OK, $100. He literally installed all of that for $300. That includes the wiring and piping from the sub panel, to mounting and hardwiring the charger. He charged me $400 to install the sub-panel. With parts, he charged me a total of $1000

There is an economy of scale. He came out and did a $1,000 job, that included the subpanel, the wiring to the charger, and the wiring of the charger (and $1,000 is very cheap for that job). That doesn't mean he would come back to your house and uninstall that charger and reinstall another charger for $100. Its not worth his time to do that. They're going to charge a minimum service fee that may or may not include the first hour and then hourly plus materials from that. You're not going to get a real electrician to come to your house and do anything for $100. If he's at your house doing another $500+ job he might also wire the new charger for $100.

He's an Electrician that used to do electrical work for the company I work for, he also does a lot of side jobs, which he's done several for me already. He definitely would. I agree a company wouldn't do that

Yeah okay, this is an unlicensed on the side job. Thats not something you can say to somebody else "this is what this costs".

To be clear, that work is un-permitted and was not done by someone with a license that you can turn around and hold accountable. You likely don't need a permit to run a circuit for a charger, but a subpanel will ALWAYS require a permit.

From a real licensed electrician with a Permit that is $3,000 worth of work.

He's a fully licensed Independent Electrician, I would never use anyone who wasn't licensed. As far as permits, no I didn't get permits, but I have no plans to sale my house anytime soon, and it's easily reversed. All he has to do is remove the breaker that connects the sub panel. Nobody gets permits for something like this in the Bay Area unless you are remodelling or its new construction

He is individually licensed and attached his master electrician's license to the work? I have electricians who do side jobs too but their licenses are hung with their employer and when they do side jobs they cannot hang their license on that work. There are lots of things I would happily let those folks do, installing a subpanel is not one of those things. Replacing outlets and light fixtures etc? Sure. Subpanel, panel replacement is licensed permit only work for me and anybody I advise.

It all comes down to when you tell people what something costs in an effort to help them understand how to go about doing something, you need to disclose to them that this is the nature of how the work was done. Not everybody has that kind of connection, and not everybody is comfortable with this kind of work being done without the benefit of any recourse in the event of a fire etc. Do you understand that if there were to be a fire in that subpanel that your insurance carrier would likely not cover the claim? Not worth saving a few thousand bucks IMO. You say "that will never happen to me" well I have seen it happen to multiple people in my career.

"They will just swap it out for $50"...not for me because I won't use an electrician who is unlicensed and I won't have un permitted electrical work done to my home...hence why losing 10 amps of charging isn't that big a deal to me for the flexibility of being able to easily replace the charger.

I fully understand. I trust this guys work, he's an experienced electrician with a lot of experience. I don't pull enough power from the sub panel to worry about fire. My main panel is also brand new and was fully inspected by the city when I had solar installed

I've seen major house fires started from things that pull way less power off a circuit than a EV charger...

An electrician doesn't become less of an electrician because they are doing side work or not pulling permits, its a question of risk. I would have no problem having a good electrician I trust run the 60AMP circuit and wire the charger for me without a permit, but not install a subpanel. Down the line you may want to add additional circuits to that subpanel, and that risk of having that done without a permit exponentially increases with everything you add to it.

That would usually be caused by faulty wiring in conjunction with pulling to many amps. All the wires are the proper gauges, brand new, the panel and sub panel, brand new, and the charging station is only a year old and has it's own built in fault protection. Honestly, I'm more worried about the scented candles my wife and daughter like to burn. But I'll take into consideration your concern, which is appreciated

The point is you are making a lot of assumptions there, and if you WERE to have a fire...you're not going to say "I'm still happy I saved that $1,500-$2,000". You will never be sorry that you went to the expense and effort to do something the right way. I've stood with too many people who find themselves in that position...

I get it, my contractor gave me an option on the electrical in my basement when I finished it, I paid ~$2,500 extra to have the subpanel and all the electrical permitted...and I promise you I don't regret it or even think about having spent that at all.

I can still apply for a permit, I'll explore doing that. It was a pretty simple job, he does these all the time so I know it will pass inspection. Looking at my cities website, I meet the capacity requirement and the charging station also meets their requirements

I’d get the permit…

I agree on getting the permit. It took 2 months to get mine, but the cost was only $75. And, because of it, I get $700 back from the city as a rebate.

As far as replacing an existing hardwired charger, you don't need a permit. The electrical work is already done. Much like, you don't need a permit if you want to replace an outlet or light switch. If replacing the charger is more than you're willing to take on, you can hire a handyman. No way will it cost more than $100, unless you get ripped off.

Not saying that you would need a permit to replace the charger, but you would need an electrician to wire in a hardwired charger. No responsible handyman is going to wire in an EV charger. An electrician is going to cost more than $100 to come to your home and hardwire a charger. They charge more than that to replace an outlet.

Handymen are great but you have to know what to use one for and what not to use one for, good handymen will tell you what they can and can’t do.

interesting discussion.

i've had friends and neighbors tell me of their 'good guy' electrician who 'works cheap' etc., but i've decided i'm waiting for the coupon for the discount and i'll go through https://hyundaihomemarketplace.com to get one of their approved installers to do it. and even then if i don't feel comfortable with the approach the electrician they sign me up with is taking i'll find someone else.

even though i'm getting a hard wired and not a 14-50 plug, this video made me think. i saw the same guy DO the 14-50 install and now he's followed up with what he did wrong. i think this is great that he took the feedback from comments and learned and told his viewers.


his original "DIY" install video for those interested.