I was hoping someone with knowledge could give me an opinion on whether an electrician I requested a quote to install an HPWC is being honest. Here's a picture of our electrical panel. He quoted me $1,500 to install the HPWC (provided by me) but said my electrical panel is outdated. Our house is 22 years old and distance from panel in unfinished basement to unfinished garage is roughly 25 feet.
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Opinions Needed on Electrical Panel to Set Up Charger
- Thread starter Grapevine
- Start date
thesmokingman
Active Member
Get some other quotes! $1500 is rather high imo. How old the panel is doesn't really matter as long as a new breaker can be added and there's tons of room on yours. It's also a helluvalot newer than mine. Pulling a 220v-250v outlet 25-30ft is typically around $8-900 give or take. I don't know if there's anything that makes your space more difficult though.
bo3bdar
Member
Seems high to me, even if it were CA. I'd recommend getting a couple more quotes from different electricians. From an unfinished space to another should be a $500 job, it's something so easy I'd even do myself.
However, the HPWC is higher amperage, so maybe he's concerned about being able to put in proper breakers for it. For an older box it can be harder to get something that big. Worth considering if you actually need the speed of charging. If you go with a standard 14-50 L2 charger it'll likely be cheaper, and you'd still be able to fully charge from empty overnight.
The HPWC can charge at 48 amps with a 60 amp breaker. The 14-50 can charge at 32 amps with a 50 amp breaker (only needs 40 amp breaker here, but standard is to use 50). For your older box, it might be hard to source a 60 amp breaker.
A thread with comparisons of the two:
teslamotorsclub.com
Lastly, look to see if your utility has an sort of incentives for putting in electrical charging. Can really help on the pricing.
However, the HPWC is higher amperage, so maybe he's concerned about being able to put in proper breakers for it. For an older box it can be harder to get something that big. Worth considering if you actually need the speed of charging. If you go with a standard 14-50 L2 charger it'll likely be cheaper, and you'd still be able to fully charge from empty overnight.
The HPWC can charge at 48 amps with a 60 amp breaker. The 14-50 can charge at 32 amps with a 50 amp breaker (only needs 40 amp breaker here, but standard is to use 50). For your older box, it might be hard to source a 60 amp breaker.
A thread with comparisons of the two:
High Power Wall Charger (HPWC) vs NEMA 14-50 Direct Plug
Quick question around the right choice here. To get a electrician to get the correct power from my box to the HPWC and install it, I gather it's around $400 give or take. Add another $550 for the HPWC unit and we are at about $950. Doing this charges at about 35 miles per hour. The second...
teslamotorsclub.com
Lastly, look to see if your utility has an sort of incentives for putting in electrical charging. Can really help on the pricing.
I may have to rethink a 14-50 outlet. I was going to shoot for the fastest method (and HPWC looks cool) but it seems the cost is adding up quickly. We-energies is our electrical provider and I couldn't find any incentive for installing electrical charging. Wisconsin isn't the easiest state to buy a Tesla as they don't allow direct delivery so we need to go to Illinois, Minnesota or another state. Plus WI has high registration fees for electrical cars vs ICE cars. A different topic but I get rather irritated when WI promotes electrical cars but they put in roadblocks to make it happen.Seems high to me, even if it were CA. I'd recommend getting a couple more quotes from different electricians. From an unfinished space to another should be a $500 job, it's something so easy I'd even do myself.
However, the HPWC is higher amperage, so maybe he's concerned about being able to put in proper breakers for it. For an older box it can be harder to get something that big. Worth considering if you actually need the speed of charging. If you go with a standard 14-50 L2 charger it'll likely be cheaper, and you'd still be able to fully charge from empty overnight.
The HPWC can charge at 48 amps with a 60 amp breaker. The 14-50 can charge at 32 amps with a 50 amp breaker (only needs 40 amp breaker here, but standard is to use 50). For your older box, it might be hard to source a 60 amp breaker.
A thread with comparisons of the two:
High Power Wall Charger (HPWC) vs NEMA 14-50 Direct Plug
Quick question around the right choice here. To get a electrician to get the correct power from my box to the HPWC and install it, I gather it's around $400 give or take. Add another $550 for the HPWC unit and we are at about $950. Doing this charges at about 35 miles per hour. The second...
Lastly, look to see if your utility has an sort of incentives for putting in electrical charging. Can really help on the pricing.
Appreciate all the input from everyone!
