Estimate for Home Level 2 - Wallbox install

[Jprime84]

Electrician that I have worked with estimated an install for me today, and it came out a lot higher than I had hoped. Looking for sanity checks here, or to see if anyone else had something comparable.

• Wallbox 48a Pulsar Plus - $699
• Permits - $199
• Circuit - $2000
  "Run a new 240v 60a circuit for a wall box charger on the front right
  corner of the garage outside facing the driveway. Come from the main
  panel in the garage. Pipe down the wall over the side door to the front
  wall of the garage. Run wire outside and mount the charger outside
  facing the driveway. Includes installing two tandem breakers in the
  panel to make space for the new breaker."

My understanding is that because my breaker box is nearly full, they have to rewire 4 of my existing breakers into 2 tandem breakers to make room for the new 60a circuit. They are using conduit in the garage for about 20-25ft from the panel to the install point. The cable for the new circuit is 6 gauge rated for 65a. I am located in central NC.

I also asked about just wiring up a NEMA 14-50 outlet in the same location, and the estimate was $1700 plus permit (and no charger cost), with the same need to redo several breakers to make room. This is what leads me to think the higher cost has more to do with the work in the box than it does the new circuit.

Thoughts?

edit: I did it
https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...ome-level-2-wallbox-install.28618/post-552804

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[SparkyR1t]

Just the cost of the breakers to add the tandem breakers. Sounds a bit steep. Can always get a second estimate. All depends on the difficulty accessing the breaker panel to install the conduit and then runn8ng the conduit. Pulling 25’ of wire and terminating is the stuff Once the conduit is in. Also might consider using a Tesla wall connector you will save several hundred dollars ( I believe I saw it for $450 for the J 1772 version) and in my opinion Tesla has the best product and support when it comes to the wall connectors

 

[Jprime84]

Just the cost of the breakers to add the tandem breakers. Sounds a bit steep. Can always get a second estimate. All depends on the difficulty accessing the breaker panel to install the conduit and then runn8ng the conduit. Pulling 25’ of wire and terminating is the stuff Once the conduit is in. Also might consider using a Tesla wall connector you will save several hundred dollars ( I believe I saw it for $450 for the J 1772 version) and in my opinion Tesla has the best product and support when it comes to the wall connectors

Panel and conduit install locations are inside of my finished garage all along one wall.

 

[citizen]

It's really going to be different per location. But additional breakers and the length of run will add in material costs alone. You should ALWAYS get multiple quotes.

At my last place, I had the electrician put in a NEMA 14-50 right underneath the breaker box, probably a foot in terms of how far it was from the bottom of the breaker box. W/ the 50a breaker, it came out to $280. Super professional work, kept everything clean, used the right outlet and labeled everything nicely. He was one of the cheaper ones I could find in Orange County, CA, but also came highly recommended by others in the neighborhood.

Had him come back to another home a year later, this time I had him hardwire my EVSE w/ a 60a breaker but while it wasn't far from the panel, the backside had cabinets installed, so he had to go through the cabinets to get to the back of the panel. I also had him remove two Intermatic timers, replace them with smart switches that I provided and bring some other wiring up to code. That total came out to $850.

 

[Riviaenz]

Having to make room to install a new 240v breaker (takes two spots) would be a lot of work especially if they run into a situation of not having enough wire length in the panel to relocate some (sounds like at least one 120v) breaker(s) to one side to have a free double on the other. As fare as running conduit and 6 gauge THHN to install it, ours which needed about 120 feet (super simple install running it along the outside of our house from the box that is also on the side of the house) was $1975. The first quote I got for it was $2200. When we had a 14-50 outlet put in the garage with 2ft of wire and conduit from the panel to it it was under $700 (7 yrs ago). It‘s possible you may be able to find someone else for a little less. It’s also possible they may be a little more.

Something worth investigating, is if your utility offers rebates or discounts for either the install and/or purchase of a home EVSE unit. I know Duke Power has some great programs available but not sure if they extend to your area.

