Curious if there is any electricians on the forum that can provide some experienced feedback
I do know the circuit breaker for my NEMA 14-50 socket is 50A and is the 2nd highest amperage circuit breaker in my panel. I do have a 70A breaker but it actually feeds a separate panel circuit inside my panel. Its called a split panel design. Basically has 2 separate circuits within 1 panel to attach feeds. Top circuit feeds higher amperage appliances (oven, dryer, furnace ...) while the lower panel feeds small amperage items (lighting). The 70A breaker on the top panel is there just to cut off the entire lower circuit. I think split panels doesn't meet code now. But back in 1980 when my house was built, the code in my area was "<= 6 breaker throws to cut off entire panel power". I think today's panels all have a single main cut off.
Anyhow, back to my original question, other than my 70A split panel breaker which is really just cut off switch for the smaller feeds. 50A breaker is the biggest amp feed in my panel. Oven, furnace and everything else is lower amps at 30A.
So the Tesla charger is drawing 40A for say 4 hours at night while we are sleeping and parked in the garage IS the highest current flow in the house. This doesn't automatically make it unsafe of course but just noting it is one of the highest if not the highest current draw for extended time periods.
I hope I don't catch flake for this in a EV enthusiast forum but it seems while it is fair to claim battery fire has much lower energy release compared to gasoline equivalent, it is also fair to say "refueling" ICE cars at a gas station might be safer because it is done over a very short time period in much fewer controlled installations than a home owner's garage for an EV car. Of course the EV installations are lower than number of gasoline stations now simply due to lesser EV cars. But if the EV sales scales, the number of EV installation will far out number the gasoline stations.
Again, a 40A flow doesn't itself make anything unsafe (Supercharges have much higher flow but benefits from high cost high grade everything installation). Just noting it is likely the highest current draw which likely amplifies the chance of fire for any wiring mistakes or manufacturing/material defects. And majority of that flow occurs at night while we are sleeping. I think most people would say... its not a good idea to turn on your electric oven on for 4 hours at night while you are sleeping even if we put nothing in it to burn to catch on fire. But then again, I think most people leave their electric dryer on for an hour or two after going to sleep with no concerns at all
Anyhow, just a thought in an attempt to objectively view this issue with facts rather than emotional. But I'm no electrician and my facts might be wrong. Please correct my logic if you see any errors. Not bashing EV (I have a Tesla parked in my garage being charged every night
), just trying to be objective on where the relative comparative risks are.