Gen 3 HPWC with NEMA 14-60 plug

[ExpatPR]

New model S owner asking the experts for their opinions. I know that the included UMC is all I really need and I use while I‘m wintering in FL. At my permanent residence (new construction) I had the license electrician install a 60 amp line into my garage. I’m sure that I can install the HPWC myself after moving in. During my walkthrough of the construction I noticed that the electrician ended the line with a NEMA 14-60 outlet.

My question to the experts is, should I remove the 14-60 plug and hard wire the HPWC like the installation manual says or should I add a NEMA 14-60 pigtail and plug it in? I was expecting to find the cable tucked in a box for me to finish the installation. Now I like the idea of a plug-in that I can remove and take with me if I ever sell the house.

My initial reaction was to remove the outlet and hard wire and the reverse the process if I ever sell the house.

 

[Operator64]

A 14-60 is non existent a 14-50 would be the proper terminology. If an electrician used a 60 amp breaker on a 14-50 outlet they have not done a proper installation and it is NOT SAFE.
Can you install a pigtail ? Yes however it is not a proper installation will it burn your house down, I don’t know.
Install the HPWC as designed you can charge @ 48 amps providing the rest of the installation is proper, if you move it will take no time to remove the HPWC if that’s important.

 

[iluvmacs]

A 14-60 is non existent a 14-50 would be the proper terminology. If an electrician used a 60 amp breaker on a 14-50 outlet they have not done a proper installation and it is NOT SAFE.
Can you install a pigtail ? Yes however it is not a proper installation will it burn your house down, I don’t know.
Install the HPWC as designed you can charge @ 48 amps providing the rest of the installation is proper, if you move it will take no time to remove the HPWC if that’s important.

14-60 very definitely exists. It's quite rare and it's incredibly surprising that any electrician would have done this.

In any case, the correct path is to remove it and hardwire the HPWC. Adding a pigtail plug to the unit is a code violation for other reasons.

 

[ExpatPR]

A 14-60 is non existent a 14-50 would be the proper terminology. If an electrician used a 60 amp breaker on a 14-50 outlet they have not done a proper installation and it is NOT SAFE.
Can you install a pigtail ? Yes however it is not a proper installation will it burn your house down, I don’t know.
Install the HPWC as designed you can charge @ 48 amps providing the rest of the installation is proper, if you move it will take no time to remove the HPWC if that’s important.

I’m no expert but I can read. The plug is 14-60 and it has a 60 amp breaker. I can’t vouch for the wire but since this is the electrician hired by the builder I will assume he used the correct wire.

 

[ElectricIAC]

We did this at our new place.

 

[ExpatPR]

14-60 very definitely exists. It's quite rare and it's incredibly surprising that any electrician would have done this.

In any case, the correct path is to remove it and hardwire the HPWC. Adding a pigtail plug to the unit is a code violation for other reasons.

Thank you. That’s what I told the electrician I wanted to do. I was surprised that he added the plug. I know the 14-60 plugs are expensive. I’m sure I paid for it so I was entertaining the idea of using it.

 

[Operator64]

I’m no expert but I can read. The plug is 14-60 and it has a 60 amp breaker. I can’t vouch for the wire but since this is the electrician hired by the builder I will assume he used the correct wire.

If you can read then reading the instructions contained in the HPWC package would have answered your question before you even asked it.

 

[ExpatPR]

If you can read then reading the instructions contained in the HPWC package would have answered your question before you even asked it.

True statement. I only asked because prior versions of wall connector came with a plug and found myself with the unexpected option to turn this one into a plug in. I have seen other posts where they have done exactly that but with a 50 amp circuit. My apologies if I offended you. I was just stating that NEMA 14-60 outlets do exists since I’m the proud owner of a useless one.

 

[Rocky_H]

@ExpatPR I just saw your signature about your Model Y ordered in January that kept shifting the delivery date. We also ordered a Y in January last year, but our dates went entirely differently!! We were told right at order time that delivery would be December 2022. So we went all year long with not a single word differently than that until I suddenly got a text at the beginning of September saying, it's ready and to pay the balance and pick it up RIGHT NOW. That was pretty shoddy lack of communication to pull it in an entire calendar quarter with no warning and expect people to have the full balance ready to pay 12 weeks earlier than we were expecting.

