Questions about wall chargers, Tesla vs Chargepoint

[EnrgyNDpndnce]

First, please be patient with me as I have several questions I’m hoping this expert community can help answer.

Some background info. I just moved into a new house. Brought my Chargepoint Home 25 (32 amp Nema plug station) from my old house hoping to simply install a Nema outlet in the garage here and operate as I have been. Have had the Chargepoint for 3+ years and it works great. Well the new home has a detached garage so getting the Nema outlet installed is a big deal, costing potentially several thousand dollars. Now on to my questions...

1. One electrician has suggested he could piggyback (my term, not his) from the existing 240 V, 30 amp circuit that supplies power to my dryer at significantly lower cost. I do realize this will charge the car slower and believe it will meet my needs. This is not code but (according to him) not unsafe as long as we don’t run the dryer and charge the car simultaneously. Any safety concerns you guys would have with this plan?
2. If I do this, I don’t think my Chargepoint will work because it’s a 32 amp device and I don’t think it is configurable to a lower power setting. If we piggyback on the 30 amp circuit, that’s 24 amps continuous. Anyone know for sure if the Chargepoint Home is or is not configurable? I believe the new Chargepoints are but mine is 3+ years old.
3. So if the Chargepoint won’t work, I may buy a new Tesla Wall Charger. I am fairly certain the Tesla units are configurable to different power levels and would work with the 30 amp circuit. Can anyone confirm this is definitely true?
4. Finally, the tax credit for purchase and installation of a new charger is available this year. I believe it’s 30% of total cost up to $1000. I took the credit back in 2016 when I installed my Chargepoint at my previous address. Any reason to think I can’t take it again this year with a new Tesla wall unit & install at a new address?

Thanks in advance for your helpful and constructive replies. This will help me make the right decision on how to proceed.

 

[Webeevdrivers]

I can’t comment on the configurability of your EVSE but you can get a dryer buddy that will allow you to use one or the other eliminating the concern of overloading the circuit.

Google dryer buddy. Made in Vegas I believe.

On edit. Try this link.

Dryer Buddy™

 

[user212_nr]

1. Sounds odd for the electrician to suggest that to you and not the more reasonable options like a transfer switch. Here's something people use. There should be a manual switch available somewhere.

Dryer Buddy™ #4 – 240v outlet splitter for Electric Vehicle Charging Station | eBay

If you own the house, it sounds like a bad idea. What if you actually need to dryer? If you wash your clothes in the evening will you wait until morning to dry them?

2. If it has a NEMA plug then it is probably not configurable.

3. The model 3 included mobile connector is configurable to 30A. You don't need to buy anything except an adapter. Instead of buying the wall connector, save the $500 for the electrical work.

4. EVSE Tax Credit

In my opinion, if you are concerned about the cost and you are willing to use an electrician who ignores electrical codes, you might as well learn to do the work yourself. It will take more time, but might be interesting and you can get the no-compromise solution.

You might also want to check other electricians, maybe you can get a real solution at a better price.

 

[jdr93]

i would not even think about hiring someone who says they are an electrician but offers to install something which is not to code.

 

[EnrgyNDpndnce]

Thanks for the Dryer Buddy tip, had never heard of that. While that particular device won’t work in my situation (the dryer is in the house while the charger will be 50 feet away in the detached garage) I think it’s the right concept. Installing a toggle switch of some kind that allows only one device at a time (dryer or charger) to get power from that circuit shouldn’t be too difficult.

Again, thanks for the replies!

 

[K5TRX]

(the dryer is in the house while the charger will be 50 feet away in the detached garage)

That is a really key fact. I was assuming they were on the same wall.
What gauge wire will you run?
How will you protect the wire? Overhead? Underground?
Unless we are missing something this electrician is dangerous.

 

[EnrgyNDpndnce]

That is a really key fact. I was assuming they were on the same wall.
What gauge wire will you run?
How will you protect the wire? Overhead? Underground?
Unless we are missing something this electrician is dangerous.

I believe 10 gauge wire is the standard for a 30 amp breaker. There is an existing conduit underground running power to the garage so the plan is to snake the new wire thru that existing conduit.

Please tell me why this is dangerous. And I’m being serious, I want you to poke holes in the plan if they exist. I got 3 licensed electricians to come out and give me estimates and they all agreed this was possible and would be safe to do, even though it would not meet code. I’m not thrilled about not meeting code, but safety is my primary concern. As long as the solution doesn’t pose a safety risk I can live with it.

