Best power and wire gage option for Tesla car charger in new home construction

[RhondaHonda]

Question. Can the Tesla wall connectors be programmed for say 3 hours from 10 PM to 1 AM and the 2nd one from 1 AM to 4AM ? Much of this is hypothetical for upping resale value rather than imagining my friend running two EV’s.

Yes, you can have up to 4 Wall Connectors share power intelligently.

I just have one EV but the basic scheduling feature is pretty nice. You can set it to only charge at certain times (helpful if you have off-peak rates). I have mine set to be charged to whatever % I want by 8AM weekdays so it knows based on my battery level when to start charging.

 

[Leo99]

I was friends with an electrician, RIP. Level 2 EV charger installations were routine for him and he could spit out the codes for them. I'd learn what is required myself but let the experts design it and verify it myself and ask questions if it deviated from my understanding.

 

[Ws6]

Plan for 80 amps constant draw if new construction.

 

[Snagglefoot]

For convenience, here is a Nema chart. Nema- National Electrical Manufacturers Association. Enjoy.

 

[andrew_j]

A charging station away from from the house would be the best idea IMO. Just the idea of having one of those things plugged in overnight where it could burn the house down is too scary for me regardless of how safe they claim they are.

The idea of 50 gallons of flammable gasoline ready to ignite scare me, maybe I should park in driveway?

 

[E365]

I have 2 Autel Maxicharger AC Lites w/NACS, with a 3rd going in soon. 48A each, in 60A breakers with #6 AWG copper. Fed by a 100A subpanel connected with #3 copper. They load-share also so they’ll never pull more than 48A total, even with 3 cars plugged it. The 48A Autel only supports wire up to #6, nothing bigger. so check that when selecting a charger and wire. Not all will handle #4, or even #6 with lower amperage units.

The Autel app is great. Scheduling, cost estimations, etc. Everything Tesla does. Most wall-mounted EVSEs do this nowadays.

Another option is the new Flo X6/X8. They power share too, but through a true daisy-chain setup, so you just need one breaker.

 

[E365]

I wouldn’t go with anything less than 48A. That’s pretty much standard nowadays.

 

[Cujet]

Nema 6-50 is cheaper because it only requires 3 wires vs 4

Yes, and the old-school 10-50 too.

But cars like Tesla typically have 14-50 plugs on the factory charging cords and would require an adapter (4 conductor to 3) to use a 6-50.

 

[Torrid]

Yes, and the old-school 10-50 too.

But cars like Tesla typically have 14-50 plugs on the factory charging cords and would require an adapter (4 conductor to 3) to use a 6-50.

They make replacement adaptors for the mobile charger itself instead of using something like this.

 

[dlundblad]

Anything that will run for more than 3 hours is considered a continuous load which needs multiplied by 120% to find the appropriate wire size.

48 amps x 1.2 = 54. Going by a basic chart and me being unsure of what wire you’ll use, you’ll need at least #6 copper wire.

 

[2005jettatdi]

Anything that will run for more than 3 hours is considered a continuous load which needs multiplied by 120% to find the appropriate wire size.

48 amps x 1.2 = 54. Going by a basic chart and me being unsure of what wire you’ll use, you’ll need at least #6 copper wire.

I refuse to use anything other than copper wire for any application. Copper is safer and easier to bend than aluminum. The cost difference is not worth it to me. My Mach E Ford charger is on 60 amp breaker on a 100 amp sub panel in the garage. I cannot figure out why I might need two chargers if my wife were to get an EV.

 

[dlundblad]

I refuse to use anything other than copper wire for any application. Copper is safer and easier to bend than aluminum. The cost difference is not worth it to me. My Mach E Ford charger is on 60 amp breaker on a 100 amp sub panel in the garage. I cannot figure out why I might need two chargers if my wife were to get an EV.

Copper is much harder to bend than aluminum. More elastic if you will. I’d rather deal with aluminum all day long. A couple hundred feet of aluminum vs copper adds up quick too.

There’s nothing wrong with aluminum nor is it unsafe assuming one upsizes the wire as they are supposed to. (1 size larger than the needed copper gauge thereabouts.)

 

[alarmguy]

Im old school and like copper. Time has proven that right BUT done correctly Aluminum is of course safe. It was decades ago that they found out what needed to be done to use aluminum correctly.

