Cost of Charger Installation by Electrician

MellowJohnny

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Actually, that's the definition of median. The median and the mean (average) won't always be the same--for example, if the distribution differs from a "normal" (bell-shaped) curve.
I ran into my University Stats prof of the subway one morning as I was going to class. I immediately said (colloquially) "wow, what are the chances?"

Without missing a beat, he said "One".

Dammit...
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Bartruffian

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Just bought my Mach-e and need to get electrician in. He gave me two choices which I could really use advise on:

1. About 50 ft of 6/2 wire from breaker through unfinished basement to garage, 60 amp circuit breaker with a home charger hardwired at the garage with a GFCI built into the home charger. This would cost $500 + the cost of the hardwire home charger which I'd buy for maybe $650 for a total of $1150

2. 6/3 wire, Eaton 50 amp GFCI, 14-50 receptacle (and then I would just plug in the provided ford portable charger.) $1,000 (he said the 3 wire is a lot more expensive than the 2 wire)

It seems like it makes sense to do option 1. Thoughts??

Relevant info:
I want it to be safe.
I don't drive a lot each day. But take a 230 mi trip once per month.
I don't want to wait 4 days for a full charge on 120 line.
We might move in 4 yrs so it might be nice to take the home charger with us but I guess even the hardwired home charger you could detach and put a plate over the box. He said to use a plug in version, we'd need to have go with option to so the line would be GFI protected.

And not sure what is a good quality/good value in home chargers. I only know the Ford one is $800 and Juice Pack is $650.

Thank you!!!!
 
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HuntingPudel

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Just bought my Mach-e and need to get electrician in. He gave me two choices which I could really use advise on:

1. About 50 ft of 6/2 wire from breaker through unfinished basement to garage, 60 amp circuit breaker with a home charger hardwired at the garage with a GFCI built into the home charger. This would cost $500 + the cost of the hardwire home charger which I'd buy.

2. 6/3 wire, Eaton 50 amp GFCI, 14-50 receptacle (and then I would just plug in the provided ford portable charger.) $1,000 (he said the 3 wire is a lot more expensive than the 2 wire)

It seems like it makes sense to do option 1. Thoughts??

Relevant info:
I want it to be safe.
I don't drive a lot each day. But take a 230 mi trip once per month.
I don't want to wait 4 days for a full charge on 120 line.
We might move in 4 yrs so it might be nice to take the home charger with us but I guess even the hardwired home charger you could detach and put a plate over the box. He said to use a plug in version, we'd need to have go with option to so the line would be GFI protected.

And not sure what is a good quality/good value in home chargers. I only know the Ford one is $800 and Juice Pack is $650.

Thank you!!!!
There are a lot of instances of the Ford Mobile Charger (FMC) failing when used daily, especially in high heat situations. I would keep the FMC in the car for on the road use and get a home unit. 🤔🐩

Regarding whether to go hard-wired or with a receptacle, that’s pretty much your call. As you said, if you decide to take the unit with you when you move and it’s hard-wired, you can always disconnect it, cap off the wires, stuff them back in the box, and cover the box. The advantage of using a hard-wired unit is that you can go with a 48A unit instead of being limited to 40A for a plug-in unit. I’m still rocking an old 32A dumb EVSE. 🤪🐩
 

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The advantage of a 14-50 outlet is if the EVSE goes bad, as happened to me , I was able to use the Ford portable as a backup. Hardwired is safer if done right.
 


J5hort

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Had 100amp subpanel alredy in my garage and pulled 2 home runs of 6/3 to NEMA 1450 outlets in front of each bay. Both circuits are 40 amps. I am using the Ford Mobile Charger that came with the MME. It is penty capable. I have had zero problems with overnight charging for daily driver duty. If a second EV comes I will stagger the charging. Realistically, the second outlet will probably be used for welding or something that required 240. Overheating issues are usually from not using the proper gauge wire and securing connections correctly. I'd say ths is probably the least expensive way to go. I'd recommend spending the $ on thick gauge wire. I think I spend around $200 for wire, outlets and breakers. Pulling 6/3 is where the labor comes in.
 

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Future battery tech claims are⁹ faster potential charging than existing and/or greater range Doubling of range doesnt necessary mean doyble the charging time.
 

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Just bought my Mach-e and need to get electrician in. He gave me two choices which I could really use advise on:

1. About 50 ft of 6/2 wire from breaker through unfinished basement to garage, 60 amp circuit breaker with a home charger hardwired at the garage with a GFCI built into the home charger. This would cost $500 + the cost of the hardwire home charger which I'd buy.

2. 6/3 wire, Eaton 50 amp GFCI, 14-50 receptacle (and then I would just plug in the provided ford portable charger.) $1,000 (he said the 3 wire is a lot more expensive than the 2 wire)

It seems like it makes sense to do option 1. Thoughts??

