Ride the Lightning: How to Install a 30 amp EV-Charging Outlet

Even though I’ve now owned my new (used) EV for seven months, I’ve only charged at home, until a month ago, using a regular electrical outlet. It’s laughably slow, but it tends to get the job done. After all, my round-trip commute to work is 20 miles, so it doesn’t have to replenish too much on a daily basis. That notwithstanding, I’d still like to have the capability to charge my car a little bit faster. That’s where this fancy new 30 amp outlet will come into play. It will power a “Level 2” charger, as they call it in the biz.

For those unfamiliar, the electrical outlets (actually called receptacles) in your home usually will vary between 15, 20, 30, 40, or 50 amps. The common outlets you plug your phone chargers, TVs, vacuums, and lamps into are usually 15 amps. 20 amp outlets will often be installed in kitchens or for outlets in places like a workshop or even a bathroom, where the demand for electrical loads is higher. 30 amp outlets, like the one I’m installing for my car, are usually installed for dryers in your laundry room. Then there are 40 or 50 amp outlets that will be dedicated lines for your stove, your home’s furnace (if it’s electric), or your A/C.

“How’d You Learn To Do Electrical Work?”

Almost the entirety of my electrical knowledge I picked up by reading this book by Black & Decker (<—AFFILIATE LINK). The other tidbits I picked up from a real-life electrician I happen to know. I recommend everyone who is a homeowner read this book, whether you buy it or borrow it from a friend. I refer to it often when I start a new electrical project, like when I installed a brand new 4-way switch with dimmer for our family room lighting. Its content is invaluable and provides you instant reference material that is in line with electrical code.

Disclaimer

Before I get much further, I must say that I am not a professional electrician. If you do not feel comfortable or are concerned about your abilities to run new circuits in your house, you should not do this. This post is for entertainment purposes only. Don’t rely solely on this article to help you through this—hire a professional! Hopefully that covers me from a liability perspective?

How I Might Do This If I Were a Professional

So let’s get to the meat of this. According to my handy book (<—AFFILIATE LINK), I know I need the following items for my project:

I already had a bunch of other items I needed on hand since I’ve done a fair amount of electrical work, but in the event you’re really starting from scratch:

• 9/16” NM insulated staples
• Wire connectors
• 3/8 in. NM Twin-Screw Cable Clamp Connectors

The Installation

The process is relatively simple: 

1. Cut a hole the size of the receptacle box wherever you want to install it. Be careful about this because there are requirements of where they can be placed, based upon code. I found that, for garages, receptacles need to be at least 18” off the ground. Pro tip: Use a level as you hold the receptacle box up to the wall to ensure it’s level before you trace an outline.
2. Fish/run your cable through the hole and through the walls/ceilings/attics all the way to your main electrical panel. (I only had to drill one hole in the top plate of the garage wall to get the cable into my attic. Then I ran it over the joists all the way to the panel.)
3. TURN OFF THE POWER TO YOUR ELECTRICAL PANEL.
4. CHECK WITH A NON-CONTACT VOLTAGE TESTER THAT YOU TURNED OFF THE POWER TO YOUR ELECTRICAL PANEL.
5. Run your cable through a new knockout in your panel and tighten in place with a cable clamp connector. Install your new 30-amp breaker into your panel and connect your cable to the breaker.
6. Connect your cable to the receptacle and install your new receptacle in your outlet box.
7. Staple the wire to the studs along the length of your wire run to keep everything nicely in place and out of the way (if you can access the areas through which your cable runs).
8. Turn the power back on and test your new circuit to ensure it’s wired properly.*
9. Open beer.

That’s it! 9 easy steps! If you’re concerned about any step along the way, YouTube is your friend. Also, you could just refer to that handy book I mention with illustrations and more significant explanations of each step.

Let The Good Times Roll!

Now I can sit back and relax while my car adds about 20-25 miles of charge per hour instead of just 10-12. And I might even enjoy that beer from step 9 while I do it.

Cheers!

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*Step 8 1/2—Hope that this doesn’t happen: