What electrical panel work might we need?

[Cyber_Dav]

For myself, I have a 200 amp service. But with 60 amps just for A/C I'm pretty well maxed out. I've only had level 2 at home before (max 32 amps, so it shared the 40 amp welder circuit).

I want to budget for upgrades to the electrical. What do current Tesla owners have for their service panels? Or better, what do any of you recommend?

Unlikely I will go solar (ROI isn't there for me) so no need to take that into consideration.

Thanks

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[Jon Snow]

I have an 100 amp circuit with an 80 amp breaker for my wall connector. I never use it at full capacity and instead charge at 40 amps. 30 amps would be plenty .. and I drive 50,000 km / yr.

I’d also suggest you look at solar again. You should be able to get an install for $2/watt .. that should give you about 6-7% ROI. I’m a solar installer btw .. albeit I’m not in your area.

 

[Mach Schnell!]

I already had 400A/240V service, so when buying my Tesla I had a new main 400A panel with separately metered 2x 200A feeds and 200A sub-panels installed. This allows me to get the lowest rate on EV charging on a time-of-use meter, and run a non-TOU meter for rest of house on the other 200A sub-panel. The standard Tesla wall connector is on a 100A switch, 90A circuit breaker, and the car is set to charge at 72A (17kW). I can add a second Tesla wall connector for the other garage when the CyberTruck arrives. (PS: the 2nd feed to the rest of house runs through a 200A transfer switch for emergency generator.)

 

[Cyber_Dav]

I already had 400A/240V service, so when buying my Tesla I had a new main 400A panel with separately metered 2x 200A feeds and 200A sub-panels installed. This allows me to get the lowest rate on EV charging on a time-of-use meter, and run a non-TOU meter for rest of house on the other 200A sub-panel. The standard Tesla wall connector is on a 100A switch, 90A circuit breaker, and the car is set to charge at 72A (17kW). I can add a second Tesla wall connector for the other garage when the CyberTruck arrives. (PS: the 2nd feed to the rest of house runs through a 200A transfer switch for emergency generator.)

That's the exact setup I want, thanks (including the transfer switch).

We don't have TOU here, but 2 meters would keep both of them out of tier 4.

 

[Rich]

I have an 100 amp circuit with an 80 amp breaker for my wall connector. I never use it at full capacity and instead charge at 40 amps. 30 amps would be plenty .. and I drive 50,000 km / yr.

I’d also suggest you look at solar again. You should be able to get an install for $2/watt .. that should give you about 6-7% ROI. I’m a solar installer btw .. albeit I’m not in your area.

Hello Jon,
I live in Northern Ontario and am wondering about the tesla wall as an option for charging the cybertruck. Were also looking at redoing our roof. Should I be thinking about the solar roof in conjunction with the tesla wall? Thoughts as your a solar installer?
Rich

 

[MARSROVER]

I already had 400A/240V service, so when buying my Tesla I had a new main 400A panel with separately metered 2x 200A feeds and 200A sub-panels installed. This allows me to get the lowest rate on EV charging on a time-of-use meter, and run a non-TOU meter for rest of house on the other 200A sub-panel. The standard Tesla wall connector is on a 100A switch, 90A circuit breaker, and the car is set to charge at 72A (17kW). I can add a second Tesla wall connector for the other garage when the CyberTruck arrives. (PS: the 2nd feed to the rest of house runs through a 200A transfer switch for emergency generator.)

Very nice. Looks like a great setup.

 

[cybrtrk_maybe]

I’m a solar installer btw .. albeit I’m not in your area.

I have solar, but wondering how difficult it would be to move it from my roof to free standing structures?

 

[LurchAddams]

I have 200 amp service at my home and when I received my first Tesla, a 2013 P85 I got the now long gone double charger option so I could charge at 80 amps at home. The option included a Tesla wall charger and I put in a 100 amp breaker for it and at the same time added a 50 amp breaker on a separate circuit that powered a dryer plug next to the wall charger in anticipation of my wife also getting a Tesla. I've never had any problems of overloading my 200 amp service even though I'm in a 2,400 sq ft house with a pool and dual zone a/c charging two Teslas.

