Home charging setup cost

[Big Dog]

in SoCal, had a sub-panel installed, ran Romex for ~85 feet up thru attic and back down the other side of garage, to a wall connector. Cost was $1350 not including the wall connector.

 

[LM-5]

Also SoCal:

$1,125 Professional Install
$108 City Permit + Inspection

 

[Jay-Z]

Chicagoland: $1,300 professional install + $125 city permit and inspection

 

[Mrr82]

Dang ok....I don’t feel confident enough to do it myself....

 

[voip-ninja]

Dang ok....I don’t feel confident enough to do it myself....

If you aren't confident about doing it then don't. 240V is nothing to mess around with if you aren't comfortable working with electricity at least at the "smart homeowner" level. Lots of dudes/dudettes killed by 240V every year.

 

[dave999z]

In Northern Virginia, I paid an electrician $1175, which included installing TWC on exterior brick wall, running maybe 90ft of 6/3 wire underneath the house (which required crawling that entire distance into the crawl space, yuck), and adding a 60A breaker to the panel (and replacing a couple existing breakers with half-height ones to make room). He drilled into the brick, then down behind the interior plaster wall into the crawl space, so that no cable (other than the car charging one of course) is visible from the outside -- you just see the TWC mounted cleanly in the middle of a brick wall. Looks like a gas pump! It's ugly frankly (may look cool in a garage, not so much on the side of a house), so am going to plant bushes flanking it to hide it.

After the job was done, I handled the county permit and inspection myself, which was simple to do online and cost $108 total. (He told me he'd have to charge me for his time to deal with the permit, so I should just do it myself and list him as the contractor.)

 

[Nocturnal]

Try telling the electrician you need the NEMA 14-50 for an RV or camper, and not "tesla." Seeing how electricians dont publish rates and can just make up whatever they want, they probably subconsciously or consciously charge tesla owners more thinking we're rich.

i mean, we generally are well off but thats not the point haha.

Rich and or stupid. Contractors are always shocked when I know the basics. I had one guy that asked if I was a contractor because I knew that the exhaust pipe he was working on could use 2 45s instead of a single 90 pvc fitting.

 

[CapnLoki]

I went very simple: I had a never used 6-20 outlet (for air conditioning) that I relocated to the outside next to the driveway. No changes needed in the breaker box, although we replaced the old wire. Most of the work was poking the hole in the side of the house. Total cost $250. Of course, I'm limited to 16 amps or 15 mph for a M3, but I don't see a need for more.

 

[sperkin]

I did a 2.5 feet +/- a couple of inches cable run for $50 from outside garage box to inside garage for the 14-50 outlet. Then spent like $30 to patch up the drywall in the garage. Wall doesn’t look too great so going to spray some textures on it. Maybe $20-30 additional cost.

 

[gilscales]

I am doing it myself as we speak and I am in Southern CA. Bought all the parts this weekend. Fortunately, my location is 2' feet away from my main panel. Total cost.

50 AMP breaker: $9.48
4' 6/3 cable: $12.00 ($3 per ft)
4' 3/4" flex conduit: $4.00 ($1 per ft)
3 pack connectors conduit connector: $3.50
Wiring caps: $3.98.
Total: $32.96 + tax

Maybe add $10 for some weather sealant caulk and patching material.

If I was running 100', almost all your cost will be in wiring and conduit. Couple of junction boxes, materials should be about $450.

I am not an electrician but have some electrical/mechanical training and experience. Electrician can charge $60-$100 per hour and I think it'll be a 8 hr day's work for 100', at most. $1,000 is reasonable but $1500 is too much.

I am guessing you know that when using conduit you will have to strip the outer jacket completely off of the 6/3 Romex you bought.

 

[KenC]

I’m in Ma, called Tesla and they quoted me $1500 for under 100 feet from my breaker or $1800 for over. Is this reasonable? What have others done?

Everyone's situation is different. If you can break down what you're getting quoted on, that would help. Did you include the cost of a permit? The TWC? Any other oddities about your setup? It could be as little as $75 in my small town in Maine, where a permit cost me nothing, and I installed a NEMA Eaton 14-50 myself, with only 8ft of 6-3, conduit, 50amp double-pole Siemens breaker, or it could cost over $2000 for some installs, with long fat cable runs, and old panels that need rewiring, etc.

 

[stlmizzoufan]

Since my 100A subpanel near the garage already had the range, air conditioner and dryer on it, I ended up running about 80 feet of 6/3 romex through a finished basement, into the garage, up through the attic and down the opposite wall. Contractor quoted me $1,800. I decided to do it myself and spent about $300 on material (romex was $250 of that...that 6/3 is expensive for a 125 spool).

Honestly, it' a really easy job. The hardest part of the job is running the cable. 6/3 is a PAIN to work with...doesn't bend.

In St. Louis, Missouri.

 

[SSedan]

I went very simple: I had a never used 6-20 outlet (for air conditioning) that I relocated to the outside next to the driveway. No changes needed in the breaker box, although we replaced the old wire. Most of the work was poking the hole in the side of the house. Total cost $250. Of course, I'm limited to 16 amps or 15 mph for a M3, but I don't see a need for more.

Seeing as you joined in May I will presume you have not been thru winter yet. Winter WILL make you want more amperage. I have a 15mile round trip commute with my Model S and live near Green Bay and consider what I did last winter with a 30amp 240volt outlet to be "limping along", this summer I installed a wall connector. I expect the extra amperage will make battery and interior warming easier and more efficient. The battery and cabin heat combined could actually use more than the available 24amps and would actually consume some range during morning warmup, and with minor mileage and temperature variations this charge rate was too slow to reliably schedule charging to finish right before I left.

