Portland Metro Electric
EV Charger Installation in Portland, OR
Wake up to a full battery. Level 2 home chargers installed by licensed electricians, with the price quoted before work starts.
Oregon
Licensed
Washington
Licensed
CCB#
249412
Customer Testimonials
You Bought An Electric Car. Now the Garage Needs to Catch Up.
The EV is in the driveway and the cord that came with it adds four miles of range an hour. Or the dealer quoted a charger install that seemed high and vague. Or you’re not sure your older panel can even take a charger without an upgrade, and nobody’s given you a straight answer.
A home EV charger lets you plug in at night and leave every morning with a full battery, but installing one is more than mounting a box on the wall: a Level 2 charger (the 240 volt kind, the same power as an electric dryer) needs its own dedicated circuit from your panel, and your panel needs enough spare capacity to feed it. Portland Metro Electric installs chargers for every EV brand across the Portland metro, checks your panel’s capacity first, and gives you a min-max price for most installs on the first phone call.
What an EV Charger Install Costs in Portland
Most home EV charger installations in the Portland metro run [$300-$800+]. Every estimate is written and itemized (materials, labor, and permits). Most EV charger installations can be quoted with a min-max range over the phone; complex ones get an in-person inspection. Financing available.
Factors Affecting Electric Vehicle Charger Installations
Distance from your panel to where the car parks:
A charger next to the panel is a short run; the far side of a detached garage means more wire, conduit, and labor.
Amperage of the charger:
A 48-amp charger needs heavier wire and a larger breaker than a 32-amp unit.
Your panel’s spare capacity:
If a load calculation shows the panel can’t take the charger, we’ll quote the panel or service upgrade as a separate, clearly priced line, before anything is installed.
Surface and routing:
Finished walls, exterior mounting, and trenching to a detached structure each add scope.
CHARGER LEVELS, EXPLAINED
Level 1 is the cord that came with your car, plugged into a standard household outlet. No installation needed, but it adds only about 4 to 5 miles of range per hour, which only works if you barely drive.
Level 2 is what a home installation means in practice: a charger on its own dedicated 240 volt circuit, adding roughly 20 to 60 miles of range per hour depending on the charger's amperage and your vehicle. Overnight, that's a full battery every morning. This is what we install for nearly every residential customer.
DC fast charging is the highway-stop kind, adding 60 to 100 miles in about 20 minutes. It requires commercial-grade power and equipment, so it belongs at businesses and fleet sites rather than homes. We install these for commercial customers; ask us about commercial electrical services.
Licensed, bonded & insured in Oregon CCB# 249412
Choosing a Charger: What We Install and Who Each Fits
You don't need to arrive knowing which charger you want. Tell us your vehicle and how you drive, and we'll recommend, supply, and install a compatible unit.
We install other brands as well, from basic Level 1 setups to commercial DC fast chargers. Whatever the unit, the finished install is the same: a dedicated, correctly sized circuit, a securely mounted charger placed where your car actually parks, a full test, and a walkthrough of the app and settings before we leave.
The most common:
Tesla Wall Connector
Purpose-built for Teslas, delivering up to 48 amps and about 44 miles of range per hour, with power-sharing settings for multi-Tesla households and control through the Tesla app. With an adapter or the newer universal version, it can serve non-Tesla vehicles as well.
ChargePoint Home Flex
A do-anything Level 2 charger with adjustable amperage, which means we can set its power to match whatever your panel can support, up to 50 amps, and raise it later if you upgrade. It charges any EV: it works with the J1772 connector (the standard plug used by Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, BMW, Subaru, Volkswagen, and most others) and the NACS connector (the Tesla-style plug now being adopted industry-wide). Up to about 37 miles of range per hour, with scheduling and cost tracking in the ChargePoint app.
Ford Charge Station Pro
Made for the F-150 Lightning, delivering up to 80 amps, which is a genuinely heavy circuit that often shapes the whole installation plan. Its standout feature is Intelligent Backup Power: with the additional home-integration equipment, the truck's battery can feed your house during an outage. We'll tell you up front what that integration involves before you commit to it.
