Quote:
Originally Posted by LMK5
Question: What, if any electrical modifications did you have to do in your garage in order to charge it at home, and what did it cost?
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Initial conditions: 200A main panel, standalone one car garage with a carport attached to the side opposite to the house, with the garage used for wife's car.
- Bought a 125ft piece of 6AWG Romex at a Lowe's and a Tesla Wall Charger from eBay
- Dug up a 15ft long 2ft deep trench from the house to the garage (myself with a friend)
- An electrician ran the Romex from a new 60A breaker on the main panel across the basement ceiling to the corner where the trench begins. Then he drilled out the pre-existing hole used by the old 15A wire to the garage (it wasn't done to code, so we decided to get rid of it in the process), brought the new wire out into a conduit laid in the trench, then through the garage wall into a new subpanel in the garage. He connected the old garage wiring to that subpanel and continued running the 6AWG from the subpanel (50A breaker) to the opposite side of the garage, where it went out through the wall into the Tesla charger hung under the carport. I helped him throughout with cable pulls and other small things to speed up the process.
- Finally, I filled the trench with sand and dirt.
Electrician's fee, some cash to the friend for his help, all materials (Romex and Tesla charger two largest line items) - $1250 total. My own time - approximately a full day's worth.
The charger is set to 40A 240V, giving me 32 miles/hour charge rate. The car is parked under or near the carport, the 24ft charger cable is long enough to reach anywhere.