Home wall charger installation

You can use a standard 120V outlet, but that'll be SLOW(~3 miles of rated range per hour). Realistically, you probably want at least a 240V outlet on a 60A breaker(The mobile charger only pulls 40A, but you generally want a 50% buffer so you don't blow the breaker), or, preferably, the official Tesla wall charger(there are others but I haven't seen any that can compete with Tesla's on price and power output). If your car has the dual chargers, you'll likely want that Tesla charger on a 100A breaker to maximize charging speed.

 

Wrong and dangerous information here. You can NOT use a 60A breaker on an outlet. The highest amp 240V outlet used with Tesla is the NEMA 14-50 outlet which is used for a 50A circuit (the 50 in NEMA 14-50). The Generation 1 UMC which will come with your car draws 40A with the 14-50 adapter (80% of 50A). This will charge the Model S at 29 miles rated range per hour of charging

Here is the installation instructions from Tesla:
https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/downloads/US/universalmobileconnector_nema_14-50.pdf

By the way, you are not installing a charger. The charger is in the car. You are plugging in a mobile connector. If you want to install a Wall Connector permanently (directly wired, not plugged into an outlet) that’s still a connector, not a charger.

For an overview of home charging options see Tesla’s web site:
Home Charging Installation

 

And, for more info, see Flasher's FAQ thread in my sig, tons of info there:

 

Go with NEMA 14-50. Its a cheap option and used by most people here. the mobile connector that comes with the car will plug in and charge your car at 40A. Thats about 28ish miles of charge/hour.

50 amp breaker and outlet will cost you maybe no more than $50 in parts, probably far less. Any licensed electrician (or amateur) should know how to install that. Its 4 wires that hook up to your junction box.

 

First, determine what other charging capabilities are around you. Can you charge at work? Is there a Supercharger neat you, is there a J1772 charger near you.
All of these become important in the first few days, as you will want to drive a lot.

Then you need to determine your long term solution. How often will you need to charge? How quickly will you need to charge? Then you can make the decision on what you will need for a few weeks. You will probably want to get a faster outlet installed, as others have mentioned, but that's going to cost a decent amount and will take a bit to get installed. Quotes, permits, and installation take time.

Most important for tonight, find where the fast Superchargers are!

 

Also, Tesla will do the installation directly here in AZ (and a handful of other states). Seems to be flat rate pricing (with a few options such as hiding the conduit in the walls). Call them up, they'll send you a link to upload a few pictures, and you'll have plans from there. Note that Tesla will always do a full load calc, provide that with the permit request they submit, etc., whereas other electricians may or may not always bid "following the process to a T".

 

I called two different electricians that were recommended by Tesla for quotes on installing a 14-50 outlet in my garage. I think one quoted me something like $800 and the other $1000.
I called the electrician/sub contractor that did the original wiring for our development, and he did it for under $300 for parts and labor. The outlet was only about 2 feet from the breaker box and took him an hour or two.

So definitely shop around. And just say you need a 14-50 outlet installed, dont mention its for charging a Tesla. I think mentioning Tesla automatically adds a few hundred to the quote!

Congrats on the car!

 

To be clear, I was suggesting a breaker rated at a 50% buffer above the rated current of the charger because that's what Tesla's home charger installation manual suggests.

 

Where is that in the manual?

 

I don’t have it in front of me to look it up, but I was originally planning on doing my own installation. As I recall, the manual suggests a 60A breaker for a single charger(48A max) or 100A breaker for dual charger(72A max), the idea being that you don’t want it to trip due to running right up against the maximum.

 

You're confusing the Tesla Wall Connector (hardwired, up to 100A breaker) with the Mobile Connector (plug in with e.g. 14-50 max 50 A.

 

Not only are you confusing the Wall Connector and outlets for UMC, you’re confusing 48A and 72A with the old single and dual chargers, and saying 50% when you mean 20%. For continuous use (such as EV charging) you can only draw 80% of the size circuit. So yes, 48A charging needs at least 60A circuit. But that can only happen with the hardwired Wall Connector, not by plugging into an outlet.

 

They appear to have covered it. Yes, 20% derating, regardless of which method your are using. So that means max of 40 amps on a 14-50 outlet. You can get a 14-60 and use a 60 amp breaker but then the 14-50 plug won't fit, and you won't get more power anyway.

 

That 20% derating has nothing to do with Tesla. It is a National Electric Code (NEC) requirement for a continuous load.

 

Fair enough. Mea culpa.

 

And it also seems as if everyone forgets the size of the wiring required. The big gauge wires get really expensive.

You just don't choose a breaker size. You size the entire circuit, current, breaker, plug, usage all go together to determine the components. These circuits are generally the biggest thing in a house. Unlike things like a dryer, they tend to stay on for long times and the wiring can get quite warm. This isn't the place to take shortcuts.

 

My post that you quoted did refer to circuit size. I never even used the word breaker.

 

Sorry, wring focus, I was replying to the post in whole. Too many people just keep talking about switching breakers to solve the problem. As an Electrical Engineer, breakers and plus are ancillary, it's the wire gauge that tells the story. As long as the breaker is rate below wire size, and the plug more than wire size, I'm happy.
Wires are made to carry current, not to be circuit breakers or fire starters. (i.e. they should never melt open or create too much heat)
I've seen way too many wires that carry too much current, and I've been the cause of some of them.

But there is no way I ever want a 50A circuit getting close to it's limit.

Sorry, off soapbox

 

Battery capacity is measured in kWh, not "kw".

Please see Near Turtle to cells balanced: 20.8 kW with 2015 Leaf with 24 kW battery: Low kW? As expected? Battery losing capacity? - My Nissan Leaf Forum for more info about kW vs. kWh.