-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Melbourne HPWC installation
- Thread starter Tasdoc
- Start date
The two most extreme costs I've heard were from the same person. Once when they lived in an apartment and had the cable run over 50m to their garage and paid $2800, the same person later moved into a house and paid $250 to have it mounted a few meters from their switch box.
The point is that the cost will vary greatly by complexity. Many Tesla owners have big houses and aesthetics are important to them. Some electricians want to run conduit externally around the house, this looks super ugly and may negatively impact resale of your home (ie have that discussion up front and avoid anyone who wont internally route the cable).
I recommend insisting on 6mm cable, there is less heat and volt drop, meaning more power getting to the car and greater overall efficiency (on short runs this is very marginal) and cost impact is trivial.
Other than that expect about $500 for a short simple run to $1500 for an internal routing of a reasonable distance, but not extreme like my example above.
Edit: Also note the new guidelines in the standards recommend a Type A RCD, discuss that with your installer. Its not mandatory, but I do highly recommend it given the DC nature of the load (if that goes over your head, just tell the installer it is to be a type A RCD)
The point is that the cost will vary greatly by complexity. Many Tesla owners have big houses and aesthetics are important to them. Some electricians want to run conduit externally around the house, this looks super ugly and may negatively impact resale of your home (ie have that discussion up front and avoid anyone who wont internally route the cable).
I recommend insisting on 6mm cable, there is less heat and volt drop, meaning more power getting to the car and greater overall efficiency (on short runs this is very marginal) and cost impact is trivial.
Other than that expect about $500 for a short simple run to $1500 for an internal routing of a reasonable distance, but not extreme like my example above.
Edit: Also note the new guidelines in the standards recommend a Type A RCD, discuss that with your installer. Its not mandatory, but I do highly recommend it given the DC nature of the load (if that goes over your head, just tell the installer it is to be a type A RCD)
Thanks.
My setup is fairly simple: a 30 years old double brick house, a carport 5 metres away fom the meter box, a hpwc with a 7 metres long cable. Not really worried about aesthetics. But what I am worried about is that it looks like I have only one phase, 80amp main switch and the hpwc says it’s 32amp max, so 7kw is going to be my max charge rate
My setup is fairly simple: a 30 years old double brick house, a carport 5 metres away fom the meter box, a hpwc with a 7 metres long cable. Not really worried about aesthetics. But what I am worried about is that it looks like I have only one phase, 80amp main switch and the hpwc says it’s 32amp max, so 7kw is going to be my max charge rate
WozX
Member
First installation for me was 6m from meter box for $550, second 50cm for $500, third was maybe 25-30m for $1040. All very tidy single-phase installs by Tesla-recommended JetCharge.
Had my HPWC installed today, thought I should share my experience.
Called Jetcharge - was quoted $800-900+GST, they did not ask for any details apart from how far away is the carpot from the meter box.
Local electrician - came and had a look, promised to give a quote within 1-2 days and disappeared. Has been a few weeks now - heard nothing.
Perkin electrical - quoted $600 for a standard setup, which includes 10-15m cable. Was asked to send photos for a firm quote. Turned out that my meter box wasn't just old, it was very old - fuses instead of breakers with very little space to put new stuff. So was given a choice of either $200 on top of the standard price for a complex installation, or $850 on top for a new meter box.
Had a meter box+HPWC done today. Took about 6 hours. Seems to be working fine. Single phase 230volts 32 amps
Called Jetcharge - was quoted $800-900+GST, they did not ask for any details apart from how far away is the carpot from the meter box.
Local electrician - came and had a look, promised to give a quote within 1-2 days and disappeared. Has been a few weeks now - heard nothing.
Perkin electrical - quoted $600 for a standard setup, which includes 10-15m cable. Was asked to send photos for a firm quote. Turned out that my meter box wasn't just old, it was very old - fuses instead of breakers with very little space to put new stuff. So was given a choice of either $200 on top of the standard price for a complex installation, or $850 on top for a new meter box.
Had a meter box+HPWC done today. Took about 6 hours. Seems to be working fine. Single phase 230volts 32 amps
Icey
Member
I used JetCharge for my apartment in Melbourne - $2800 - 25m run with a few extra breakers required - Single Phase 25a
Local Sparky for my Home in Adelaide - $200 - under 30cm from the meter box - Single Phase 32a
JetCharge wanted to charge me $900 for my house in Adelaide even after I told them its under 1m from the meter box.
Local Sparky for my Home in Adelaide - $200 - under 30cm from the meter box - Single Phase 32a
JetCharge wanted to charge me $900 for my house in Adelaide even after I told them its under 1m from the meter box.
