New to Tesla Charging Question

[Pbzhb]

Hey all. Thanks in advance for your time. Thinking of buying a 2017 Tesla 75D X. I had a few questions.

- My house is very very old. I wanted to know if it will be expensive to install the appropriate charging equipment. How much I’m average does it cost?

- Is the 2017 model capable of supercharging?

- Is anyone else from the NY/LI area that can suggest an electrician to do the install.

thanks again for all the help.

 

[swaltner]

How much does it cost? You'll get answers from as cheap as $200 to several thousand dollars. To install an NEMA 14-50 outlet in the garage, there are $100 in parts, plus wire at roughly $1/foot back to the breaker panel, plus permit fees, plus "appropriate" labor/profit for the electrician. If you need to upgrade your breaker panel or the feed line to your house, you'll have much higher costs. The suggestions really boil down to getting a couple/few electricians to come out and quote the job. It really depends upon what they need to do as to what a reasonable price is.

All Tesla Model S, X, and 3 are capable of Supercharging. The only Tesla, ever created without this capability was the original Roadster. You might have find a very old Model S that didn't have it activated and needs a software activation fee paid, but it's available for every Tesla Model X.

No idea on the local electrician to contact. If you don't find suggestions here, maybe talk to your facilities team at work. They may have some suggestions on who they use, or you possibly even have an electrician on staff at work that would want to work a job on the side.

 

[brkaus]

Hey all. Thanks in advance for your time. Thinking of buying a 2017 Tesla 75D X. I had a few questions.

- My house is very very old. I wanted to know if it will be expensive to install the appropriate charging equipment. How much I’m average does it cost?

- Is the 2017 model capable of supercharging?

- Is anyone else from the NY/LI area that can suggest an electrician to do the install.

thanks again for all the help.

It really depends on your current house electrical panels, location of outlets, etc. Also, how many miles do you drive per day? Do you have backup charging available (nearby supercharger for example).

I would suggest getting a quote for several options -

1). 14-50 outlet. Ideally using wire that is capable of 60a if you ever decide to purchase a Tesla wall connector
2). 6-30 outlet (or 14-30).
3). 6.20 outlet

If a 14-50 is very expensive (for example not enough capacity in your house and they recommend a new breaker panel) then consider a 6-30 / 6-20. If you don't drive much on average and there is a backup plan available, a 6-20 outlet may suit you just fine.

 

[Pbzhb]

It really depends on your current house electrical panels, location of outlets, etc. Also, how many miles do you drive per day? Do you have backup charging available (nearby supercharger for example).

I would suggest getting a quote for several options -

1). 14-50 outlet. Ideally using wire that is capable of 60a if you ever decide to purchase a Tesla wall connector
2). 6-30 outlet (or 14-30).
3). 6.20 outlet

If a 14-50 is very expensive (for example not enough capacity in your house and they recommend a new breaker panel) then consider a 6-30 / 6-20. If you don't drive much on average and there is a backup plan available, a 6-20 outlet may suit you just fine.

I will be driving about 70 miles per day. My circuit breaker is located in my basement and I do not have a garage. Is going the option of installing a NEMA outlet still possible?

 

[user212_nr]

I will be driving about 70 miles per day. My circuit breaker is located in my basement and I do not have a garage. Is going the option of installing a NEMA outlet still possible?

What you want is this item:

Silver Wall Connector

It costs $500 and it can be installed outdoors. The total will probably cost you $1,500. It could probably be done for less, but since you have a Tesla it's a anecdotally a bit more.

You can also contact Tesla for recommended electricians.

Find an Electrician

All Tesla Model 3/S/X do supercharging.

 

[Pbzhb]

Why do you recommend the wall Connecter opposed to the NEMA? Has anyone ever run into a problem where their house could not accommodate a charger? My house is very old.

 

[powaking]

Why do you recommend the wall Connecter opposed to the NEMA? Has anyone ever run into a problem where their house could not accommodate a charger? My house is very old.

My house was built in 1925 and I have a wall charger connected on the side of the house in my driveway. It really comes down to if your service panel can accommodate the sizing of the circuit breaker you intend to use. I went with a HPWC instead of the NEMA plug as I wanted to keep the mobile charger in the car. My service panel is in the basement in very close proximity to where the HPWC was installed so install was fairly easy (had an electrician install everything). Important thing is understanding how much load you currently use and how much more your service panel allows. This will determine what size of a breaker you can dedicate to charging.

 

[ajdelange]

If your house is very old you may have a very small service and your panel may be full. That will complicate things appreciably but it is possible to increase service (the utility gets involved), put in sub panels, replace fat breakers with skinny ones, use tandems etc.

So first step is see what your current service/panel look like. Take a picture of the panel with the door open and several people here will be able to give you suggestions.

Look at the main breaker's rating. Say it is 100 amps (that's small). Now add up the ratings of all the other breakers. If you see a breaker with two toggles tied together double it's rating e.g. if it is a double 30A breaker count it as 60 A. I have never been able to get a firm answer on how many branch breakers can go on a panel but no one will bat an eye if the sum is 4 times the main breaker rating e.g. for a 100 A main breaker 400 A of branch breakers seems to be the nominal. For charging a Tesla you would like to have at least a 40 A circuit. That will give you the maximum charge rate the UMC will deliver (32A). Adding one of those to a 100 A panel with 400 A branch breakers installed would bring the total on that panel to 480. I'd guess that wouldn't raise eyebrows either but the decision rests with the inspector. A local electrician will know what the local inspector will accept.

