What does "Tesla Certified" mean regarding an electrician?

[davewill]

When I first got my car, I called Tesla about why should I use a Tesla approved electrician. They said that if I used an approved elacrticianand there was a problem later that damaged the battery, they would honor the warranty. Otherwise the warranty would be voided. Seemed a no brained to me.

Bad info. They're not allowed to do that.

 

[DeEric]

I am getting bids from electricians for installing a 220 volt/40 amp charging socket in my garage. I can see on the Tesla web site that there are some electricians that are "Tesla Certified." What exactly does that mean? Does Tesla give them some kind of training? Or do they just verify that they are properly licensed and insured?

I live in the San Jose, California area. I got some bids for my installation. Cheapest was $1800. Got two at that price, one at $3000, and one at $5000. That seems quite high for a power socket installation. Can this be because of my 1977 vintage panel? It is only 100 amps. One guy (the $3000 bid) said that he needed to install a "safety switch." This would power either the HVAC system or the charging station but never both at once. This is to be sure that the HVAC condenser does not come on as I am charging and exceed the amps that my 100 amp panel can provide. Does this seem necessary? The two $1800 guys did not mention this. The $5000 bid guy wanted to replace my main electrical panel.

The 5,000.00 is right. Upgrade your main panel.

 

[Snerruc]

In my experience, Tesla certified means nothing. A Tesla certified company installed a $12.00 receptacle instead of a heavy duty one and caused a serious problem. The next time I used an industrial electrician, who installed industrial parts rated for continuous duty. He also was very careful about the connections.

 

[cduzz]

I am getting bids from electricians for installing a 220 volt/40 amp charging socket in my garage. I can see on the Tesla web site that there are some electricians that are "Tesla Certified." What exactly does that mean? Does Tesla give them some kind of training? Or do they just verify that they are properly licensed and insured?

I live in the San Jose, California area. I got some bids for my installation. Cheapest was $1800. Got two at that price, one at $3000, and one at $5000. That seems quite high for a power socket installation. Can this be because of my 1977 vintage panel? It is only 100 amps. One guy (the $3000 bid) said that he needed to install a "safety switch." This would power either the HVAC system or the charging station but never both at once. This is to be sure that the HVAC condenser does not come on as I am charging and exceed the amps that my 100 amp panel can provide. Does this seem necessary? The two $1800 guys did not mention this. The $5000 bid guy wanted to replace my main electrical panel.

TL;DR: Ask for a quote on a dedicated NEMA 6-20 near where you're going to be charging (or converting an existing drop to a NEMA 6-20)

I'm in Boston; I live in a house built in 1880. I was faced with a similar situation; my electrical panel is a mess and the wires in the house are a mess and the feed to the house is 100A only. It should probably be reworked, but that's a scab to pick some other year.

I was fortunate in that there is a NEMA 5-20 (meaning it has 3 12 gauge wires between it an the panel). I was double fortunate in that these are new wires (installed in the 2010s) and there are no other outlets or other services on this circuit.

I had an electrician rewire this circuit to be a NEMA 6-20 (meaning it is 240V/20A circuit where it had been a 120V/20A; the work involved was only replacing the circuit breaker with the larger 240v breaker. Otherwise the electrician did not feel the panel needed to be expanded or other work done to address total load.

From 10% to 90% takes an age to charge, but it is sufficient, and if I were in a hurry I'd just charge at a supercharger. It has been 100% viable even in very cold weather. In normal uses, it easily charges overnight.

You may or may not suffer some cost from charging outside the optimal time-of-use windows; on my 2016 S I get 11 miles an hour once the battery is warmed up, so if you've got a 10 hour window you'd be abel to put 110 miles a day on the car using the cheaper electrons.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

I am getting bids from electricians for installing a 220 volt/40 amp charging socket in my garage. I can see on the Tesla web site that there are some electricians that are "Tesla Certified." What exactly does that mean? Does Tesla give them some kind of training? Or do they just verify that they are properly licensed and insured?

I live in the San Jose, California area. I got some bids for my installation. Cheapest was $1800. Got two at that price, one at $3000, and one at $5000. That seems quite high for a power socket installation. Can this be because of my 1977 vintage panel? It is only 100 amps. One guy (the $3000 bid) said that he needed to install a "safety switch." This would power either the HVAC system or the charging station but never both at once. This is to be sure that the HVAC condenser does not come on as I am charging and exceed the amps that my 100 amp panel can provide. Does this seem necessary? The two $1800 guys did not mention this. The $5000 bid guy wanted to replace my main electrical panel.

It means "get ready to be ripped off".