Installing Charger in BC, Canada

[LazyBeagle]

I'll be taking delivery of my Model 3 (hopefully) soon and I was wondering how much did it cost you to install your charger in your garage?

I did some calling around and most electricians gave me a quote of $400-$500 to install a charger inside a garage. This is assuming my circuit could handle it and fuse panel upgrade is not included.

However, I came across one electrician who pointed out something that no one talks about. He said to do it properly, we need to request a permit from the city and perform a load calculation. This process apparently costs around $3,500 or so. Also, if the service to my home is deemed insufficient, I need to request for a service upgrade from BC Hydro for $1,300+ where they will dig up the cables and upgrade them to an appropriate gauge.

I also came across this "free" level 2 charger program: Home | ZAPBC
It gives you the option of a free charger for DIY installs or $1,100 off if you use one of their electricians (you need to share charging data with wifi to qualify). In their example, the quote seems much lower despite including the permit. I'm not sure if they are leaving out some hidden costs.

So the bottom line is: Did you request a permit and if so, how much did it cost you?

 

[miimura]

$3,500 for a load calculation and permit is ridiculous. 1/2 hour labor for the calcs, actual city permit fee, plus 1 hour labor to apply, and 2 hours labor to wait around for inspection is normal. In Northern California, that means it's about $500 more to do it purely by the book with permit and inspection with full service by the contractor. However, we, as homeowners, can apply for the permit ourselves and many cities have streamlined procedures for permitting EV charging.

 

[LazyBeagle]

Just another update. I managed to call up Tesla and convinced them to give me my VIN. I used it to get a quote through ZapBC and the quote that came back came out to about $900 including a permit, which is pleasantly a lot more reasonable. I will confirm again once it's all finalized and the electrician has a chance to inspect my garage.

 

[MD-2000]

I user a NEMA 50-14 plug which I grossly overpaid for installation - but skipped the permit. it's a stove plug - a number of neighbours of some ethnic persuasion have stoves in their garage for particularly spicy cooking. The installer was a licensed electrician and Instrumentation tech, so he knew what he was doing. He used 8Ga wire, so it's definitely limited to 40A (32A continuous). I use the charger that came in the car kit. Someday I'll install a wall charger.

Load calcs are bunk. I have a 40-amp or 30-Amp circuits for my dryer, the hot water heater, and the stove. If I ran all my circuits at rated value, even before the charger, I'd exceed the feed power. I have only a 100A total feed. I simply schedule charging to commence at 1AM when I don't plan heavy use of the other appliances. 40A 240V charges about 47km/h (28mph). It's a rare day (has not happened yet) where 1AM to 8AM is not enough time to charge to the usual max (80% of battery). My laundry and cooking are done well before 1AM. If you are concerned, you can also use the app to start charging anytime.

(Ever see Green Acres, where Mr. Douglas is explaining to his wife Lisa about their power? All their appliance cords have numbered tags - "you can plug in a 6 and a 3 and a 1, but you cannot plug in a 9 and a 5 at the same time...")

 

[Rocky_H]

I user a NEMA 50-14 plug

14-50

He used 8Ga wire, so it's definitely limited to 40A (32A continuous).

Yup, sounds pretty common and reasonable.

Load calcs are bunk.

No they're not.

I have a 40-amp or 30-Amp circuits for my dryer, the hot water heater, and the stove. If I ran all my circuits at rated value, even before the charger, I'd exceed the feed power. I have only a 100A total feed.

Yeah, that's the given paradigm of residential electrical installations and load calculations. It is based on the (generally correct) assumption that there is a near 0% chance that people will ever run all circuits in the house at maximum rated value at the same time. So there is a mid-level partial use assumption built in that covers this and does a fine job with it.

I simply schedule charging to commence at 1AM when I don't plan heavy use of the other appliances. 40A 240V charges about 47km/h (28mph). It's a rare day (has not happened yet) where 1AM to 8AM is not enough time to charge to the usual max (80% of battery). My laundry and cooking are done well before 1AM. If you are concerned, you can also use the app to start charging anytime.

Apparently you don't know that this specific action is officially documented as one of the methods that can be used in the load calculation. You can designate a pair of large loads as "non-coincidental", which means they will be used at opposite times of day, and then you list the load for that pair as just the larger of the two. Interesting how load calculations are not bunk and make provisions for sensible things like that, huh?

(Ever see Green Acres, where Mr. Douglas is explaining to his wife Lisa about their power? All their appliance cords have numbered tags - "you can plug in a 6 and a 3 and a 1, but you cannot plug in a 9 and a 5 at the same time...")

Yes, I have seen that one--great stuff.

 

[MD-2000]

So basically, unless you have a complex house, it's as basic as expected - "this charger will be the same load as the dryer circuit". I fail to see where that needs hundreds of dollars worth of analysis. AFAIK a charger is not creating an asymmetric load on one phase, or anything else esoteric that needs analysis.

When I "replanted" my fence poles near the pond fifty feet from the house and the complete opposite direction from any buried services, I needed Hydro and the gas company to certify there was nothing nearby. Commoon sense said (and since I saw the houses in the area being built) I knew there were no services buried there running into and under a retention pond. The only thing at risk might have been my sprinkler system that nobody else checked for. If it wasn't a contractor, if I did it myself, would I have bothered? But - procedures. Rules.