An update on installing a Level 2 car charger … I've made up my mind about what I'll do.
- First of all, a car charger requires a 40A 240V circuit. I'll need about 100 feet of Romex to run from my main electrical panel in the basement to the garage. Some of that must go underground. Romex is now expensive, but the outdoor/underground grade hardly costs any more. (Thank goodness for small things.)
- I'm going ahead with a new, larger, circuit breaker panel. There was really no choice about that. My old 30 slot panel is full, and if I want to add an EV charger circuit, I need a larger panel. The only choice was in how big a panel, and of what quality/price?
- My detached & unheated garage can hold 2 cars. At present, I'll only have one charger for one EV. But why not equip the garage for the future possibility of two chargers? For one charger only, I could run Romex straight into the garage and terminate it with a standard 4 prong 240V plug (NEMA 14-50). Instead, I will have a circuit breaker sub-panel inside the garage with two circuit breakers for two 40A car chargers. The additional cost for Romex capable of that extra current was hardly much more – but the sub-panel is not cheap. For now, I'll have one car charger. In the future, I can easily add a second charger without any additional cost, other than the cost of the charger itself.
- The work is estimated to take 3 days. The electrician & 2 assistants will start next Monday, when they'll replace the main panel. My electric power will be off that day. The next day or two, they'll install the line to the garage and the sub-panel switch box. As usual, the 3-day estimate is probably longer than needed. It may get it done in less time, 2 or 2½ days.
- The car charger I ordered hasn't shipped yet. When it arrives, I can install it on a stud nearby the sub-panel & plug it in myself.
I won't discuss the price for all this. Suffice to say, it's not cheap. But neither is an EV. I don't want to generate posts informing me I could do this at a lower price – that's not my reason for this thread.
All of the electrical work is done, a day sooner than the obviously experienced electrician had previously estimated. They began work on Monday, 21 Nov, and finished mid-afternoon on Tuesday, 22 Nov.
On Monday, they replaced my old 30-slot circuit breaker panel with a new one with 42 slots. That work took all day Monday, while I was without electricity (no heat, lights, or Wifi) all day. They also installed most of the new 240V 100A (yes, 100A!) line, and dug an 18" deep trench from the back of my house to the detached garage, so they could bury the new line in conduit. Tuesday morning, the county inspector came, quickly passing the new circuit breaker installation and the new line to the garage. Then the electrician finished installing the sub-panel box in the garage and ran a cable to where the new charger got installed. It's on a 50A circuit. The sub-panel box has one 50A breaker for it, and 7 more unused slots. If a second charger is needed, it will be fairly easy to add a second 50A circuit to the sub-panel.
I had ordered a ChargePoint EV charger, directly from ChargePoint. About 5 days later, they shipped it, by FedEx Ground from California. FedEx originally said it would arrive next Monday, 28 Nov. To my surprise, it arrived yesterday, while the electricians were still here. I was happy to let them install it. My new license plates also arrived on Tuesday. Earlier today, I took off the old cardboard temporary plates, and put the new plates on.
Photos from my phone to follow.
