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Weighing Tesla-recommended electrician vs non ...

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a permit doesn't mean that your house won't burn down. a proper installation job by a licensed electrician is all you need. sadly so many locales shake their residents down for money with permitting scams.

True, agree with you on the first two sentences. Don't agree that permitting is a scam somehow though. Many cities do require permits for certain work like electrical (to ensure the homeowner and public safety). Homeowners here can take out a permit and the work can be done by a non-electrician as long as they pass code on it.

My dad was an electrician early in his life and did much of the work around our home growing up. As years passed though I'm sure he wasn't knowledgeable about updates to the electrical code so could have done things that might not have passed. No fires or anyone getting electrocuted though. If you plan to sell your home at some point however that's when having approved permits can come into play and bite you if you don't have them for work done.

As a homeowner knowing that a city inspector knowledgeable in the current code has come out to inspect the job, well just a bit more reassurance the job was done right. Don't mind a second pair of eyes looking out for me and my neighbors. And yes, the city code on something can vary between different cities so is one right or the other? Many times more than one way to do something. Frustrates the contractors we've worked with on more than one occasion.
 
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The main reason to use a Tesla-recommended electrician is if you are having HPWCs installed (or more than one) and you aren't familiar with the details of cabling them; especially the data cable for the load-balancing. A Tesla electrician has done it many times, and the non-recommended one probably has not. If you want to assist the non-Tesla one in knowing how to test and set up the HPWC, I'd say go for it.

My installation was sufficiently complex (see sig) with two HPWCs, backup 14-50, transfer switch (really, just a piece of metal so both breakers in the subpanel can't be on at the same time), and a lot of conduit that I thought the Tesla-recommended electrician was a good idea. It's up to you, of course.

But using a non-recommended one, you do need to check the work, as we've seen examples of HPWCs set incorrectly, etc. As was mentioned somewhere, any electrician doing a job like this and not adding a permit where required until you request one isn't one I'd recommend.

Having said all that, for a 14-50 alone, any electrician should be able to do it; that's the same as a stove, etc. Just remind them of the orientation of the groundpin. ;)
 
OP here. So here are the results of my 3 estimates:
  • Electrician #1 (Tesla recommended): $1,950 for just the new 14-50 receptacle; says we have enough juice so NO UPGRADE to the 200A service I already have. Does include a whole house surge protector.
  • Electrician #2 (non-Tesla rec'd): approx. $650 for the receptacle. Did not conduct any load calculations.
  • Electrician #3 (Tesla recommended): $2,025 for the receptacle AND says new receptacle will put me to 235 amps so I need to upgrade the service to 400A.
Obviously #1 just looks crazy for that amount of dough with no upgrade to service . Has anyone been told their receptacle will place them over the max of their service and went forward without upgrading anyway?

Also, if #3 were correct, how would being over the capacity of my service manifest itself? Not getting the max charging rate?
 
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i called 2 of the tesla recommended, and one i got from a friend who did their outlet.

the friend referral: called, they asked for pics of the circuit box, asked how long the run would be... gave me estimate over email... $350 plus permit.

1 telsa guy: never returned my call
the other, stood me up for the estimate visit.

went with the friend referral. piece of cake.
 
I had three electricians come out to make estimates. In my case, one of the Tesla recommended electricians was the cheapest by far.

The first electrician said it would be $5000 to upgrade the main panel plus $1000 to install "two car chargers" even though we asked for two 14-50 outlets. This electrician was Tesla recommended at one time but due to our complaints, they were quickly removed from the list. (We didn't need a panel upgrade. They just didn't want to do the job so they threw the $7000 estimate at us.)

The second electrician wanted something like $3300 and the Tesla recommended one had an estimate of $1850.
 
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Was that for just the receptacle or did they increase your service as well?

I had three electricians come out to make estimates. In my case, the Tesla recommended one was the cheapest by far.

The first electrician said it would be $5000 to upgrade the main panel plus $1000 to install "two car chargers" even though we asked for two 14-50 outlets. This electrician was Tesla recommended at one time but due to our complaints, they were quickly removed from the list.