 

[UncleCreepy]

I was in a very similar situation (detached garage with poor electrical service). My solution was to replace the existing cord from the house to the garage with ACWU 1/0. Unfortunately it didn't fit into the conduit, so there was a little digging involved.

But: I can charge both our BEVs at the same time without issues now. And I can dry my clothes at the same time, too.

It took quite some effort, but it wasn't too expensive. ACWU is much cheaper than copper. Without the upgrade, I would be annoyed every time I need to charge both cars simultaneously or when I'm in a hurry and need to charge at 11.5 kW (240 V/48 A).

 

[Ostrichsak]

I believe 10 gauge wire is the standard for a 30 amp breaker. There is an existing conduit underground running power to the garage so the plan is to snake the new wire thru that existing conduit.

Please tell me why this is dangerous. And I’m being serious, I want you to poke holes in the plan if they exist. I got 3 licensed electricians to come out and give me estimates and they all agreed this was possible and would be safe to do, even though it would not meet code. I’m not thrilled about not meeting code, but safety is my primary concern. As long as the solution doesn’t pose a safety risk I can live with it.

Wire will give off heat and only so much heat is allowed by code to exist in a given size conduit is the simplest way I can explain that. Excessive heat when it comes to electricity and insulated shielding is bad. There's a lot of details on what causes what size and types of wire to give off what heat but that's the basic idea. The codes are in place to keep things safe and within tolerances that the materials were designed to experience.

 

[Aikidoka]

Ask your electrician but you may need a large gauge wire for a run that long.

 

[[email protected]]

First, please be patient with me as I have several questions I’m hoping this expert community can help answer.

Some background info. I just moved into a new house. Brought my Chargepoint Home 25 (32 amp Nema plug station) from my old house hoping to simply install a Nema outlet in the garage here and operate as I have been. Have had the Chargepoint for 3+ years and it works great. Well the new home has a detached garage so getting the Nema outlet installed is a big deal, costing potentially several thousand dollars. Now on to my questions...

1. One electrician has suggested he could piggyback (my term, not his) from the existing 240 V, 30 amp circuit that supplies power to my dryer at significantly lower cost. I do realize this will charge the car slower and believe it will meet my needs. This is not code but (according to him) not unsafe as long as we don’t run the dryer and charge the car simultaneously. Any safety concerns you guys would have with this plan?
2. If I do this, I don’t think my Chargepoint will work because it’s a 32 amp device and I don’t think it is configurable to a lower power setting. If we piggyback on the 30 amp circuit, that’s 24 amps continuous. Anyone know for sure if the Chargepoint Home is or is not configurable? I believe the new Chargepoints are but mine is 3+ years old.
3. So if the Chargepoint won’t work, I may buy a new Tesla Wall Charger. I am fairly certain the Tesla units are configurable to different power levels and would work with the 30 amp circuit. Can anyone confirm this is definitely true?
4. Finally, the tax credit for purchase and installation of a new charger is available this year. I believe it’s 30% of total cost up to $1000. I took the credit back in 2016 when I installed my Chargepoint at my previous address. Any reason to think I can’t take it again this year with a new Tesla wall unit & install at a new address?

Thanks in advance for your helpful and constructive replies. This will help me make the right decision on how to proceed.

I have lived the charge question from dozens and dozens, if not hundreds, of people. I think the best answer starts not with supply, but demand: what is your expected/demonstrable demand? An example: until a year ago, my bride put 25K miles on her S annually mostly on week days, roughly 100 miles per day. To supply that demand, her S charged from midnight till 4 am (27 mph from a 14-50 times 4). That said, a 30 amp supply (20 mph) would have been adequate with a charge from midnight till 5) since there are no other loads in the house during those hours. Personally, I pulled the wires and installed a 14-50...in retrospect, it was a waste: the existing 30 amp dryer circuit was sufficient. Of course, a year ago, my bride bought an office 1.5 miles from our house, and now 110 would probably be enough. My present advice to newcomers is: what is your demand and then will that 30 amp dryer circuit supply sufficient energy over the midnight to 6 am charge window (120 miles in an S) to meet it? In almost all cases, it does. If not, the 14-50 receptacle is less than $10; 30 feet of #6 wire was $60 or so....my total out of pocket for a 27 mph charge was $76 plus a bottle of decent cab for the sparky who connected to the panel...MTCents John