Universal Charger Delivery & Install

[webspeedracer]

I would recommend *not* installing a NEMA 14-15 outlet for charging purposes.

And I would not hire an electrician that would charge different rates whether it was for powering a motorhome or charging an EV. That practice is not honest, and I wouldn't support any electrician who felt comfortable doing that, even if I was getting the "honest" rate by telling him it was for RV charging. Supporting people like that is not where I want my money going. The price should be based upon the time and effort, not what the outlet will be used for.

Fair point in the electrician, but why wouldn’t you install a 14-50R before the truck arrives, while you’re waiting for Tesla installer to install Gateway/Wall Charger? I’ve used 14-50R in my homes for ~7 yrs. And if you receive the truck but have to wait for the PowerShare hardware, then why not have a simple receptacle for your UMC?

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[knight0248]

I've never owned a Tesla but I have Tesla solar w/power walls. And I had the universal Tesla charger installed this past November. I went through Tesla approved distributers and they were super professional. After I sent them a ton a pictures that they requested of certain areas in my house, they gave me an estimate and we arranged the date. They did everything within an eight hour work day and they did a professional job. I still don't have a tesla but I have a nice universal charger installed waiting on my first EV. The whole process took a couple weeks, it was pretty much based on my schedule.

If it does come in the truck, I would start planning to have it installed when you receive your vin. Because you know you're going to receive a lot of attention if you go to the supercharger with a CT. And it's up to you whether that matters to you.

Hi there, same boat had solar + powerwall installed but forget to also ask tesla install the EV charger? Could you help share some insight on your process? Did you go through the tesla certified installer on their website? How much cost for installation? Thanks!

 

[CyberNickOH]

I also installed my own 14-50 with my first Tesla in 2018. I have 75 feet of 6g wire to go from my panel. Which I had to install a 90amp sub panel since my main was out of slots, thanks builder.

Anyways, it’s all to code and in conduit thru 2 garages, can that 6g wire be used for the Homeshare AND wall mount charger? If so, a cheaper install, if not, who knows.

 

[Makeodds101]

Hi there, same boat had solar + powerwall installed but forget to also ask tesla install the EV charger? Could you help share some insight on your process? Did you go through the tesla certified installer on their website? How much cost for installation? Thanks!

I did them at two different times, about two years apart. I've had solar with powerwalls for those two years before I got the universal charger this past year.

The EV charger can be as easy as a new install but that depends on whether they can use what you have or if they need to update anything you have already. The best way is to call them and follow their steps. They'll give you a rough estimate, hopefully for free. I used Tesla distributers to get mine done, through their website. My estimate was free, I sat on it for about 7 days before I put a deposit.

The process was easy but the prices vary between 2k-6k.

 

[Outdoors]

This would be my issue. Arbitrarily assign a value to say here you go it doesn't work for you. I will be lucky to put 5000 miles on my truck in the first year. Far away from a supercharger that I have no reason to go to. 6 months or a year of free charging means maybe $50 to me. I need the equipment. Already have wall chargers (4). My mobile plug stays in the car(s). As that is what is for. Constant plugging, and unplugging unless it is a WC isn't great over time. If it's a must check one's code's. It could be more expensive to put in a plug for a 14-50 with new requirements then the wall charger by itself.

 

[RayzorBEV]

Ben Sullins (?) YouTube channel. I believe he has or had an R1T and Model 3 as well.

Ah, but does he also has a R1S and a Zero S ZF motorcycle?

 

[Alpine]

As the homeowner, I installed my own Wall Connector when I got my Model 3. This is legal in most jurisdictions, and not that hard to do in most install situations, but you do need to understand the Electrical Code and use professional workmanship. Even many licensed electricians don't use the best workmanship so it's possible for a knowledgable homeowner to a better job than a licensed electrician who doesn't care much for details.

