A 60 amp breaker takes 4 AWG copper in NM-B cable, or 6 AWG copper where every part of the circuit is rated 75 °C, such as THHN in conduit landing on 75 °C terminals. This is a rating where the two columns give different answers. NM-B is held to its 60 °C ampacity by NEC 334.80(A), and in that column 6 AWG copper carries 55 A, 5 A short of the breaker, while 4 AWG carries 70 A. In the 75 °C column 6 AWG copper is rated 65 A and clears 60 A.
The 75 °C rating counts only when the conductors, the breaker and the terminals of the equipment at the other end are all rated for it. Where any of them is rated 60 °C, or the markings can't be confirmed, the circuit is sized from the 60 °C column, and the electrician or inspector reads those markings. NM-B is made in copper up to 2 AWG (334.104), so 4 AWG falls within its range. In aluminum the 60 A sizes are 3 AWG at 60 °C and 4 AWG at 75 °C, both rated 65 A.
An EV charger set to 48 A is one load that lands exactly on 60 A. The 2026 NEC treats EV charging as a continuous load (625.41; 2023: 625.41 and 625.42), and a continuous load is sized at 125%, under 210.20(A) for the breaker and 210.19(A)(1) for the wire: 48 × 1.25 = 60. Read the other way, a 60 A breaker carries at most 48 A of continuous load. A charger's own rating and settings come from its nameplate and installation instructions (110.3(B)).
A 60 A feeder to a subpanel, in an attached garage, a workshop or a detached building, uses the same Table 310.16 sizes. Feeders are covered by NEC Article 215, and a feeder that runs to a separate building also falls under Article 225, Outside Branch Circuits and Feeders. Continuous loads on the subpanel count at 125% (215.4(A)(1); 215.2(A)(1) in 2023). The 83% dwelling rule of 310.12 gives no reduction here: it starts at 100 A and covers only conductors that carry the whole home's load.
Whether 60 A is enough for that subpanel is a separate question. The answer comes from a load calculation under Article 120 of the 2026 NEC (Article 220 in 2023), which adds up the connected loads with the code's demand factors, and it is work for an electrician. This page starts once the rating is settled.
Distance matters most for a feeder to a building some way off. At 240 V and the full 60 A, 4 AWG copper drops 3.63 V over 100 feet, 1.51%, and the length table keeps it through 150 feet. The 75 °C size gives way sooner: 6 AWG copper reaches 3% at about 125 feet, so from 150 feet both copper columns read 4 AWG. At 200 feet 4 AWG copper drops 3.02%, just past the line, and the table steps to 3 AWG, at 2.40%. Aluminum goes to 3 AWG at 150 feet and 1 AWG at 200 feet, where 3 AWG aluminum would drop 3.95%. The table assumes the whole 60 A is drawn at the far end; a smaller load drops proportionally less, and 3% is a recommendation from an NEC informational note rather than a rule.