Garage Prep

[fallen888]

Hey guys, so as I quite impatiently await my MS, I am already talking to an electrician about installing the NEMA 14-50 outlet in my garage. Which got me thinking, what other kinds of garage prep have you done or are planning on doing for your Tesla?

Looking for ideas of a more utilitarian nature - not really trying to make a showroom out of the garage.

Thanks.

 

[msnow]

Hey guys, so as I quite impatiently await my MS, I am already talking to an electrician about installing the NEMA 14-50 outlet in my garage. Which got me thinking, what other kinds of garage prep have you done or are planning on doing for your Tesla?

Looking for ideas of a more utilitarian nature - not really trying to make a showroom out of the garage.

Thanks.

In that case you don't want to see @BertL garage.

 

[fallen888]

Yeah, it's pretty, but I can live without that.

 

[javawolfpack]

I had my house built with a NEMA 14-50 outlet as was a new build and had the option to get it installed at that time for almost nothing. I might clean up the side of the garage I'll be parking in so that there aren't any objects to make it easier to drive in/out without worrying as much. Especially since seemingly the Tesla actually is slightly larger than my VW Sportwagen.

 

[fallen888]

Yes I'll need to organize things inside a bit. I already told my wife I'll be kicking her Acura out of the garage when the MS comes. We also have a bunch of our kids' bikes, scooters and other crap in there, which makes our two-car garage only able to house one car.

Eventually I'll likely get a storage shed added to the side of the house to make room for two cars inside. This whole Model S accommodation is becoming quite an investment.

 

[PCMc]

1). Cleaned out all the "stuff" that had accumulated over the 20 years we've been in the house
2). Moved the table saw out of the garage and into the workshop area in the basement
3). Bought some heavy duty shelf brackets and installed up high on the side wall to create a storage shelf/rack for the old scrap lumber that was piled up along one side.
After all that, am able to get 3 vehicles in my 3-car garage, and more importantly, the van in the 3rd bay which previously could only hold a pretty small vehicle.

If your kids don't ride the bikes much, like the couple in our garage, I installed some large hooks in the ceiling past the travel region of the garage door opener. I can hang 3 bikes from the ceiling. Our ceiling is about 10' so can actually park A car under the bikes. That and the high shelf brackets for storage are ways to free up floor space..

 

[John Stuckey]

You might want to look at HPWC before having the electrical work done. We used the charger that came with our VOLT and quickly moved to a wall charger for the VOLT. We went with a HPWC at 40A (50A breaker) for our MS right away.

 

[fsubrett48]

I also went with the HPWC. I feel like it's a bit cleaner look and maybe more stable since it doesn't need to be plugged and unplugged. Also, allows me to store the nema plug in my car for possible charging outside the house.

I've been thinking about redoing the shelving and cleaning up the floor with epoxy.

 

[Joules Verne]

For some therapy, read this thread:

At 45, I should be better than this!

My garage project is on page 5

Good luck!

 

[Patrick W]

If possible you might want to wait until you have the car to install the outlet.

I had my outlet put in long before the car arrived only to find that I'd mis-measured and had the plug installed in a location that worked but not quite where I'd of put it had I had the car in place to double check.

 

[WannabeOwner]

I had the electrician insatll an extra socket (outside the house) for any future visiting guests who have an EV

 

[superm1]

Flooring:
I am getting Racedeck installed, my design is similar to this... though I think I ordered many more tiles than I needed so my design is still TBD. This is one idea.

Already have the tiles, my contractor is working on a few other things before this so we'll see how it turns out.

Electric:
I had a 200a breaker and a subpanel in garage which I upgraded.

I also did a wall charger wired on a 100a breaker, plus a nema outlet on 60a breaker all on a new subpanel. I got a HPWC/Wall Connector as well so I think I have planned well for the future in the electric sense.

With Model 3 you can daisy chain the HPWC/Wall Connectors so we'll see how that pans out.

 

[Don85D]

Consider the HPWC as an outside charging source and the 14-50 as an inside source. Both can be on the same circuit as long as only one is used at a time. The HPWC is rugged and weatherproof and it has a long cable making it ideal for driveway parking the Model S.

I carry the charging cable that came with the car so that charging at a remote location is always an option. That would mean buying a second cable for an indoor 14-50. Better to get the HPWC, in my opinion.

 

[wdolson]

I didn't get around to doing anything until about a month after getting the car, but one of the first things to go was the cardboard I had down to catch oil drips from the bottom of the engine. The garage also got a pretty thorough cleaning, but that was just because it needed to get done. We had 4 extra 40 gal trash bags that went out with the trash the following week (about half of that was garage stuff), we also had several runs to the recycling place and two trips to Goodwill.

We were cleaning house, so it wasn't all garage, but I did get rid of a lot of stuff I had been looking at out there and thinking "I need to get rid of that..."

 

[fallen888]

From what I gather, it's not a good idea to plug and unplug from the 14-50 outlet every time/day, as it'll loosen the outlet installation at some point. So if I understand this correctly, my options are:

1. Buy another Mobile Connector cable ($520), dedicated to always be plugged into the outlet in the garage (while keeping one on the road with me).
2. Install HPWC ($550).

What about just buying another 14-50 adapter ($45) and always keeping it plugged into the outlet in the garage? Would there still be a lot of strain on the outlet if I plug/unplug into the adapter every day?

I'd like to find a viable solution that doesn't cause any damage in the long term to my charging setup, nor much more damage in the short term to my wallet.

 

[JPUConn]

From what I gather, it's not a good idea to plug and unplug from the 14-50 outlet every time/day, as it'll loosen the outlet installation at some point. So if I understand this correctly, my options are:

1. Buy another Mobile Connector cable ($520), dedicated to always be plugged into the outlet in the garage (while keeping one on the road with me).
2. Install HPWC ($550).

What about just buying another 14-50 adapter ($45) and always keeping it plugged into the outlet in the garage? Would there still be a lot of strain on the outlet if I plug/unplug into the adapter every day?

I'd like to find a viable solution that doesn't cause any damage in the long term to my charging setup, nor much more damage in the short term to my wallet.

The physical Nema 14-50 receptical is under $15 and can be changed by a novice with a screw driver in 5-10 minutes (shut off the circuit first of course). Don't stress about the plug.

If you are worried I would agree with others that the most economical choice would be to leave the umc in the car and get a hpwc for home charging.

 

[fallen888]

Don't stress about the plug.

While waiting in the production queue, I got nothing but time to stress and obsess. I need to somehow just forget for a couple of weeks about "Tesla" altogether.

 

[fsubrett48]

While waiting in the production queue, I got nothing but time to stress and obsess. I need to somehow just forget for a couple of weeks about "Tesla" altogether.

Haha, if you can figure out how to do that, please share with us all!

 

[JC86]

+1 for HPWC and keeping the UMC in your trunk for charging away from home. You really don't want to have to unplug, coil, and pack the UMC every time you charge at home, its a pain in the ass. Buying another UMC is basically the same price as a HPWC anyways.

 

[alexvirital]

Same boat here, kinda - I'm going to have to park outside, so what I get to do to kill time while I'm waiting for my car to build is build a parking spot, make a call on cement/pavers/gravel, debate endlessly 14-50 vs HPWC...

(Going with the outdoor 14-50, because as much as I like HPWC, it's not in the budget this year; I don't think it'll be too onerous to upgrade next year, though, if the cable runs are already in place.)