I ended up under $2000 including install and all parts/hardware. Electrician is really interested in getting more Tesla owners to use him, as more cars are sold to owners out in my area. I had to agree to allow his potential customers of Tesla owners to look over this install. I told him that if he did great work, I would have offered to do that for him for free anyway (I happen to be a CRM consultant and make it a point to refer and share positive customer experiences so that those businesses will have a better chance to flourish).
Here's all that was done:
- 1" 100amp line from outside meter box into basement fuse panel was replaced with a 2.5" 200 amp line
- Fuse panel with 24 breakers was replaced with 50 breaker panel in the basement
- Power Surge protector installed just before the main fuse panel (sold to me at his contractor cost)
- Voltage regulator installed just after the main fuse panel (given and installed for free seeing that he had one sitting in his truck and saw that I run quite a few electronics from home due to my business; I think he felt guilty that he thought I thought he was trying to upsell me more stuff during the process of install.
- 24 breaker fuse panel from basement was reused in garage
- ~150 foot of conduit was laid from basement fuse box to garage fuse box and then to HPWC
- 1 14-50 NEMA outlet installed pending 2nd visit
- 6 standard outlets installed pending 2nd visit
All in all, I think I ended up on a good deal. I know people have suggested just skipping the whole HPWC, but it seemed as if I needed to upgrade the incoming line and the basement fuse panel anyway. We are planning to finish our basement and our garage....the original panel just didn't have enough spots for doing either. Having to draw a 50 amp line in the garage anyway, I figured I may as well just have everything 'once and done' and have what I want from the get-go. Sure I may not use to the full potential from the things I
want, but at least I'm happy. That's what's important anyway....I could have had and used a Nissan Leaf more to its potential, but got a Model S.
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Only problem with this install is that I almost always have to back the car into the garage.
It wasn't until we got the car home and realized how wide the car is. Really, it's like a normal car...but for my wife and me, 'normal' cars have been BMW 3-series sized cars or smaller. We had a Toyota Highlander Hybrid and currently have a Toyota Tacoma, but both those sat/sit outside on the driveway. Backing that wide a55 up into the garage is un-nerving, especially without hearing engine spool up and not be able to slip a clutch.
I'm learning to turn 'creep' on when backing into the garage, when it's normally off.