 

[Brons2]

I refuse to use anything other than copper wire for any application. Copper is safer and easier to bend than aluminum. The cost difference is not worth it to me. My Mach E Ford charger is on 60 amp breaker on a 100 amp sub panel in the garage. I cannot figure out why I might need two chargers if my wife were to get an EV.

My service feed, and the feed between the main panel and the garage subpanel, is aluminum. Late 2022 build, so pretty new. Maybe you're saying that you personally don't want to mess with AL and I agree.

Regarding the original post of the thread, if i was given an option on a custom build new house as to what I'd want to support future EVs, I'd want more than anyone has stated on this thread. 80A per car at a minimum, I'd put in the most that the builder's electrician would be willing to accommodate. Service should preferably be 3 phase 480V. A three phase 400V charger can support 11KW in a Model Y. That could cut your charging time 35-40% vs a NEMA 14-50R. (Source: https://www.tesla.com/en_gb/support/charging/onboard-charger)

I can only assume that cars will charge faster and have bigger (or more energy dense) batteries in the future and I think it would be nice to be able to charge a large battery much faster. Better to spend the money up front. After all your standard L2 charging is not very fast, it's fine overnight, but more is always better.

 

[2005jettatdi]

Copper is much harder to bend than aluminum. More elastic if you will. I’d rather deal with aluminum all day long. A couple hundred feet of aluminum vs copper adds up quick too.

There’s nothing wrong with aluminum nor is it unsafe assuming one upsizes the wire as they are supposed to. (1 size larger than the needed copper gauge thereabouts.)

1. Two sizes up.

2. I have used both, copper is definitely easier. Also, since you are down two sizes, that makes it easier too. Also, conduit is smaller, if you use conduit.

Long ago, I was doing a 200 amp panel in SW Washington. The L&I inspector opened the panel and commented, "You used copper for the service entrance!" I said, "I don't believe in aluminum wiring." He replied, "I don't either, but I am not allowed to enforce my opinion." Then he signed it off.

 

[JeffKeryk]

My service feed, and the feed between the main panel and the garage subpanel, is aluminum. Late 2022 build, so pretty new. Maybe you're saying that you personally don't want to mess with AL and I agree.

Regarding the original post of the thread, if i was given an option on a custom build new house as to what I'd want to support future EVs, I'd want more than anyone has stated on this thread. 80A per car at a minimum, I'd put in the most that the builder's electrician would be willing to accommodate. Service should preferably be 3 phase 480V. A three phase 400V charger can support 11KW in a Model Y. That could cut your charging time 35-40% vs a NEMA 14-50R. (Source: https://www.tesla.com/en_gb/support/charging/onboard-charger)

I can only assume that cars will charge faster and have bigger (or more energy dense) batteries in the future and I think it would be nice to be able to charge a large battery much faster. Better to spend the money up front. After all your standard L2 charging is not very fast, it's fine overnight, but more is always better.

I've been charging an EV since Dec 2018. How much charging speed do you need? Like everything else, that depends on your use case. I don't charge every day, but then again I don't drive that much because I'm retired and have numerous vehicles. The 300 mile range (more like 270, depending) is proving to be more than sufficient. If our 1st car, the M3 Mid Range, had closer to 300 mile range I might still have it,

The couple across the street have a MYP; he does not charge at home; he charges at work. Commonplace here...
I realize I live in a special place; there are chargers of various types everywhere. Even the library offers slow, but free charging.

 

[Brons2]

I've been charging an EV since Dec 2018. How much charging speed do you need? Like everything else, that depends on your use case. I don't charge every day, but then again I don't drive that much because I'm retired and have numerous vehicles. The 300 mile range (more like 270, depending) is proving to be more than sufficient. If our 1st car, the M3 Mid Range, had closer to 300 mile range I might still have it,

The couple across the street have a MYP; he does not charge at home; he charges at work. Commonplace here...
I realize I live in a special place; there are chargers of various types everywhere. Even the library offers slow, but free charging.

I'd personally just rather have the most capability I can reasonably afford, if I'm building a house. You've only got 1 shot to get this all done inside the sheetrock. You can obviously bust up the sheetrock later, but that's cost and mess. If energy density per pound of battery density doubles in the future, you're going to want a lot more power.

I guess everything I've said begs the next question, what's the budget for improvements beyond the standard setup?

 

[Knerml12]

Tesla NEMA 14-50 specifications link

Link - Hubbell recommends the Bryant 9450FR NEMA 14-50 outlet for EV charging

Based on experience, I would install two outlets to future proof garage.