Home EV charger installation: circuit, panel and permit

What the job is

The electrician runs a new 240 volt circuit from your panel to the place you park. The circuit ends at either a wall-mounted charger (hardwired) or a heavy-duty outlet. The car comes with a cord that only does Level 1 speed, so a Level 2 unit is what most owners mean by “a home charger.”

Owners of a large truck can start with the Ford F-150 Lightning page, which covers its 48 and 80 amp options.

Three things set the size of the job: how much power the car can take, how much spare capacity your panel has, and how far the garage is from the panel.

Pick the circuit size first

The charger is sized to the car, and the breaker is sized to the charger. The National Electrical Code treats EV charging as a continuous load, so the breaker must be about 25 percent above the charger’s output. Tesla’s manual shows this clearly for its Gen 3 Wall Connector: a 60 amp breaker supports 48 amps of charging (11.5 kW), and a 40 amp breaker supports 32 amps (7.6 kW).

Breaker	Charging amps	Power at 240 V
60 A	48 A	11.5 kW
50 A	40 A	9.6 kW
40 A	32 A	7.6 kW

Many cars cannot take more than about 11 kW anyway. A bigger circuit will not make those cars charge faster, so do not pay for 100 amps unless your vehicle can use it. The car pages below show where the limits sit for popular models.

Check the panel before you buy a charger

A 60 amp charger circuit on a busy 100 amp panel can overload the service. Your electrician will run a load calculation to find out. If the answer is no, you have three options: a panel upgrade, a smart panel or a load management device, or a lower-amp charger. The load calculation page shows how the numbers work, and the panel upgrade guide covers when an upgrade is unavoidable. If a larger panel is needed, see 200 amp panel upgrades.

Pages for your situation

By vehicle or charger

• Tesla Wall Connector installation
• Ford F-150 Lightning, Charge Station Pro and home backup
• Rivian R1T and R1S charging
• Hyundai and Kia (Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6, EV6, EV9)

By building or site

• Condo, HOA and rental charging rights
• Outdoor or detached garage installs

By panel limits

• Load calculation steps
• Load management and circuit sharing

What the price includes

As of October 2026, the typical SoCal range for a Level 2 install is $1,000 to $2,000. That covers the new circuit, mounting the charger and the permit. The charger itself is often extra. When the panel needs work too, the range moves to roughly $3,600 to $7,500, so ask any quote to show the panel work as its own line. The cost page and the cost calculator break down the drivers.

Permit and inspection

Most cities want an electrical permit for a new charger circuit, and the inspector checks the breaker, wire size, grounding and mounting. California’s AB 1236 asks cities to streamline charger permits. The AB 1236 guide explains what that means in practice. Do not skip the permit. An unpermitted circuit can cause trouble with insurance and at resale.

Rates and rebates

Charging at night on a time-of-use plan can cut your cost per mile. See time-of-use rates for EV owners. Some utilities offer charger or panel rebates, and the rules change often, so check before work starts. Charge Ready Home takes applications while you plan, during the work or up to six months after, while LADWP, PWP and BWP pay after the permit is finaled.

Questions to ask before you hire

Good quotes are specific. Ask each electrician for the same things so the numbers compare.

• The breaker size, wire size and length of the run, in writing.
• Whether the quote includes the permit fee, the inspection and the charger itself.
• The load calculation, or a note that one will be done before work starts.
• What happens if the panel turns out to be full: the price of a subpanel or a bigger service.
• Which plug type the charger has, matched to your car’s port.

Check the license number on the CSLB site before you sign. A C-10 electrical license is the one that covers this work.

Which page do I need

If you only know your car, start with the vehicle pages. If you rent or live in a condo, start with the rights page, because the permission step comes before any wire is run. If a first quote came back with a panel upgrade you did not expect, read the load calculation page and the load management page before you accept it. Many homes can add a charger with a lower-amp setting or a cap and no new service.