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Just had my home charger/outlet installed saved $1,500 using home advisor.com vs Audi’s recommendation of Amazon. Amazon quoted me $4,000 for the install... 50 amp; 50 feet to the garage from the breaker box in the basement.
Just had my home charger/outlet installed saved $1,500 using home advisor.com vs Audi’s recommendation of Amazon. Amazon quoted me $4,000 for the install... 50 amp; 50 feet to the garage from the breaker box in the basement.
You're ready!! Question - should the plug be higher up on the wall since the chargers (e.g., JuiceBox) usually are limited to 18 inch cord/plug.
Does the Audi charger (the one that comes with the car) require a 3 or 4 wire connection at the NEMA 14-50 outlet? My electrician wants to run a 3-wire connection based on what he has done in the past for Tesla chargers. I read through the e-tron North America owner's manual and i didn't see anything that addresses this question.
Maybe there's a separate manual for the Audi charger??
Does the Audi charger (the one that comes with the car) require a 3 or 4 wire connection at the NEMA 14-50 outlet? My electrician wants to run a 3-wire connection based on what he has done in the past for Tesla chargers. I read through the e-tron North America owner's manual and i didn't see anything that addresses this question.
Maybe there's a separate manual for the Audi charger??
NOTE: I am not an electrician. My NEMA 14-50 receptacle is 4 wires, all 6AWG. As I understand it, the neutral wire is required because it's a NEMA 14-50 outlet and one could unplug the Tesla charger and use the outlet for another purpose such as an RV. The 14-50 outlet is 4 prong, and needs to accommodate whatever might get plugged into it. I believe the fact that the Tesla plug in charger doesn't use a neutral connection is irrelevant. Better to ask your electrician to explain. Let us know. Thanks.
Does the Audi charger (the one that comes with the car) require a 3 or 4 wire connection at the NEMA 14-50 outlet? My electrician wants to run a 3-wire connection based on what he has done in the past for Tesla chargers. I read through the e-tron North America owner's manual and i didn't see anything that addresses this question.
Maybe there's a separate manual for the Audi charger??
I am an (ex-ish)electrician and the NEMA 14-50 is absolutely supposed to have a neutral connection tied to it (they don't add extra pins to the receptacle for the fun of it!). For the slight increase in material cost from running 2 current carrying conductors to 3 it will behoove you to have the neutral install. Material costs are usually the smallest portion of the whole job, with the labor usually being the biggest. It really doesn't complicate anything in the job to have to do that, plus if a different charger you may purchase in the future would require a neutral you would not be able to use it with your present set up, and thus would have to pay someone (or do it yourself of course) to run the neutral.
A further suggestion, depending upon they logistical factors of the install, would be to make sure he installs a conduit and wire, as opposed to a cable, and have him oversized the conduit also. Not only will this help him with the present install (easier to pull wire in a larger conduit), but helps to "future proof" the install. If you ever need to install a larger circuit for any future chargers then it will be a lot easier to drag the new, bigger wire through an existing conduit that have to re-run a whole new cable. One final point is that he is absolutely able to run a bigger wire in that conduit now, even though a #6 can handle a 50 amp circuit, you can still go with a #4 or even a #2 if you would like and use a 50 amp breaker and then 14-50. You can always run larger than required conductors, just never smaller than required. If you do this, and need a capacity upgrade on the circuit in the future it will be a case of simply changing out a breaker and the receptacle only....
All of the above varies on the capacity of your present electrical system, the complexity of the install, and how willing/able your present electrician is to work with you and provide what you want. The above are mere suggestions and some things I would definitely be considering if I end up getting one of these awesome vehicles ☺
I am an (ex-ish)electrician and the NEMA 14-50 is absolutely supposed to have a neutral connection tied to it (they don't add extra pins to the receptacle for the fun of it!). For the slight increase in material cost from running 2 current carrying conductors to 3 it will behoove you to have the neutral install. Material costs are usually the smallest portion of the whole job, with the labor usually being the biggest. It really doesn't complicate anything in the job to have to do that, plus if a different charger you may purchase in the future would require a neutral you would not be able to use it with your present set up, and thus would have to pay someone (or do it yourself of course) to run the neutral.
A further suggestion, depending upon they logistical factors of the install, would be to make sure he installs a conduit and wire, as opposed to a cable, and have him oversized the conduit also. Not only will this help him with the present install (easier to pull wire in a larger conduit), but helps to "future proof" the install. If you ever need to install a larger circuit for any future chargers then it will be a lot easier to drag the new, bigger wire through an existing conduit that have to re-run a whole new cable. One final point is that he is absolutely able to run a bigger wire in that conduit now, even though a #6 can handle a 50 amp circuit, you can still go with a #4 or even a #2 if you would like and use a 50 amp breaker and then 14-50. You can always run larger than required conductors, just never smaller than required. If you do this, and need a capacity upgrade on the circuit in the future it will be a case of simply changing out a breaker and the receptacle only....
All of the above varies on the capacity of your present electrical system, the complexity of the install, and how willing/able your present electrician is to work with you and provide what you want. The above are mere suggestions and some things I would definitely be considering if I end up getting one of these awesome vehicles ☺
I agree 100%. There is no reason not to install a standard NEMA 14-50. You never know what you may plug into it in the future. And if someone plugged something in that required a neutral it could be a problem. Oversizing the wires and conduit is also a great idea. It's very possible that we will have bigger chargers in the future. Conduit is also a good idea.
We were thinking of doing a hardwire install for simplicity given that if you ever had to swap that you could just hard wire that or put a receptacle in. Any reason everyone seems to be putting in a receptacle?
We were thinking of doing a hardwire install for simplicity given that if you ever had to swap that you could just hard wire that or put a receptacle in. Any reason everyone seems to be putting in a receptacle?
I'll be joining you in the hardwired category. I was originally thinking that putting a receptacle in would ultimately give a versatile outlet that my house otherwise doesn't have, plus if I ever moved I could take the charging unit with me. However, after discussing the rebates and EV charging rates with my power company I found that they only allow benefits if your charger is hardwired.
I'll be joining you in the hardwired category. I was originally thinking that putting a receptacle in would ultimately give a versatile outlet that my house otherwise doesn't have, plus if I ever moved I could take the charging unit with me. However, after discussing the rebates and EV charging rates with my power company I found that they only allow benefits if your charger is hardwired.
Not sure where you’re located but in Texas, rebates and charging rates are the same for plug-in or hard wired. Not sure how the power company knows the difference on consumption.
Not sure where you’re located but in Texas, rebates and charging rates are the same for plug-in or hard wired. Not sure how the power company knows the difference on consumption.
After speaking with my electrician, I am tending towards a receptacle. This way if my JuiceBox ever fails all I would need do is unplug it and send it back. Would not have to wait for the electrician to uninstall it and then wait again for him to re-install the JuiceBox after it had been repaired and returned to me.
04-24-2019, 04:32 PM
