AWD delivery thread

[EVnut]

Most locales allow homeowners to do electrical and plumbing work on their own houses, however most alterations or additions require a permit and an inspection by the city or county inspector (not just any licensed electrician). Generally getting a permit is the first step in the process that includes inspections.

Correct, thanks for posting.

From a quick Google search an inspection of the work appears to be required as the previous poster mentioned. I don't think a simple permit for residential dwellings establishes code compliance. I still think it's best to hire a pro. I have a degree in electrical engineering and still wouldn't open the breaker panel in my house.

Yes, the purpose of the permit (and subsequent inspection required by the permit) is to ensure safety and code compliance. This is the entire reason for the permit (well, that and generating revenue for the city or county... but that's a whole 'nuther can of worms.

I believe it still has to be inspected by a licensed electrician. A friend of mine in La Jolla, an S owner and Engineering PhD does his own work but gets a licensed electrician to inspect for insurance purposes.

I know of no case where a "licensed electrician" needs to inspect electrical work for liability. (anecdotal evidence to the contrary aside). Although the electric code inspectors are often licensed electricians. Note that an Engineering PhD does not an electrician make.

Wiring an electric circuit really isn't that hard. If it complies with code and passes inspection, there's no way to make it "more legal" or "free of liability."

But then I'm just an unlicensed hack (who has spent WAY too many hours correcting licensed electrician's work) so what could I possibly know? Amusing that my current avatar is of my custom pint glass sitting on a permit for the installation of a circuit for a Telsa wall connector. There's cold double IPA in that pint glass by the way, so stop questioning my knowledge!

 

[arcanexvi]

Has anyone with a AWD+white interior+19 gotten a delivery date yet? I ordered AWD/blue/white/19 and res in 4/1/16 but have heard absolutely nothing. Have seen some AWD/blue/white/aero that res > 1yr after get delivery dates.

Same config but with EAP. Nadda on my end in Chicago. 3/31 reservation 6/26 config

 

[wcorey]

The new SC slated for Parkersburg should alleviate that issue. WV has seen multiple SCs go live in the past year or so.

That was a really good 4 yrs of my life. I enjoyed the people out there and felt strongly with our kids they should not commute to college but go somewhere away, learn how to live on their own, learn how to befriend people from different points of view and different upbringings. It was a great experience. I hope to be out there for our 50th in a few years. Ever been to Marietta? It's a city...started to say it's a nice little town. Sr year myself and two others rented from a guy who bred (hunting) beagles.

 

[wcorey]

The new SC slated for Parkersburg should alleviate that issue. WV has seen multiple SCs go live in the past year or so.

That'll be much nicer. Not staying at Lafayette Hotel almost defeats the purpose of going on the road trip. The 16kw charger at the Hampton Inn is only for guests.

 

[TerpMed]

I shared this in another thread, but this thread seems to be getting the most views, so I'll add my experience so far...

Configured 5/23. VIN 68XXX assigned 7/31. Delivery date at Owings Mills, MD service center set for 8/18. IDA in Vegas very responsive to all emails. Everything seems to be going great...

Then I get a call from Owings Mills on the evening of 8/17, that starts with "Hate to be the bearer of bad news..." They say the delivery truck got a flat tire and won't arrive until 8/18. "Cars may have been damaged/we need time to inspect them." I cross my fingers and re-schedule delivery for 8/27. VIN in my account disappears but then reappears the morning of 8/20, so I think things are ok with the car. I wake up on 8/21 to an email from Owings Mills saying my car "won't arrive in time for an 8/27 delivery... there is no ETA... we will contact you to re-schedule when we have more information." No other details provided. Wait a minute, I thought the car was already at Owings Mills and being inspected? I email asking for clarification. I then get a response today from my Vegas IDA apologizing for the confusion and saying my car made it to Owings Mills but didn't pass inspection because it had "a little damage on the front bumper," presumably from the flat tire incident. It is now in service, and there is no ETA on when it will be ready for delivery.

I'm still excited to get the car but disappointed at the same time. At least I don't feel alone reading some of these other stories.

 

[wcorey]

Wiring an electric circuit really isn't that hard. If it complies with code and passes inspection, there's no way to make it "more legal" or "free of liability."

How long does it take to go from apprentice to Journeyman or master electrician. We have 4 yr trade schools where, should you go that route, you graduate with a journeyman's license but still need, what, 2-3 yrs having a master electrician sign off on your work? At least in La Jolla and back east the work needs to be signed off by a master electrician. Again, my friend with the PhD in engineering does his own work but needs it signed off..which, yes, is always pro forma.

 

[RFernatt]

That was a really good 4 yrs of my life. I enjoyed the people out there and felt strongly with our kids they should not commute to college but go somewhere away, learn how to live on their own, learn how to befriend people from different points of view and different upbringings. It was a great experience. I hope to be out there for our 50th in a few years. Ever been to Marietta? It's a city...started to say it's a nice little town. Sr year myself and two others rented from a guy who bred (hunting) beagles.