If you are not qualified, then the timeline depends upon that of whatever electrician or electrical contractor you hire (when they can fit the job in). In most installs an electrician can bang out a quality job in three or four hours. It all depends upon where your electrical service is (relative to the charge location) and whether or not it's ready to simply add a breaker to an open slot. If the panel has available capacity (most do) and is in the garage where the charging will happen, it might only be a two-hour job (for the work done onsite), particularly if surface mount electrical conduit can be run from the breaker panel to the Wall Connector.

In most jurisdictions the electrician will also need to pull an electrical permit and get it inspected by the local authorities. In my experience the inspection is just a quick visit after the install that can usually be scheduled by your electrician anywhere from 1 day to a week or so in advance.

While the complexity of installing a Wall Connector can vary greatly depending upon the existing infrastructure particulars, it's generally a very quick job that doesn't involve sourcing unusual or hard to find components. I imagine with the economy on a cooling cycle, contractors are probably easier to schedule now than in previous years. You definitely don't have to wait to get the Wall Connector in hand to get bids and have your electrician plan the install.

Having your own charging station is key to having a superior EV ownership experience. It's like having your own on-site oil refinery that provides gas for a fraction of the price you would pay at the pump. It will also add significant value to your home, should you decide to sell it, moreso now with all North American cars scheduled to have NACS as the unified charging standard by 2025.

Do you know what i would have to do if my electrical panel is full. Its a 200A panel in my garage and ideally i would like the wall charger on opposite side of garage from the electrical panel but if that complicates matters too much, i can rearrange so i park the CT on same side of garage as panel and. Tia

 

[Cyber1qhorsey]

Nobody appears to be talking about not having the Universal Wall Charger in the truck when you pick it up during delivery.

When do you get the charger installed? How has that process worked? For someone who does not have any EV’s and no charging at home, what is the wait/gap time from picking it up and getting something installed?

My Tesla Service Center Rep suggested I separately order the charger from the Tesla App. It will come sooner, and info on getting it installed locally is also available. Call up your closest service center for details...

 

[HaulingAss]

Do you know what i would have to do if my electrical panel is full. Its a 200A panel in my garage and ideally i would like the wall charger on opposite side of garage from the electrical panel but if that complicates matters too much, i can rearrange so i park the CT on same side of garage as panel and. Tia

If all the breaker locations in your service panel are full, an electrician may be able to free up enough breaker space for an EV charging station by identifying unused circuits and/or using two slim tandem breakers to replace regular width breakers on lighting circuits or other low amperage breakers occupying too much space in your panel. A 15 amp duplex breaker look like this and replaces two 15 amp breakers in the space of one:

They also come in 20 amp versions.

Doubling up lighting circuits can maintain code compliance and be very safe when done properly. The fact is, with the recent transition from tungsten lighting to LEDs, there are typically a number of very lightly loaded 15-20 amp lighting circuits in a home's electrical panel that can be protected by these slim duplex breakers. Installing two of these can free up enough physical breaker space for a 240V charging circuit.

A seperate question is how much additional electrical capacity your panel has. This is not as simple as adding up the amp ratings of all the existing breakers because each circuit type and appliance is scored differently depending upon how likely it is to be in use at any given time. A good electrician can do the calculations and tell you how much electrical capacity your panel has for adding additional charging circuits but most homes are built with quite a bit of spare capacity because it's almost as cheap to spec a 200 amp panel as it is a 100 amp panel. Most problems show up in older homes where the panel might be substandard/outdated or undersized to begin with or have already had a lot of additional circuits (like air conditioning) added after the house was built.

Some electricians don't know how to do this calculation (or don't want to be bothered) and will either just add another circuit or tell you there is not enough capacity left without bothering to do the calculation.

