Nema 14-50 outlet install cost

Hi All,
I figure it would be a good idea to start a thread so people can use as a reference when getting a price to install nema 14-50 outlet.

I am getting an outlet installed in my Garage soon which is on the opposite side of the house of my electrical panel, and the electrician will need at least 50 ft of 6/3 wire.
My electrical panel is full with many breakers doubled up so we are adding a 100 amp sub panel with 20 breakers. Electrician will then move a few breaker to the sub panel to make space for the 60 amp breaker.
The price I got is $1,200 here in the north east. IS that fair or too steep?
I think parts alone are around $500
My basement is unfinished so no wall breaking or wire fishing needed.

Thanks

When evaluating a quote, I educate myself about the process and then try to estimate how long it would take me to get the job done. Then, I figure an experienced electrician can do the job in 2/3 of the time it would take me. So, if you think it might take you 6 - 8 hours if you did it yourself, then your electrician's quote is fair.

As you are starting this thread as a future reference, I'll mention the path I took...

We moved a little over a year ago and our new place came with a 100A main panel in the garage. Also, several years ago, I purchased a portable L2 EVSE, making sure to purchase one with a long cable.

Thanks to that decision, even though the main panel wasn't in an ideal location, I had the receptacle installed right beside the panel to keep the run super short. I also had a NEMA 14-30 receptacle installed and a 30A breaker on the existing panel, rather than a 14-50R with a 50A breaker. Finally, I dialed down the EVSE to pull 24A max.

With that approach, I kept the install costs to the absolute minimum. I have no regrets with this compromise, as I'm able to charge at a 5.8 kW rate (which is about 90% of full rate anyways).

Sometimes, if you are willing to set your expectations lower, it can save you considerable money.

alozzy said:

Thanks to that decision, even though the main panel wasn't in an ideal location, I had the receptacle installed right beside the panel to keep the run super short. I also had a NEMA 14-30 receptacle installed and a 30A breaker on the existing panel, rather than a 14-50R with a 50A breaker. Finally, I dialed down the EVSE to pull 24A max.

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How far away is the EVSE? I understand the outlet is next to the panel, but do you park your car next to it also?

I had room on my panel so cost of adding new 50A breaker, about 20 ft of wiring with metal conduit work from outside electric panel to inside garage + 14-50 install came to about $550 for me in SoCal. Not living in one of the expensive SoCal buzzword cities so that helped (I think). Also note I got 3 quotes and they varied between $550 to $1800 so definitely shop around.

The minute you mention EV the quotes seem to go higher. You may want to park your LEAF away from home and get that new outlet you need for the additional "dryer" in your garage installed.

Stanton said:

How far away is the EVSE? I understand the outlet is next to the panel, but do you park your car next to it also?

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The EVSE is mounted on a bracket, right next to the receptacle. The long cable I refered to is the J1772 cable.

I have a 30' deep garage that takes two cars and the EVSE is roughly 1/2 way along. Thanks to the long J1772 cord, I have a 14' boat at the back of the garage and if I park our Nissan X-Trail at the front of the garage, I can park the LEAF on the driveway outside and just reach it for charging.

Ital74 said:

...
electrical panel, and the electrician will need at least 50 ft of 6/3 wire.

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Don't you need 4 wires for a NEMA 14-50 to comply with electrical code?

Usually with NM-B cable the ground wire is implied so 6/3 means 6/3 with G.

I decided to get another quote. Guy coming out April 8th. Please let us know what did you pay for your install. Thank you!!

I actually did the install myself, then asked an electrician (a friend) to rubber stamp it. So, install cost was less than $100. But, I did get a quote for $400 from a local electrician.

I recently had a ChargePoint Flex installed. The unit I bought had the NEMA 6-50 plug because that one would be delivered in just a few days from Amazon, vs. the 14-50 plug which would have taken a month to arrive. Since I thought the electrician would be hardwiring the ChargePoint, I figured the type of plug didn't matter, since I wouldn't be plugging the cable (charger) from the car into it.

However, when the electrician did the install, he actually installed a NEMA 6-50 plug and then plugged the ChargePoint into it. When I asked why he didn't do the hardwiring, he said the code in Maine requires a disconnect. Installing it using the plug (and he put the plug in protective box) solved that problem.

When I heard this, I wondered if I actually needed the ChargePoint+. Maybe I could have just had a plug installed and used the cable (EVSE) that came with the car? That prompted me to look at the cable and I discovered I had one from a Toyota Prius Prime!* From what I can tell, it is a Level 1 cable and the kind that would take hours to charge the car. So as it turns out, having the ChargePoint+ installed was a good thing for me.

Expenses:

• ChargePoint+: $699 (I just looked on Amazon and the price is up to $968, so yikes! I bought at the right moment.)

• Romex 6/3 wire: $525 (125', purchased at HomeDepot. I was able to sell the leftover wire for $50.)

• Materials purchased by electrician: $200

• Electrician cost: $825

• Total: $2200

Maybe not the cheapest, but I am happy with my setup. And, if I meet my goal of having 2 EVs in my driveway by this time next year, I know I will be glad that I have the ChargePoint installed, just for ease of use and convenience.

*I bought my car used, through a private seller. He shared tons of pictures and a video, but I never specifically asked about the cable or saw a picture of it. When I discovered I did not have the original Nissan cable, at first I was annoyed and asked for an explanation. It turns out his son took the Nissan cable and installed it in his garage in a "permanent" hook-up, and gave his father the Toyota cable to use for extreme emergencies. The father (from whom I bought the car) had a EVSE in his garage and didn't need the Nissan EVSE. Since he knew I was installing the ChargePoint+, he figured I only needed a cable for extreme emergencies, too--which is probably correct. So I am not annoyed anymore although a little bit more disclosure on this point in advance would have been nice. But...live and learn.

