Recommended Electricians in Howard County?

[djwang2000]

We've had a lot of problems finding an electrician to wire for the HPWC. Solar city set up 2 phone "consultations" but never called us. We've talked with 3 electrical contractors, but after sending them the information from Tesla, they have yet to get back to us. Does anyone have suggestions for electricians in MD?

Thanks!

 

[kendallpb]

We've had a lot of problems finding an electrician to wire for the HPWC. Solar city set up 2 phone "consultations" but never called us. We've talked with 3 electrical contractors, but after sending them the information from Tesla, they have yet to get back to us. Does anyone have suggestions for electricians in MD?

This won't be very helpful, but we're using Solar City. I don't know if we were just lucky . . . or if they were more responsive to us because we were also interested in solar power. But the first visit was just about the HPWC, once it happened.

It did take a while to schedule things--it sounds like they're very busy but starting to get through some backlog. We first got in touch with them via Tesla (the finalizing stuff), but it looks like it was almost a month before our first call. I thought they'd be better now. Anyway, my initial contact was with Joseph Maushart, Senior Energy Consultant (650.963.4763) [email protected]. You might want to try calling him at him (feel free to say I sent ya!). Although if they gave you anyone else's contact info, try calling that person's cell instead. But I'm guessing you don't even have a person to call.....?

Anyway, again, sorry if this is not helpful at all, but I figured if nothing else, maybe putting you in touch with our consultant would help if you have a different one who's unresponsive. If not helpful, sorry!

 

[Congo Line]

I live in HC and had a nema 14-50, 240V outlet installed by Alec at Residential Electric Solutions. ([email protected]). Nice people. Cost me 795 for hooking up to panel, running conduit and wiring up from basement into garage and over top of 2 garage doors to opposite wall. I also paid them 275 to get county permit just to be on the safe side. They came out on a Sunday to do it.

 

[djwang2000]

To close the loop - we ended up using solar city. Despite being quite annoyed by the lack of callbacks initially, they clearly were the most clear on what needed to be done (including the whole temporary NEMA 6-50 / HPWC swap). Once we did make contact (the week before the car was to be delivered), they were expedient in getting out to us, doing the installation, etc. And they were professional and did a good job. I talked to 4 other electricians and all of them needed to study the Tesla documents then called me with all sorts of questions (all I could think was "I'm not an electrician"). In the end, I'm quite satisfied with Solar City.

This won't be very helpful, but we're using Solar City. I don't know if we were just lucky . . . or if they were more responsive to us because we were also interested in solar power. But the first visit was just about the HPWC, once it happened.

It did take a while to schedule things--it sounds like they're very busy but starting to get through some backlog. We first got in touch with them via Tesla (the finalizing stuff), but it looks like it was almost a month before our first call. I thought they'd be better now. Anyway, my initial contact was with Joseph Maushart, Senior Energy Consultant (650.963.4763) [email protected]. You might want to try calling him at him (feel free to say I sent ya!). Although if they gave you anyone else's contact info, try calling that person's cell instead. But I'm guessing you don't even have a person to call.....?

Anyway, again, sorry if this is not helpful at all, but I figured if nothing else, maybe putting you in touch with our consultant would help if you have a different one who's unresponsive. If not helpful, sorry!

 

[Lanny]

I'm glad Solar City was able to install your HPWC. I also live in Howard County and know an electrician in the area who is very experienced in commercial and residential EVSE installations. I have a friend in Maryland who has his car but is still awaiting delivery of his HPWC. Are you charging at 20 kW?

 

[AmeliaKD]

I live in Howard County, and I just had a fantastic experience with havePOWER, LLC. Very knowledgable of Tesla requirements/HPWC/HoCo quirky electric codes, fair price, excellent communication & follow-up, very professional installation, and even a good cleanup job.

They ran a 100 amp circuit/wire from the basement main panel, fished it across the full length of the house (~75 ft), up through the garage wall to the middle of my side of the garage. Installed a subpanel with two 50 amp circuits, ran conduit up and across the wall (avoiding the already installed tool hanging strips, shelving, etc) to the front corner of the garage and installed a Nema 14-50 for my Model S 90D. Also ran conduit up to the ceiling, across the ceiling (avoiding the garage door opener supports, etc) and down the other side to install another Nema 14-50 (for my husbands Model 3 next year). It passed inspection beautifully. This was installed in December, 2017. I only had one small cutout in the garage wall that I had to patch (after inspection), which was quick and easy, and two small ones in the basement room near the main panel.

I've always had bad luck with contractors but this was just the opposite - it was a fantastic experience - the most stress-free experience with any contractor. The gentleman, Jason Zawatsky, answered my millions of newbie email questions with patience. I uploaded a bunch of photos to my dropbox and he was able to give me a solid quote without me having to take off from work to meet him at the house. Nice! The 3 guys that came to do the install were timely, efficient, polite.

HavePOWER was on the list of contractors my Tesla sales rep provided me. I also got quotes from three other companies. Three of them, including havePOWER, were close in price and one was significantly more. I went with havePOWER because he asked ALL the right questions about the job, had a lot more understanding of why Howard County won't approve a 100 amp and 50 amp circuit off of the same 100 amp subpanel (even if connected to a configurable Tesla HPWC) - several of the other electrical companies had no knowledge of the quirky Howard County inspectors/code and the HPWC. I was really debating about installing the HPWC vs the 14-50 and Jason said that almost every Tesla owner goes with the 14-50 and is very happy with it. There really are very few people who find that they really need to be able to charge above the 14-50 on a regular basis, and the HPWC has it's own issues. So I went with the 14-50 and have no regrets (and saved $$). Total was $2,210 for the extended length 100 amp wire, 100 amp subpanel, two circuits, two NEMA 14-50s, permit and inspection coordination.

Great follow-up from two other havePOWER guys, Rob and Peter, getting me the invoice for the Maryland EV Rebate, and they quickly scheduled the inspection with Howard County (based on some available dates I provided). The inspector passed the job with no concerns. I did ask him what his take was on the Howard County restrictions on the HPWC and he confirmed that Jason's understand/experience is still accurate.

Jason Zawatsky
Master Electrician
[email protected]
(301) 335-2749
www.havepower.com
10220 River Road, Suite 302
Potomac, MD 20854

Upgrading from charging on a standard 15a outlet to the 14-50 is like getting a dessert with every meal!!

 

[J__T]

Another vote for Jason @ Havepower.com! My experience with them is exactly what AmeliaKD described with all the questions and concerns promptly answered. Their quote is in the mid range for an 100 amp HWPC at Ashburn, VA, but it is worth it since they took care of the smooth install and county inspection afterwards. Some of my other higher quotes even charge extra in setting up the county inspection.