Relevant info:
I want it to be safe.
I don't drive a lot each day. But take a 230 mi trip once per month.
I don't want to wait 4 days for a full charge on 120 line.
We might move in 4 yrs so it might be nice to take the home charger with us but I guess even the hardwired home charger you could detach and put a plate over the box. He said to use a plug in version, we'd need to have go with option to so the line would be GFI protected.

And not sure what is a good quality/good value in home chargers. I only know the Ford one is $800 and Juice Pack is $650.

Thank you!!!!
If the cost is an important issue, go with item 1 and an Emporia 48 Amp charger (as has already been suggested).

However, if you want the most flexibility, go with option 3: run 6/3 wire to a subpanel, hardwire the Emporia to the sub panel and run a 14/50 outlet off the same subpanel. Then if the Emporia dies, you have the outlet as backup. That is what I did. (The Emporia has been running perfectly for over a year, but I would hate to revert to 120V charging if something goes wrong.)
 

Bartruffian

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There are a lot of instances of the Ford Mobile Charger (FMC) failing when used daily, especially in high heat situations. I would keep the FMC in the car for on the road use and get a home unit. 🤔🐩

Regarding whether to go hard-wired or with a receptacle, that’s pretty much your call. As you said, if you decide to take the unit with you when you move and it’s hard-wired, you can always disconnect it, cap off the wires, stuff them back in the box, and cover the box. The advantage of using a hard-wired unit is that you can go with a 48A unit instead of being limited to 40A for a plug-in unit. I’m still rocking an old 32A dumb EVSE. 🤪🐩
Had 100amp subpanel alredy in my garage and pulled 2 home runs of 6/3 to NEMA 1450 outlets in front of each bay. Both circuits are 40 amps. I am using the Ford Mobile Charger that came with the MME. It is penty capable. I have had zero problems with overnight charging for daily driver duty. If a second EV comes I will stagger the charging. Realistically, the second outlet will probably be used for welding or something that required 240. Overheating issues are usually from not using the proper gauge wire and securing connections correctly. I'd say ths is probably the least expensive way to go. I'd recommend spending the $ on thick gauge wire. I think I spend around $200 for wire, outlets and breakers. Pulling 6/3 is where the labor comes in.
so to be sure I understand, am I ok going with "option 1" where he uses 6/2 wire? Both options total about the same cost but it gives me the dedicated home charger while leaving the portable in the car. Is 6/2 fully capable and safe for this?? I don't know much about wire or the advantages/disadvantages. thanks.
 

HuntingPudel

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so to be sure I understand, am I ok going with "option 1" where he uses 6/2 wire? Both options total about the same cost but it gives me the dedicated home charger while leaving the portable in the car. Is 6/2 fully capable and safe for this?? I don't know much about wire or the advantages/disadvantages. thanks.
Most EVSEs do not use the neutral wire so 6/2 is fine when hard-wired or if using a 6-50R outlet. 😊🐩
 

Guss-E 2021

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Option 1 with an Emporia charger. $900 all in. Leave it when you move.
It also comes with a "30% discount" (tax credit) so keep that in mind. I would imagine it won't be long before having an EV charger already installed will be a selling point to a home. And congratulations on your MME. ☺
 

J5hort

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It also comes with a "30% discount" (tax credit) so keep that in mind. I would imagine it won't be long before having an EV charger already installed will be a selling point to a home. And congratulations on your MME. ☺
Hmmm. I spent zero on an EVSE.... by not installing one. Mobile charger is easily removed from wall for long trips. Install an outlet and try it first. If your charging publically no need to take it along. Ultimate portability and flexibility does not involve hard wired EVSE. I may agree with a 240 outlet being code in future construction. We will probably see induction charging down the road. May be good to start small until deemed necessary. For the first 2 weeks we used the 120 outlet to charge. Quite honestly, makes no difference if it takes 2 or 8 hours to top off overnight. Still get a charged vehicle in the morning when we wake up.
 

HuntingPudel

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Nice to have the neutral in the event you want to use the otlet for something else.
If he ran the wiring to a 14-50R outlet, the electrician *should* run the neutral since it’s part of the spec for the 14-50. The 6-50R is a 3 prong outlet so running a neutral to that is useless (unless there is a future expectation of changing it to a 14-50R). If the EVSE is hard-wired, running the neutral is overkill and money spent needlessly. It all depends on how the circuit is going to connect to the EVSE. 🤷‍♂️🐩
 

J5hort

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If he ran the wiring to a 14-50R outlet, the electrician *should* run the neutral since it’s part of the spec for the 14-50. The 6-50R is a 3 prong outlet so running a neutral to that is useless (unless there is a future expectation of changing it to a 14-50R). If the EVSE is hard-wired, running the neutral is overkill and money spent needlessly. It all depends on how the circuit is going to connect to the EVSE. 🤷‍♂️🐩
Just keep it simple and use the mobile charger and a 14-50. Extra flexibility for the use of the outlet for other purposes is worth it. Welder, plasma cutter, etc would be my motvation. I'm not an RV owner, but they would care. Probably more of those than EV owners.
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