Thinking once again about upgrading my electrical service to better support charging my car at home.
Background: bought my first EV, a Standard Range Model Y about two and a half years ago. During the purchase process and as soon as I got it home I was planning on upgrading the circuit to my garage. I even snickered at a guy I know who'd had a Model 3 for several years and was still charging at 120V 15A. Well, I'm now that guy.
I ended up staying at 120V 15A because getting a bigger circuit to the garage became a slippery slope. One electrician I trust thought I could add on at least a 240V 30A circuit. Another felt that my panel was too full. My service is 100A. So I decided to stay put as I didn't want to take on the expense of a full panel upgrade and I didn't want a half-assed circuit to the garage.
I've always been interested in upgrading my main service above the 100A, just never found the time or the money or the will to do it. However, recently I've done some more long drives during the day and am regretting that I can't charge faster.
Anyway, I'm trying to get a handle on the big picture of what I should do in terms on main service to the house and how much amperage to the garage.
My house is a 30 year old 2000 sq ft ranch with a full sized, unfinished basement, and an attached two car garage. We're new empty nesters, having sent our son off to college recently. My wife's car is not an EV, but I suspect she'll have one down the road. I have no plans to move and expect all my cars will be EVs from here on out.
So, how big of a main service should I upgrade to? 200, 300, 400? How much juice should I push to the garage, which is about 50 feet away from the panel? Should I put a sub panel in the garage?
Background: bought my first EV, a Standard Range Model Y about two and a half years ago. During the purchase process and as soon as I got it home I was planning on upgrading the circuit to my garage. I even snickered at a guy I know who'd had a Model 3 for several years and was still charging at 120V 15A. Well, I'm now that guy.
I ended up staying at 120V 15A because getting a bigger circuit to the garage became a slippery slope. One electrician I trust thought I could add on at least a 240V 30A circuit. Another felt that my panel was too full. My service is 100A. So I decided to stay put as I didn't want to take on the expense of a full panel upgrade and I didn't want a half-assed circuit to the garage.
I've always been interested in upgrading my main service above the 100A, just never found the time or the money or the will to do it. However, recently I've done some more long drives during the day and am regretting that I can't charge faster.
Anyway, I'm trying to get a handle on the big picture of what I should do in terms on main service to the house and how much amperage to the garage.
My house is a 30 year old 2000 sq ft ranch with a full sized, unfinished basement, and an attached two car garage. We're new empty nesters, having sent our son off to college recently. My wife's car is not an EV, but I suspect she'll have one down the road. I have no plans to move and expect all my cars will be EVs from here on out.
So, how big of a main service should I upgrade to? 200, 300, 400? How much juice should I push to the garage, which is about 50 feet away from the panel? Should I put a sub panel in the garage?