Cost of Charger Installation by Electrician

[shutterbug]

I was curious if it was a good idea to have my electrician run another 240V line while doing my first line for NEMA 14 50 plug. I won't have him install that line but just have it ready in case I need two 240V plug in the future. I am not sure if this is a lot more money since they need to run a second metal conduit or is that not necessary?

Would you save any money by running 2 lines? If not, why bother? Also, when do you think that 2 EV future will arrive for you? If you decide that you will need 2 lines relatively soon, might as well install both plugs at the same time.

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[phidauex]

Back when my company was doing a lot of electrical service upgrades for solar projects, we would typically add $2000-$3000 to do a full service panel upgrade on a home (100A panel to new 200A panel, all new breakers, new service line to meter, etc.). If you are seeing prices like that for installing an electric car charger, you either have a very elaborate situation that requires tons of extra labor, or you are getting charged the "if they are buying an electric car they have more money than sense" price.

For cases where the service panel has enough room in it (physically and electrically) for the new breaker, and the outlet or charger location is less than 20' from the panel, then I'd expect prices in the $500-$900 range, market dependent.

You'll pay more if they have to upgrade your service panel, or if the run to the outlet location is very long.

As for doing extra work at the same time, if your electrician is fair, it usually does make sense to do all the work at once. If you think you want two chargers in the future, it won't cost a lot more to install two outlets now. Materials will be less than half the cost of the project in these cases, and usually the big cost on a small task like this is the initial mobilization. I bet for some of these jobs where the panel and outlet are in the same location and adjacent to each other the mobilization and demobilization time will be longer than the actual task.

 

[Mirak]

I just ordered the MME and hadn't given much thought to the home charging. I better get a couple of bids. I have a sinking feeling this could be pricey. My home is less than 20 years old, so hopefully I won't need a sub-panel, but it's located in my basement - my finished basement - and probably needs 60-100' of wire depending on the run. I suspect the simplest install would be to go outside the house, but that'd be around 50' of conduit.

As I understand it, I just need a 240v 14-50 NEMA outlet on a 40amp breaker for the mobile charger to give max performance?

If it wasn't for the finished basement and complexity of the run, I'd be tempted to do this myself since I like to doing basic electrical work. But I hate doing long cable runs through finished areas.

 

[Chiefsfan]

I paid $350. It was for a 50 amp breaker, 14-50 plug and about 50’

 

[dbsb3233]

I just ordered the MME and hadn't given much thought to the home charging. I better get a couple of bids. I have a sinking feeling this could be pricey. My home is less than 20 years old, so hopefully I won't need a sub-panel, but it's located in my basement - my finished basement - and probably needs 60-100' of wire depending on the run. I suspect the simplest install would be to go outside the house, but that'd be around 50' of conduit.

As I understand it, I just need a 240v 14-50 NEMA outlet on a 40amp breaker for the mobile charger to give max performance?

If it wasn't for the finished basement and complexity of the run, I'd be tempted to do this myself since I like to doing basic electrical work. But I hate doing long cable runs through finished areas.

Yes, for the included 32A Ford Mobile Charger, you only need a 40A circuit and a 14-50 outlet. If you think you might ever want a faster charger (a 40A or a 48A), then you'd want a 50A or 60A circuit instead (respectively). But for the Mach-E, the 32A charger is plenty sufficient for most people's needs. That's 7.6 kW. With losses, that adds ~7 kW per hour, which will do a 70% charge in about 9 hours.

 

[benk016]

Back when my company was doing a lot of electrical service upgrades for solar projects, we would typically add $2000-$3000 to do a full service panel upgrade on a home (100A panel to new 200A panel, all new breakers, new service line to meter, etc.). If you are seeing prices like that for installing an electric car charger, you either have a very elaborate situation that requires tons of extra labor, or you are getting charged the "if they are buying an electric car they have more money than sense" price.

For cases where the service panel has enough room in it (physically and electrically) for the new breaker, and the outlet or charger location is less than 20' from the panel, then I'd expect prices in the $500-$900 range, market dependent.

You'll pay more if they have to upgrade your service panel, or if the run to the outlet location is very long.

As for doing extra work at the same time, if your electrician is fair, it usually does make sense to do all the work at once. If you think you want two chargers in the future, it won't cost a lot more to install two outlets now. Materials will be less than half the cost of the project in these cases, and usually the big cost on a small task like this is the initial mobilization. I bet for some of these jobs where the panel and outlet are in the same location and adjacent to each other the mobilization and demobilization time will be longer than the actual task.

