Hi, I'm trying to figure out the best plan for running power to my wall connector. I live in SoCal. My electrician is coming next week, but I want to have a jump-start and possibly start buying materials ahead of time.
My box is a 100 amp panel and only has one more space for a 50 amp double breaker. I will eventually upgrade to 200A service and a higher breaker since I will live in this house for decades, but it's not necessary right now. My model Y LR is coming in June/July, ordered in October.
My wall connector will be at the entrance of the driveway around 100-110 feet away from the box.
To get the wire there, it will go under my house in the crawlspace for about 48 feet (the house is on a 3 foot raised foundation). From here it will exit into a front yard planter and go about 15 feet to the driveway. There we will cut the driveway concrete open to run it 8 feet to the other side of the driveway. Then it will travel another 25 feet to another planter where the wall charger will be mounted on a pole. It will then travel 4-7 feet up into the pole/wall connector. Around 100-110 feet total, or roughly 50 feet under the house and 50 feet outside.
I want to "future proof" the wire gauge to support more chargers in the future, just in case.
I believe a traditional plan would be running 1" PVC 40 from the box to the wall connector with THNN wire at 6 AWG for the two hots and 10 AWG for the ground (and maybe also a 6 AWG neutral and PVC 80 for the "crossing driveway" portion, which will be buried under brick/concrete). I believe this setup supports 65A @ 75*C, which is already above the maximum 48A the charger takes on a 60 amp breaker and the 40A mine would take with my current 50 amp breaker.
Because my run is so long, and I may want higher gauge for future-proofing, I'm wondering if I should just go "all out" and use 2 gauge aluminum service wire. I know that it isn't safe for the wall connector to accept aluminum wire in its terminals, but I believe we can transition to copper later in the run inside a junction box.
So here's some of the plans I'm considering. I'm wondering what your thoughts are!
- Run 2-2-2-4 service entrance aluminum for the first 50 foot leg under the crawlspace of the house ($2.77/ft, $138 total, 2-2-2-4 Dyke Aluminum Quadruplex URD Direct Burial Cable). This may not even need to run in conduit or be buried, perhaps just mounted to the "ceiling" of the crawlspace or simply laid on the dirt floor? Then right before it exits to the outside, transition to #6 CU for the two hots, #10 AWG for the ground, and cap the neutral in a junction box. Run everything in PVC from here to the wall connector. Then in the future, I can tap into the junction box and run additional lines for future wall connectors anywhere to the front yard.
- Run 2-2-2-4 all the way to the wall connector (in PVC for the 50 foot outside portion), then transition to copper in a junction box near the wall charger's mounting pole? Then any future wall connectors can tap into this outside junction box that's right at the driveway?
- Run CU AWG #4 in PVC 40 for the entire run? I believe this would support 85A @ 75*C, which would be like 40A for two Teslas if the panel/breaker is eventually upgraded.
- Just run CU AWG #6 the entire length and forget about future proofing.
Thank you!
My box is a 100 amp panel and only has one more space for a 50 amp double breaker. I will eventually upgrade to 200A service and a higher breaker since I will live in this house for decades, but it's not necessary right now. My model Y LR is coming in June/July, ordered in October.
My wall connector will be at the entrance of the driveway around 100-110 feet away from the box.
To get the wire there, it will go under my house in the crawlspace for about 48 feet (the house is on a 3 foot raised foundation). From here it will exit into a front yard planter and go about 15 feet to the driveway. There we will cut the driveway concrete open to run it 8 feet to the other side of the driveway. Then it will travel another 25 feet to another planter where the wall charger will be mounted on a pole. It will then travel 4-7 feet up into the pole/wall connector. Around 100-110 feet total, or roughly 50 feet under the house and 50 feet outside.
I want to "future proof" the wire gauge to support more chargers in the future, just in case.
I believe a traditional plan would be running 1" PVC 40 from the box to the wall connector with THNN wire at 6 AWG for the two hots and 10 AWG for the ground (and maybe also a 6 AWG neutral and PVC 80 for the "crossing driveway" portion, which will be buried under brick/concrete). I believe this setup supports 65A @ 75*C, which is already above the maximum 48A the charger takes on a 60 amp breaker and the 40A mine would take with my current 50 amp breaker.
Because my run is so long, and I may want higher gauge for future-proofing, I'm wondering if I should just go "all out" and use 2 gauge aluminum service wire. I know that it isn't safe for the wall connector to accept aluminum wire in its terminals, but I believe we can transition to copper later in the run inside a junction box.
So here's some of the plans I'm considering. I'm wondering what your thoughts are!
- Run 2-2-2-4 service entrance aluminum for the first 50 foot leg under the crawlspace of the house ($2.77/ft, $138 total, 2-2-2-4 Dyke Aluminum Quadruplex URD Direct Burial Cable). This may not even need to run in conduit or be buried, perhaps just mounted to the "ceiling" of the crawlspace or simply laid on the dirt floor? Then right before it exits to the outside, transition to #6 CU for the two hots, #10 AWG for the ground, and cap the neutral in a junction box. Run everything in PVC from here to the wall connector. Then in the future, I can tap into the junction box and run additional lines for future wall connectors anywhere to the front yard.
- Run 2-2-2-4 all the way to the wall connector (in PVC for the 50 foot outside portion), then transition to copper in a junction box near the wall charger's mounting pole? Then any future wall connectors can tap into this outside junction box that's right at the driveway?
- Run CU AWG #4 in PVC 40 for the entire run? I believe this would support 85A @ 75*C, which would be like 40A for two Teslas if the panel/breaker is eventually upgraded.
- Just run CU AWG #6 the entire length and forget about future proofing.
Thank you!
