Attempt at having Tesla install wall connector.

[mikeclimbs]

Sorry I may be venting my frustration here.

Had an interesting day attempting to have Tesla install a wall connector. Seems as though Tesla is experiencing a lot of growing pains.

I'm based in NY and my breaker box is on the opposite end of the house. Last week I submitted a request for an estimate on having the wall connector installed via Tesla's website. I answered all the questions providing as much detail as I could and received an estimated cost of $1,625 to provide and install a wall connector.

Today rolls around ad 2 electricians in tesla t-shirts show up at my house at 8 am. I show them where the breaker box is and where I would like the wall connector installed. We decide the easiest install is to run a conduit outside the house to the garage. Estimating a total of 70 feet. Exactly the distance I told them when requesting an estimate. They said the plan makes sense they just need management approval before they start. At 10 am they knock on the door and tell me they haven't started since there still waiting on approval. At noon they knock on the door and tell me they got approval but the cost is going to be $2,700. I told them I need to get other estimates and sent them home.

I drive about 200 miles a week and a Super Charger just opened up 10 minutes from my house and doing some quick math for $2,700 I can buy about 50,000 miles of driving at a supercharger. Leaning towards going that route, supplementing charges with 110 volt charging.

I'm a bit dumbfounded on the whole day. How is the estimate so off? How can they afford to pay 2 guys to sit in my driveway for 4 hours? Should I bother contacting corporate to complain?

 

[PURE NRG]

I had a local electrician install mine. I paid $500 for the wall unit from Tesla and the electrician charged $650 for base install, $200 for outdoor GFCI breaker and other related gear, and $20 per foot for wiring and conduit between panel and destination. That would put it right around your $2700 quote for 70 feet.

 

[jebinc]

Sorry I may be venting my frustration here.

Had an interesting day attempting to have Tesla install a wall connector. Seems as though Tesla is experiencing a lot of growing pains.

I'm based in NY and my breaker box is on the opposite end of the house. Last week I submitted a request for an estimate on having the wall connector installed via Tesla's website. I answered all the questions providing as much detail as I could and received an estimated cost of $1,625 to provide and install a wall connector.

Today rolls around ad 2 electricians in tesla t-shirts show up at my house at 8 am. I show them where the breaker box is and where I would like the wall connector installed. We decide the easiest install is to run a conduit outside the house to the garage. Estimating a total of 70 feet. Exactly the distance I told them when requesting an estimate. They said the plan makes sense they just need management approval before they start. At 10 am they knock on the door and tell me they haven't started since there still waiting on approval. At noon they knock on the door and tell me they got approval but the cost is going to be $2,700. I told them I need to get other estimates and sent them home.

I drive about 200 miles a week and a Super Charger just opened up 10 minutes from my house and doing some quick math for $2,700 I can buy about 50,000 miles of driving at a supercharger. Leaning towards going that route, supplementing charges with 110 volt charging.

I'm a bit dumbfounded on the whole day. How is the estimate so off? How can they afford to pay 2 guys to sit in my driveway for 4 hours? Should I bother contacting corporate to complain?

Don't give up on the HPWC! You can buy it from the Telsa Shop for $500. Then have a local electrician install it. Should cost around $900-$1100 to install, depending on your situation. Alternatively, you can do it yourself, like I and many here have done. For me, the total cost was around $750, including the cost of the wall connector and new sub panel I put in with whole house surge protection. BTW, I love the thing - always a full tank when I leave the house!

EDIT: I don't know why the photos rotated, hate that, but you can get an idea..

 

[mikeclimbs]

View attachment 430468 View attachment 430469 View attachment 430470 View attachment 430471 View attachment 430472

Don't give up on the HPWC! You can buy it from the Telsa Shop for $500. Then have a local electrician install it. Should cost around $900-$1100 to install, depending on your situation. Alternatively, you can do it yourself, like I and many here have done. For me, the total cost was around $750, including the cost of the wall connector and new sub panel I put in with whole house surge protection. BTW, I love the thing - always a full tank when I leave the house!

EDIT: I don't know why the photos rotated, hate that, but you can get an idea..

I'm thinking of doing it myself, depends on where the other estimates come in. I've replaced breakers in the past, but have never installed a new one.

