Just in case anyone was interested, I figured I'd share my story about getting a Tesla HPWC installed in my condo parking lot. I have an assigned space in an outdoor, gravel parking lot. Unfortunately, the space is among the farthest from the electric meters and transferring it was not a possibility because I am specifically deeded that space with my unit.
Background:
I had a 2017 Leaf (w/ the 30 kWh pack) for two years with no home charging. There is a level 2 charger about six blocks away which was free when I bought the Leaf and eventually switched to being .75/hour for four hours. As I'm in a major urban area, I either bike or take the metro the four miles to work each day and I got by just fine without home charging with the Leaf. Some months I would only take it over to the charger once or twice. When I purchased my Model 3, I was looking for a car that would be better suited to road trips (plus the Tesla was just a lot more fun!). I had planned to just stick with using the L2 charger nearby, perhaps supplemented by urban superchargers once Tesla gets more installed in the area. I had previously requested a quote to install home charging for the Leaf but I passed due to the cost.
The decision:
Pretty quickly after getting my Model 3 I changed my mind. One major factor was the cost of local charger goes up from .75/hour to $2 hour after four hours. The larger battery pack of the Tesla meant that I'd likely need to charge more than four hours at times and overnight charging would be most convenient (which could rack up quite a bill until I came back in the morning to disconnect the car). Plus, there's just a tremendous convenience to having at home charging. DC would give me a $1k tax credit toward the install (50% of install price, which I'd max out) and I figured it would add value to my property when I sold it. I did some research on various electricians and after getting estimates, brought one firm out to solidify their estimate after an on-site inspection.
The plan:
My install involved about 55' of conduit running along the side of the building from my meter, before dipping under a sidewalk and proceeding out to my space in a 20" trench underground. I have a 100 amp panel and was told I could install a 30 amp circuit or could install a DCC-10 to get to a 50 amp circuit for an extra $1k. I went with the 30 amp circuit. I later decided to add a 120v outlet to the install, so I could have a convenient source of power if I needed to vacuum the car or perform other tasks out by my space. This required swapping the planned cutoff switch for a sub panel that included a 240 30A breaker and a 120v 20A breaker.
I was offered either a 14-30 outlet or the install of a HPWC. I was told that 70-80% of customers go with a 14-50 or similar outlet. I went with the HPWC because I felt that it was more secure in an outdoor environment (both against weather and theft/tampering) and it looked better from an aesthetic perspective, which was important because I was essentially installing this in shared space, even if the parking space itself belongs to me.
Getting permission to install from the condo board was made easier by the fact that I volunteered for the board in January when they needed an extra member to fill a vacancy (there's only 26 units in the building), so I was known and (as far as I know) liked by the other board members. I photographed all of the areas where work would be done, annotated the images to show the modifications that would be made, and submitted a detailed plan to the board with my electrician's written estimate of the work to be conducted.
After about two weeks of deliberation and addressing questions and concerns (what happens if more residents want chargers? what happens if I sell the unit and it falls into disrepair and becomes and eyesore?), I received approval to move forward.
The install:
The install took almost eight hours, including two electricians and a trenching crew of 3-4. They did a phenomenal job and you can barely tell any work was completed. Electrical inspection is next week and then they will remove some pipes have been placed along the route of the conduit allowing the inspector to measure that it was buried at the proper depth.
Pictures are below. I would highly recommend HavePower, LLC to anyone in the Maryland/DC/Virginia area looking to have a 14-50 or HPWC installed, or any electrical work done for that matter. They have an excellent reputation, which is why I went with them for this relatively complex install, and they certainly lived up to their billing.
Hope this was informative for some considering the same. Let me know if you have any questions!
The install:
View media item 119608View media item 119609View media item 119611View media item 119610View media item 119614
Final product:
View media item 119607View media item 119612View media item 119616View media item 119615
Background:
I had a 2017 Leaf (w/ the 30 kWh pack) for two years with no home charging. There is a level 2 charger about six blocks away which was free when I bought the Leaf and eventually switched to being .75/hour for four hours. As I'm in a major urban area, I either bike or take the metro the four miles to work each day and I got by just fine without home charging with the Leaf. Some months I would only take it over to the charger once or twice. When I purchased my Model 3, I was looking for a car that would be better suited to road trips (plus the Tesla was just a lot more fun!). I had planned to just stick with using the L2 charger nearby, perhaps supplemented by urban superchargers once Tesla gets more installed in the area. I had previously requested a quote to install home charging for the Leaf but I passed due to the cost.
The decision:
Pretty quickly after getting my Model 3 I changed my mind. One major factor was the cost of local charger goes up from .75/hour to $2 hour after four hours. The larger battery pack of the Tesla meant that I'd likely need to charge more than four hours at times and overnight charging would be most convenient (which could rack up quite a bill until I came back in the morning to disconnect the car). Plus, there's just a tremendous convenience to having at home charging. DC would give me a $1k tax credit toward the install (50% of install price, which I'd max out) and I figured it would add value to my property when I sold it. I did some research on various electricians and after getting estimates, brought one firm out to solidify their estimate after an on-site inspection.
The plan:
My install involved about 55' of conduit running along the side of the building from my meter, before dipping under a sidewalk and proceeding out to my space in a 20" trench underground. I have a 100 amp panel and was told I could install a 30 amp circuit or could install a DCC-10 to get to a 50 amp circuit for an extra $1k. I went with the 30 amp circuit. I later decided to add a 120v outlet to the install, so I could have a convenient source of power if I needed to vacuum the car or perform other tasks out by my space. This required swapping the planned cutoff switch for a sub panel that included a 240 30A breaker and a 120v 20A breaker.
I was offered either a 14-30 outlet or the install of a HPWC. I was told that 70-80% of customers go with a 14-50 or similar outlet. I went with the HPWC because I felt that it was more secure in an outdoor environment (both against weather and theft/tampering) and it looked better from an aesthetic perspective, which was important because I was essentially installing this in shared space, even if the parking space itself belongs to me.
Getting permission to install from the condo board was made easier by the fact that I volunteered for the board in January when they needed an extra member to fill a vacancy (there's only 26 units in the building), so I was known and (as far as I know) liked by the other board members. I photographed all of the areas where work would be done, annotated the images to show the modifications that would be made, and submitted a detailed plan to the board with my electrician's written estimate of the work to be conducted.
After about two weeks of deliberation and addressing questions and concerns (what happens if more residents want chargers? what happens if I sell the unit and it falls into disrepair and becomes and eyesore?), I received approval to move forward.
The install:
The install took almost eight hours, including two electricians and a trenching crew of 3-4. They did a phenomenal job and you can barely tell any work was completed. Electrical inspection is next week and then they will remove some pipes have been placed along the route of the conduit allowing the inspector to measure that it was buried at the proper depth.
Pictures are below. I would highly recommend HavePower, LLC to anyone in the Maryland/DC/Virginia area looking to have a 14-50 or HPWC installed, or any electrical work done for that matter. They have an excellent reputation, which is why I went with them for this relatively complex install, and they certainly lived up to their billing.
Hope this was informative for some considering the same. Let me know if you have any questions!
The install:
View media item 119608View media item 119609View media item 119611View media item 119610View media item 119614
Final product:
View media item 119607View media item 119612View media item 119616View media item 119615
