Code - EV charging electric wire and Gas line

[Raj_vik]

Hello,
I am planning to install a 240V/50amp charging outlet close to the garage. For this the electric wire will run close to the gas line in the garage attic. What are the code requirements i.e how close can the electric wire run close to the gas line. Is it good to put the electric wire in a conduit for safety reasons? Please let me know.

Thanks,
Raj

 

[Twowaxhack]

As close as you want.

 

[MicEd69]

There are no code requirements for minimum distance between electrical power wiring and gas lines.

If there is no storage being done in the garage attic, there is no reason to run the wiring in conduit. I would run 3 conductor #6 Romex with ground. If you want to run conduit, you really should use single conductor THHN wire; 2 each #6 Black, 1 each #6 white, 1 each #10 green.

 

[BlueSkyHigh]

A friend of our's house just burned to the ground the fire starting in the garage in or around the charging connections for one of two their two Chevy Volts. The FD still hasn't determined whether the origin of the fire was with one of the cars or the connections to that car. Very sad.

 

[Riickk]

Iirc, those Chevys had a recall, because the batteries tended to catch fire.

 

[BlueSkyHigh]

I'll let him know.

 

[Riickk]

GM Announces Recall to Fix Chevy Volt Fire Risk

They also recalled all the Chevy Bolt ev

 

[Joacchim57]

Iirc, those Chevys had a recall, because the batteries tended to catch fire.

You're thinking of the Bolt EV. As another poster noted, the Volt recall was due to risk of fire from a "serious side impact crash".

 

[Riickk]

Yup...That link says just that.
Then again many people confuse the two models with one another.

 

[hdtvkeith]

Hello,
I am planning to install a 240V/50amp charging outlet close to the garage. For this the electric wire will run close to the gas line in the garage attic. What are the code requirements i.e how close can the electric wire run close to the gas line. Is it good to put the electric wire in a conduit for safety reasons? Please let me know.

Thanks,
Raj

Technically you are not supposed to run Romex NM-B for any long run in conduit. A lot of debate on that in various electrical forums, since the code states exposed cable needs to be proe]texted at various heights. If you need or want conduit then THHN as stated is the way to go. I ran 6/3 NM-B from my panel to the charger. Even though I did not need to run it through the joists I did, and boy did feeding that through 10 joists suck. I later got another EV so put a 60 amp subpanel in line and use 2 power sharing chargers (technically they are EVSE). If you are adding this yourself be sure to use a commercial out like Hubble. They will be expensive (~$75) but are designed for this. Low cost outlets for dryers and stoves are not designed to support a constant 40 amps for hours. Remember stoves and dryers cycle so they draw 40 amps for a while then draw a few amps then ramp back to 40 for periods which allows the outlet components to cool, the car will pull 40 amps non-stop while it is charging. Plenty of posts on Tesla forums about cheap outlets failing.

 

[Mitchell-DIY-Guy]

If there is no storage being done in the garage attic, there is no reason to run the wiring in conduit. I would run 3 conductor #6 Romex with ground. If you want to run conduit, you really should use single conductor THHN wire; 2 each #6 Black, 1 each #6 white, 1 each #10 green.

Yeah, while code may vary from place to place, Romex or technically NM-B or non-metallic sheathed cable should not be exposed. Best practices has this inside walls, running through studs, through joists, etc. If you are running cable on the outside of a wall, best to use conduit. PVC conduit is cheap as all get out, and even the metallic stuff for short runs isn't costly. Or, armored cable.

I installed a Level II charger in my garage. Service panel was in the basement, the charger outlet in the garage. I needed 75' of cable. I happened to find a deal on NM-B in the gauge I needed (I want to say it was 10 for a 30A 240V circuit) but only in the -UF style. A few feet was run in conduit outside of the service panel up to the joists. Ran thought all the joists into the garage, and then to another small piece of conduit to a J-Box with the outlet. I may have used about 4' of conduit in a 75' run. It was protected, and looked great. Worked well too for the year we had two PEVs.