Wall connector installation

[MaryAnning3]

I would like to get a wall connector installed. I live in Santa Cruz and have a model 3. I'd like to ask a few questions:
1) Does anyone know an electrician, in the Monterey Bay area, they would recommend for this endeavor?
2) Does anyone have an idea of what the price tends to be for the install? (I realize it may depend on issues related to my circuit box and particular wiring and capacity. I think it would be interesting to learn about the different possibilities.)
3) Any discussion of key issues related to Tesla wall connectors is welcome.

PS. I am definitely focused on getting a wall connector and not a NEMA outlet to use with the onboard mobile connector that comes with the car.

 

[Moose408]

I’m in San Jose and using Anthony Lewis to install mine. My 100W service is maxed out so I’m having a switch installed to switch between another 220v device and the Tesla Charger. Cost is $1500, $500 of which is related to inspections.

If I had to upgrade my service to 200W they quote $15K because they would have to dig a trench to the PG&E main line in the street.

Neighbor needs to upgrade their sub panel and was quoted $3500.

Hope that helps.

 

[voip-ninja]

I would like to get a wall connector installed. I live in Santa Cruz and have a model 3. I'd like to ask a few questions:
1) Does anyone know an electrician, in the Monterey Bay area, they would recommend for this endeavor?
2) Does anyone have an idea of what the price tends to be for the install? (I realize it may depend on issues related to my circuit box and particular wiring and capacity. I think it would be interesting to learn about the different possibilities.)
3) Any discussion of key issues related to Tesla wall connectors is welcome.

PS. I am definitely focused on getting a wall connector and not a NEMA outlet to use with the onboard mobile connector that comes with the car.

You would need to provide a lot more information. Typically the biggest cost involved in running the wall charger is the length of the cable run from your main electrical panel to where the Tesla Wall Connector will be installed as well as how hard it is to install. Also the charging speed you want determines the gauge of cable you need to run which also impacts the cost.

Example 1.....

Your main breaker panel is in the garage. The wall connector is going to sit right next to this panel. You have an open breaker slot in the main panel and you have plenty of capacity on the main panel.

Install cost could be as little as three feet of conduit and $15 of copper wire plus a new breaker... permits, etc. It could be as little as $50 if you did it yourself before the cost of the HPWC itself and permits.

Example 2.....

Your main breaker panel is in the back of the house. The garage is on the other side of the house and you will need 150 feet of Romex run through walls, basements, attics, etc. Additionally your main panel is overloaded and you will need a service upgrade, larger panel or new separate panel, etc.... this installation could easily run $1500-$2000-$2500 or even more before cost of HPWC and permitting.

In short, you need to provide more info for anyone to give you a ballpark idea of how easy vs hard your job is. Tesla also has a huge list of approved contractors who know what is needed to install wall connectors. You might want to start there.

 

[DougInCT]

For key issues, I would suggest carefully considering cable management. I got the Tesla cable hook, but didn't leave myself quite enough room for the cable to be coiled easily. It's just an annoyance every time I use it (every day).

Also, think about where you'll park, in all situations. I installed mine so I could park in my garage or run the cable outside for when I needed to keep the car out of the garage. The orientation of the car makes a really big difference in how far away the connector can be. Add about 2 feet of the connector is facing away, plus distance to the charge port, plus distance for the cable to lie on the ground.

 

[MaryAnning3]

You would need to provide a lot more information. Typically the biggest cost involved in running the wall charger is the length of the cable run from your main electrical pane...

Thanks a lot ninja. This is awesome. That makes a lot of sense and I see what you mean. Our driveway is like 30 feet from the panel and I am not sure how much unused capacity we have. Sounds like it won't be cheap for us.

 

[gilscales]

Thanks a lot ninja. This is awesome. That makes a lot of sense and I see what you mean. Our driveway is like 30 feet from the panel and I am not sure how much unused capacity we have. Sounds like it won't be cheap for us.

30 feet is not bad, it all depends on where the conduit has to be run, if it can be surface mounted on the side of the garage for instance then install is much cheaper, if there is trenching involved it gets more expensive

 

[voip-ninja]

Thanks a lot ninja. This is awesome. That makes a lot of sense and I see what you mean. Our driveway is like 30 feet from the panel and I am not sure how much unused capacity we have. Sounds like it won't be cheap for us.

Thirty feet is not a lot. It's about $100 for the Romex, $30 for a breaker. That's literally all you need to terminate an HPWC. This depends though on if you have enough capacity into your home to handle the additional sustained load a wall connector will draw. You will need a load calc done to find this out and likely you will need this as part of the permitting process in your town/city/county.

Now, $100 for 30 feet of Romex, $30 for a breaker and say $50 for misc. materials (staples, conduit junctions, foam sealant, etc.) doesn't include labor and doesn't assume that you need anything special done like conduit transitions and such.

Also, distance you see between your panel and where you want the wall connector doesn't account for how the wire needs to run so the wire distance could as much as double (or triple).

