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NEMA 6-50 or 14-50?

Discussion in 'Electric Vehicles' started by Aleks, Jan 11, 2021.

  1. Aleks

    Aleks New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2021
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    Location:
    usa
    I am new in this here in US, I am about to install a new electric dryer and new electric installation for it, I am thinking to install at the same time an outlet for a future car charger at home, what would you suggest to go with
    NEMA 6-50 or 14-50 plug, thanks
     
  2. Cosmacelf

    Cosmacelf Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 6, 2013
    Messages:
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    Location:
    San Diego
    Just to avoid confusion, the new dryer plug will be a NEMA 14-30.

    For car charging, I'd recommend a NEMA 6-50 since that is all you need. The NEMA 14-50 delivers the same power, but has an extra wire to also deliver 120V. So it will cost a little bit extra. You might also consider just pulling wire to a faceplate and leaving a blank faceplate. Chances are you are going to want to install a dedicated EV charger in which case you won't need a receptacle at all, but hard wire it instead. To be completely future proof with a possible Tesla install in the future, use wire rated for 60 amps and connect to a 60 amp breaker (usually 6 gauge depending on type of wire used).
     
    • Informative x 1
  3. Watts_Up

    Watts_Up Active Member

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    Location:
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    I believe that the electrical code for appliances require now to have a Neutral wire
    allowing to have the appliance using a 120 V device, like a fan or a timer for example,
    thus having the NEMA 10-30 or 10-50 been phased out in new installations.

    If you decide putting a 6-50 NEMA or a wall charger, still include a Neutral wire because it would be too difficult
    in the future to add such wire if you need to put a NEMA 14-50 when selling your house for example.

    Other issues to consider would be having two or more EVs to be charged at the same time,
    which would require having a stronger circuit breaker to handle the load
    and the need to have two or more wall chargers to allow sharing the load.

    Don't forget to install in your garage some NEMA 5-15 or 5-20 to run some power tools like an electrical drill or saw,
    vacuum cleaner, chargers for a motorcycle or electrical bicycles ...

    Also, consider that Tesla quite often sends some software updated which need to be download by WIFI,
    so verify that this will be possible, especially if you have a detached garage or if there is a strong foundation wall.
    So you might need to install a WIFI range extender.
     
    • Like x 2
  4. MIT_S60

    MIT_S60 Active Member

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    Orange County, CA
    Or even better, run CAT6 to the garage and set up a mesh WiFi network (using Ethernet backhaul to the garage).
     
  5. Watts_Up

    Watts_Up Active Member

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    Yes, that was exactly my though.

    It's not because your smartphone can connect to your WiFi router, a proof that the Tesla WiFi will be able to connect to your router.

    The car WiFi antenna is located inside the passenger rear mirror and quite don't seem to detect or to allow connecting to local WiFi signal.

    So often, it is necessary to add an additional WiFi transmitter inside the garage.

    Another point is that the Tesla Web receiver don't provide a way to connect to a WiFi requiring a login page, like hotels often provide.

    I installed for this purpose a mini router inside my Tesla (such as a GL.i-net router ), allowing me to use some public WiFi hotspots.
     
    • Helpful x 1

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