“So, I’ll tell you right now, it’s probably going to be around $4,500.”
I’m seldom speechless, but upon hearing that number for a Level 2 EV charger installation, I had no words. This wasn’t even an in-person quote, but a number tossed out over the phone. For a standard NEMA 14-50 plug. Installed three feet from my breaker box. In the garage. And I already had an Emporia Level 2 charger. I just needed an outlet to plug it into.
“I’ll be honest,” the man on the phone continued. “It’s going to be two grand just to have a truck and a couple guys there for the afternoon.”
And that, friends, is why I’m writing this feature. I live in rural Northern Michigan, where DC fast chargers are few and electric vehicle may as well be a four-letter word. I engaged with five companies and one government program over several months before I finally got my L2 running.
Is this normally how things go for rural EV charger installations?
I suspect there are others out there like me, living a rural life and seeking help to install an EV charger in their home. Ironically, we’re the ones who need home charging the most, since DC fast chargers are few and far between. I was not prepared for the ordeal that I experienced. I sincerely hope such things are exceptions to the rule.
So if you live a quieter life and are shopping for a level 2 home charger, hopefully I can spare you some frustration by sharing my experience. Or if you just like a good story, stick around. This one is a hum-dinger.
Part One: Finding Someone Who’d Even Talk To Me
The saga begins a few steps before the crazy $4,500 quote. I don’t own an EV (yet) but being a work-from-home journalist living in the country, I needed an L2 for road-test reviews. It was fall 2024; I was hoping to get it installed before winter so I could do some testing in properly cold weather. I really wanted someone local; my experience with long-distance contractors hasn’t been great over the years. And naturally, I wanted someone with at least some experience in the EV world.
I hit the internet for help. A query for licensed electricians with EV experience on the local Facebook group was met with silence. So I sleuthed out two local companies that had good reputations for general electrical work, and dialed them up.
I left a voicemail with company number one, simply saying I needed a plug installed for an EV charger. After three days of radio silence, I made a follow-up call, only to get voicemailed again. With a week down the tube and no response, I turned to company number two. Same drill. Voicemail, then a follow-up, and another. I was two weeks in, and I couldn’t even get someone to call me back.
I expanded my search. I went straight to the state of Michigan, which has various programs and offers assistance for charger installations. I set up a call with a “specialist” only to listen to a 10-minute sales pitch on enrolling in fixed-rate utility programs. The call wrapped up with referrals to recommended installers who could set me up with a charger. I explained I didn’t need a charger. I then learned the recommended installers didn’t serve my region of the state anyway. More wasted time.
A month had passed and I hadn’t even talked with an actual electrician or a company, never mind received a quote from anyone. I was insanely frustrated; was there something about EV charger installations that was weird or incredibly complex? I joined an online group for Michigan EV owners; a few shared their install stories but they varied wildly—from giving a neighbor $50 and a generic 240 plug, to a rich guy along Lake Michigan paying $5,000 to have his RV parking pad retrofitted to charge his Taycan.
In general, their advice was to find a local electrician, which I’d already tried.
Part Two: Nationwide Networks And Insane Quotes
With fall inching closer to winter, I decided to call Home Depot. They have a referral system for contractors that worked for me in the past, and while browsing for some bathroom renovation ideas, I discovered they work with EV installers. The last time I did this, I was connected with a local company that Home Depot backed up with a warranty. Maybe they could find a local electrician with EV charger experience?
In short, no. That whole ordeal wasted yet another week’s worth of my time, and it led to the absurd $4,500 over-the-phone quote I previously mentioned. Mind you, this was after I’d spoken to the company twice, explaining where I lived and what I needed. I texted detailed photos of my breaker box, the power meter, and the exact location where I wanted the plug. My takeaway was that they just didn’t want the job and tossed a stupid figure expecting me to say no.
They were located about an hour and a half away—not local, but not that far, either, for these parts. I figured the “two grand to have a truck here” was their take on travel time. That worked out to roughly $600 an hour for a three-hour round trip, plus another $2,500 or so for the actual work. Now, I’m not opposed to paying people for their time. But $4,500 for a 14-50 plug installed three feet from my box? Puh-lease.