You really want to get a couple of electricians to bid the job... then you can take notes on what they point out about the job and check back in here on how it looks like it stacks up.

 

[MaryAnning3]

You have an open breaker slot in the main panel and you have plenty of capacity on the main panel.

Thanks again. I am pretty sure that we have 100 amp capacity (at 240 Volts). (It is a 15 year old house.) And I don't think we are using very much of that although we do have an electric oven. Aside from the oven, toaster and occasionally a portable electric heater, i don't think we draw much.

I get the impression that the wall connector installation involves a decision about how much current to design/allow it to draw, and that that is primarily dictated by available capacity. Does that sound right?

 

[gilscales]

Thanks again. I am pretty sure that we have 100 amp capacity (at 240 Volts). (It is a 15 year old house.) And I don't think we are using very much of that although we do have an electric oven. Aside from the oven, toaster and occasionally a portable electric heater, i don't think we draw much.

I get the impression that the wall connector installation involves a decision about how much current to design/allow it to draw, and that that is primarily dictated by available capacity. Does that sound right?

most houses built in the last 15 years have a 200A main

 

[MaryAnning3]

most houses built in the last 15 years have a 200A main

Even better. Thanks Gil.

 

[MaryAnning3]

Is it bad if you occasionally trip your main breaker? Like if you forget not to use the toaster and oven at the same time while you are charging?

 

[gilscales]

Even better. Thanks Gil.

If you could send pics of the installation area an main panel could give you a better idea of what you are looking at

 

[gilscales]

Is it bad if you occasionally trip your main breaker? Like if you forget not to use the toaster and oven at the same time while you are charging?

Is it bad if you occasionally trip your main breaker? Like if you forget not to use the toaster and oven at the same time while you are charging?

It's not ideal, I don't think you should be having this problem in a 15 year old home, is this happening now or are you just anticipating this could happen?

 

[MaryAnning3]

You really want to get a couple of electricians to bid the job... then you can take notes on what they point out about the job and check back in here on how it looks like it stacks up.

Thanks a lot. What is the maximum power draw of the wall connector. ( I am thinking 48 amp at 240 volts for a long-range, all wheel drive model 3. Is that correct? What size circuit breaker would one need to enable that?)

 

[MaryAnning3]

is this happening now or are you just anticipating this could happen?

Not happening now. I am just wondering, if my capacity of limited, how much to dial back the wall charger, if at all?

 

[gilscales]

Thanks a lot. What is the maximum power draw of the wall connector. ( I am thinking 48 amp at 240 volts for a long-range, all wheel drive model 3. Is that correct? What size circuit breaker would one need to enable that?)

You are correct, you will need a 60A breaker for this charging rate as you are limited to 80% maximum continuous draw, 6 gauge wire will work if in a conduit but if you use Romex then you will need 4 gauge as Romex wire is derated to 60c from 75c wire in conduit

 

[gilscales]

Not happening now. I am just wondering, if my capacity of limited, how much to dial back the wall charger, if at all?

you need a proper load calculation before you worry about this, you will most likely not be constrained by power if you have a 200A service

 

[MaryAnning3]

If you could send pics of the installation area an main panel could give you a better idea of what you are looking at

Thanks gil. I should be able to get pictures in about two hours.

 

[Formula1]

I asked Tesla to help with the installation. When I ordered the car at the service center I told them I wanted Tesla to help me with the setup. After a day or so I got an email from them for the installation process. I sent them pictures of my garage and electrical panel. Then they sent over a quote. Once I approved the quote they contacted a certified electrician that they work with in my area and I got an email from them to schedule the installation. It was a very easy process going through Tesla for the install.

Now if only the delivery of the car had gone just a smooth it would have been wonderful

 

[voip-ninja]

Thanks a lot. What is the maximum power draw of the wall connector. ( I am thinking 48 amp at 240 volts for a long-range, all wheel drive model 3. Is that correct? What size circuit breaker would one need to enable that?)

48 amps is the maximum for Model 3 (other models can go higher) and requires that you install a 60 amp dedicated circuit to the HPWC. Since I was doing part of my installation myself and didn't want to deal with the huge copper wires needed for 60 amp connectivity I opted to run 6/3 Romex behind 50 amp breaker so I can charge the car at 40 amps which still returns over 30 miles of range per hour of charging.

You can look at your main panel and from the main breakers it should be clear if it's 100 amp or 200 amp service. 200 amp service is not typically seen in smaller homes, condos or town homes and I have also seen 100 amp service in newer construction homes depending on where they are (residential service limitations).

Do you own an air conditioner for your home? That would typically be a much more continuous load in use throughout the summer than an electric oven.

Full double ovens can pull 50 amps @ 240V if you are running the cleaning cycle on both ovens at the same time. There would be a sticker on the oven somewhere typically telling you how much current it can pull.

Tripping breakers really shouldn't happen if you do a load calculation (or have an electrician do one) and get a permit so that the work is checked out before you go live with it.