Charger location in garage

[oreobbq]

I'm curious what the electrician quotes me for these two variants, maybe that's already answering which option to go with.

If done by an electrician, running wiring to location A is going to increase the cost significantly but it may be worth it for you. The wall connector cable is 24ft so that might be a consideration. Dryer buddy is maybe another option to look at.

 

[palt]

Just got a reasonable quote from an electrician for Location B, it's just a bit more painful because we have to drill holes in the laundry room to get the wiring into the garage. Guess that would be the same for both locations.

Dryer buddy wouldn't save me much and I'd prefer a solid solution.

We currently drive 2x - 3x per week max, so I while I would prefer to keep the car charged at ~60% or so, we would probably survive two weeks without charging easily. Maybe the solution is to use 110V for a month or so when we have the car and test the different outlet positions. We have 110V outlets in both the A and B locations, so we could really feel which one we like better and then make the call. Downside is, electricians are booked out 4+ weeks.

 

[Nosken]

I wish this wasn't such an either or situation.
With our current habits, 110V is plenty enough. But, I can see that there might be situations where faster charging might be helpful throughout the week (the fast charger is too far away to be useful in that scenario). So NEMA would be fine, however, I do not like the fact that we have to remember to take the charger in case we decide to go on a trip. As a sleep deprived parent of an almost 4 year old, I can guarantee we will forget the charger.
And installing a wall charger is one-time cost that I'm happy to roll into our current renovations (plus I might be able to get some funding from the city here to do it).

You will not use 110V for home charging, you will use 14-50 32 Amp charging, and it will easily charge overnight.
Just like you, taking the charger with me was my original thinking back in 2015. My installing electrician set me straight-I returned my wall charger. All you need to take with you is the J1772 adapter for some public chargers. The only time I take my charger with me is on long trips, where there is a small chance I will need to use a 110V or an RV park for 14-50. That is less needed now that there is such a prolific Supercharger network. In my four, over 4,000 mile road trips, I needed it twice, and could have gotten by with alternatives.
Trust me---you will rarely, if ever, unplug and take the included charger with you. For the price of the wall charger, you could purchase a back up mobile charger, and still save money on the wall charger install.

 

[palt]

You will not use 110V for home charging, you will use 14-50 32 Amp charging, and it will easily charge overnight.
Just like you, taking the charger with me was my original thinking back in 2015. My installing electrician set me straight-I returned my wall charger. All you need to take with you is the J1772 adapter for some public chargers. The only time I take my charger with me is on long trips, where there is a small chance I will need to use a 110V or an RV park for 14-50. That is less needed now that there is such a prolific Supercharger network. In my four, over 4,000 mile road trips, I needed it twice, and could have gotten by with alternatives.
Trust me---you will rarely, if ever, unplug and take the included charger with you. For the price of the wall charger, you could purchase a back up mobile charger, and still save money on the wall charger install.

This is a really great point and part of why I'm asking before spending all the money, so thank you for this insight!

 

[Rocky_H]

I would go with location A. People sometimes underestimate the extra several feet of length needed for cords to go down to the floor and then back up to the charge port. They are looking at X and Y distance measurements on a diagram like you have and think it will be long enough and then realize it's suspended in the air, pulling on both ends. Going the full distance of the length of the car, plus extra distance to the front wall is going to be pretty long. Just needing to go across the width of the car is shorter and should work more comfortably.

For the price of the wall charger, you could purchase a back up mobile charger, and still save money on the wall charger install.

Nah. That's been evaluated many times on here, and with all of the extra expensive stuff required for an outlet installation nowdays, it's only about $200 more to go for the wall connector instead, including its purchase cost. Buying a duplicate mobile connector would be $275, so is even more cost and less useful. I agree that the charging cable doesn't need to be kept in the car all of the time, and just doing that cable at home for the permanent solution is fine to bring for trips as needed, but if people are considering buying an extra of something anyway (because they feel they need the mobile cable in the car at all times), they're far better off just going with the wall connector from the start.

 

[3sr+buyer]

I recommend location C: The left-rear of the garage, closest to the charge port of the car on the left side.

Yes, if you can park the Tesla in the left space, that is preferable.

Or a variation is around the left-middle, if you could possibly park non-Tesla EVs there. Left side (just in front of the driver door) is a common place to put the charge port. Some cars put the charge port on the nose (Hyundai, Nissan). Right rear charge ports exist, but are less common (VW).

However, left rear of the garage may be preferable if you may charge a car parked in the driveway (with the cable running under the garage door).

Left rear of the garage charging a Tesla in the right space is certainly doable, but you probably want a cable protector in case someone wants to drive the car in the left space while the Tesla in the right space is charging.

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

Option C is the best, not only for your Tesla, but also for any other EV that may have ports on the front fender or bumper.

Option B is 2nd best and you can do all your plugging/unplugging with the door open so there's no need to squeeze. You only mess with it when you're arriving or departing so the door is always open anyway.

Other options are less convenient than you might think. The cord is a little like a garden hose and coiling it all up as you're rushing off to work with coffee in one hand is not ideal.

The wall charger is only slightly more expensive than an outlet by the time you add up all the parts and it's a worthwhile investment. It looks better, it works better, it's easier to plan and install, and you get to keep your portable charger handy for Airbnb's and stuff.

 

[jjrandorin]

I recommend location C: The left-rear of the garage, closest to the charge port of the car on the left side.