 

[ExpatPR]

@ExpatPR I just saw your signature about your Model Y ordered in January that kept shifting the delivery date. We also ordered a Y in January last year, but our dates went entirely differently!! We were told right at order time that delivery would be December 2022. So we went all year long with not a single word differently than that until I suddenly got a text at the beginning of September saying, it's ready and to pay the balance and pick it up RIGHT NOW. That was pretty shoddy lack of communication to pull it in an entire calendar quarter with no warning and expect people to have the full balance ready to pay 12 weeks earlier than we were expecting.

Ouch. Yes. That would be a problem wether paying cash or a loan. At the end of the day my timing worked out. I returned from Europe on September 12th and picked up my MS on September 13th. I’m just glad I was able to turn on my US cell phone the last week I was in Europe to work out the delivery.

 

[flai54]

I’m no expert but I can read. The plug is 14-60 and it has a 60 amp breaker. I can’t vouch for the wire but since this is the electrician hired by the builder I will assume he used the correct wire.

The problem isn't about the plug or the breaker or the wiring being used. Its just that a NEMA plug requires 4 wires (2 hots, 1 neutral and 1 ground) but a Tesla WC only requires 3 wires (2 hots and 1 ground). When people just add the pigtail to the bottom of the Tesla WC to be able to plug into a NEMA plug, it is a code violation since the neutral wire is just sitting idle doing nothing even if you tape it all up and place it inside the Tesla WC unit.

 

[mongo]

The problem isn't about the plug or the breaker or the wiring being used. Its just that a NEMA plug requires 4 wires (2 hots, 1 neutral and 1 ground) but a Tesla WC only requires 3 wires (2 hots and 1 ground). When people just add the pigtail to the bottom of the Tesla WC to be able to plug into a NEMA plug, it is a code violation since the neutral wire is just sitting idle doing nothing even if you tape it all up and place it inside the Tesla WC unit.

How is having an unused neutral in a device a violation? A 240V device would do the same thing.
Or are you saying only extending 3 of 4 connectors to the WC would be a violation?

A violation would more likely come from using the WC in a non labeled and listed application. (Though I think that would be on the UL side, not NEC, since it's plug in at that point).

 

[ucmndd]

The problem isn't about the plug or the breaker or the wiring being used. Its just that a NEMA plug requires 4 wires (2 hots, 1 neutral and 1 ground) but a Tesla WC only requires 3 wires (2 hots and 1 ground). When people just add the pigtail to the bottom of the Tesla WC to be able to plug into a NEMA plug, it is a code violation since the neutral wire is just sitting idle doing nothing even if you tape it all up and place it inside the Tesla WC unit.

The wall connector doesn’t need the neutral, gives not a damn about it, and will happily charge on any 14-series NEMA plug without a second thought. The neutral blade on the mobile connector adapters are just dummies, not connected to anything, the same way it would be on a pigtail attached to a wall connector. Same same.

The real issue here, as Mongo pointed out, is that the WC is not listed/approved for a pigtail and the install manual says it must be hardwired. OP will have to decide if he’s bothered by that or not.

 

[KennyBry]

New model S owner asking the experts for their opinions. I know that the included UMC is all I really need and I use while I‘m wintering in FL. At my permanent residence (new construction) I had the license electrician install a 60 amp line into my garage. I’m sure that I can install the HPWC myself after moving in. During my walkthrough of the construction I noticed that the electrician ended the line with a NEMA 14-60 outlet.

My question to the experts is, should I remove the 14-60 plug and hard wire the HPWC like the installation manual says or should I add a NEMA 14-60 pigtail and plug it in? I was expecting to find the cable tucked in a box for me to finish the installation. Now I like the idea of a plug-in that I can remove and take with me if I ever sell the house.

My initial reaction was to remove the outlet and hard wire and the reverse the process if I ever sell the house.

@ExpatPR Would you mind sharing what did you ended up doing? Built a new house and the exact same thing was done: Electrician the builder used ran a 60amp line and terminated it with a NEMA 14-60 outlet.