Installing 240v Outlet

[Akali]

Hey!

New to the Tesla family. Just took delivery this past Saturday at Powell Street in Vancouver. The car is amazing.

Now, I am a newbie to all this, so forgive me for asking dumb questions. I am thinking of installing a 240 volt outlet in my garage to charge my M3.

What things do I need to know before installing a 240v?
Do I simply buy an 240v from home depot?
Is there a specific amperage I need to have?
Or just simply one that fits into the mobile connector that was supplied by with my car?
Estimate with cost wise from just a regular "trusted" electrician?

I understand it has to be installed near the power panel that's in the garage and the electrician has to wire everything.

But if there's any valuable knowledge you can enlighten me with, that would be greatly appreciated. Thank You

 

[brkaus]

Ideally, you will have a 14-50 outlet installed. Properly installed, that will have a 50a breaker, proper wire gauge, and this will allow it to handle 40a continuous load.

Your included UMC will charge your car at 32a when plugged into a 14-50 outlet.

If near the panel, it's approx $50-100 USD in parts.

If you want to charge at > 32A, you would need to
a) find a Gen1 UMC
b) Have a WC (wall connector) installed.

Edit to add - your car should come with a UMC that has a 14-50 & a 5-15 adapter. You can purchase more adaptors from the Tesla online shop for different outlets.

 

[Big Earl]

Ideally, you will have a 14-50 outlet installed. Properly installed, that will have a 50a breaker, proper wire gauge, and this will allow it to handle 40a continuous load.

Your included UMC will charge your car at 32a when plugged into a 14-50 outlet.

If near the panel, it's approx $50-100 USD in parts.

If you want to charge at > 32A, you would need to
a) find a Gen1 UMC
b) Have a WC (wall connector) installed.

If I remember correctly, NEMA 14-50 outlets are restricted to 32 amps on a 40 amp breaker in Canada, so that will align well with the 2nd gen mobile connector.

Faster charging will require a wall connector on a larger circuit. Current production Teslas can charge at 48 amps on a 60 amp breaker (Model 3 and 75 kWh Model S & X) or 72 amps on a 90 amp breaker (100 kWh Model S & X).

More information about home charging: Onboard Charger & Home Charging Installation

 

[marcn]

Lots of good info on this page:
Home Charging Installation

If you don't want the additional expense of a Wall Connector, using the (included) Mobile Connector with a NEMA 14-50 outlet is pretty common.

 

[Chrispy294ss]

As just st stated you will want to get the highest amps available.
An electrition will/should do an assessment of your current service.
I only have a 100amp service panel.
Fortunately I had a downstairs electric stove for a nanny suite which we no longer use. I choose to stick with a 30 amp service which restricts my maximum to 24amp continuous load, but the difference in charging time is not an issue. Getting away from any 120v plug is the key.
Happy charging.
Chris in Langley BC

 

[Pescakl1]

If I remember correctly, NEMA 14-50 outlets are restricted to 32 amps on a 40 amp breaker in Canada, so that will align well with the 2nd gen mobile connector.

I got my NEMA 14-50 outlet connected to a 50 Amp breaker by a certified Canadian electrician. Like that, I am able to pull 40 Amp from my wall connector with an oven outlet attached to it ( work done by the same certified electrician).

I know we often hear about that statement, but I believe this is not true (not in my case anyway ).

 

[fidodido]

I'm guessing you picked up new Model 3. The mobile charger that comes with Model 3 (gen 2 charger), will draw up to 32 amp. So, if you NEMA 14-50 wall outlet is backed by 40 amp breaker, it should be fine. If you're planning to have Tesla wall charging unit, just get the maximum allowable from your breaker box and configure the wall charger to draw right current.

Model S/X/3 Gen 2 Mobile Connector Bundle

 

[X.l.r.8]

As mentioned, it partially comes down to the choice of connector you are using. If you are using the mobile cord then you only need a 40amp circuit. The thing to remember is using the 14-50 socket is they are not designed for continual removal. They are designed for dryers/stoves that you plug in once and rarely remove. So if you use your mobile connector it’s best to leave it plugged in. Next is distance and route against cost. Working with 6AWG cable is doable but once you get to bigger cabling it’s hard to work with, you only need twin and earth for your installation but I found myself buying cable and isolation boxes from people ripping out hot tubs. They generally use 6AWG and a 60Amp breaker in a dedicated box. $50-100 usually sees me with 25-60ft cable and the breaker box. It’s the cheapest way to get a 60 amp circuit. Swap the breaker to 50 for the 14-50 or simply install a HPWC at 48v and leave the mobile connector for emergency’s or traveling with.

 

[Vawlkus]

Here’s what I was quoted for a cable run that was about 30’ or so from my main panel.

“to supply and install a 50 amp , 240 Volt, GFI protected , weatherproof receptacle at the discussed location c/w 6/3 Tech cables and watertight connectors and covers....985.00 plus HST. ”

That’s for a NEMA 14-50 outlet that fits the Tesla UMC perfectly.