I'm getting my local sparky (Hit the Switch) to come out and give me a quote tomorrow afternoon. I'll update with the pricing when he's done so, but the plan is to get a standard 10 amp 230V socket installed on a general circuit, and the wall connector to be connected to a 32 amp controlled load circuit (for urgent overnight top ups).
The controlled load will give me power for between 5 and 9 hours overnight; at 7.3 kW, that will give me between 36.8 and 66.2 kWh of charge - or anywhere from half a full charge to 8/9th of a full charge. The general circuit will be for most of my charging, off my solar panels - assuming about 4 hours of charging (I'll be tweaking that as I pay more attention to my solar capacity and car usage), that will be 9 kWh per day (or 60km of range, approximately). Times five days a week, equals 45 kWh. At steady state, that will be plenty for me; a typical week of driving (Monday to Friday), added over the course of a full week, is about 100km, leaving 200km of net gain for other things on the weekend.
The controlled load will give me power for between 5 and 9 hours overnight; at 7.3 kW, that will give me between 36.8 and 66.2 kWh of charge - or anywhere from half a full charge to 8/9th of a full charge. The general circuit will be for most of my charging, off my solar panels - assuming about 4 hours of charging (I'll be tweaking that as I pay more attention to my solar capacity and car usage), that will be 9 kWh per day (or 60km of range, approximately). Times five days a week, equals 45 kWh. At steady state, that will be plenty for me; a typical week of driving (Monday to Friday), added over the course of a full week, is about 100km, leaving 200km of net gain for other things on the weekend.
Why not just use the UMC that comes with the car? Adding a 3ph 16A plug on the other hand makes some sense and people have done it with mostly positive results.
Shock-On-T
⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️
Once the cable is run, it takes less than an hour to install the HPWC.
You have to screw a backing plate onto wall, then thread the cable up through the bottom, screw the unit to the backing plate, connect the wires to the right ports, attach the ribbon cable, screw on the front, clip on the front cover.
I recently had one replaced by Tesla (thanks!) and it took <15 minutes for me to install, since the backing plate from the old unit was already installed.
Basically the whole cost is getting the power to the HPWC. If it's a long run you need higher gauge cable, some houses have a tricky run from the meter box, some meter boxes don't have space for a new breaker so need a new meter box, etc etc.
You have to screw a backing plate onto wall, then thread the cable up through the bottom, screw the unit to the backing plate, connect the wires to the right ports, attach the ribbon cable, screw on the front, clip on the front cover.
I recently had one replaced by Tesla (thanks!) and it took <15 minutes for me to install, since the backing plate from the old unit was already installed.
Basically the whole cost is getting the power to the HPWC. If it's a long run you need higher gauge cable, some houses have a tricky run from the meter box, some meter boxes don't have space for a new breaker so need a new meter box, etc etc.
timpoo
Member
Hi guys - long time Tesla owner and I also happen to run JET Charge - just some thoughts from my own point of view:
1. We generally don't ask for photos to firm up quotes because inevitably only a small percentage of people can be bothered to send us photos, and it ends up being too difficult so they cancel. We therefore have to use our experience to quote a standard installation based on distance from switchboard.
2. All pricing, specs and details are submitted back to Tesla. This ensures that they have everything on record in the case of warranty repairs etc - makes it a bit easier. Also makes us accountable back to Tesla for everything we do.
3. When we do apartment installs, we normally end up negotiating with the owners corp, attending meetings etc. Doesn't happen with every installation, but does with most. Also, for many apartment installs, we need to use a monitored system like Chargefox, which requires a new charging station, and that's why it can cost more, because there's literally another charging station in there (the Tesla unit can't be connected to the internet). I know a lot of people just want to install a charger with an in-line meter, then deal with it later, but unfortunately that's not really scalable for the building and I think those days are probably numbered.
4. Also need to make sure that your installer uses Type A RCD/MCBs (rather than AC, which is the norm) to comply with AS/NZ 3000, and that they size the cabling appropriately.
5. Cheapest install I've heard of is a slab of beer, charging station installed right next to the switchboard. Cannot confirm or deny that it was offered by us
1. We generally don't ask for photos to firm up quotes because inevitably only a small percentage of people can be bothered to send us photos, and it ends up being too difficult so they cancel. We therefore have to use our experience to quote a standard installation based on distance from switchboard.
2. All pricing, specs and details are submitted back to Tesla. This ensures that they have everything on record in the case of warranty repairs etc - makes it a bit easier. Also makes us accountable back to Tesla for everything we do.
