Home EV charging
EV charger installation in Montreal
A Level 2 charger needs its own 240 volt circuit, usually 40 amps, run from your panel to the garage or driveway. Price comes down to two things: how far that run is, and whether your panel has room.
What decides the price
On 200 amp service, a charger almost always fits. On 100 amps the electrician will do a load calculation. Sometimes it works as is, sometimes you need a charger that throttles itself or a load manager that pauses charging when the dryer and the baseboards are on. Upgrading the whole service just for a charger is rarely the only option.
Then there’s the run. A panel on the other side of the garage wall is an easy afternoon. A panel at the far end of a finished basement with the charger at the end of the driveway means thicker wire, fishing through walls, maybe a trench.
| Situation | Installation, before tax |
|---|---|
| Panel near the garage, space available | $600 to $1,100 |
| Long run or finished basement | $1,100 to $2,000 |
| Outdoor post with trenching | $1,800 to $3,000 |
The charger itself runs $500 to $1,000 for common models. Quebec offers financial help toward buying and installing a home charger. Amounts and rules change, so check the government site before you sign and keep every invoice.
Condos
You’ll need the syndicate’s approval, and that’s usually the slow part. Parking spots are rarely wired to your own panel, so the electrician may propose feeding from the common panel with metering per unit. An electrician who has done a few condo projects will save you months of back and forth.