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HPWC Installation Cost

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Looking for safety disconnects like they are describing they cost around $200-300. That right there doubles my expected material cost from what I was figuring. Brings his quote up into the more reasonable range.

One of the threads here discussed this the other day, because that code stanza is written with some bizarre language. Some inspectors will accept the breaker in another room as sufficient disconnect for 625.42, and the ability to lock the electrical panel shut as sufficient for "lockable open". Some inspectors will want it in the same room or within sight, others very strictly interpret it to be within reach. I believe CSA requires a disconnect within sight.

With regards to asking for code advice on a forum, it's perfectly reasonable as long as you understand that the only opinion that matters is your local inspector's. The NEC may be centrally developed, but plenty of jurisdictions modify it or interpret it differently, and while the NFPA tries to keep it clear, it's not always. Your inspector (or, in jurisdictions not requiring inspections, your electrician) is the only person's opinion that matters. Avoid riskier interpretations (see the FAQ in my signature, below).
 
I sent an email to the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries Electrical Program (i.e. who does the inspections here):

From what I read online different jurisdictions have interpreted "readily
accessible location" in various ways. Same room, within sight, within reach?
Does L&I have an explanation of their interpretation.

In my specific case the EVSE (80 amperes) would in the 3 car garage of a single
family home, on the opposite side of the garage from the breaker panel (32 feet
across and about 12 feet closer to the entrance of the garage from the panel).
Would the breaker meet the readily accessible location requirement? Would a
lockout device applied to the breaker meet the requirement to be lockable open?

This is the response I got:

[FONT=&quot]Thank you for your question to the electrical program. The disconnecting means is not required to be within sight from the EVSE, but must be readily accessible (capable of being reached quickly for operation, renewal, or inspections without requiring those to whom ready access is requisite to actions such as to use tools, to climb over or remove obstacles, or to resort to portable ladders, and so forth). The typical residential load center located in a garage meets this requirement. The lockout device must be of a type that remains in place with or without the lock installed. A typical circuit breaker lockout device which installs on the circuit breaker before the load center panel cover is installed meets this requirement.[/FONT]

So I can avoid the separate disconnect entirely here.
 
I just installed my unit about 3 weeks ago. My buddy who's a licensed electrician installed the HPWC for me. Parts were about $200 at Lowe's/Home Depot with about 5 hours of labor at $30/hour. I did not have to run very much wire since the panel was within 6 feet of where I wanted to install the HPWC unit. I used a 100 amp breaker in my existing panel, converting my electric plan with PG&E (electrical provider) to a time of use plan. Overall, while the labor rates might not be comparable considering he only charged me $200 total, we only used about $200 in parts which I purchased directly from Home Depot and Lowes. This was his first time installing a Tesla HPWC unit but he said with the installation instructions, it wasn't an unusual install for an experienced electrician.

I should also qualify that the 5 hours also included about an hour gathering parts for the job.

Hope this helps.
 
breser I am a licensed electrician in WA, on the dry side. I think you are reading too much into the code. "Within site" simply means you have to see it and/or cannot be over 50' away. "Readily accessible" means you can't put stuff in front of the disconnecting means (panelboard) or located behind say a cabinet and there are also height requirements, but you don't have to worry about any of those since you will be using your existing 200A panel. If you can find #2 wire in a triplex (NM, UF, USE) then you will not need a conduit (pvc is perfectly legal in your garage- cheaper too). If they use individual conductors then a conduit will be needed. #3 wire is the minimum but #2 is more readily available and more often than not cheaper. #6 is the size that needs to be used for the ground and it needs to be green. The "hot" conductors can be black or red (blue will work too) but NOT white. The price you were quoted seems very high for the amount of work you have described. I don't think it should take more than an hour or so to do that job for you. Get another quote. Hope I helped. BTW, no I can't do it for you, I am currently working on my "second" job and the Army Reserves has seen it fit that I am needed over here in Afghanistan for this job more than being back at home lol. I have ordered my model S and should hopefully be getting it in Nov-Dec, just in time for me to come home!
 
Did my installation yesterday with my friend. We ended up using conduit and individual conductors. I'll post some pictures here soon. But materials cost around $550 for a HPWC about 60 feet away from the panel and a 15 foot 14-50. The 14-50 was super easy to do, took us about 20 minutes. The conduit and the wire pull wasn't bad. The most annoying part of the install was the actual HPWC. The unit is just way too small. It's hard to terminate the conduit in it, it's hard to get the wire in the lugs (we ended up using 2 AWG since it easier to get). The ground wire has two plastic pieces that stick up on either side of the bar that make it hard to fit. Gotta say this design is just downright bad. Obviously someone cared more about how it looked from the outside than how easy it was to install. Sad thing is it wouldn't have been too hard to make it look good and leave more room in the box.
 
Did my installation yesterday with my friend. We ended up using conduit and individual conductors. I'll post some pictures here soon. But materials cost around $550 for a HPWC about 60 feet away from the panel and a 15 foot 14-50. The 14-50 was super easy to do, took us about 20 minutes. The conduit and the wire pull wasn't bad. The most annoying part of the install was the actual HPWC. The unit is just way too small. It's hard to terminate the conduit in it, it's hard to get the wire in the lugs (we ended up using 2 AWG since it easier to get). The ground wire has two plastic pieces that stick up on either side of the bar that make it hard to fit. Gotta say this design is just downright bad. Obviously someone cared more about how it looked from the outside than how easy it was to install. Sad thing is it wouldn't have been too hard to make it look good and leave more room in the box.

Just had an electrician install my HPWC two days ago and he had the same comment. No question they should have had the power come up straight from the bottom of the unit. Making those 90 degree turns were almost impossible. I also used 2 AWG (75') in PVC, but added a 100amp breaker box in the garage as a service shutoff, plus a whole-house surge arrester in the main panel.
 
The purpose of this post is to amend an earlier message that overestimated the difficulty and that cost to enable my home to use the HPWC. The electrician did not know that the charging could be scheduled for early morning hours. His plan also was intended to provide a future when we might have two EVs charging every night. Therefore his expectation required an increase in service to the house that would have been $4500 more costly than his final $2355 estimate. As revised, the home service panel of 200 A is adequate as long as we don't try 80A charging while also running the dryer, the hot water heater, the garage heater and the hot tub. That would never happen. His install will enable a second NEMA 14-50 plug for a potential second EV as long as not charging at the same time as the 80A HPWC. A much lower price than the first shocking estimate!
 
My install passed inspection today. Ironically the inspector found problems with a past electricians work (unrelated to mine and was done 12 years ago) and he said he's calling them up tomorrow and making them come fix it. So that'll make for an awkward conversation.