Well see that's What I thought as well. This electrician initially wanted $3400 and install a whole house surge protector. After I laughed at him and he told me the $1600 price and I realized he was totally serious I told him he can just leave. And he tried telling me that they guarantee their work and that's why I'm seeing higher prices than I was expecting. I checked prices at lowes for the equipment and it was about $275 for everything. Basically he was charging $1300 for his time and "guarantee"

I gave him one chance to try again, and told him I only paid $1100 to have a 50Amp service ran to the complete opposite end of my house for a hot tub. And that run was at least 10x longer. This house was built in 2017, I have pictures of all the wiring from during framing and already have a 200amp service. I really think they doubled down on the hoping for getting extra money from someone with an EV.

The next guy that came by said $350-400. Which is more what I was expecting.

A friend of mine knows an electrician and just asked him what it should cost and he said no more than $600. But that a lot of companies have been quoting really high lately because they have more work than they can handle, but are getting away with the jacked up prices.

 

[Mirak]

I paid $350. It was for a 50 amp breaker, 14-50 plug and about 50’

How complex was the run?

 

[SteveJo]

Correct.
To be precise, #6 NM-B (aka "Romex") has an ampacity of 55 amps. Since 55 is not a standard breaker size, the NEC allows the use of the next size up (60A) as long as the calculated load does not exceed 55A.

For my 60 amp hardwired indoor EVSE circuit, I used 6/2 NM-B, 50', ampacity = 75 (Temp = 90C).
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NPV814B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[MattG]

I had a complex install so thought maybe it’d be helpful if I included the cost breakdown here. 75’ external run, and digging a hole to pour concrete for a post base. They also ran a separate 120V circuit to my post but that was only a small material cost on top of everything else.

I crossed out the names of the two guys doing the work; you’ll see that was the bulk of the cost but I felt it was fair for what they had to do in my case.

on the plus side, my local utility had a 50% rebate on EV installs, so with that and the 30% federal one, this didn’t cost me much.

50A GFCI breaker.

 

[Nichmurray]

I just paid $120 for a NEMA 14-50 outlet to be installed for my Enel X Juice Box.
I picked the Juice Box, due to state (Maine) partnership and incentives on that device.

 

[Maquis]

For my 60 amp hardwired indoor EVSE circuit, I used 6/2 NM-B, 50', ampacity = 75 (Temp = 90C).
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NPV814B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The NEC states that NM-B must be used at the 75C ampacity, not 90. You're still legal per my previous post.

 

[SteveJo]

The NEC states that NM-B must be used at the 75C ampacity, not 90. You're still legal per my previous post.

Hmm...I was trying to say that 6g Romex can offer ampacity >55 ("to be precise"). I don't know what you mean by "75C ampacity?"

 

[JoelOclock]

I had a complex install so thought maybe it’d be helpful if I included the cost breakdown here. 75’ external run, and digging a hole to pour concrete for a post base. They also ran a separate 120V circuit to my post but that was only a small material cost on top of everything else.

I crossed out the names of the two guys doing the work; you’ll see that was the bulk of the cost but I felt it was fair for what they had to do in my case.

on the plus side, my local utility had a 50% rebate on EV installs, so with that and the 30% federal one, this didn’t cost me much.

50A GFCI breaker.

Thanks for posting, this seems closest to my unique situation.

I’m looking to purchase a house (built 1946 but extensive renovations). I have no idea if there’s enough amperage (not electrician forgive wrong use of terminology) but my main problem is the off-street parking is roughly 90ft away from the back of the house. I plan to build a garage in that spot so assume that work would need to be completed first but I’m fully expecting many electricians to turn this work down/overcharge. Any tips are welcome! I’m only after a NEMA outlet as that would suffice my charging needs

 

[Maquis]

Thanks for posting, this seems closest to my unique situation.

I’m looking to purchase a house (built 1946 but extensive renovations). I have no idea if there’s enough amperage (not electrician forgive wrong use of terminology) but my main problem is the off-street parking is roughly 90ft away from the back of the house. I plan to build a garage in that spot so assume that work would need to be completed first but I’m fully expecting many electricians to turn this work down/overcharge. Any tips are welcome! I’m only after a NEMA outlet as that would suffice my charging needs

A competent electrician should be able to install a weatherproof NEMA 14-50 receptacle outlet near the location of your future garage. With careful planning, the outlet can be located, and oversized wiring trenched so that it can be reused to feed your garage when it's time. It's hard to be more specific without more info.

The electrician can do a load calculation to determine if your existing service can handle the added load.

Get multiple quotes and be sure to use a licensed electrician, not a handyman.

 

[JoelOclock]

A competent electrician should be able to install a weatherproof NEMA 14-50 receptacle outlet near the location of your future garage. With careful planning, the outlet can be located, and oversized wiring trenched so that it can be reused to feed your garage when it's time. It's hard to be more specific without more info.

The electrician can do a load calculation to determine if your existing service can handle the added load.

Get multiple quotes and be sure to use a licensed electrician, not a handyman.

Good to know that’s an option but I think I’ll end up spending more money that way so may be best to just go for the garage. Plus then I can claim electricity is for washer/dryer and avoid the electricity noob/electric vehicle owner tax!

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