you could use a DCC-10?

DCC-10 Avoids Major Home Electrical Upgrades for an EV Charging Installation

It could monitor the shared 100A feed coming in from SCE and cut off your charger if the shared load between the two condos gets too high. Not quite the way it was originally intended to operate but it might be worthy of a conversation with the manufacturer.

I used a DCC to work around a similar situation at my condo. PM me if you need more info. I can also recommend a good electrician (located in OC).