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It costs about $600 for a home EV charger and should cost around $800-1800 for installation, approximately $200 of material and 4-6 hrs of labor. A single comm

It costs about $600 for a home EV charger and should cost around $800-1800 for installation, approximately $200 of material and 4-6 hrs of labor. A single commercial three-phase EV charger in a multi-tenant building plus installation costs at least an order of magnitude more when you include the electrical switchgear, charger, larger wiring, permit, conduit, utility costs, et

Marsymars 2y ago
> It costs about $600 for a home EV charger and should cost around $800-1800 for installation, approximately $200 of material and 4-6 hrs of labor. Reasonably, I’d need a panel upgrade and an upgrade to the underground feed... for which, the lowest quotes I’ve received have been $10k+. (More than I paid for the entire car that I’ve been driving for the past 12 years.)
- zeroping 2y ago
  I think people get "install a home EV charger" mixed up with "install a fast home EV charger". If your goal is to full-charge a multi-hundred-mile EV in 8 hours, then, yes, you're looking at a significant installation with a new circuit, maybe a new panel, and maybe a new main feed from your utility. This could cost as much as the car! If your goal is to charge enough overnight to make up for 2x your average daily commute, then you're talking about a much smaller installation. It could potentially even be done with through an existing 120V, 12A wall outlet. Many plug-in hybrids and EVs come with a dinky wall charger like this, and they are enough 99% of the time. External DC fast charging can make up for the rest. Everyone's needs are different, but I think too many people rush in and go too far with electrical upgrades.
  - Marsymars 2y ago
    Yeah, like you say, everyone's needs are difference, but from my vantage point, an EV isn't really workable for my household without a home Level 2 charger, which isn't really workable without a panel/feed upgrade for my house.
- quickthrowman 2y ago
  My comment should’ve been prefaced with “Assuming you have an existing 200A service,” A new service drop and panel shouldn’t be $10k, but lots of residential electricians are greedy. 4/0 4/0 2/0 aluminum triplex cable isn’t that expensive but if they included directional boring instead of trenching, $10k makes more sense. A fully loaded resi panel with the correct AFCI and GFCI breakers is around $2500 or so. If you happen to live in MN or WI, I can give you a better quote.
  - Marsymars 2y ago
    Yeah, it's the hydrovac that adds most of the cost. Not my blog, but I'm with the same utility provider in the same area: http://www.titam.ca/2021/05/cost-to-upgrade-underground-electrical.html http://www.titam.ca/2021/05/cost-to-upgrade-underground-elec...
    - quickthrowman 2y ago
      Oh yeah any time you roll a hydrovac truck, things get REAL expensive very quickly.

Marsymars 2y ago

> It costs about $600 for a home EV charger and should cost around $800-1800 for installation, approximately $200 of material and 4-6 hrs of labor. Reasonably, I’d need a panel upgrade and an upgrade to the underground feed... for which, the lowest quotes I’ve received have been $10k+. (More than I paid for the entire car that I’ve been driving for the past 12 years.)

zeroping 2y ago
I think people get "install a home EV charger" mixed up with "install a fast home EV charger". If your goal is to full-charge a multi-hundred-mile EV in 8 hours, then, yes, you're looking at a significant installation with a new circuit, maybe a new panel, and maybe a new main feed from your utility. This could cost as much as the car! If your goal is to charge enough overnight to make up for 2x your average daily commute, then you're talking about a much smaller installation. It could potentially even be done with through an existing 120V, 12A wall outlet. Many plug-in hybrids and EVs come with a dinky wall charger like this, and they are enough 99% of the time. External DC fast charging can make up for the rest. Everyone's needs are different, but I think too many people rush in and go too far with electrical upgrades.
- Marsymars 2y ago
  Yeah, like you say, everyone's needs are difference, but from my vantage point, an EV isn't really workable for my household without a home Level 2 charger, which isn't really workable without a panel/feed upgrade for my house.
quickthrowman 2y ago
My comment should’ve been prefaced with “Assuming you have an existing 200A service,” A new service drop and panel shouldn’t be $10k, but lots of residential electricians are greedy. 4/0 4/0 2/0 aluminum triplex cable isn’t that expensive but if they included directional boring instead of trenching, $10k makes more sense. A fully loaded resi panel with the correct AFCI and GFCI breakers is around $2500 or so. If you happen to live in MN or WI, I can give you a better quote.
- Marsymars 2y ago
  Yeah, it's the hydrovac that adds most of the cost. Not my blog, but I'm with the same utility provider in the same area: http://www.titam.ca/2021/05/cost-to-upgrade-underground-electrical.html http://www.titam.ca/2021/05/cost-to-upgrade-underground-elec...
  - quickthrowman 2y ago
    Oh yeah any time you roll a hydrovac truck, things get REAL expensive very quickly.