If you want to move up to a wall charger (certainly the more elegant solution and it allows you to leave the UMC in the car where it belongs - M stands for mobile) you would want a 60A circuit which would allow your car to charge as fast as it can (on Level 2) at 48 A but would bring your total branch circuits to 400 + 120 = 520 A. That may or may not be attention getting. Again, a local electrician would know.

But you don't have to set a wall charger to go the max. You could set it for a 50 A breaker or a 40 A breaker.

 

[brkaus]

Why do you recommend the wall Connecter opposed to the NEMA? Has anyone ever run into a problem where their house could not accommodate a charger? My house is very old.

Wall connector gives some weather protection & doesn't require unplugging all the time. NEMA plugs will wear out. Not a big deal when inside and left plugged in all the time, but I assume if it is outside you would unplug so it doesn't get stolen (or have the added expense of a box, etc). Also the Wall connector has the built in GFCI.

The wall connector can be set to any current limit down to 12A (from memory, may be off a bit), so if your house doesn't have much spare capacity it can still be used. So, same as what I suggested above. I'd talk to an electrician and see how much a 60a circuit would cost and if it's prohibitive then work down.

 

[srs5694]

Why do you recommend the wall Connecter opposed to the NEMA? Has anyone ever run into a problem where their house could not accommodate a charger? My house is very old.

I can't speak for @user212_elijah, who recommended the Wall Connector over an outlet and the Mobile Connector that comes with the car, but I agree with that recommendation, for a couple of reasons. First, the Wall Connector carries a NEMA 3R enclosure rating, meaning that it's safe to install outdoors in rain and snow; it should stand up to that weather without being damaged or creating a safety hazard. The Mobile Connector has no such rating. Although some people have used them outdoors for extended periods without problems, others have reported failures when they're used in this way.

Second, I've seen claims that it's not safe to use a NEMA 14-50 (or similar) outlet outdoors. I'm not an electrician, though, and I'm not familiar with the relevant codes, so I don't know if this is true, over-cautious, or what. Certainly there are plenty of such installations at camp grounds and even at peoples' homes, but I, for one, would err on the side of safety. If you must go this route, I'd recommend a NEMA 3R or NEMA 4 enclosure for both the NEMA 14-50 outlet and the Mobile Connector. That approach should at least keep the water off the equipment when it's not in use.

One more point: The Mobile Connector tops out at 40A (for the Gen1, which you'd probably get with a 2017 Model X) or 32A (which you'd get with a Model 3, a newer S/X, or if the seller has replaced the Gen1 with a Gen2). The Wall Connector, OTOH, tops out at higher charge rates -- up to 80A, IIRC, although few Teslas can charge at that speed. Chances are yours would top out at 48A, but you may want to research that to be sure. (You'd need wiring and a circuit breaker to match the top charging speed, of course.) The difference between 48A and 40A or even 32A isn't all that huge, and probably isn't worth the $500 cost of the Wall Connector by itself, but it's worth mentioning.

Overall, I suggest you contact some local electricians. Get at least two estimates for the work, and ask them about local codes regarding installing a NEMA 14-50 outside, if you want to go that route. Although lots of people on this forum have experience doing electrical work, there's no substitute for an in-person inspection by a qualified professional.

 

[Pbzhb]

Its a mess but I uploaded my current breaker. Thank you so much everyone for the help thus far.

 

[brkaus]

Its a mess but I uploaded my current breaker. Thank you so much everyone for the help thus far.

The good news is you have space for a breaker. Need to do a proper load calc and see how much capacity is available.

cost is still dependent on the prevailing rate in the local area.

Is that an uncovered opening on the top left? They make plastic covers that will snap over for a few $$.

 

[SaniDel]

Its a mess but I uploaded my current breaker. Thank you so much everyone for the help thus far.

Breaker spaces 1 & 3 and 2 & 4 are available. The panel is rated for 150 Amperes. Whether your electrical utility can provide that much current remains to be seen, but it seems you have an adequate panel. Follow the URLs provided by user212_elijah to find a local electrician who can evaluate your situation and quote the installation.

 

[Pbzhb]

This has been so helpful. I also wanted to know, the model I am assuming is a 75D X 2017. The current owner has free supercharging he believes. I called Tesla and they said they don't offer that anymore. I wanted to know if anyone can provide more information on this?

 

[brkaus]

Have the owner look on their myTesla page for their car. There should be a description of the supercharging status. It would have to be a very early 2017 to be transferable.

mine is March 2017 and it is only for the first owner.

 

[brkaus]

Well crap. It’s no longer descriptive. Mine used to specifically say it was for the duration of the first owners ownership and would not transfer.

Anyway, there is a cut off order & delivery date to have transferable supercharging. It was something like order by Jan 15, delivery by March 31. But I don’t recall the exact dates.