 

[jebinc]

I'm thinking of doing it myself, depends on where the other estimates come in. I've replaced breakers in the past, but have never installed a new one.

Just remember to don your PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). It's quite easy to do. Just make sure the main breakers are off, and that your wearing rubber gloves when working in the main panel - just for extra caution. Let's me first state that I am not an electrician, so consult one or your local code requirements - Now that's out of the way, consider going with 3 or 4 gauge THHN wire in a conduit to a new 60 amp DP breaker. Some cheaper electricians may run 6 gauge THHN, which may be the minimum for code, but I wouldn't (runs warmer and voltage drop) - especially since you're going 70' (voltage drop). Future proof by running a black, red, white and green (ground) in the conduit. You won't use the neutral white wire for the HPWC, but it's good to have ran it - in case down the road you dump the Tesla and go with another brand. Then, it's easy-peasy to install an NEMA 14-50 plug for whatever. Of course, then you would have to replace the 60 amp DP breaker in the panel with a 50 amp DP, as the NEMA 14-50 is only rated for 50 amps. Process wise, you can wire everything but the main panel first. Then, if you don't have the "stones" to do the main panel, you can hire out just the hook up. Just a thought...

EDIT: My run was 40' and I used 4/3 cable, as HD was out of 3 and 4 AWG THHN

 

[ewoodrick]

Sorry I may be venting my frustration here.

Had an interesting day attempting to have Tesla install a wall connector. Seems as though Tesla is experiencing a lot of growing pains.

I'm based in NY and my breaker box is on the opposite end of the house. Last week I submitted a request for an estimate on having the wall connector installed via Tesla's website. I answered all the questions providing as much detail as I could and received an estimated cost of $1,625 to provide and install a wall connector.

Today rolls around ad 2 electricians in tesla t-shirts show up at my house at 8 am. I show them where the breaker box is and where I would like the wall connector installed. We decide the easiest install is to run a conduit outside the house to the garage. Estimating a total of 70 feet. Exactly the distance I told them when requesting an estimate. They said the plan makes sense they just need management approval before they start. At 10 am they knock on the door and tell me they haven't started since there still waiting on approval. At noon they knock on the door and tell me they got approval but the cost is going to be $2,700. I told them I need to get other estimates and sent them home.

I drive about 200 miles a week and a Super Charger just opened up 10 minutes from my house and doing some quick math for $2,700 I can buy about 50,000 miles of driving at a supercharger. Leaning towards going that route, supplementing charges with 110 volt charging.

I'm a bit dumbfounded on the whole day. How is the estimate so off? How can they afford to pay 2 guys to sit in my driveway for 4 hours? Should I bother contacting corporate to complain?

Running a circuit 70 ft isn't trivial. My thoughts is that the low-balled you on the estimate.

 

[srs5694]

EDIT: I don't know why the photos rotated, hate that, but you can get an idea..

Most (all?) digital cameras, including those in cell phones, have a "native" orientation. When you rotate the camera, it has sensors to detect this, and it includes an EXIF code in the image to the effect that it's been rotated. Most (but not all) image viewing programs read this code and rotate the image appropriately to orient it properly. I don't know if the problem is with forum software or with Web browsers, but in most cases this adjustment doesn't work when images are embedded in Web forum threads like this one. In some cases, clicking the image to view it in isolation fixes the problem, but that's not the case with the photos you posted in this thread. Perhaps this forum is configured to strip away the EXIF metadata even when viewing photos in isolation or perhaps you did so yourself (intentionally or not) before posting the photos.

In any event, if you want photos to appear with proper orientation on a Web forum, you should load them into a photo editing tool like Photoshop or GIMP and then save them back out again. Normally this will re-orient them and obviate the need for the EXIF rotation metadata. If not, try making a trivial change, like cropping away one pixel's worth of size on one side of the image or re-sizing the image, before saving it. Going through this routine will also enable you to wipe away the EXIF metadata, which can contain sensitive data such as your location. If the forum strips away all the EXIF metadata, doing it yourself will be redundant; but if the forum does not strip EXIF metadata, you'll be keeping it private. You can usually strip EXIF metadata using an option in the "save" dialog box, but details vary from one program to another.

