Why Do Electricians Charge So Much To Install EV Outlets?

[Evoforce]

I have come across more issues with “professional” electricians work than I care for. At least if I’m doing it myself, I know it is being done correctly. Having it done correctly at less than 90% of the cost is just a bonus.

Oh, some might worry with your appearance of a lack of common sense, they may not want to own a property anywhere near your unprofessional wiring hazard waiting to happen.

 

[W E Lau]

Let me preface my comments by saying that this is a rant thread...

I'm on my third Tesla in 4 years, just so happens I moved into my third place as well. First house, I was new to the EV world and had no idea about the charging outlet being required, let alone its installation. Cost me $279 to install directly beneath the breaker box (plenty of space available to accommodate the new circuit; electrician was literally there for 15 mins).

Second place didn't have any spots available in the breaker box, electrician had to move around and switch out several breakers. Cost was $300 again to install (electrician was there for over an hour; we were talking most of the time).

New place has a brand new breaker box, I had/have about 20 spots available for a new circuit. I call around to get quotes and almost all came in at $300.

This time I'm a bit more knowledgeable. This forum and YouTube has actually provided me with a wealth of knowledge. I ask questions about why the installation is so expensive. I'm given the run-around by all of the electricians. I finally ask for a breakdown of parts and labor, only one of the three electricians provide. It says $100 for parts and $200 for labor. I didn't mind so much about the cost for the parts, but I asked about his labor rate. He replies its $75 per hour, but he has to do a lot of running around to find the circuits since they aren't readily available, so he passes that cost on to the customer.

At this point, I did what most other budget conscious consumers do, I went and looked up the parts required. I find the following all readily accessible at my nearest Home Depot (I'm normally a Lowe's guy, but they didn't have them): 50 amp, 2 pole circuit breaker ($25; specific to my panel [found out the hard way, went to install the first one and it didn't fit]); NEMA 14-50 outlet ($8); 6/3 Romex wire (6' X $3 = $18); 2 gang junction box ($3); 3/4 clamp connectors ($5) & 2 gang wall plate ($2).

Yep, a whopping $57 for parts was all that was needed.

I went home to do the install and it took less than an hour. I spent about 75% of my time fighting with this extremely rigid wire. I was a bit hesitant to start, so I was EXTREMELY careful. I plan to make a step-by-step guide for those with space available in their breaker box.

At the end of the day, I understand that electricians are specialized in a trade, most specialists can charge a premium for their services. I'll caveat that comment with the fact that consumers nowadays are more than willing to take on simple projects like these due to the transformation of the digital world and accessibility of "how-to guides."

I have also installed my own chargers (one Tesla & one LEAF) on my own. It's cheap and easy, but $300.00 is not bad to pay an electrician for the work and parts. Not meaning to pick pick on you, but if you have the resources to own a Tesla cost of the charger is not a big deal.

 

[qdeathstar]

Why should we do it for less? Why do you get paid so much to shuffle papers?

If people would pay me 10k to install their chargers I would charge them 10k. If they would pay me a million dollars I would charge them a million.

My time and knowledge is worth as much as I can charge for it.

 

[Lonestar10_199]

For any of the professional trades, it always pays to get several estimates and choose the one that makes the most sense to you. It may not be the cheapest, but probably the one that comes with good referrals and performs quality work at a fair price.

Although not for everyone, many DIY folks have the skills necessary to install charger equipment in their own home. For those folks, its wasteful to pay an electrician for work you can do yourself.

The most important thing is not so much the cost of the work, but the quality of the work.

 

[westie10019]

Let me preface my comments by saying that this is a rant thread...

I'm on my third Tesla in 4 years, just so happens I moved into my third place as well. First house, I was new to the EV world and had no idea about the charging outlet being required, let alone its installation. Cost me $279 to install directly beneath the breaker box (plenty of space available to accommodate the new circuit; electrician was literally there for 15 mins).

Second place didn't have any spots available in the breaker box, electrician had to move around and switch out several breakers. Cost was $300 again to install (electrician was there for over an hour; we were talking most of the time).

New place has a brand new breaker box, I had/have about 20 spots available for a new circuit. I call around to get quotes and almost all came in at $300.

This time I'm a bit more knowledgeable. This forum and YouTube has actually provided me with a wealth of knowledge. I ask questions about why the installation is so expensive. I'm given the run-around by all of the electricians. I finally ask for a breakdown of parts and labor, only one of the three electricians provide. It says $100 for parts and $200 for labor. I didn't mind so much about the cost for the parts, but I asked about his labor rate. He replies its $75 per hour, but he has to do a lot of running around to find the circuits since they aren't readily available, so he passes that cost on to the customer.

At this point, I did what most other budget conscious consumers do, I went and looked up the parts required. I find the following all readily accessible at my nearest Home Depot (I'm normally a Lowe's guy, but they didn't have them): 50 amp, 2 pole circuit breaker ($25; specific to my panel [found out the hard way, went to install the first one and it didn't fit]); NEMA 14-50 outlet ($8); 6/3 Romex wire (6' X $3 = $18); 2 gang junction box ($3); 3/4 clamp connectors ($5) & 2 gang wall plate ($2).

Yep, a whopping $57 for parts was all that was needed.

I went home to do the install and it took less than an hour. I spent about 75% of my time fighting with this extremely rigid wire. I was a bit hesitant to start, so I was EXTREMELY careful. I plan to make a step-by-step guide for those with space available in their breaker box.

At the end of the day, I understand that electricians are specialized in a trade, most specialists can charge a premium for their services. I'll caveat that comment with the fact that consumers nowadays are more than willing to take on simple projects like these due to the transformation of the digital world and accessibility of "how-to guides."

Why do any licensed professional charge so much! Obviously you have no understanding of what training and apprentice hours are required to become a licensed Electrician! Just remember more people need skilled tradesmen than a poly science major or lawyer!

 

[Unclepaul]

Professional will need to charge you much more than just his time on the job plus materials. They will usually need to come out and do an initial proposal and bid. They man need to offset other potential jobs to schedule your installation on a time convenient to you. Will need to accept liability for what they do, arrange for a code inspector in your area, plus wait around on inspection day for the inspector to show up, discuss the job with him and make any changes called out from the inspector. He will need to check on the Tesla requirements for the materials and techniques to do the job properly and notify Tesla after the job has been completed.

Then they will need to bill you and many people do not pay without a lot of chasing around.

In other words, you are paying for then entire job, not just the actual time running wire and screwing in a socket.

 

[vickh]

My solution was to use the UMC and hide the car used to be you can tell them it's for a dryer. Now they know it's an EV.

 

[gaswalla]

Tell them you just bought a used LEAF and need a 14-50 240v plug (and then use the Tesla UMC).. that'll drop the price in half
and, electricians are allowed to charge extra for their expertise - they can do work way more complicated than a plug install - they are charging you for all of their expertise even though this job doesn't require it.