Our utility offers a $300 rebate on a variety of EVSE units if purchased directly from them AND if we enroll the unit once installed, they pay us if they experience a peak event and defer a charging session to a non-peak period and we allow it.

 

[JamuJoe]

Charger installation costs are location specific. My electric co-op in LaPlata county Colorado covered half the cost of my installation and hardware (Rivian L2 charger, which has been great charging our R1T and Polestar 2.)

 

[Riviaenz]

Charger installation costs are location specific. My electric co-op in LaPlata county Colorado covered half the cost of my installation and hardware (Rivian L2 charger, which has been great charging our R1T and Polestar 2.)

Exactly, and there are lots of federal, state, and local (utility) incentives to be had that vary (state & local/utility) by area.

 

[nc10]

• Wallbox 48a Pulsar Plus - $699
• Permits - $199
• Circuit - $2000
  "Run a new 240v 60a circuit for a wall box charger on the front right
  corner of the garage outside facing the driveway. Come from the main
  panel in the garage. Pipe down the wall over the side door to the front
  wall of the garage. Run wire outside and mount the charger outside
  facing the driveway. Includes installing two tandem breakers in the
  panel to make space for the new breaker."

I agree, it seems expensive for what you get, but it fits with my experience

I paid $1565 2 years ago for just the circuit part, in South Carolina, just a few miles south of Charlotte. Back then, we were still coming out of Covid, electricians pretty busy, supposedly wire was expensive.

-had pre ordered the Rivian wall charger, so it was a separate $500
- No permit needed
- Included in this price, I had the electricion install a new, empty meter box for a 2nd meter so I could get a low nightime rate from my utility. (The Electrical utility provided and installed the meter in the box)
- Took advantage of a small breaker box for a well pump near my main incoming meter and breaker, all very near my garage walk-in door, adding a 60 amp breaker. (My main breaker panel is inside my house, would have required another 60-80 feet of 6 gage wire)

- Installed the charger just inside my garage walk in door, so all the wiring runs were ultra short (under 10').

- I had 3 or 4 quotes, the others were $2000 or more. Interesting, all suggested somewhat different ways of doing it.

- Got a $200 rebate from my utility. If you haven't, definitely check on your rebate and rate options. My night time charging rate with the new meter is ~ 6 cents/kwhr (somewhat complicated formula, can explain if needed)

My only suggestion would be to consider the Emporia wall charger or something similar in the $400 range.

 

[SANZC02]

Electrician that I have worked with estimated an install for me today, and it came out a lot higher than I had hoped. Looking for sanity checks here, or to see if anyone else had something comparable.

• Wallbox 48a Pulsar Plus - $699
• Permits - $199
• Circuit - $2000
  "Run a new 240v 60a circuit for a wall box charger on the front right
  corner of the garage outside facing the driveway. Come from the main
  panel in the garage. Pipe down the wall over the side door to the front
  wall of the garage. Run wire outside and mount the charger outside
  facing the driveway. Includes installing two tandem breakers in the
  panel to make space for the new breaker."

My understanding is that because my breaker box is nearly full, they have to rewire 4 of my existing breakers into 2 tandem breakers to make room for the new 60a circuit. They are using conduit in the garage for about 20-25ft from the panel to the install point. The cable for the new circuit is 6 gauge rated for 65a. I am located in central NC.

I also asked about just wiring up a NEMA 14-50 outlet in the same location, and the estimate was $1700 plus permit (and no charger cost), with the same need to redo several breakers to make room. This is what leads me to think the higher cost has more to do with the work in the box than it does the new circuit.

Thoughts?

You could save some money on the charger, as someone mentioned something like the Emporia is around $400 dollars. The permits do not seem high to me, so really it is the 2k for the run.

