← EV charger installation bid calculator
Homeowners search that question and get back a single number. It hides the two things that actually set the price: how far the circuit has to run, and whether the panel has room for it. A 20–25 foot indoor Level 2 install on a spare breaker slot is one job. The same 48 A charger on a 70-foot trench to a detached garage that also needs a service upgrade is several times the price — and neither is what a flat "EV charger install" quote is pricing.
Open the free EV charger bid calculator
Breaker sizing. EVSE is a continuous load, so the overcurrent device is sized at 125% of the charger's continuous current and rounded up to a standard breaker — 32 A becomes 40 A, 48 A becomes 60 A. That changes the wire gauge, not just a line item.
The run. Copper has to hold voltage drop over the actual distance, not a nameplate distance. A 25-foot indoor run and a 70-foot outdoor run to a detached structure are different conductor sizes and different labor hours, even at the same amperage.
The trench. Anything outside the structure the panel is on means trenching, conduit, and backfill — hours a "charger install" line item does not carry.
Panel capacity. Subtract a realistic existing load from the service rating. If what's left is smaller than the EVSE breaker, the job needs a service upgrade or a load-management device, not an optimistic assumption that the panel has room.
The calculator does that arithmetic in your browser. It is not a permit load calculation and does not determine NEC or local-code compliance — confirm the panel, the run, and the adopted code with a licensed electrician before you bid.
A 48 A charger on a spare panel slot, 25 feet indoors, needs a 60 A breaker and a short, inexpensive run — call it close to a thousand dollars of contractor price once wage burden, permit, and margin are in. The same 48 A charger on a 70-foot trench to a detached garage, where the service also needs an upgrade to clear the new breaker, is several times that number before either job has been marked up. The calculator prices both from the same inputs so a "how much for an EV charger" phone quote never has to guess which job it is.
There is no flat hang fee. A 20–25 foot indoor Level 2 install on a panel with a spare slot often lands near a thousand dollars of contractor price once wage burden, permit, and margin are in. The same 48 A charger on a 70-foot trench to a detached garage that also needs a service upgrade is several times that. Price the circuit, the run, the trench, and the panel work.
EVSE is a continuous load. Size the overcurrent device at 125% of the charger's continuous current and round up to a standard breaker: 32 A → 40 A, 40 A → 50 A, 48 A → 60 A, 80 A → 100 A. Confirm against the charger nameplate and the adopted code in the jurisdiction.
When the existing service does not have enough unused capacity for the new breaker. Subtract a realistic existing load from the service rating. If the remainder is smaller than the EVSE breaker, the bid should include a service upgrade or a load-management device — not a hope that the panel will be fine.