 

[HaulingAss]

Do you know what i would have to do if my electrical panel is full. Its a 200A panel in my garage and ideally i would like the wall charger on opposite side of garage from the electrical panel but if that complicates matters too much, i can rearrange so i park the CT on same side of garage as panel and. Tia

Surface mount conduit is inexpensive and installs quickly so if you don't have aesthetic concerns about having exposed electrical conduit in your garage then it's probably not a big deal to run the circuit to whichever side of the garage you want. More distance does cost more money in wire and conduit, but the really high costs come from jobs that are naturally difficult due to no clear path to install surface mount conduit.

Too many corners/obstructions involved in a conduit run increases costs because there is a limit on how many corners wire can be pulled through per run and multiple pulls may be needed. Every job is different.

 

[Alpine]

If all the breaker locations in your service panel are full, an electrician may be able to free up enough breaker space for an EV charging station by identifying unused circuits and/or using two slim tandem breakers to replace regular width breakers on lighting circuits or other low amperage breakers occupying too much space in your panel. A 15 amp duplex breaker look like this and replaces two 15 amp breakers in the space of one:

They also come in 20 amp versions.

Doubling up lighting circuits can maintain code compliance and be very safe when done properly. The fact is, with the recent transition from tungsten lighting to LEDs, there are typically a number of very lightly loaded 15-20 amp lighting circuits in a home's electrical panel that can be protected by these slim duplex breakers. Installing two of these can free up enough physical breaker space for a 240V charging circuit.

A seperate question is how much additional electrical capacity your panel has. This is not as simple as adding up the amp ratings of all the existing breakers because each circuit type and appliance is scored differently depending upon how likely it is to be in use at any given time. A good electrician can do the calculations and tell you how much electrical capacity your panel has for adding additional charging circuits but most homes are built with quite a bit of spare capacity because it's almost as cheap to spec a 200 amp panel as it is a 100 amp panel. Most problems show up in older homes where the panel might be substandard/outdated or undersized to begin with or have already had a lot of additional circuits (like air conditioning) added after the house was built.

Some electricians don't know how to do this calculation (or don't want to be bothered) and will either just add another circuit or tell you there is not enough capacity left without bothering to do the calculation.

Hopefully there is room to be made to squeeze in another breaker. If that is not possible, will the charger be connected straight to the utility which is directly behind my electrical panel on the outside wall of the garage or do they have to add a single breaker panel that then runs wires to the charger?

 

[HaulingAss]

Hopefully there is room to be made to squeeze in another breaker.

That's generally the case when the will exists (assuming adequate unused load capacity).

If that is not possible, will the charger be connected straight to the utility which is directly behind my electrical panel on the outside wall of the garage or do they have to add a single breaker panel that then runs wires to the charger?

It could be in the main panel, or in a sub-panel, but the Wall Connector is always connected to a circuit breaker.

 

[Alpine]

Thanks. Im not getting a FS so i have some time to get this done

 

[Gvardaman]

As I understand it, the Foundation editions come with both types of chargers.
when I added on to my home, we put in a new breaker box and the old one was kept as a sub box. So hopefully there will be enough space fot the charger as well as an electric tankless water heater. I am already contacting electricians for quotes and will pull the permit to get everything installed.

When I asked the city about a possible sub panel, they said it might need to be installed in a different location. I doubt that, but withthe various considerations, it seems like any ground work you can do now will only help and ease the stress when your CT arrives.
Here, electricians want $21/foot for the wire run (I don’t know yet if that includes conduit..)
that’s from your main panel to the location of the charger.

edit: I see this thread is much larger than I thought, so maybe all of this was covered. If so, my apologies!

 

[HaulingAss]

Here, electricians want $21/foot for the wire run (I don’t know yet if that includes conduit..)
that’s from your main panel to the location of the charger.

I don't know if that's a regional thing (charging by the foot for the wire run), it sounds more like a way to rip-off the customer. I've only hired electricians by time and materials.

Time and materials = hourly rate x number of hours + materials + tax and any permit fees. Charging by the foot of wire run would not correlate well to the above calculation because of the wide variety of considerations on individual jobs and is probably just a lazy way to charge more on easy jobs.

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