You can always get a second quote but 6 gauge THHN is going to be at least $2 a foot, you need 2 6 gauge and probably an 8 gauge ground so the wire alone at cost is $250-$300, good quality tandom breaker is probably $75 apiece and a good quality 60 amp breaker probably close to $50, then the conduit so easily the material could be $400-$500 for that run. Say it is $500 that means the labor and business overhead being charged is around $1500.

Does not seem that high especially if it is a quality company but a second quote would really help to judge it.

 

[Jprime84]

Something worth investigating, is if your utility offers rebates or discounts for either the install and/or purchase of a home EVSE unit. I know Duke Power has some great programs available but not sure if they extend to your area.

They guided me on that too - Duke energy should cover $1117 of this in a rebate that I apply for at the end of the job.

I appreciate all the other responses and perspectives. I know this folks do good work, and am willing to pay a bit more for it. Not to mention, they warranty all the materials (including the Wallbox) for 5 years, so that carries some value.

 

[xxxadixxx]

I just had a 14-50 outlet installed, including the new circuit. The box is on one side of the garage and they had to go into the attic, across ~20' and down another wall. Total install was ~$1,600 including permit and materials. This is in the South Charlotte, NC area. I had two other quotes of similar pricing.

All of that to say your estimate is in the ballpark of what I would expect.

 

[sevengroove]

As others have mentioned, the cost doesn't seem off, but still get another quote.

When I had to get my charger installed back in 2022 the first quote I received ended up being almost twice as much as what I eventually paid. My job was more complex (i.e. longer run, trenching in yard, potential to connect to either main or sub-panel, etc.) so there was understandably a variance in approaches too which could have led to the cost differences. But get another quote just for a sanity check. It's a win-win because either you get the job done for cheaper if quote #2 comes in at less, or you feel better about going with quote #1 if #2 is higher.

 

[moosetags]

Ours was very expensive also. It ended up costing $3,000 total.

We needed a whole new breaker box installed. We also had two circuits run. One was a 60 amp to the Rivian Wall Charger. We also ran a 50 amp line to a backup
14-50 outlet.

This was the price for the whole job including materials, labor, and permits.

Brian

 

[LTMidwestR1t]

Electrician that I have worked with estimated an install for me today, and it came out a lot higher than I had hoped. Looking for sanity checks here, or to see if anyone else had something comparable.

• Wallbox 48a Pulsar Plus - $699
• Permits - $199
• Circuit - $2000
  "Run a new 240v 60a circuit for a wall box charger on the front right
  corner of the garage outside facing the driveway. Come from the main
  panel in the garage. Pipe down the wall over the side door to the front
  wall of the garage. Run wire outside and mount the charger outside
  facing the driveway. Includes installing two tandem breakers in the
  panel to make space for the new breaker."

My understanding is that because my breaker box is nearly full, they have to rewire 4 of my existing breakers into 2 tandem breakers to make room for the new 60a circuit. They are using conduit in the garage for about 20-25ft from the panel to the install point. The cable for the new circuit is 6 gauge rated for 65a. I am located in central NC.

I also asked about just wiring up a NEMA 14-50 outlet in the same location, and the estimate was $1700 plus permit (and no charger cost), with the same need to redo several breakers to make room. This is what leads me to think the higher cost has more to do with the work in the box than it does the new circuit.

Thoughts?

I just received an estimate too. My garage is about 60 feet from the electrical box in the house. I am getting a 100 Amp sub panel installed in the garage and having the charger connected to it with a 60 Amp circuit. The estimate is $2700 for the installation plus the cost of the charger. I was happy with that charge because I spoke with another electrician who wanted to charge by time. He estimated about $5,000 for the work. I think your estimate is good. Good luck.

 

[dradam]

You’re getting a lot of good advice here. Just two points to add. Not all circuit panels allow tandem breakers. If it does allow a tandem breaker, it will say so on the wiring sheet in the door of the circuit panel.


Secondly, six Awg wire does come in flexible metal conduit already preassembled. In my experience, it was much quicker and easier to run than conduit would’ve been. It was certainly far less expensive.

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