I was so fed up I just decided to nix the winter reviews idea and wait until spring. The Emporia wasn’t going anywhere, and I didn’t have a car to charge anyway. So when the snow began to melt, I turned to all-around EV guru and InsideEVs contributor Tom Moloughney. Nobody knows charging like he does. He pointed me towards the Emporia, and now, I was hoping he could help me find a good, local electrician.
He recommended Qmerit, which is similar to Home Depot in that it’s a company that facilitates a network of certified electricians for EV charger installations. Unlike Home Depot, the electricians are required to meet high standards set by Qmerit.
I went through Qmerit’s online system for an estimate. It was a simple process that included a few basic questions and some photos showing the breaker box and the area for the installation (the same photos featured above). Praise be, a short time later, I had an initial estimate of $799. It was perhaps a little high, but after all the crap I’d gone through, I was thrilled to finally reach a qualified company with EV experience, all backed by a warranty.
But that was the initial estimate from Qmerit, based on the info and photos I submitted. The actual quote from the company—using the same info and photos— was… $2,023.98. What. The. Hell?
I immediately cancelled the installation and explained to Qmerit exactly why in a follow-up email. To the company’s credit, I was contacted by a Qmerit manager who explained the $2,023.98 quote included travel time and that it should’ve been listed as an itemized cost (it wasn't). As before, the company was an hour and a half away. Apparently, electricians really don’t like traveling.
But the manager was exceedingly gracious and explained that customers can always request additional quotes if they’re unhappy. He apologized and asked if I’d be willing to give Qmerit another try. They found a second company that quoted $1,000 for the job, and Qmerit offered to pay part of it to honor their initial $799 estimate.
I found that admirable, but ultimately, I declined the offer. This second company was over three hours away. If I had an EV I was driving every day, I would’ve felt more pressure to get the install done. But I wasn’t comfortable with a company that was a half-day away in case I needed any follow-up support
Yes, I was being picky. With this much power going through electrical components for hours on end, you should be picky, too.
Part Three: The Search Ends Where It Began
That brings me to the end of March and a company called Top Notch Electric, a small local crew I somehow missed last year. I left a voicemail explaining what I needed, not expecting to hear anything back. But I did hear back the next day, straight from the owner of the company. And a day after that, he was checking out my garage in person. He had some EV charger experience and had no reservations about saying how easy a job this should be. And he was based just 15 minutes away.
Had I not been about to leave for a week-long work trip, he could’ve wrapped things up in a couple of days. Instead, I set up an appointment two weeks out, and on the big day, one of his electricians showed up with a 50-amp breaker and some 6-gauge Romex wire. I already had a Leviton 1450R EV-rated outlet, which he happily mounted up. Everything was done in about 45 minutes. The bill was $450—$50 less than I was quoted.
I happily paid. And three days later, I was charging a 2025 Chevrolet Equinox EV at 40 amps, watching it all through Emporia’s too-cool app as the charger hummed in the garage. My first home charging session. Finally!
Level 2 EV Charger Installation: What You Need To Know
So, what’s the moral of the story here? It’s harder—but not impossible—to find a good, qualified electrician to handle rural L2 charger installations. You might have to pay a bit more if your only options are a couple of hours away, but I beg you, do NOT pay $2,000 just to have “a truck and a couple guys there for the afternoon.” Professionals deserve to be compensated for their time. Paying the equivalent of $600 per hour for travel is absurd.
Get multiple quotes. Ask how long it will take. If the quote seems high, ask them to itemize it. Obviously, some installations will be more difficult; itemizing it lets you see exactly where the costs come from. If you get an exceedingly high quote without any in-person estimate, the company probably doesn’t want the job and expects you to say no.
On the flip side, don’t compromise. If someone comes in saying they can do it for $50, be wary about the hardware they’re using. This isn’t a job for a handyman who hangs ceiling fans or rolls a new coat of stain on your deck. There’s a lot of power in use here, flowing for several hours on end. Don’t skimp out on that.
I discovered that many good, rural electricians are simply too busy to have much of a presence on social media, or even a website for that matter. They still do things the old-fashioned way, so if online searches come back thin, check the business cards stuck to bulletin boards at local restaurants or coffee shops. Stop at the corner hardware store and ask Bob if he knows an electrician. Chances are, he can help.
And above all else, be patient. Installing an L2 charger isn’t rocket science, and it doesn’t take unobtanium materials to make it work. You just need to find the right person for the job. And even if you live hours from the big city, that person is probably closer than you think.
