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Tesla makes electricians see $$

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This has gotten emotional guys. Just as a Diamond ring usually costs more at Tiffanys, a Tesla approved electrican is going to cost more than a Craigs list guy. Same thing with hiring a large business (with all their overhead. They will be more expensive than hiring your buddy down the street. Tesla guy will have obvious experience and have jumped through the Tesla hoops. He will communicate with Tesla prior to installation, pull necessary permits, do a site and load survey and get a go ahead with his plans. Will be there for the final community inspection. Tesla will keep these notes on file and follow up to make sure the guy does a good job. They will get the latest information and hopefully will do a good & safe job.

Some want their home charging systems as cheap as possible. Skip getting inspections or doing the job to local code. Pick up the cheapest Home Depo 14-50 socket and give it a go. Others want to only hire Tesla approved or use a big company that advertises a lot. Most go in-between, hiring a licensed and professional electician, getting properly sized wiring and hope the guy tightens the wires to proper torque.

Our cars take a large amount of current, for a much longer length of time, and for over many years than any other typical home appliance. It only makes sense to hire someone that will do the job correctly, especially if you do not know what you are doing or have any experience.

Everyone wants a great deal, but you need to be willing to spend what is necessary to get a safe installation.

If you have a fire claim, and used an unlicensed installer, did not pull your permits or use undersized wire, it may give your insurance company just the excuse they need to deny your claim.

Find someone who knows what they are doing, has some experience, has proper licensed, pulls the required permits, shows up when expected and cleans up after being done.

Don't forget to get a receipt, mentioning it is for an EV. There are 30% Federal tax credits and in my area my local utility will rebate up to $500 in home charging expenses.

As some here have said, it’s no different than a drop for most electric ovens for the HPWC, or clothes dryer using a 240v NEMA.

It’s greed and dishonesty. It’s called playing on the FUD (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt) and there is zero excuse for it. Not emotional, I’ve been dealing with electricians my whole life and many suffer from the notion that there is some sort of high tech aspect in what they do. It is Jr High ohms law and some tools, and if you can read and write you easily read those NEC ratings. It is not in the same realm as engineering and no, I’m not an engineer.

Not saying not to use a licensed wiring technician. Just don’t listen to the BS.

My apologies to the GOOD electricians on this forum, wherever you are...
 
I watched our solar installation guys work back in 2013. Asked if any of them would consider adding a NEMA 14-50 outlet or two to the panel, as long as I watched, over the weekend.

Paid him $100, and I provided another $100 in materials (larger electrical sub-panel and NEMA 14-50 from Lowes).

Did the second one myself at about $50 in materials.

Easy and simple work.

As long as the main electrical breaker is "Off," and you learn how to properly torque your connections, you really can't kill yourself or burn your house down. Even with two MS's charging at full bore, nothing gets hot.

Why is everyone so afraid?

It's not rocket science.
 
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I watched our solar installation guys work back in 2013. Asked if any of them would consider adding a NEMA 14-50 outlet or two to the panel, as long as I watched, over the weekend.

Paid him $100, and I provided another $100 in materials (larger electrical sub-panel and NEMA 14-50 from Lowes).

Did the second one myself at about $50 in materials.

Easy and simple work.

As long as the main electrical breaker is "Off," and you learn how to properly torque your connections, you really can't kill yourself or burn your house down. Even with two MS's charging at full bore, nothing gets hot.

Why is everyone so afraid?

It's not rocket science.
It is not but you forget too many folks these days purchase paper rather than actually learn anything and those people don't know what end of a screwdriver goes in the hand.
 
That was my impression with installation, mine will also charge at 32 amps, so a 40 amp breaker should be fine. What gauge wire did they run?
I don’t know lol he’s an experienced electrician and knows his stuff so. Initially he thought he needed to upgraded my panel to 200amp (I think that’s the term) which would have cost $2000 I think (over the phone estimate). But when he look at my ac system, and what the house pulls, he upgraded it to 130 amp (forgot the term). So he said if I run everything in the house and run my charger I am still safe and it wouldn’t trip the breaker. He ran a load calculation.
 
I watched our solar installation guys work back in 2013. Asked if any of them would consider adding a NEMA 14-50 outlet or two to the panel, as long as I watched, over the weekend.

Paid him $100, and I provided another $100 in materials (larger electrical sub-panel and NEMA 14-50 from Lowes).

Did the second one myself at about $50 in materials.

Easy and simple work.

As long as the main electrical breaker is "Off," and you learn how to properly torque your connections, you really can't kill yourself or burn your house down. Even with two MS's charging at full bore, nothing gets hot.

Why is everyone so afraid?

It's not rocket science.

No thanks. I’m a diy guy, worked on cars, house work, demolition, etc but I don’t ever want to mess with electricity or climbing on top of my 2 story roof. lol No thank you.
 
This is spot on. Although it doesn't have to be the person being a PITA, just the job.

A few decades ago, I was in charge of estimating carpet cleaning jobs for commercial businesses. I once had to go to a "massage parlor" to give an estimate. Before you question it, yes, it was THAT kind of massage parlor. Rumor had it that some of the local cops liked the place. The women that worked there were quite pleasant (while being nasty at the same time) and the place really needed cleaned. The place was gross and I had to burn my shoes and needed a shower immediately after I left. I wanted nothing to do with the job, so I quoted them 8x what a "normal" job would cost thinking there was no way they would pay that.