 

[Stomsf]

Welcome @Akali . What I did was to hire an electrician to put in a NEMA 14-50 wall outlet in the garage (~$400US), then bought the NEMA 14-50 adapter from Tesla to plug into the wall. The mobile connector plugs into the adapter. If I'm traveling and need the mobile connector I just unplug from the adapter (or the wall if I know there's 14-50 where I'm going) and bring it along.

Your other option (more expensive) is to wire a wall charger from Tesla ($500US) into the wall and use that at home, and bring leave your mobile connector in the car for when you need it.

 

[spacemanrick]

I had an electrician install my 240 volt Tesla wall charger at my house in Vancouver 2 weeks ago. The electrician used a 60 amp breaker so the current running hard wired to my car from the Tesla charger is 48 amps and I charge at 66 km per hour with the Tesla wall charger. A huge improvement over the 7 km per hour I was getting using the 110 volt charger.

The distance that the electrical cable had to be run from my electrical box to my wall charger in my garage and through the crawl space was about 40 feet. I paid $700 for the Tesla wall charger and $600 + tax for the materials and labour for the electrician to install the Tesla charger and do all the associated electrical work. I think if I just wanted to have a 240 volt outlet installed where my wall charger is and use a $35 Nema adaptor from the Tesla store the electrician was going to charge around $550.

The electrician did a great job hiding the cut outs he had to make in the drywall from the electrical box to the crawl space and back down the other wall to the Tesla wall charger so there is very little drywall or painting work to be done after the installation.

 

[5_+JqckQttqck]

If there's a rebate available. Get the HPWC. If not and you want to save some $. NEMA 14-50 or NEMA 6-50 (both will get your to 40/32A) which translates to just under 50km/hr of charge.

Also, does your daily commute and activities necessitate this amount of charging? I find even plugging in daily at my gf's place at 110v/12A is enough to cover my one way commute to work. So charging once a week to 90% and a few destination charges while out gets me by.

Really depends on your needs. Having HPWC at home is less stressful though.

Happy motoring

 

[Hugh Mannity]

Hey!

New to the Tesla family. Just took delivery this past Saturday at Powell Street in Vancouver. The car is amazing.

Now, I am a newbie to all this, so forgive me for asking dumb questions. I am thinking of installing a 240 volt outlet in my garage to charge my M3.

What things do I need to know before installing a 240v?
Do I simply buy an 240v from home depot?
Is there a specific amperage I need to have?
Or just simply one that fits into the mobile connector that was supplied by with my car?
Estimate with cost wise from just a regular "trusted" electrician?

I understand it has to be installed near the power panel that's in the garage and the electrician has to wire everything.

But if there's any valuable knowledge you can enlighten me with, that would be greatly appreciated. Thank You

Are you a licensed electrician ? If not definitely get one to install your 14-50 or Tesla HPWC if that's what you are going to do. Then you need an inspector to sign off on it. Best case scenario for safety and insurance reasons.

 

[Jffurlan]

One important note:

SR+ can charge at 32 Amps
LR can charge at 48 Amps. You will need a HPWC for this, otherwise the Gen 2 Mobile Connector with 14-50 adapter will only do 32 Amps.

My suggestion would be that if the install is cheap (close to the panel), you essentially get a free HPWC with the rebate. This is worth it regardless of what model you have, even if it won’t charge faster on an SR+.

 

[spacemanrick]

Not sure if it even matters to some people but to me the Tesla wall charger looks damn sexy in a garage! I would gladly pay a few extra hundred dollars to have that in my garage just for the looks alone never mind the faster charging speed at 48 amps....

 

[jc22zhao]

Hey, welcome to the tesla family.

I installed my own NEMA 14-50 outlet in my garage as I have the breaker panel in the garage so it was a fairly straight forward install. Since I only use my UMC, it will will not draw more than 32A, even with a load factor of 85%, a 40A breaker will be sufficient.

For the wires, I used 6awg 3 conductor as that is recommended by Tesla. This is definitely overkill, however, it does give me buffer room for future power increases as it is easy to swap out the breaker for a higher amp breaker, but rewiring is a LOOOT of work. If you don't see yourself needing more than 60A in the wires, you can actually go with 8awg which is cheaper, lighter, and much easier to work with. 6awg wires are extremely hard to bend and get into the proper connection slots, probably 80% of the time during my install was wrestling with the wires.

Find a NEMA 14-50 plug that is rated for 50A or greater. Then aside from that, just make sure you have the right tools and hardware to run the wires. Also, only attempt a self install if you are completely comfortable opening up your house breaker panels and have experience with electrical work. Be prepared to shut off power to the panel when putting in the breaker. My install job took me a big part of a whole afternoon, mostly due to the difficulty of working with 6awg wires.

Good luck.