Living in Charleston until recently, we went through Parkersburg/Marietta on I77 fairly regularly usually stopping for gas or food. We did tour Blennerhasset Island and enjoyed the trip. Nice folks in the area!

We live on the other side of the state near DC now, so we've become very familiar with I68. We stop in at the Morgantown Sheetz for gas and a break since it's halfway to Charleston. Once my 3 arrives, we'll be able to use that SC instead of gassing up!

 

[nwdiver]

I believe it still has to be inspected by a licensed electrician. A friend of mine in La Jolla, an S owner and Engineering PhD does his own work but gets a licensed electrician to inspect for insurance purposes.

I've never seen an inspector that was a licensed electrician. Most of the inspections I've seen are 100% worthless from a 'is it correct' perspective. The others are just doing a very cursory look to make sure what they see matches the NEC. My DIY PV install was inspected by a state inspector that didn't really have any qualifications other than his ability to read the NEC. I later learned that my DC wire size was actually gauge too small... turns out you need #10 for 8A in a PV circuit because of over rating and under rating calcs... who knew? Not the inspector apparently.

 

[wcorey]

Living in Charleston until recently, we went through Parkersburg/Marietta on I77 fairly regularly usually stopping for gas or food. We did tour Blennerhasset Island and enjoyed the trip. Nice folks in the area!

We live on the other side of the state near DC now, so we've become very familiar with I68. We stop in at the Morgantown Sheetz for gas and a break since it's halfway to Charleston. Once my 3 arrives, we'll be able to use that SC instead of gassing up!

Did I look up the wrong person? I thought you were from Cleveland. Very early on I did take my young wife to Marietta, we lived in Reston VA at the time, so straight out 50 to Parkesburg then up 77 to Marietta. Showed her the Indian Mound Cemetery. Walked around campus. 18 yrs olds are SO young (22 yr olds arent far behind)!!! I am pleasantly surprised we survived it.

 

[wcorey]

I've never seen an inspector that was a licensed electrician. Most of the inspections I've seen are 100% worthless from a 'is it correct' perspective. The others are just doing a very cursory look to make sure what they see matches the NEC. My DIY PV install was inspected by a state inspector that didn't really have any qualifications other than his ability to read the NEC. I later learned that my DC wire size was actually gauge too small... turns out you need #10 for 8A in a PV circuit because of over rating and under rating calcs... who knew? Not the inspector apparently.

It took that friend I mentioned awhile to get it through to me a 60a circuit can only charge up to 48a (max for an M3). The electrician that put in my lvl 2 charger (for the Prius plugin) ran a 30a line from the sub to a 6-50. He was yelling at me that the 6-50 was a 50a plug yet he only put in a drop from the sub rated for 30a because the lvl 2 charger only took 30a. He also wired my tower's ground through the house to the service ground.

 

[iamec]

Damn.

I ordered almost the same configuration but with 19” wheels.

Where are you taking delivery?

Taking delivery at Tesla Bellevue, WA. Actually got called this morning. They had to reschedule to 9/1 which is fine.

 

[willa1975]

Taking delivery at Tesla Bellevue, WA. Actually got called this morning. They had to reschedule to 9/1 which is fine.

Curious if there is a difference in delivery cancellation rates between Seattle and Bellevue.

 

[Kermee]

Taking delivery at Tesla Bellevue, WA. Actually got called this morning. They had to reschedule to 9/1 which is fine.

Dang. What happened? Did they give a reason?

Curious if there is a difference in delivery cancellation rates between Seattle and Bellevue.

I've been wondering too. I'm scheduled for this Friday at Bellevue, 8/24, but haven't received a call otherwise and my Tesla account still looks correct.

 

[Runt8]

I've never seen an inspector that was a licensed electrician. Most of the inspections I've seen are 100% worthless from a 'is it correct' perspective. The others are just doing a very cursory look to make sure what they see matches the NEC. My DIY PV install was inspected by a state inspector that didn't really have any qualifications other than his ability to read the NEC. I later learned that my DC wire size was actually gauge too small... turns out you need #10 for 8A in a PV circuit because of over rating and under rating calcs... who knew? Not the inspector apparently.

Inspectors, just like electricians, vary greatly in their abilities. The ones for my city seem to be very knowledgeable and have thus far been able to answer all of my questions very competently. I just spoke to one from the city my parents live in who was...less knowledgeable.

 

[UtahIsRad]

For the Day 1/2 people I am highly confident you'll all have your cars by 2nd week in Sept. I am equally confident I'll have my VIN and MVPA by then although I am hoping for before Aug 30 when my loan approval expires.