I was wrong. They happily agreed to the price (which just means I should have quoted even more!) and I was then stuck trying to get someone willing to actually do the work. Fortunately, I did have a couple of colorful guys that volunteered so they would have stories to tell their grandchildren. (carpet cleaners, well, at least back then, were paid commission, so it was a lucrative job.) And wow, they had some stories to tell.
Did they put away the “we work for tips” t-shirts when they went to work that day?
 
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I watched our solar installation guys work back in 2013. Asked if any of them would consider adding a NEMA 14-50 outlet or two to the panel, as long as I watched, over the weekend.

Paid him $100, and I provided another $100 in materials (larger electrical sub-panel and NEMA 14-50 from Lowes).

Did the second one myself at about $50 in materials.

Easy and simple work.

As long as the main electrical breaker is "Off," and you learn how to properly torque your connections, you really can't kill yourself or burn your house down. Even with two MS's charging at full bore, nothing gets hot.

Why is everyone so afraid?

It's not rocket science.


I totally agree with you. I can do this just fine, I just didnt want to run it in the wall myself - not because I can't, but because I didn't want to spend the time/effort of running it in the wall. I may just give up on an electrician and run it in conduit myself. It's literally 4 ft from the panel.
 
As a follow up, the charger was installed today. Found reputable electrician who didn’t add in any Tesla tax. He ran 6/2 from my indoor panel on a 60 amp breaker. I ended up paying $750 - much better than the $5,000 and $989 prices I was quoted before.​

Got mine earlier this week. I figured it would only be 2 hours at the min, or maybe 4, but they had two guys and took 7 hours (14 total). Reason was they drilled in the wrong place and had to repair their damage.

I think it was worth $600 or even $200 discount, though it was a small ordeal. Very important to watch what they are doing, esp. when drilling.
 
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I don’t know lol he’s an experienced electrician and knows his stuff so. Initially he thought he needed to upgraded my panel to 200amp (I think that’s the term) which would have cost $2000 I think (over the phone estimate). But when he look at my ac system, and what the house pulls, he upgraded it to 130 amp (forgot the term). So he said if I run everything in the house and run my charger I am still safe and it wouldn’t trip the breaker. He ran a load calculation.
130 amp is a thing? o_O
 
I paid just shy of $3K for my outlet install and I don't feel ripped off at all. It was a complicated job, there was digging and trenching involved and county inspections that the vendor dealt with on my behalf. If anything, they went above and beyond and I will likely get some money back once the IRS updates their form. Every situation is different, if you can do it yourself go for it. If you have to outsource, do some research, shop around and get the best quote just like any other trades you would hire to work on your house.
 
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For $750, I (finally) had my charger installed in the garage this week. Reading this thread in advance made me appropriately leery and aware of the possible pitfalls in the process. From the electricians on the Tesla list half in my area (San Diego) would not even come out and look at the project. I was persistent in getting references from neighbors and friends -- the seven bids ranged from $500 to $2500 -- mean of bids was $1500. My house is new construction, I had the conduit and breakers pre-built into the house -- I had the architect drawings to guide the installation -- just needed the wire pulled and hooked up. Unless you are in area where competition is limited or have a complicated install, my advice is to take your time and be persistent, patient and pro-active to find the right electrician.
 
I paid just shy of $3K for my outlet install and I don't feel ripped off at all. It was a complicated job, there was digging and trenching involved and county inspections that the vendor dealt with on my behalf. If anything, they went above and beyond and I will likely get some money back once the IRS updates their form. Every situation is different, if you can do it yourself go for it. If you have to outsource, do some research, shop around and get the best quote just like any other trades you would hire to work on your house.
Yeah you definitely will pay that if they have to do trenching, but you’re right you might as well do it right the first time and sleep better. I’m all for do it yourself but when it comes to house and family safety I don’t think that’s an area to cut budget, you can switch things like using a NEMA outlet of your choice and necessity instead of doing something like the wall charger, but don’t mess around with shifty electrical situations if you aren’t qualified. We just decided to upgrade our panel at the same time, so its a decent home update as well as getting a charger installed.
 
I was in a similar situation regarding trenching. Total cost of install was about $4.7k including permits and inspection. The project involved about 50 feet of trenching and another 60 feet or so in conduit, plus the installation of a subpanel. I had a 120v outlet installed at my parking space as well as the charger, which added to the cost (made the sub panel necessary and required the run of an additional hot and neutral wire). I enjoy doing wiring around the house myself, but since this was a project in the condo common area it was necessary to hire a professional. I felt it was money well spent, they did a fantastic job and had a crew of five guys on site to hand-dig the trench. The part that would have been a bit beyond my capacity was bending the above-ground conduit, TBH. The two electricians did a beautiful job and several neighbors mentioned to me how nice everything looked. There's no way I would have been able to do that myself, even though the actual wiring job was very straightforward.
 
I had 3 electricians come by and got 3 different answers most involving a subpanel but the estimates ranged quite a bit and most of them were very inflated given the actual time and materials required.

Mr. Electric was priced outrageously and I was definitely not impressed. They seem to be like the $300 emergency clogged drain plumbers of home electrician services. Their quote was easily 30% higher than the other guys.

That said, a lot these national companies are using price books that are just outrageously marked-up, like charging $600 for a part that costs $150 at Home Depot, not including labor.

I ended up building a detached garage since any kind of exterior NEMA 14-50 or Tesla charger install was going to cost more than the electrical portion of a garage build. Even a NEMA 14-50 + 60amp breaker literally 6' from my panel was being quoted at over $1200.

A 100amp subpanel for the garage + 3 110v outlet pairs, + lights + switch + a NEMA 14-50 for $3000 via the electrician my GC uses. Some of the companies wanted more than that just for a NEMA 14-50 on my house.
 
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