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Building New Home- Best place to Install NEMA 14-50 to charge X in Garage????

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Not to brag, but I have a 4 car garage (2 attached and 2 detached). For me, it is what sold the home.
Sorry, but that's definately a brag. :wink:

My wife was less impressed. We have both cars, a boat, and a camper all parked under cover so we don't need to worry about clearing snow. We also keep the riding snow blower in the detached garage. There is plenty of room for workspace, lawn funriture in the off season, and bikes. Always get as much garage as you can so you don't have to park outside while all the useless junk takes up precious room in the garage.

<jealousy> :cool:
 
DrivingTheFuture - Choosing the 3-car garage will be the best money you will spend on your house, it also should be relatively inexpensive, as it is simply walls and roof extention, not finished/heated space. Also, make sure to talk to the builder about designing the truss system or rafters to accommodate storage above the garage! I have built three of my own houses, and a 3-car garage is a 'MUST HAVE', even I don't have three cars!.
This is fantastic! Again, another method I didn't consider. It helped having some of these answers in my mind tonight while we were meeting with the builder and finalizing plans for the garage. We are still back and forth about upgrading from a two car garage to a three car. I think it makes sense but never really liked the idea of owning 3 cars (even though we currently do). Having 2 ICE is rough... my wife said "well it's nice having the third for when our other car has trouble/ breaks down." I said honey when we both have Teslas we won't need a 3rd car :) Anyways would appreciate advice on whether or not to build 2 or 3 car garage. I'm sure most have you have gone house hunting numerous times - was it a deal breaker? Do a lot of people out there in the 4 bedroom market look for the 3rd car port?
 
Backing in is probably optimal for driveway pedestrian/child safety and for ingress/egress to the cars, if you walk between car and house inside. It also minimizes the risk of cables getting entangled in the garage doors. We went with the backing in setup and put two 14-50 on the back wall. One in the middle and one in the left corner, seen from the cars. so that they are always at the charge port corners but don't interfere with unloading right behind the cars. Have had this setup for 9 months now and couldn't have been happier.

In terms of future proofing, the back wall might be easier when you install your summon charge robot

Thanks again for advice on number of stalls everyone, we are going with 3 Car Garage! But you mentioned Summon and yes THAT is throwing the biggest wrench into things... I'd much rather have that feature back my cars in so that we can depart our home driving forward out of the driveway, so since I've already seen successful performance in different youtube videos using Summon, I think I'll install the outlets like you mention above. So just to be clear... do you have 2 car or 3 car garage, and if you are looking in through garage door from outside, you see a charger dead center and then one over to the right corner, correct???
 
Thanks again for advice on number of stalls everyone, we are going with 3 Car Garage! But you mentioned Summon and yes THAT is throwing the biggest wrench into things... I'd much rather have that feature back my cars in so that we can depart our home driving forward out of the driveway, so since I've already seen successful performance in different youtube videos using Summon, I think I'll install the outlets like you mention above. So just to be clear... do you have 2 car or 3 car garage, and if you are looking in through garage door from outside, you see a charger dead center and then one over to the right corner, correct???

I went with NEMA outlet in ceiling and used a wood wine box to hold the cable conditioner and excess cord. I did this for my roadster and it works for X. I can go in forward or backward and still charge car.
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We back in our cars, so I installed a NEMA 14-50 on the back wall of each stall. I also went with the Liftmaster 8500 door openers, and they are everything that has been previously stated. That being said, has anyone had any problem getting them integrated with the Tesla control? I could never get them to work with my Toyota.

A few other points:
- Go with 10' wide doors minimum. (although my mother in law still managed to break my wife's side mirror the other day)
- You can replace the door track bracing hardware with something cleaner looking. I used 1.5" square tube, painted it the ceiling colour and welded end caps for a much cleaner look.
- Epoxy floors are beautiful but need to be installed with the proper surface preparation and epoxy primer to avoid it lifting off with the tire tread. Also, it should have flakes or grit added to the final coat to ensure it is not slippery when wet.
- Consider floor drains if permitted.
- Aim for lots of lighting.
- I also have in floor heating, which you may or may not need in your region, but will help with snow buildup and allows winter washing.

I agree with having the additional garage space. Missing from photo: Tractor garage, full barn, and full size workshop. All spaces are extensively used, and I would hate to have to avoid items from any of the other areas when parking my car.

Cheers,

Jon
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...I agree with having the additional garage space. Missing from photo: Tractor garage, full barn, and full size workshop. All spaces are extensively used, and I would hate to have to avoid items from any of the other areas when parking my car.

Cheers,

Jon
Magnificent design and interior. Congratulations on a job well done and thank you for posting the suggestions and photos.
 