Parts list for my install, mainly to provide a reference for probably the easiest and lowest cost install possible.
50 amp 240v breaker $27
2 gang electric box $5
14-50 outlet $10
outlet cover $3
6/3 wire, 5 ft (purchase min used about 4 ft) $25
3/4" wire bushing/5 pack (used one to run wire through breaker panel knockout) $2

I did have to drive to 2 different hardware stores as the first one was out of a few of the items.

The breaker panel was in the garage bay that I park, so I could install the outlet directly below the panel. The cord is long enough for that bay to park either way (front in or back in) I could park in the other bay, but would have to back in.

I'd just add that per 2020 NEC any 240V receptacle in a garage needs GFCI protection. So instead of a $25 50A breaker it will be closer to $100.

Suggest watching the following video to see how variable the 14-50 outlets can be. Not necessarily advocating the top shel $100+ outlet showcased but definitely see if you can get a better unit with large contact points.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRcDUZgeuGs

Thanks OldMan, interesting video. Personally, I don't like the "you are paying $100k for a vehicle, do you want to cheap out on an outlet" thing, but I agree, I don't like the half prongs on the Leviton, shame on them! While the Hubble might be top of the line, I personally would probably get the one step down from it, at much less than half the cost but still seems decently made.
I just checked my 14-50 outlet which I somewhat overpaid for at a local home improvement store, I was in a hurry and didn't want to wait for Amazon, and it does have the full brass? contacts and I believe had the same clamping wire holder as the more expensive Hubble but even at home improvement prices I believe was around $25 or about half the price. Mine is a Pass & Seymour Legrand, a pretty decent name brand I believe, and has served me well for going on 8 years. Note though I only pull a max of 28a from mine as that's the max the Leaf can pull, still everything still looks good.

I retired from a Fortune 500 company where some of the equipment we sold were connected to a14-50R receptacle. I started as a local tech then moved to region product technical engineer and eventually region manager.

We supplied hubbell nema 14-50 receptacles with externally mounted industrial metal boxes to customers. The customer was responsible to have an electrician install the electric. Prior to delivery of our equipment a tech did a site check to verify proper space and electric. I would estimate that 1 in 10 outlets were initially improperly wired by electricians.

The gold standard is a hubbell nema 14-50. Hubbells are expensive but I never had one fail

jjeff said:

Personally, I don't like the "you are paying $100k for a vehicle, do you want to cheap out on an outlet" thing, but I agree, I don't like the half prongs on the Leviton, shame on them! While the Hubble might be top of the line, I personally would probably get the one step down from it, at much less than half the cost but still seems decently made.

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Agreed. For me, it wasn't the cost of vehicle argument but simply the reduced overheating risk. I understand our EVSE has a temperature sensor in the 14-50 plug and throttles down the current if overheating is detected. Besides being a potential fire risk overheating would also cause slower charges hence I wanted to avoid it going the full size prong route. I didn't get a Hubble but asked my electrician to install a full size prong outlet of good quality which he did. I think the cost was around $20 if I recall correctly.

Flyct said:

The gold standard is a hubbell nema 14-50. Hubbells are expensive but I never had one fail

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Agreed. They look amazing. Thanks for sharing your first hand experience.

Flyct said:

I would estimate that 1 in 10 outlets were initially improperly wired by electricians.

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What were the common errors ?
I'm having trouble guessing what someone would do wrong with #6 AWG conductors connected to two hots, a neutral and a ground.

I'm also a big fan of buying quality electrical equipment. Not only does it pay dividends the first time an electrician circles around to fix something that has broken, it is *really* cheap insurance for my home and family

SageBrush said:

Flyct said:

I would estimate that 1 in 10 outlets were initially improperly wired by electricians.

Click to expand...

What were the common errors ?
I'm having trouble guessing what someone would do wrong with #6 AWG conductors connected to two hots, a neutral and a ground.

I'm also a big fan of buying quality electrical equipment. Not only does it pay dividends the first time an electrician circles around to fix something that has broken, it is *really* cheap insurance for my home and family

Click to expand...

The most common wiring error for 14-50 receptacles was in commercial buildings. The neutral straight slot was wired to a 3rd phase of a hot leg.

The other not so common error was not connecting ground or wiring a hot and neutral reversed.

We found hot and neural revered often on 120 vac receptacles. Hot and neutral reversed was common when someone with DC experience thinking Black is negative ground rather than black wire is a hot wire.

Another not uncommon issue was excessive voltage drop at high current draw due to undersized wire due to long runs from breaker box to receptacles. We would put a voltage monitoring and tracking device at the receptacle to document voltage drop. That was pre-digital age where we would install a logger that produced a paper strip like an EKG machine.

Flyct said:

The most common wiring error for 14-50 receptacles was in commercial buildings. The neutral straight slot was wired to a 3rd phase of a hot leg.

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I'm still trying to follow what happened here.

I'm finding it hard to believe that an electrician would not know that they have 3 hot wires and a 3 phase distribution panel

OP, not sure where in CT, but if you’re anywhere within 90 minutes of NYC, that price would unfortunately not surprise me. I moved a couple years ago and took my EVSE with me. One electrician charged me $200 to take it out (took him 5 minutes) and another one charged me $375 (took him an hour tops) to install it at our new place - it’s on the exterior wall of our detached garage, immediately opposite the garage’s sub panel. So I agree with others — shop around. Though I wouldn’t shop too much because I doubt you’ll save more than $500 or so.