The second electrician wanted something like $3300 and the Tesla recommended one had an estimate of $1850.
 
Was that for just the receptacle or did they increase your service as well?
We didn't need to upgrade the service. They just had to run over 100 feet of wiring in conduit from one side of the house all the way around to the garage, about as far as it could be from the main panel. Then in the garage, they had to run another 100 feet of wiring for the two 14-50 outlets (big garage). They upgraded a bunch of breakers in the main panel and the garage sub-panel to combine them and make room for the two 50 amp breakers and also added two 14-50 outlets.

Fortunately, the alternative fuel infrastructure tax credit was around at the time so I got about ~$550 back when I filed my taxes a few months later.
 
I ended up going with another electrician, rather than the folks Tesla recommends around here. The price came in slightly lower, but I liked working with them a lot more - the Tesla recommended electricians were very aloof, hard to get hold of, and didn't seem interested in the work. On the other hand, I've since worked with the alternative electrician again a few times since and have nothing but praise for 'em.

Interestingly, Tesla called me after the installation to ask if I went with their electrician or not, and asked me for feedback on 'em. Not sure if that's common or if they're looking for dirt on their recommended installers.
 
I think I'm down to getting assurance on whether I need to upgrade to 400A service or not. If not, then I have a quote for $650 for the NEMA 14-50 receptacle. However, if the 3rd electrician's opinion is accurate and I need to increase the juice coming into the house then I will gladly pony up the money to avoid safety or operation issues.

Pro-tip: ask for a quote for an "RV plug" instead of a Tesla plug. Instant 20+% discount.
 
Pro-tip: ask for a quote for an "RV plug" instead of a Tesla plug. Instant 20+% discount.
Do you think electricians were born yesterday?

I did what you mention above (and parked my car far enough away that they wouldn't link the dots). When the guy showed up, first words out of his mouth were "this for an electric car right? you park nose in or nose out?"
 
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Do you think electricians were born yesterday?

I did what you mention above (and parked my car far enough away that they wouldn't link the dots). When the guy showed up, first words out of his mouth were "this for an electric car right? you park nose in or nose out?"
That was your experience. But I've also seen from right here on the forum people telling about running the double-blind kind of experiment, where they call around to electricians asking for an RV outlet and get quotes. And then having another person (so the voice is different) ask about getting a 14-50 outlet for a Tesla installed, and the ballpark estimates from the same places were usually several hundred dollars higher.
 
I spent 10 minutes sifting through a few old threads in an electricians trade forum, and there were several statements along the lines of, "the car comes with a $7,500 tax credit" or the work "will be subsidized by a government rebate, therefore I priced it accordingly."
yes tradesmen will do that, I live in an affluent community and it is well know that there is the price for residents here which is higher than the price for places outside the gates. the trick is to weed out those guys while maintaining the level and competency of the contractor.
 
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I lucked out on the 14-50 install. We already had a 50 amp beaker for a hot tub that was removed a few years ago when we added a patio room in the back. All I had to do was buy the outlet, mounting box, and 6 AWG wire. I already had enough conduit left over from a previous job. Main 200 amp panel on outside wall of garage, outlet on inside less than 6 feet away. We had a 40 amp circuit and 30amp EVSE installed 3.5 years ago when we got the Nissan Leaf. This outlet is only for Just in Case. We use the EVSE unless it is already in use. Plus it is on the other side of the garage from the EVSE.
 
They overcharge you because they know Tesla owners have $$.

Unfortunately people look past the fact that we've probably made some good financial decisions or are slightly educated enough to actually shop around. I almost laughed one electrician out of my house when he quoted me $1.5K for the job due to blah, blah, blah (14-50). Ended up paying about $300 to have it done, simple install right beneath the breaker.
 
I don't want to sound too cheap here, but would it be an option for me to simply run the wire from the circuit breaker to the garage and have an electrician do the connections at both ends? Or is it more complicated that that? For me that sounds like the bulk of the labor. I would never trust myself to do wiring but if it is a matter of fishing 40-Amp wire through the wall I can do that easily enough. But at the same time, I don't want to be pound-wise, penny-foolish either.

Thanks.
 
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