Can I add a 14-50 outlet below this box with the available slot?

Question

Can I add a 50amp breaker in this available slot and add a 14-50 outlet beneath the box for my EV?

Answer 1

This box appears to be "maxed out" and has other issues.

This box is already serving an existing load, and it appears to be maxed out in serving that load. In fact the wire may not be large enough for that load!

Do the 3 black wires go to the panel? Can you tell us the size of those black wires? (it's written on the wire but is not visible here).

The black-white-red wires, they appear to go to a multi-conductor cable. What does that go to? Can you find anywhere the cable is visible, and give us the text on the cable?

Whatever equipment that 70A breaker powers, we need you to find its data nameplate and shoot a pic.

Lastly this is fed by a breaker in the main panel, right? What size (amps) is the breaker? It'll say it on the handle(s), probably twice.

Do you really, really need 50A for an EV? (no)

We get a continuous stream of first-time EVers who have some misconceptions about EV charging, that are widely taught and repeated among EV owners. These wrong things are a huge hinderance to their success.

Most EVs come for free with a "travel unit" EVSE (charger) that is meant to be kept in the trunk for opportunity charging on road trips - using sockets findable "on the road" at houses and RV parks. That's kind of dumb today with DC fast charging, but they keep doing it. Unfortunately, one of the dongle plugs they give you is the RV (motor home) socket NEMA 14-50. This makes people think this is an EV outlet when it's really an RV outlet. And worse, the 50A size often overload home electrical systems.

A charging speed the house can handle

Level 2 EV charging can actually happen anywhere from 15A to 60A. 15A is perfectly reasonable for most requirements, giving 75-100 miles a night - 2x the speed of level 1, and achievable on most houses without trouble.

After all, when you drove a gas car, did you always leave the house with 100% fuel? Of course not! So on days you drive over 90 miles you can probably catch up over a few days. Or simply DC fast charge.

Even some of the brightest EV influencers - like Aging Wheels, Technology Connections and Out of Spec Reviews - they have 50A circuits at home, but they don't bother to use them.

To do that with the "travel EVSE" you order a different dongle - a NEMA 6-15 for 15A, 6-20 for 20A or 14-30 for 30A. They are about $40 for Tesla, check with your manufacturer.

But the socket is better avoided.

Quality sockets aren't cheap. Also, under NEC 2020 most states require a $150 GFCI breaker, which is dumb, because the charger already is a GFCI. Those costs put you halfway to a wall unit, which does not need those. Those are $425 for Tesla and $550 for everyone else. Tesla? For Non-Teslas? Yeah. Not only is it the best deal in town, but the feature set is superb. Economies of scale. They're not doing anything nefarious, it's not spying on you; it's a very simple device.

Hardwiring the unit is really no different than hardwiring a socket. In fact an EVSE is simply a fancy GFCI socket that tells the car how many amps are safe to draw from the house.

If you are hesitant about this whole EV thing and may not want to commit to a wall unit, you don't have much to risk - resale on EVSE wall units is pretty good. Certainly less risk than the cost of a GFCI breaker if your region requires that.

Get back to us about data about your wires, panel and loads, and we can figure out just how much power you can get from there, and if an easy upgrade is available.