Charger has been running fine on a plug for 8 months, but I keep seeing people say you have to hardwire it or it's a fire risk. Am I gambling with my house?

It's not paranoia but it's also not a plug vs hardwire thing, it's a receptacle thing. The melted pictures people post are almost always cheap builder grade 14-50s (sometimes 6-50s) that were never meant to carry 32-40A for 6+ hours every night. The contacts inside lose spring tension, resistance goes up, it heats, which makes the tension worse, and so on. Or the terminal screws on the back were never torqued properly and the copper creeps a little with every heat cycle. That's the "connection loosens over time" thing - it's real, it's just a specific failure and not some mystery property of plugs. A hardwired install has the same terminal screws inside the EVSE, by the way. If the guy doesn't torque those either, you get the same problem, just inside a box where you can't see it. I actually prefer plug-in - if the unit dies you swap it in 5 minutes, and you can take it with you when you move. If you want peace of mind, kill the breaker, pull the receptacle and see what it is. If it says Hubbell or Bryant on it you're fine. If it's a $12 Leviton from Home Depot, buy an industrial one for ~$60 and put it in yourself, since you're obviously comfortable doing that. Way cheaper than $300.

What charger is it and what amps is it set to? A lot of them ship set to their max. If it's a 48A unit on a 6-50 it should be turned down to 40A max. Nothing warm and no trips doesn't really tell you if it's over the continuous limit.

I've yet to see anyone actually produce a denied claim over this. Homeowner's insurance covers fires from bad wiring all the time... that's what it's for. If anything they'd care whether the outlet was permitted, not whether something is plugged into it.

Same boat, mine's plugged in. Feel the plug right after a long charge in the morning, not whenever you walk by

It's an Emporia, I checked the app and it's at 40. Breaker is 50. Haven't looked at what outlet it is yet. The previous owner had a welder in there so no idea if it was ever permitted honestly

If it was put in for a welder, I'd bet on a cheap receptacle. Welders get plugged and unplugged a lot and people just grab whatever's on the shelf. Doesn't mean it's bad, but it's worth the 10 minutes to look. Also $300 for a hardwire is not a crazy quote - most of that is just the trip out. Electricians have a minimum no matter how small the job is.

Emporia at 40A on a 50A breaker is correct, so that part's fine. While you have the cover off look at the wire too. It'll be printed on the jacket. 6 AWG copper is what you want on a 50A breaker. Welder circuits are sometimes run in 8 AWG because welders get a code exception for duty cycle - that's legit for a welder but not for an EV pulling 40A all night. If it's 8, I'd care about that way more than the plug.

Good point on the welder exception, hadn't thought of that one.

The guy who did my 14-50 ran wire heavier than the 50 amps needed because he knew it was for an EV and did not want to come back if I ever went hardwired at 60. A welder circuit put in by a previous owner almost certainly did not get that treatment. That is why I would look at the wire gauge before anything else. If it is 8 gauge the plug vs hardwire question does not matter, because hardwiring on that same run does not fix it.

Also if you ever do call an electrician check with your utility first. Eversource gave me $700 toward mine, some others do it too