Honestly, I’m not 100% confident that they actually know the order of reservations in their system. Years ago in this process my reservation date randomly changed to 4/3/16 on my account. I mentioned it on the Model 3 FB group and an employee saw my comment and got it fixed to 3/31/16. I have seen many others comment that their reservation date wasn’t correct. I almost wonder if a reservation was a random number because they truly are random. Even if not, how would they have put me back to my exact place in line? There were >200,000 people who reserved that day...hope I’m not at the back of that now. Even day 2 reservations shouldn’t get a car until November at current production rates if we assume 50% of those day 1 people have orders placed. We are all so conditioned to line waiting we are assuming the process works like line. I’m gonna have to find a magic 8 ball for a better forecast. Believe it or not, I predicted back in Feb 2016 that I would get the car in September 2018, so I leased an I3 for 30 months. I hope you’re right, cause that ended last week.

 

[nwdiver]

Inspectors, just like electricians, vary greatly in their abilities. The ones for my city seem to be very knowledgeable and have thus far been able to answer all of my questions very competently. I just spoke to one from the city my parents live in who was...less knowledgeable.

True; My point is that in most areas you don't need to be an electrician to be an inspector. I believe it's just a test on the NEC. Electricians require a certain number of hours of experience.

 

[voip-ninja]

Just a note on the price discrepancies between Tesla approved electricians and normal licensed electricians. I got quoted by a Tesla approved company ~$1300 to install a Nema 14-50, or HPWC about 5ft from my panel (no panel upgrades needed). I thought this was really high and called around. I got quotes from 8 other licensed electricians (looked up their licenses myself) that ranged from $350-$600. The lower bids were without a permit and wife insisted we get a permit because of insurance, despite it being a fairly straight forward job. The Tesla approved electrician's quote included a permit ($550 alone is the cost of the permit from my city), the other quotes jumped to $2000-$3000 when I asked about a permit. Some because they didn't want the hassle of applying online, doing load calculations and meeting with the inspector, others because their time to do all the work added up to more than the Tesla approved company. Believe me, I'm as surprised as you guys the Tesla approved company came in least expensive.

Back to the thread. As badly as I want my car and how sick I am of people asking if I have it yet, I'm really happy to see 3/31-4/2 reservation holders getting calls. Especially excited because of the white interiors being delivered. I understand there are obscure, ones offs with people either getting their cars early, or potentially overlooked, but until someone who ordered the same time or after, with the same config AND location gets theirs before me I'll try to be patient. Doesn't help that the call I made to them two weeks ago (they accidentally changed my config, long story) ended with them saying I might get a call the following week = |.

You might investigate if you can pull the permit to do the work yourself and then have the electrician assist you with doing the work. In most places this is completely legitimate and can save quite a bit on permit costs. It does mean you will need to go through the application process on your own as well as meeting the inspector for the final inspection and be able to answer basic questions about what was done.

Pulling my own permit for my installation was $55. I did have to do a load calc and speak with the lead electrical inspector a few times about what I was doing.

I paid an electrician to do an aluminum run from my main panel down into my basement and terminate it a new sub panel I put in, then I ran my own 6/3 Romex connection on a new 50 amp breaker from this panel up to my attached garage and completed the install.

Total cost to do the install was about $900 including paying the electrician and pulling the permit. Final inspection went off without a hitch.

I've never seen an inspector that was a licensed electrician. Most of the inspections I've seen are 100% worthless from a 'is it correct' perspective. The others are just doing a very cursory look to make sure what they see matches the NEC. My DIY PV install was inspected by a state inspector that didn't really have any qualifications other than his ability to read the NEC. I later learned that my DC wire size was actually gauge too small... turns out you need #10 for 8A in a PV circuit because of over rating and under rating calcs... who knew? Not the inspector apparently.

Where you are running into risk is when you sell your home and something you did on your own that was never inspected comes back to bite you if it comes up during the sale.

Other risk is that your garage burns down, insurance adjuster discovers you did 240V electrical installation in the garage with no permit and the fire was electrical in nature. Could be used to limit your claim.

 

[jkirkwood001]

Has anyone with a AWD+white interior+19 gotten a delivery date yet? I ordered AWD/blue/white/19 and res in 4/1/16 but have heard absolutely nothing. Have seen some AWD/blue/white/aero that res > 1yr after get delivery dates.

Not yet that I can see:

 

[NetBrowned]

[QUOTE="EVDRVN, post: 2973445, member: 77048
In CA, if you are in an area like Tahoe the CHP will look at the back of a Model S for a "D" to allow you to pass without chains. Also, even cheap cars have model badges, SE. LE. LX, AWD, 4WD, etc etc.[/QUOTE]

Same in WA. I was going to tell them not to put it on when they get them, but now not so sure...

 

[NetBrowned]

+1. But so far I have not seen any non P AWD car with a badge. Can someone who took a recent delivery, please share a pic for a non P AWD

They are only just starting to get these in. Someone on Reddit posted a copy of an email from the Service Center stating that they had a "due bill" to install the Dual Motor badge for his AWD.