 

[Sky-Pilot]

$2,700... wow! I had a 240v 14-50 outlet and a 120v GCI auxilery outlet installed a few weeks ago for $450 (for both). I liked the Tesla wall charger, but I though I'd rather just have the 240v 14-50 installed because whoever buys my house next may not have a Tesla, rendering the Tesla wall charger useless (for them). The aux 120v was just to have another double outlet 120v in the area.

 

[Dogtone]

Here in Tucson it cost me about $1800.00 to have an electrician install a 60 amp branch 125 feet from the main panel
To my garage using 3 lines of no 4 THNN with a ground running through 1.5 “ rain tight EMT. The Pima county building permit was included

 

[AKinDC]

I avoided using the Tesla service for precisely that reason...I knew I had a complicated install, and wanted them to see it in person.
I'd wouldn't use them unless your electric box is in your garage.
On the plus side, I asked Tesla to recommend a local electrician, and they were happy to do that. Got a few other quotes, but ended up using the person they recommended, and was very happy.

 

[Dogtone]

The people that did my install were Tesla Recommended. There were 3 people on site for most of the day. The supervisor spent some time reviewing the site and drawing the permit and getting the Inspector out here.
Clearly not your simple install.

 

[esrandl]

If you drive 40 miles a day you will easily recharge that on just 110V. Just keep your range around 180-200ish for the days you might drive more. You will catch back up on the weekend. If you have Supercharger nearby you can just hit it when convenient and top up as needed or just prior to a long trip. I did 3 yrs on 110V no problems. I actually do have 240V now, but it didn't change anything for me so it was almost a waste of money except now I don't hit the Supercharger on rare occasions anymore.

The math doesn't support paying for an expensive install.

 

[AKinDC]

If you drive 40 miles a day you will easily recharge that on just 110V. Just keep your range around 180-200ish for the days you might drive more. You will catch back up on the weekend. If you have Supercharger nearby you can just hit it when convenient and top up as needed or just prior to a long trip. I did 3 yrs on 110V no problems. I actually do have 240V now, but it didn't change anything for me so it was almost a waste of money except now I don't hit the Supercharger on rare occasions anymore.

The math doesn't support paying for an expensive install.

I did the 110 for a few months as well, and I could have lived with it.
But I found I was getting range/charging anxiety, knowing how long it would take to recharge, and I found myself saying, "do I really want to drive to 'X', knowing I'll have to keep the car plugged in non-stop for a while?"
Plus, when I'd return from long trips, it took forever to get back to full, and there isn't a convenient supercharger nearby. Even if there was, the joy of having an electric car is NOT having to go anywhere to "fill up".
So yes, the upgrade wasn't necessary, but it has given me peace of mind, which for $800 (after my state refund) is certainly worth it, even if the financial math doesn't work out in the long run.

 

[esrandl]

Also agree with above post; NEMA 14-50 and mobile connector makes way more sense if you go 240V. Cheaper and possibly useful for other things or home sale. I understand a HPWC looks nice.. but unless you have a 'dual charger' Model S (which I did incidentally), you still can't charge much faster than the mobile connector as the vehicle on board charger limits overall rate even if you could run 70 amps from the HPWC.

 

[mikeclimbs]

It just got interesting. Just received an email from Tesla asking to confirm install for $1,900. Called Tesla to confirm price was correct. They told me there should have been a $250 upcharge for the additional conduit not $1,200.

I approved the order for $1,900 we'll see what happens.

Mike

 

[esrandl]

I did the 110 for a few months as well, and I could have lived with it.
But I found I was getting range/charging anxiety, knowing how long it would take to recharge, and I found myself saying, "do I really want to drive to 'X', knowing I'll have to keep the car plugged in non-stop for a while?"
Plus, when I'd return from long trips, it took forever to get back to full, and there isn't a convenient supercharger nearby. Even if there was, the joy of having an electric car is NOT having to go anywhere to "fill up".
So yes, the upgrade wasn't necessary, but it has given me peace of mind, which for $800 (after my state refund) is certainly worth it, even if the financial math doesn't work out in the long run.