Rivian Wall Charger
Designed for Rivian's trucks and SUVs, up to 48 amps and about 25 miles of range per hour, with charge scheduling through the Rivian app.
Will Your Panel Handle a Charger? Here's the Real Answer.
Every charger draws from your electrical panel, and panels have a fixed capacity measured in amps. Before installing anything we run a load calculation: we add up what your home already draws and compare it to your panel’s rating, so we know how much is genuinely left for charging. As a rule of thumb:
- 150 amp panels can usually support a Level 2 charger up to about 40 amps, plenty for overnight charging of most EVs.
- 200 amp panels can handle the heavy chargers, up to 80 amps, and multi-EV households.
- 400 amp panels support multiple high-amp chargers or commercial-style setups.
- Below 150 amps, an upgrade is often needed to add a charger safely. If that’s your situation we’ll show you the load calculation and quote the panel upgrade or service upgrade as its own clearly priced decision, before you spend anything on a charger.
Not sure what you have? The panel’s main breaker has its rating printed on the handle, or just call and we’ll walk you through finding it.
How an EV Charger Install Works, Start to Finish
Tell us your vehicle, where the car parks, and roughly where your panel is. For most installs we give you a min-max price on that call
Many charger installs can be estimated remotely with photos, with a written quote within 24 hours; complicated runs get an in-person look
You pick the date; we pull the permit and bring the charger and materials. Everything is itemized in advance.
Courtesy call before arrival, installation and testing the same day for most homes, then a walkthrough of the charger, the app, and your new breaker before we leave.
EV Charger Installation FAQs
Yes, in most Portland-metro jurisdictions a new dedicated circuit requires a permit and inspection. We pull the permit and include it in your itemized estimate.
Most installs are completed in a few hours. Long wire runs, trenching to a detached garage, or panel work extend that, and your estimate will say so up front.
Yes, with your landlord’s permission, since the work modifies the building’s electrical system. Some renters choose a plug-in charger on a dedicated outlet so the unit moves with them.
We show you the load calculation and your options: a lower-amperage charger that fits your existing capacity, a panel upgrade, or a service upgrade. You see the price of each path before choosing.
Any J1772 or NACS charger can charge any modern EV, with the right connector or adapter. The real questions are your daily mileage, your panel’s capacity, and whether you want a vehicle-brand ecosystem. We’ll match you in one phone call.
Hardwired installs support higher amperage and are required above 48 amps; plug-in units are portable if you move. We’ll recommend based on your charger and situation.
For any other questions or to schedule an upgrade consultation, contact Portland Metro Electric. We’re here to ensure your electrical system is safe, efficient, and tailored to your needs.
Full Battery Every Morning. Priced Before We Start
Call or send the form. Tell us the car and where it parks, and an electrician will tell you what the install involves, whether your panel can take it, and a price range for most projects on the spot. Written remote estimates within 24 hours. Free, no obligation, financing available.
Monday – Friday: 8:00am – 5:00pm
Saturday – Sunday By appointment only
24/7 Emergency Services avalible
Portland-metro SERVICE AREA
Serving Portland and the greater metro: Happy Valley, Milwaukie, Clackamas, Gladstone, West Linn, Oregon City, Lake Oswego, Wilsonville, Tigard, Tualatin, Gresham, Damascus, Sandy, and surrounding areas, plus Vancouver, WA and Southwest Washington.
OFFICE
Head Office
Portland Metro Electric
8415 SE Hinkley Ave, Happy Valley, OR 97086
Ready to Restore Power or Upgrade Your Electrical?
Call us now, or fill out our contact form and one of our electrical experts will get in tough with you shorty. We will listen to your project needs or concerns and help guide you in the right direction. If the project is can be remotely estimated we can send you a personalized estimate within the next 24 hours.