I also have the LiftMaster 8500 jackshaft garage door openers. I bought one and very soon there after upgraded our other two garage doors to this model. By far the best garage door opener I have ever seen and well worth the money. I would install HPWC's for the best look. Just upgraded my garage from a 14-50 and love how the HPWC looks on the wall versus the plug and dangling mobile connector.
 
I also have the LiftMaster 8500 jackshaft garage door openers. I bought one and very soon there after upgraded our other two garage doors to this model. By far the best garage door opener I have ever seen and well worth the money. I would install HPWC's for the best look. Just upgraded my garage from a 14-50 and love how the HPWC looks on the wall versus the plug and dangling mobile connector.
The Wall Connector can look great and it is convenient, it's the cutoff switch and cable coil that can result in a look unlike what Tesla Motors shows on their web page. For the NEMA 14-50, disconnecting the mobile connector from the wall would give the cleanest appearance. If left attached, a Wall Connector Cable Organizer would give a more finished appearance to the mobile connector. Unfortunately, it is sold out at the present time: Tesla Replacement Wall Connector Cable Organizer

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The Wall Connector can look great and it is convenient, it's the cutoff switch and cable coil that can result in a look unlike what Tesla Motors shows on their web page. For the NEMA 14-50, disconnecting the mobile connector from the wall would give the cleanest appearance. If left attached, a Wall Connector Cable Organizer would give a more finished appearance to the mobile connector. Unfortunately, it is sold out at the present time: Tesla Replacement Wall Connector Cable Organizer

I remember reading about it somewhere but is the cutoff switch a California code thing?
 
I remember reading about it somewhere but is the cutoff switch a California code thing?
Here is the end of a thread that went into great detail about the cutoff and the use of a circuit breaker panel next to the Wall Connector instead:

Pretty excited with this HPWC install... - Page 3

Conclusion: 60 amps or higher, a lockable disconnect is needed, but "check with your inspector".

(Scroll that thread up to see a mobile connector artistically mounted on the wall.)
 
Here is the end of a thread that went into great detail about the cutoff and the use of a circuit breaker panel next to the Wall Connector instead:

Pretty excited with this HPWC install... - Page 3

Conclusion: 60 amps or higher, a lockable disconnect is needed, but "check with your inspector".

(Scroll that thread up to see a mobile connector artistically mounted on the wall.)
Thanks. Yup. That was it.

My HPWC install will be a few feet at most from the panel.
 
Where do you guys keep all the stuff that's not in your garage? I keep seeing garage pics with nothing but a car in them. Here is what a real garage looks like.
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Tell me about it! I've spent the last week of Christmas break and occasional evenings working to get my garage cleared up enough to fit the coming X and enable an electrician to come in to install the HPWC or NEMA 14-50.

Thank goodness I only need room for ONE car in my 2-car garage!

Peter+
 
Nice Mike. I clean my garage 4-5 times a year, but kids and projects soon destroy my hard work. But to get back to the purpose of this thread, I plan to put my charger by the windows assuming the charge port is on the left side of the vehicle. Since I have a monster work bench the back wall of the garage is o u t.
 
I have a similar garage setup to you and always park my S in the single stall so I installed a HPWC on the wall between the two garage doors. Obviously, a HPWC could be substituted for a 14-50. I then threw in another 14-50 on the far left wall, roughly in line with the charge port assuming I pulled forward into the garage (as I normally do). This setup allows for charging in all three garage parking spots as the HPWC can be brought around to the middle spot easily.

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This is a good layout, but I would recommend putting a 200 or 225 Amp sub-panel in the garage. With EV(s) in your future and putting in a new hosue, get 400 or 600 Amp service for the house. Most inspectors will let you use a sub-panel in the garage as a the cut-off switch for the HPWC. The cost for the sub-panel is probably comparable and will offer more flexibility if you want to make changes for charging later.
 
I would second the idea about getting wider doors in your garage, if at all possible. The Model X is a WIDE car, and the Model S nearly as wide. Money spent on a wider door now will pay off every time you more easily and safely park the cars.

You'll want one EVSE per car; having to swap one around will get old quickly. The cost of doing this right when you are building is cheap enough; I would bring a 100A circuit to each location (proximate to the
left-rear of each car as you plan on parking them) and wire up a Telsa HPWC. I would plan on parking them head-in, and that way you can also use the same EVSE if you had to for a Tesla parked outside
(your friend's car).

For that matter, while you're at it, I'd put a 50A circuit on the outside of the garage wall and mount a 40A (not the typically 30A) J1772 EVSE outside on the wall for your guests.

Ken