The most common outdoor installation is just on the side of your house. The Tesla Gen 3 unit is NEMA rated for outdoor installation. I can’t speak to the Honda one, but it should be outdoor rated as well. Things only get hairy outdoors if you’re in the super-duper cold states where ice/frost may be an extra challenge.
In most areas, searching for EVSE installer on Yelp yields a ton of results.
For one of those installers to provide you with an online quote quote, you’ll likely need to know the following:
Know the service entry size (the max amps) servicing your home from the utility most of the time it is 125A or 200A. I wish there was an easy way for you to learn this, but it varies wildly by state and power district. Most of the time you can just look at your main service panel / load center and see what is the max breaker size.
Take a picture of the load center to see if there are any extra slots. If you have some blanks, you’re good. If not… ehhhhhhh gets messy.
Find the distance in feet you’ll need to run your conductors from the load center.
Bonus, if you’re ok with surface run conduit, let them know. Otherwise, you may need to snap a picture of what is on the other side of the wall(s) that will be impacted with the EVSE and conductor path.
9/10 times installers can get a pretty good ballpark of costs with this information. Your installer will know if they need to wire up a disconnect or do any special stuff to run the conductors. Naturally if your house has some weird stuff going on, they’ll need to come out and look themselves.
Edit: I don’t think you’re supposed to have GFCI breakers if the device (like the Tesla Gen 3 charger) itself is rated with internal ground fault protection. And The forums typically state an arc fault breaker shouldn’t be needed on 240v installs. But again your installer should know this for your locale.
Yeah, there’s a chance if your load center is on the same exterior wall as where you can land your EVSE, you may be able to do the install yourself.
There’s a ton of debate online about the size conductors you need for whatever amps. Or whether you need a heavy duty outlet that the EVSE plugs into.
While this may not be in the spirit of Hackrs saving every single penny possible… I feel like you should just pay a bit extra and get larger conductors than you think you need, and get a better outlet than you think you need if you go with a NEMA 15-50. And torque your conductors down properly.
EVSE fires sometimes are attributed to loose torquing on the lugs and cooper stranded conductors getting all messed up because the installer didn’t use Ferrules. You don’t need to buy a 1,200 lot of these, but you get the idea.
You should budget at least $1500 for a licensed electrician to install an EVSE to code, more depending on how far your main panel is from the install location or if you want proper permits pulled. Most EVSE are rated for outdoor use, that won’t be a problem. The decision to make would be a NEMA outlet or a hardwire connection. NEMA can use a maximum 50-amp breaker, but hardware can go higher. My recommendation is a 60-amp breaker, MC 6/2 cable and hardwire EVSE connection for up to 48 amps service.
I also recommend dumping the Honda EVSE on eBay then picking up a Universal Tesla Gen 3 unit. The Tesla Gen 3 can support a thick #4 AWG conductor. There are like 50 posts on the Tesla forums about whether or not 6/2 romex is enough or if you should go with 4/2. Might as well just go with #4 if you have thick enough conduit and the run isn’t too far.
The lugs on the non-Tesla ones seem all over the place. Some of the off-brand weird ones only support up to #8 AWG, which feels undersized for L2 charging. And the lugs on that Mercedes “Wallbox” I got were total trash. @dukez is probably still eating Ruffles and hasn’t installed it.
6/2 romex is definitely not enough and a bad choice. It’s not the same as 6/2 metal clad (MC) or 6/2 THHN strands, pulled through conduit, both rated at 75 amps.
Thanks. So far I’ve figured out I have 200 amp service based off the panel (labeled 200) at the top, and there are unused slots in the box.
From what I’ve gathered hard wired is safer and faster than an outlet. Also the panel is opposite a wall where I could install it or a grass area I could get a pedestal, so it wouldn’t be a crazy far run.
Honda has a website to upload photos, and a video of the desired install and will provide a quote. The charger is IP66/Nema 4x, so ok for outdoors. I think I’ll start there.
Not interested in doing it myself, just not comfortable with that. Now, I hear you have 50 chargers at your place……maybe I’ll just befriend you
Unused slots can mean nothing, if the rest of breakers are sum of 200. Check all your breaks and figure when charger is in use what else will you be consuming. Reason im saying this due to the fact im in process of doing a 400 amp upgrade. You considering having multiple cars charging same time and heavy loads in use example like AC, electric dryer or range etc
@Dennis885, you should consult with your electrician. I disagree with what SAL is proposing.
In the National Electrical Code (NEC), there is (2020) 705.12(B)(3)(3) (sum of all breakers rule). This rule is primarily for instances where there are multiple feeders to the panel (like if you have a solar or home-battery).
Typically, a NEC load calculation can be used to assess if your load center is sized properly. There are many load centers in homes today where the total of the breakers far exceeds the limit of the load center.
Your electrician can perform the NEC load calc based on the expectation that your EV charger is a continuous load.
$1500 might even be the far low end to have a legit electrician install it correctly depending on the run length, labor and resizing the box, where you live, etc.
Some time back there were armchair experts on here spouting off about “$300 installs” and the like. Ridiculous.
That will depend on his current setup. When we inquire for installing my parent’s tesla charger, it cost him $800 in Philly, simple install, hard wired, no resizing box. It’s cheaper if you just tell them to put Nema 14-50 plug for dryer
