Advice please: Gen2 Wall Connector installed Outside or not?

[Jstar97]

Howdy - I'm debating between having a 14-50 outlet installed and charging with the mobile charger or the convenience of having the wall connector where the car will be parked. That said, the car will be parked outside full time with no garage and the wall connector will also be outside.

If Mobile charger, then I'd have a 14-50 outlet attached to the house and back the car slightly into the grass so the cord can reach. I'm ok with this, but would rather ..
If Wall connector, then I'd have an electrician bury about 24 feet of cable connected to the wall charger sitting right where the car would be parked. This seems better than having the mobile connector and cable exposed all the time for home charging.

I was able to get a Gen 2 wall connector with 8.5 foot cable for about $289 and the sparky guy estimated about $1500 for the install including trenching. It's the trenching that adds more to the labor. Would be about the same ($400-500) for the 14-50 outlet if I were to mount the Wall connector to the house, but then I run into the "long exposed charging cable" issue and the 24 foot wall connector would just barely reach the car with little to no slack.

 

[Tam]

Howdy - I'm debating between having a 14-50 outlet installed and charging with the mobile charger or the convenience of having the wall connector where the car will be parked. That said, the car will be parked outside full time with no garage and the wall connector will also be outside.

If Mobile charger, then I'd have a 14-50 outlet attached to the house and back the car slightly into the grass so the cord can reach. I'm ok with this, but would rather ..
If Wall connector, then I'd have an electrician bury about 24 feet of cable connected to the wall charger sitting right where the car would be parked. This seems better than having the mobile connector and cable exposed all the time for home charging.

I was able to get a Gen 2 wall connector with 8.5 foot cable for about $289 and the sparky guy estimated about $1500 for the install including trenching. It's the trenching that adds more to the labor. Would be about the same ($400-500) for the 14-50 outlet if I were to mount the Wall connector to the house, but then I run into the "long exposed charging cable" issue and the 24 foot wall connector would just barely reach the car with little to no slack.

I would choose the wall connector. More expensive but it’s a permanent setup and safer especially for outdoor.

 

[davewill]

The mobile connector isn't rated for weather exposure. If it were me, I'd definitely do the Wall Connector, and I would spend the extra to mount it close to the parking space. Dealing with a long cable all the time is no fun.

 

[Sophias_dad]

Easy choice... wall connector

 

[Jstar97]

Easy choice... wall connector

Yup, that was my gut feeling as well all things consider. Seems everyone else agrees

 

[jmaddr]

Wall connector for sure. I’ve had mine installed in much the same condition for almost 4 years in Florida. No issues and super convenient.

 

[Tronguy]

Wall connector is rated for outdoors. NEMA14-50.. sort of. But not really. And the mobile connector, as others have pointed out, isn't really for outdoor continuous use.

 

[Kimmi]

WC FTW!

 

[KenC]

And, is it possible to save on the trenching by doing it as a weekend project? Do you have kids?

 

[Jstar97]

And, is it possible to save on the trenching by doing it as a weekend project? Do you have kids?

Yeah I’m gonna start the project, already called the local “is it safe to dig” folks.

Need to decide where going to put the charger. I want it behind the car but that means trenching under the hot tub and dealing with a new set of hassles.

Beside the car is a straight shot from the house and shorter with no drama but not my preferred location.

 

[tga]

Yeah I’m gonna start the project, already called the local “is it safe to dig” folks.

Need to decide where going to put the charger. I want it behind the car but that means trenching under the hot tub and dealing with a new set of hassles.

Beside the car is a straight shot from the house and shorter with no drama but not my preferred location.

Just a heads up, my local dig safe people only mark public utilities. If you have an underground feeder from the house to the hot tub, I wouldn't expect them to mark it.

 

[LoL-Gas]

Glad you are going the wall connector route. I charged with the mobile connector outside for over a year. It did well in snow and rain but doesn't do too well with heat and sunlight. I was always getting the warning that amps reduced for temp, or something like that. Happened so often while camping on a 14-50 that I just stopped charging all together while at the camp site.