My first wall connector (installed in Dec of 2018) is in what you are calling "position C". That is what I would also recommend as it easily reaches both parking spaces.

I bought a second one and had it put in position B, with load sharing between the two, simply because, when we ordered the model Y for my wife to replace her X3, she said "I am going to get one of those wall charger thingies on my side of the garage, right?"

I blinked a couple times and said "uhh.. yes of course honey you are getting one on your side" (/e starts frantically trying to source a gen 2 wall connector).

I actually have the wall connectors on the little bit of wall that faces "into" the garage, at position C and A (meaning that if I am standing where the dryer is in the OPs picture, I am looking at the FRONT of, not the side of, the wall connectors).

 

[BillRadio]

I wish this wasn't such an either or situation.
With our current habits, 110V is plenty enough.

One factor that changed my mind about 110-volt charging was on-peak electric rates. With a higher charge rate, charging is completed before on-peak rates start. At 110 volts you're pretty much charging at all hours.

If you don't have peak/off-peak rates, never mind.

 

[Summoner12]

I am going through this same 'setup' phase right now. I currently have projects going on inside the garage. So the car won't be parked inside for some time. I am wiring the garage up so that I have an outdoor charger outlet and disconnect where you have your A location, but it'll be on the outside wall. I thought to put it inside, but I have shelving on the wall there that won't allow for it. This location will remain, but the use of it is temporary/gives options.

I want to have a wall charger unit inside on the wall to the right of our man door. I am guessing the grey bar by the dryer is representing a door? I have a door in the same location... We back our cars into our driveway/garage. a charger on the wall by the man door would reach either location if the cars are backed in.

I guess for me, if I had your setup, I would back the EV in and put the charger at location B. But location A gives more flexibility if you can't park inside.

 

[palt]

One factor that changed my mind about 110-volt charging was on-peak electric rates. With a higher charge rate, charging is completed before on-peak rates start. At 110 volts you're pretty much charging at all hours.

If you don't have peak/off-peak rates, never mind.

We're currently on a fixed rate, which works better with everyone being home all day long. But in the long run this might change and we'll switch to a timed rate. At that point we'll likely have a L2 charger in place. But a great point!

 

[palt]

I am going through this same 'setup' phase right now. I currently have projects going on inside the garage. So the car won't be parked inside for some time. I am wiring the garage up so that I have an outdoor charger outlet and disconnect where you have your A location, but it'll be on the outside wall. I thought to put it inside, but I have shelving on the wall there that won't allow for it. This location will remain, but the use of it is temporary/gives options.

I want to have a wall charger unit inside on the wall to the right of our man door. I am guessing the grey bar by the dryer is representing a door? I have a door in the same location... We back our cars into our driveway/garage. a charger on the wall by the man door would reach either location if the cars are backed in.

I guess for me, if I had your setup, I would back the EV in and put the charger at location B. But location A gives more flexibility if you can't park inside.

You're right with the door. I have no intentions to charge outdoors, the car will be in the garage most of the time.
I'm amazed how challenging this is to figure out and sometimes I wish I wouldn't pay so much attention to everyday ergonomics

I'm feeling fairly certain that Location B is the right spot, it's the least headaches to install and running the cable should still be fine.

 

[pjensen]

Just install a NEMA 14-50 wall outlet and order the 14-50 adapter for the included charger

Agree with this. Put a Nema 14-50 socket in position A.

We run the mobile charge cord under the garage door and charge our electric cars that way. Super easy to back the car up to the garage door (outside) and plug it in. My wife's car is a Mustang Mach-E and we charge it the same way (with an tesla J1772 adapter).

We can also charge inside the gagrage, if we wanted to. But it is so convenient to charge outside, it is a game charger.

 

[Genie]

My garage is similar to OP except I only back in. I mounted my WC at position A and ran the charge cable to a pivoting overhead jib that swings to cover both stalls, and ziptied so the handle can never touch the ground.

 

[palt]

I realized I never responded with what we actually ended up doing. We installed in location C (left side of the wall, little past the midway point towards the door. That was a good location going from the other breaker that apparently had enough capacity left.
It's a bit annoying that we don't have excessive amount of space to open the doors with the other car in the garage (which has sliding doors, making the left bay more usable), but it works fine. Every now and then I back the car in, but generally we just pull into the garage. So far no issues with the setup.

 

[davewill]

I would suggest option A for a reason I haven't seen here. From that location, you should be able to reach the car in EITHER parking spot. You could also reach a car parked backwards on the driveway if there was ever any reason to do that (like a visitor). I have two EVSEs for two EVs and I'm set up that way on both sides of the garage and I think it won't be as bad as you think. When you park the car, just plug it in before closing the door. To unplug, you can unplug it, then pull the cable from the other side if you can't walk around the back...but since you're about to leave anyway, go ahead and open the door first. I don't really see why you need to worry about the use case of plugging and unplugging with the door shut.

If it were me, I'd park on the other side and put the EVSE there and deal with the shelving during the install, which only has to be done once. It is SO convenient to just get out of the driver's door, grab the handle and plug it right in.

Oops: I now see that you already made your decision and did essentially what I suggested. I'll leave the comment anyway in case it helps someone else.

 

[pikeman]

Location A with the long cord option.

 

[palt]

Yeah it’s always a question in terms of cost / benefit ratio and since the breaker was behind the wall in location C it was the most cost effective solution. For location A I would had the wall and ceiling cut to get the wiring there and that was too much of a hassle.