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It looks like you have the space, but I didn't have enuf room in the panel, so instead of a new panel, he put in a sub-panel solely for the HPWC. 60 amp circuit, hardwired into the HPWC. Had to run it up thru the crawl space over the garage and back down the other side. ~$1650. (SoCal prices).
If you can, go for a 60 amp, since the labor is the most expensive part of the work. The heavier cable is only a few dollars more/ft.
thesmokingman
Active Member
You don't really need 60 amp though unless you are a heavy commuter and NEED to charge fully every night. If you don't drive much, what's the rush?
Although I do drive a fair amount, I really don't need to be in a big rush. I'm just overly excited to get my Tesla and want to be ready when I finally take delivery.
It looks like you have 200 Amp service but I can't be sure from the the photo. You have enough room for a 60 Amp breaker so the issue is something else. You are using a lot pf breakers, maybe close to panel capacity?
$1,500 may be perfectly reasonable depending on what you are needing. What exactly is the electrician saying he is going to do? Getting more estimates is great but make sure you are comparing apples to apples in the work that they will do.
The Tesla Wall Connector (charger) can work with a up to a 60 Amp breaker. Just change the settings inside. If you are able to get hourly pricing on a demand meter, the price for power may be less between 1AM and 5AM. The Wall Connector on a 60A circuit will let you charge at up to 42 miles each hour of 29 MPH on a 40A circuit and 24 MPH on a 30A.
More info from Tesla is here:
Learn more about the Wall Connector
There are lots of threads on this:
Cost to run dedicated 240v 60amp line to garage
Wall Connector Installation Estimate
Wall Connector Install - 50 v 40 amp
Tesla wall connector question
$1,500 may be perfectly reasonable depending on what you are needing. What exactly is the electrician saying he is going to do? Getting more estimates is great but make sure you are comparing apples to apples in the work that they will do.
The Tesla Wall Connector (charger) can work with a up to a 60 Amp breaker. Just change the settings inside. If you are able to get hourly pricing on a demand meter, the price for power may be less between 1AM and 5AM. The Wall Connector on a 60A circuit will let you charge at up to 42 miles each hour of 29 MPH on a 40A circuit and 24 MPH on a 30A.
More info from Tesla is here:
Learn more about the Wall Connector
There are lots of threads on this:
Cost to run dedicated 240v 60amp line to garage
Wall Connector Installation Estimate
Wall Connector Install - 50 v 40 amp
Tesla wall connector question
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Its actually 15 to 60. Not clear why anyone would install an HPWC on a 15 amp circuit, but it can be provisioned like that.
bo3bdar
Member
@Grapevine: Speaking of 15 amp circuit, that's actually how I charge my car. I've had it for 15 months, and just charge it using the 120V (12 amps) charger the car comes with. It's slowish, but for regular driving/commuting, I never go far enough to where I can't get back to charged by charging overnight. 10 to 12 hours at 5 miles added per hour is 50 to 60 miles of range. Works fine for me and... it's included with the car. However, I've also got a Supercharger station 2 miles away, so now that I've got 1000 free miles from a referral, I'm using that on the way home.
Probably not what you'll want longer term, but just know that charging is much easier than it seems so you don't need to be in a rush to get L2 installed.
Probably not what you'll want longer term, but just know that charging is much easier than it seems so you don't need to be in a rush to get L2 installed.
sure, almost no one needs a 60 amp circuit. But why not future-proof? The labor is the same, only a few more dollars for materials.
In general I agree. If you’re going to do it might as well go as far as you can reasonably. However it’s well more then a few dollars. It’s probably 10-15% more which I have no problem with but some people might prefer do only what they need and to use that on another project or invest it. I have my quotes done with itemization and options for higher amps (different wire / fuse) and it was hundred between minimum and future proof. Given I’ve been in my house 15 years and play be on boy stay here another 5 years I think about anything I invest into the house. Most projects don’t give you back what you invest and I think not want to make sure I get market value for my place and not add value to the house where I only get back a portion of my investment. If this was a forever house or I was going to stay another 15 years day in and day out that would be a different situation.
obviously, depends on how far the pull is, but the diff for 125' of cable is $130. And yes, that was ~10% for my install. But after purchasing a $55k car, I'm ok with the extra bucks. I wouldn't worry about spending an extra $100 and not being able to sell it to the next guy. The buyer of your house may not even have a EV, or may get free charging at work, and not care.
btw: if you want ROI, use the smallest charging capability for your daily drive and purchase a used LEAF.
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