How do I check the amperage on the breaker in the panel? I'm heading home for lunch and to let the dogs out to potty. I want check so I can give the electricians as much info as I can before scheduling quotes later this afternoon.
You could just text them a single clear photo of the breakers. They'll know.
It's usually the number on the big breaker at the top of your panel.
No! The BIG breaker at the top of the panel is the capacity of the entire panel! You want the number on the two-pole breaker that will connect to your EVSE. It should hopefully have a number of 50 or higher.
My mistake, I thought they were trying to see if they had 100/200/300 amp service to the house.
No fires, no foul!
You have 200 amp service and plenty of open spots in your panel - no need to reuse the range breaker. That's not a bad price depending on how far away from the panel you want to install the charging station.
Yeah; in fact, I'd remove the 50A breaker and wiring and put in 100A line and get one of the 80A chargers, because why not futureproof it.
The only reason I didn't suggest removing the 50A breaker was my recent regret from putting in a great dual-fuel range in my last kitchen remodel instead of a great induction range. The poster's photo shows plenty of open breaker slots, might as well make it easy to go back to an all-electric range in the future if desired. Seems to be the path forward for new construction and a pro chef told me that (their) induction cooktop gives up nothing to (their) high-output gas cooktop.
Yeah, fair point. There's also no reason to remove the range breaker anyway, especially if disconnected.
Other than Lucid's $1,200 charger, what 80A chargers would you recommend?
Yes the 60A sub in the garage is not sufficient. Without knowing the distance to the sub and the size of the wire used, it is not possible to tell what might be easier. You should talk to a couple of electricians and follow their advice on the best approach.
60A service required #4 Aluminum or #6 Copper; 100A service requires #1 Aluminum or #3 Copper. These numbers are for runs under 100 feet. Your biggest issue is how to run the wires. If it's behind finished drywall, you have to factor in making holes in the drywall sufficient to run the wires, whether conduit is required, patching the drywall, refinishing and painting. If you're going to run wires externally in conduit, you avoid some costs at the expense of aesthetics. All the EVSE's that I've researched say to run copper.
Thanks for the info. Fortunately the run would be through an unfinished attic space, perhaps 50ft. I’ll reach out to a couple of electricians as recommended to review.
