A 48-amp charger on 100 amps.
A 1948 bungalow, original 100-amp service, a gas furnace and a gas range, and a new EV in the driveway. Two other electricians quoted a $5,800 service upgrade.
The numbers
We did the code’s standard load calculation for the house: about 1,300 square feet, a gas furnace, gas range, electric dryer, dishwasher, disposal and a window AC. The calculated load came to roughly 62 amps before the charger.
A 48-amp circuit for a charger that draws 40 amps continuously pushed that well past the comfortable line. But the house’s heavy loads, the dryer and the AC, rarely run at the same time as overnight charging.
The fix
A load manager on the charger circuit. It watches the main service and turns the charger down for the few minutes when the dryer and AC overlap. The owners set the car to charge after 10 p.m. anyway, so in practice it almost never throttles.
The bill
Charger installation $1,150, load manager $450, permit included. About $1,600 against a $5,800 upgrade, and the Xcel rebate took a little more off.
Same house, different street? Send a panel photo.
The electrician’s site, built in seven days.
Sixteen pages: a working panel-load calculator, EV charger pricing with the Xcel rebate explained, an honest page on when you don’t need a service upgrade, and the license number on every screen.