I recommend you step up your charging solution before the weather turns, I think you will "get by" but it will be just getting by, and I would suggest charging soon as you get home so the battery is warm from driving. This is not a good solution though and energy use spikes dramatically in cold weather so you will use much more than your commute distance so you will have to add back many more miles than you used.

 

[SSedan]

I am guessing you know that when using conduit you will have to strip the outer jacket completely off of the 6/3 Romex you bought.

The can't run Romex in conduit is FALSE though commonly believed. Think about it some romex is burial rated but what do you have to do to protect it at ground level? Put it in conduit so the weed whacker doesn't get it. I think you might even run into inspection issues with stripped jacket if the inner wires aren't labelled.

 

[gilscales]

The can't run Romex in conduit is FALSE though commonly believed. Think about it some romex is burial rated but what do you have to do to protect it at ground level? Put it in conduit so the weed whacker doesn't get it. I think you might even run into inspection issues with stripped jacket if the inner wires aren't labelled.

This is a real surprise to me and when I read your post I immediately thought you were wrong as ALL of my time in construction (30 years) I have been told by ALL electricians and ALL city building inspectors that nm-b Romex is never allowed in a conduit as it will create to much heat build up, I learned something new today and can't wait to tell my current electrician that in fact not only does it meet code but is required to be in conduit where protection is needed (now if only I could convince a city building inspector, because even when wrong we know they are always right!) only place where you cannot use it in a conduit is in wet locations as the Romex is not rated for use in wet locations.

 

[NathanielHrnblwr]

$550 for WC.
$400 labor
$230 permit
~$100-150 in parts

 

[hd-2]

Spent about $360 on materials, for 100' of wire/conduit, boxes/current-sensing relay/dpdt contactor. I only have 100A into the home, so I put the charger on a load sensing circuit that basically kills power to the charger anytime someone uses our electric stove. Took about 5 hours to run the conduit and fish the wire from unfinished basement/panel to garage (connected to the house). If I had to pay someone to do it, I'd reject any quote over $1k considering labor/parts.

 

[SSedan]

This is a real surprise to me and when I read your post I immediately thought you were wrong as ALL of my time in construction (30 years) I have been told by ALL electricians and ALL city building inspectors that nm-b Romex is never allowed in a conduit as it will create to much heat build up, I learned something new today and can't wait to tell my current electrician that in fact not only does it meet code but is required to be in conduit where protection is needed (now if only I could convince a city building inspector, because even when wrong we know they are always right!) only place where you cannot use it in a conduit is in wet locations as the Romex is not rated for use in wet locations.

That is something I learned here while researching my own HCWC install. I am not an electrician.

 

[voip-ninja]

The can't run Romex in conduit is FALSE though commonly believed. Think about it some romex is burial rated but what do you have to do to protect it at ground level? Put it in conduit so the weed whacker doesn't get it. I think you might even run into inspection issues with stripped jacket if the inner wires aren't labelled.

Romex can be run through brief sections of conduit for protection and of course it needs to move through enclosures and fittings. It is NOT permitted to be run end to end through conduit of more than 10’ in length.

The primary concern of enclosing Romex in Conduit over longer distances is overheating and starting a fire.

I don’t know any electrical inspector who would pass an install in which Romex had been run through conduit over an extended distance.

Any Romex entering an enclosure for termination needs to have the sheath stripped back all the way to the housing so that the individual conductors are exposed.

From the 2014 NEC:

312.5 Cabinets, Cutout Boxes, and Meter Socket Enclosures. Conductors entering enclosures within the scope of this article shall be protected from abrasion and shall comply with 312.5(A) through (C).

(C) Cables. Where cable is used, each cable shall be secured to the cabinet, cutout box, or meter socket enclosure. Exception: Cables with entirely nonmetallic sheaths shall be permitted to enter the top of a surface-mounted enclosure through one or more nonflexible raceways not less than 450 mm (18 in.) and not more than 3.0 m (10 ft) in length, provided all of the following conditions are met:

(a) Each cable is fastened within 300 mm (12 in.), measured along the sheath, of the outer end of the raceway

(b) The raceway extends directly above the enclosure and does not penetrate a structural ceiling.

(c) A fitting is provided on each end of the raceway to protect the cable(s) from abrasion and the fittings remain accessible after installation.

(d) The raceway is sealed or plugged at the outer end using approved means so as to prevent access to the enclosure through the raceway.

(e) The cable sheath is continuous through the raceway and extends into the enclosure beyond the fitting not less than 6 mm (1⁄4 in.).

(f) The raceway is fastened at its outer end and at other points in accordance with the applicable article.

(g) Where installed as conduit or tubing, the cable fill does not exceed the amount that would be permitted for complete conduit or tubing systems by Table 1 of Chapter 9 of this Code and all applicable notes thereto. Informational Note: See Table 1 in Chapter 9, including Note 9, for allowable cable fill in circular raceways. See 310.15(B)(3)(a) for required ampacity reductions for multiple cables installed in a common raceway.

 

[gilscales]

Romex can be run through brief sections of conduit for protection and of course it needs to move through enclosures and fittings. It is NOT permitted to be run end to end through conduit of more than 10’ in length.

The primary concern of enclosing Romex in Conduit over longer distances is overheating and starting a fire.

I don’t know any electrical inspector who would pass an install in which Romex had been run through conduit over an extended distance.

Any Romex entering an enclosure for termination needs to have the sheath stripped back all the way to the housing so that the individual conductors are exposed.

I was looking for this code and could not find it, I was always told that the possibility of overheating was the reason, good to know that we can go up to 10' though, thanks