ETA: Looking back it was probably a waste to get the dual chargers on my first Tesla, I never did need to charge quickly while I was at home but hindsight and all that.

 

[Revelation]

I have a 50A circuit coming off of a sub panel to a HPWC; my Model 3 charges at 40A and I get 37 miles per hour. Depending on your daily commute will determine what you need. If it wasn't for the fact that I drive 2x days a week 90 miles round trip a 110v outlet would meet my needs.

So determine how many miles you drive each day. Factor in any type of TOU you might have and then determine how many miles per hour you need to charge during the time available. From there you can then look at a chart for the HPWC and pretty easily figure out what circuit you need to meet your day-to-day needs.

 

[Jon Snow]

I have solar, but wondering how difficult it would be to move it from my roof to free standing structures?

It would probably cost about $1,500 - $2,000 to remove your system from your roof .. and then the cost of putting up a field array. It would likley make more sense, given how cheap everything is now-a-days, to simply add a new field array to complement what you have. Need more info really to comment properly.

 

[Jon Snow]

Hello Jon,
I live in Northern Ontario and am wondering about the tesla wall as an option for charging the cybertruck. Were also looking at redoing our roof. Should I be thinking about the solar roof in conjunction with the tesla wall? Thoughts as your a solar installer?
Rich

My business focuses on Return on Investment (ROI). My recommendation to people is to think like a utility company .. meaning long-term. Your array will generate for 30+ years and there is a good chance that you will be using more electricity in the future because of EVs and the electrification of pretty much everything. Right now, batteries are expensive .. they won’t always be. I am very curious about Tesla battery days in January as some of us think the 20 year battery will be announced due to Maxwell and Jeffry Dahn tech. This would effectively cut the cost of batteries in half from a ‘utility’ perspective. Message ... build with the option of adding batteries when the ROI is there. Your roof is an issue. I like metal roofing since racking is easier and the roof will outlast your array .. if you have asphalt there is a chance you will need to spend $3,000 or so 15 years down the road to remove and reinstall the array when your house needs to be reshingled. Powerwalls BTW are about 13.5 kWh storage ... Cybertruck is about 100 - 200 kWh .. so one PW wouldn’t do much really. For EV charging .. your best bet is to charge during the day with solar. Hope this helps.

 

[cybrtrk_maybe]

It would probably cost about $1,500 - $2,000 to remove your system from your roof .. and then the cost of putting up a field array. It would likley make more sense, given how cheap everything is now-a-days, to simply add a new field array to complement what you have. Need more info really to comment properly.

I was told that I have just short of the maximum allowed for a residence. I think it's 10 megawatts and I have something like 9.8 or something like that. I'll need to look at the documentation. I was also told that if I'm already connected to the grid that I can't disconnect from it; Is that true?

Correction:
9.88 kW Solar

 

[Cyber_Dav]

I was also told that if I'm already connected to the grid that I can't disconnect from it; Is that true?

More likely what they meant is you will still have to pay the utility company their basic meter fee, whether you have a meter or not.

 

[Rich]

My business focuses on Return on Investment (ROI). My recommendation to people is to think like a utility company .. meaning long-term. Your array will generate for 30+ years and there is a good chance that you will be using more electricity in the future because of EVs and the electrification of pretty much everything. Right now, batteries are expensive .. they won’t always be. I am very curious about Tesla battery days in January as some of us think the 20 year battery will be announced due to Maxwell and Jeffry Dahn tech. This would effectively cut the cost of batteries in half from a ‘utility’ perspective. Message ... build with the option of adding batteries when the ROI is there. Your roof is an issue. I like metal roofing since racking is easier and the roof will outlast your array .. if you have asphalt there is a chance you will need to spend $3,000 or so 15 years down the road to remove and reinstall the array when your house needs to be reshingled. Powerwalls BTW are about 13.5 kWh storage ... Cybertruck is about 100 - 200 kWh .. so one PW wouldn’t do much really. For EV charging .. your best bet is to charge during the day with solar. Hope this helps.

This does very much.
Thank you.
Rich

 

[cybrtrk_maybe]

More likely what they meant is you will still have to pay the utility company their basic meter fee, whether you have a meter or not.

Thank you for that information... WOW, that sounds like a scam!