Since this is presumably being run on the surface of the wall instead of inside the wall, does the PVC conduit have to be schedule 80 for physical protection?

And out of curiosity, why are you planning on going up and over the wall instead of straight through it? It seems like an unnecessary complication.

Thanks for the replies, Ron and Greg.

Greg, if I am facing the opened garage, the panel is LHS of the garage and the desired outlet location is on the RHS of the garage with my cars parked in the middle. So, my only way is up along the panel wall, over the surface of the ceiling to the RHS and back down along the RHS wall to outlet location.

oh and the load is going to be an electric car which I will be charging via the NEMA 14-50 outlet.

Ahh, okay. I was picturing it wrong. I thought the panel was inside the house on one side of the wall and the outlet you wanted was in the garage on the other side of the wall (ie. 4 inches away from the panel through the wall).

BTW: you didn't say if this needs to be 120/240v (4 wire) or just 240v (3 wire). You can also get 8-2 or 8-3. I'm not sure (and Ron should know) if protection is required if you run 8-3 along the ceiling.

Interior to the garage doesn't necessarily require protection by the NEC. Your local jurisdiction may make the call otherwise.

Indeed, I have an electric vehicle charger in my garage. They don't take the neutral typically, it's a straight 240. The charger also should be able to be set for whatever ampacity can be delivered. The charger tells the car what is available through that big plug (I'm presuming the standard L2 chargers not something elaborate like a Tesla).

To be a bit more elaborate/specific, the electric car in question is indeed a Tesla.

Tesla's installation guidelines for NEMA 14-50 states:

-Circuit Breaker: 50 amps

-Voltage: Single phase, 208-250 volt AC supply, 60 hertz

-Four Wire Configuration: Line 1 - Line 2 - Ground - Neutral

-Conductors: 6 AWG copper wire for circuits up to 150 feet

-Outlet: Use a high quality, industrial grade outlet

-Ground Pin Orientation: Top position of outlet

-Ventilation: Not required

So it IS a 4 wire configuration, but I am assuming this doesn't change any answers?

The only change would be that since it explicitly states 6 gauge then you have to use that and not 8 gauge.

One more question:

Does the NEC require a certain minimum OR maximum height for the receptacle?

Nope.

One more question: If i go THHN inside conduit up and over and down, would I have to splice from THHN to romex when it enters the panel?

If so, is this splicing allowed per NEC code?

Alternatively, can i do romex all the way and inside the conduit?

Attach the conduit properly to the panel and then you run the THHN right into the panel and attach them directly to the breaker/bars.

I seem to remember that some cable types require derating if run through conduit. It's a heat-thing.

Odd that they require a neutral.

Nope. Derating only is necessary when there are more than 3 current carrying conductors in the conduit. He's only got 3 (or possibly 2).

I agree with Greg. Typically you run the conduit all the way to the panel. But if you want to switch to NM, you can make the transition any place and in any manner that is legal to do so (like in a box with the proper fitting).

Sorry one more question. How do cities inspect the installations? My city inspection guy said they just need to see the Tesla requirements and match that to the install.

Tesla says 6 AWG copper wire in 4 wire configuration on 50 amp breaker with industrial grade outlet with ground up. Once I have completed the install, the only thing they can visually inspect is the breaker size and that the ground is up. Not sure how they would verify 6 AWG in 4 wire config? I can't see them opening up the outlet or asking me to open the outlet to see the wires behind?

I think inspections are normally two-part.

The first inspection is a "rough-in" where the wires are run and everything is in place, but it isn't hooked up to power and the receptacle isn't installed.

Then the final inspection is after everything is done.

But that might be just for a more extensive renovation. If it's just adding a single circuit, it's possible that they'll just come at the end. They can easily pop open the breaker box to confirm the wire size and other than that, everything would be visible.

But you should ask your inspection guy how they do it. It may differ by jurisdiction.

Yep, just confirmed with the city inspection, they will just check the wires from the breaker.. Thanks you all!

If you use 6-3 cable, the wire-size will be printed on the outside.

Any listed conductor or cable should have the size and type printed on the outside.

The neutral wire is required because it's a NEMA 14-50 outlet, one could unplug the Tesla charger and use the outlet for another purpose such as an RV. The 14-50 outlet is 4 prong, and needs to accommodate whatever might get plugged into it. The fact that the Tesla plug in charger doesn't use a neutral connection is irrelevant.

Download a wire fill calculator app on your phone. You can select the type and size of conduit and the number and gauge of conductors and figure out what's to code for your conduit fill ratio.

I gave him the conduit sizing based on either 4 6g (which he asked about) or 4 8g ( which would be legal) THHN for the various popular conduits types.

Hey KG

Thanks for posting this thread and it is helpful. Thanks everyone for the replies. Could you please post all the material that you have used, I'm in similar situation need to run the wire from one end to other end of the garage.