3. When we do apartment installs, we normally end up negotiating with the owners corp, attending meetings etc. Doesn't happen with every installation, but does with most. Also, for many apartment installs, we need to use a monitored system like Chargefox, which requires a new charging station, and that's why it can cost more, because there's literally another charging station in there (the Tesla unit can't be connected to the internet). I know a lot of people just want to install a charger with an in-line meter, then deal with it later, but unfortunately that's not really scalable for the building and I think those days are probably numbered.
4. Also need to make sure that your installer uses Type A RCD/MCBs (rather than AC, which is the norm) to comply with AS/NZ 3000, and that they size the cabling appropriately.
5. Cheapest install I've heard of is a slab of beer, charging station installed right next to the switchboard. Cannot confirm or deny that it was offered by us
I hope that was a slab plus 10%.....for gst, although not sure who gets the half bottleHi guys - long time Tesla owner and I also happen to run JET Charge - just some thoughts from my own point of view:
1. We generally don't ask for photos to firm up quotes because inevitably only a small percentage of people can be bothered to send us photos, and it ends up being too difficult so they cancel. We therefore have to use our experience to quote a standard installation based on distance from switchboard.
2. All pricing, specs and details are submitted back to Tesla. This ensures that they have everything on record in the case of warranty repairs etc - makes it a bit easier. Also makes us accountable back to Tesla for everything we do.
3. When we do apartment installs, we normally end up negotiating with the owners corp, attending meetings etc. Doesn't happen with every installation, but does with most. Also, for many apartment installs, we need to use a monitored system like Chargefox, which requires a new charging station, and that's why it can cost more, because there's literally another charging station in there (the Tesla unit can't be connected to the internet). I know a lot of people just want to install a charger with an in-line meter, then deal with it later, but unfortunately that's not really scalable for the building and I think those days are probably numbered.
4. Also need to make sure that your installer uses Type A RCD/MCBs (rather than AC, which is the norm) to comply with AS/NZ 3000, and that they size the cabling appropriately.
5. Cheapest install I've heard of is a slab of beer, charging station installed right next to the switchboard. Cannot confirm or deny that it was offered by us
@timpoo Can you explain what you mean in point 4. Not a big fan of TLAs. (Three Letter Acronym)Hi guys - long time Tesla owner and I also happen to run JET Charge - just some thoughts from my own point of view:
1. We generally don't ask for photos to firm up quotes because inevitably only a small percentage of people can be bothered to send us photos, and it ends up being too difficult so they cancel. We therefore have to use our experience to quote a standard installation based on distance from switchboard.
2. All pricing, specs and details are submitted back to Tesla. This ensures that they have everything on record in the case of warranty repairs etc - makes it a bit easier. Also makes us accountable back to Tesla for everything we do.
3. When we do apartment installs, we normally end up negotiating with the owners corp, attending meetings etc. Doesn't happen with every installation, but does with most. Also, for many apartment installs, we need to use a monitored system like Chargefox, which requires a new charging station, and that's why it can cost more, because there's literally another charging station in there (the Tesla unit can't be connected to the internet). I know a lot of people just want to install a charger with an in-line meter, then deal with it later, but unfortunately that's not really scalable for the building and I think those days are probably numbered.
4. Also need to make sure that your installer uses Type A RCD/MCBs (rather than AC, which is the norm) to comply with AS/NZ 3000, and that they size the cabling appropriately.
5. Cheapest install I've heard of is a slab of beer, charging station installed right next to the switchboard. Cannot confirm or deny that it was offered by us
RCD = residual current device
MCB = miniature circuit breaker
A combined RCD/MCB is often called a RCBO Residual Current Circuit Breaker with Over Current
Other terms like elcb (earth leakage circuit breaker) or electrical safety switch are also used as synonyms for an RCD. GFI (ground fault interrupter) and other terms get used in USA and other regions.
An RCD monitors current flowing to earth rather than neutral which indicates an unintended path has been created, potentially by a human, and causes a trip within 30ms. They are usually set to trip at 30mA which is generally considered a current unlikely to kill most people.
The MCB portion just monitors the overall current and trips the breaker. It is generally sized in line with the cable and is primarily there to prevent electrical fires.
RCDs come in various types, AC which are only good for AC loads, A which work with both AC and DC loads and B which also work on chopped DC. AC breakers are the most common and least expensive. B are typically not sold in Australia so can be very expensive. This has nothing to do with the trip curve of the MCB portion of the breaker which is also A, B,C or D
As I said in my post above, if this seems complicated just make sure you have a type A RCD.
Mainly because it will be almost a permanent outdoor fixture. Is the UMC weatherproof? Our powerpoint is indoors so I would just be feeding the cable through a hole in the wall.