Concur, peace of mind is important. That's why I *did* eventually go to 240V.. even though it really didn't change my driving much. I agree, I can occasionally show up to house nearly empty and not hit the Supercharger which is nice. I did have free unlimited with my last Model S.. so that made it easier as well, but now I don't.

 

[redgt]

I drive about 200 miles a week and a Super Charger just opened up 10 minutes from my house and doing some quick math for $2,700 I can buy about 50,000 miles of driving at a supercharger. Leaning towards going that route, supplementing charges with 110 volt charging.

You aren't considering your time spent at the supercharger

Do you have a dedicated appliance 5-20 plug in your garage? Or any type of 240V already? Might be some easier/cheaper solutions to get you decent home charging

 

[Cycle11111]

Sorry I may be venting my frustration here.

Had an interesting day attempting to have Tesla install a wall connector. Seems as though Tesla is experiencing a lot of growing pains.

I'm based in NY and my breaker box is on the opposite end of the house. Last week I submitted a request for an estimate on having the wall connector installed via Tesla's website. I answered all the questions providing as much detail as I could and received an estimated cost of $1,625 to provide and install a wall connector.

Today rolls around ad 2 electricians in tesla t-shirts show up at my house at 8 am. I show them where the breaker box is and where I would like the wall connector installed. We decide the easiest install is to run a conduit outside the house to the garage. Estimating a total of 70 feet. Exactly the distance I told them when requesting an estimate. They said the plan makes sense they just need management approval before they start. At 10 am they knock on the door and tell me they haven't started since there still waiting on approval. At noon they knock on the door and tell me they got approval but the cost is going to be $2,700. I told them I need to get other estimates and sent them home.

I drive about 200 miles a week and a Super Charger just opened up 10 minutes from my house and doing some quick math for $2,700 I can buy about 50,000 miles of driving at a supercharger. Leaning towards going that route, supplementing charges with 110 volt charging.

I'm a bit dumbfounded on the whole day. How is the estimate so off? How can they afford to pay 2 guys to sit in my driveway for 4 hours? Should I bother contacting corporate to complain?

Don't make Supercharging your primary charging for the following reasons - it ties them up for long distance travelers, likely there will be some degradation on your battery with excessive SC use (note Tesla will slow your SC speeds to protect the pack if you use massively), home charging is very cheap, I got a local electrician to install my Tesla Wall Connector for under $350 (I had no conduit to run though), lastly I also use SCs fairly regularly as I drive long distances constantly but having a home charger/connector makes life seamless.

 

[srs5694]

likely there will be some degradation on your battery with excessive SC use (note Tesla will slow your SC speeds to protect the pack if you use massively)

As I understand it, Tesla is known to have reduced the charge speed of some Model S and Model X cars with, IIRC, 85kWh battery packs that have charged more than a certain amount of kWh on Superchargers. AFAIK, Tesla has not done so on cars with other sizes of battery packs, and has not done so on any Model 3s. Thus, it's not clear that frequent Supercharger use will result in reduced Supercharger speed in the future. Right now, it looks like there's a design flaw with the S/X 85kWh battery pack, and Tesla is protecting those cars alone from damage caused by extensive use of Supercharging. It's conceivable that Tesla will do something similar with other cars at some point, but that's far from certain.

That said, Supercharging is generally believed to be bad for batteries -- but not hugely bad. It's probably better to use Level 2 charging whenever that's practical, but if your life circumstances make that impractical, relying on Supercharging may be a reasonable option. The Model 3 has an 8-year/100,000-mile (for SR/SR+; 8-year/120,000-mile for LR) battery warranty, with 70% original battery capacity guaranteed in that period, and no mention of Supercharging in the warranty, AFAIK.

 

[Silicon Desert]

Maybe someone is going to educate me on this item. I must be out of touch with things, but I thought Tesla didn't do any wall charger installations. I thought they pointed people to independent electricians. At least that is what they did with me, but I guess that has changed? Even when they recommended an electrician near me, they quoted twice the price of what I eventually got it done by finding an electrician on Yelp.

Are you sure these guys were really from Tesla, or was it like Home Depot and Lowes where the guys show up with a Home Depot shirt, but really are independent contractors paying a percentage back to the hardware store?