Free bill analysis - bring a power bill, get the production math for your actual roof, panel brands like Qcells and REC compared side by side
If the pitch starts at your door and ends with "sign tonight for the special," sleep on it. The sun will still be there tomorrow; so will we.
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterFast, Reliable EV Charger Installation Across Los Gatos
If you’re searching for EV charger installation in Los Gatos, CA, the straight answer is this: a typical Level 2 charger install in Los Gatos runs $1,200 to $2,800, permits run $180 to $420 through the Town of Los Gatos Building Division, and most jobs are done in one visit once the permit clears. Gus’s Solar handles the full job, from panel assessment to final inspection, with no subcontracted labor. We know the hillside properties in 95033 and the flatland ranches in 95032 like the back of our hand. Call us at (877) 550-6892 and we’ll tell you exactly what your specific home needs.
Why Gus’s Solar Is Los Gatos’s Preferred EV Charger Installation Company
Gus Petrakis started this company in 2011 and put his actual name on the truck. That might sound old-fashioned, but it’s exactly what Los Gatos homeowners tell us they want. When you call, you get a live person, 24/7. Not a voicemail. Not a call center three states away. That matters when you’re standing in your driveway at 7 a.m. wondering why your charger tripped overnight.
Our crew knows the difference between a 95030 Craftsman with a detached garage and a 95033 hillside estate with a 140-foot trench run. We’ve been through enough Town of Los Gatos plan checks to know what gets kicked back and what passes the first time. That local knowledge saves you weeks on permit timelines. The 90-Day Done Right Promise applies to every EV charger job we do in Los Gatos, in writing. If it’s not right, Gus comes back and makes it right. One call.
We’re not a pop-up sales crew. Gus publishes his name, his address, and his license number. You’ll see the same uniformed, background-checked crew on your Los Gatos job that you’d see at the hardware store on a Saturday. No subs, no third-party installers, no handing your project to someone we’ve never met.
Our EV Charger Installation Services in Los Gatos
Every Los Gatos home is different, so we scope each job from the panel outward. Here’s what we do most often in the 95030, 95031, 95032, and 95033 ZIP codes.
Level 2 Charger Installation
Most Los Gatos homeowners want a Level 2 charger because 120V trickle charging is painfully slow on a 60-mile round trip to San Jose or Campbell. We install 240V Level 2 chargers on dedicated circuits, sized to your panel’s real capacity. In Los Gatos, the typical install includes a permit, a 50-amp or 60-amp breaker, and hardwired or NEMA 14-50 outlet wiring depending on your charger brand and garage layout.
Tesla Wall Connector Installation
Teslas are everywhere in Los Gatos, from the downtown 95030 neighborhoods to the gated hillside communities above Lexington Reservoir. We install Tesla Wall Connectors regularly, and we know the exact amperage settings that make sense for your panel and your driving habits. If you’re pairing the Wall Connector with existing solar, we’ll coordinate the load calculation so the charger draws cleanly without tripping your main.
Panel Upgrade for EV Charging
This is the big one in Los Gatos. We lose count of how many 1950s ranch homes in 95032 come to us with a 100-amp panel that’s already doing heavy lifting: AC, electric dryer, maybe a hot tub. Add a Level 2 charger and you’re over budget. On hillside properties in 95033, it gets trickier. Well pumps, D-Square breakers, and 240V septic lift stations eat capacity fast. We do full panel upgrades, from 100A to 200A, with permits pulled through the Town of Los Gatos and all the load documentation the Building Division expects to see.
Garage & Driveway Charger Wiring
Some Los Gatos garages are attached and easy. Others are detached workshops sitting 80 feet from the house, or carports tucked against a hillside. In 95033, trenching through serpentine rock and oak root zones is a real job, and it’s one we’ve done many times. We’ll route conduit properly, bury to code depth, and install a disconnect where the Town requires it. If your charger needs to live outside, we use weather-rated enclosures and see the job through inspection.
What happens when you call
- 1
A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
- 2
You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
- 3
A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
- 4
You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Trusted Brands We Service in Los Gatos
We work across all the major charger and electrical brands you’ll find in Los Gatos homes: Tesla, Enphase, SolarEdge, SunPower, FranklinWH, and others. When a Los Gatos customer’s charger needs warranty work or a replacement board, we stock common parts locally and can usually schedule within a few days, not weeks. We also install chargers that pair with FranklinWH and other battery systems if you’re building toward a fully integrated setup with solar and storage. The point is, we don’t sell you a brand. We wire what works for your house and your panel.
Common EV Charger Installation Problems We See in Los Gatos Homes
These aren’t theoretical. They’re the patterns we see week after week across Los Gatos.
- Maxed panels on hillside homes. A flatland bid’s generic load calculation doesn’t account for well pumps, septic lift pumps, or the 240V equipment common on 95033 acreage. We discover this during our site visit, tell you before we start, and quote the panel upgrade upfront instead of surprising you mid-job.
- Trenching surprises in mountain soil. Los Gatos hillsides are loaded with serpentine rock and protected oak roots. Digging blind, without a utility locate or a topos survey, can hit a buried line or a protected root zone and get you red-tagged by the Town. We survey first, then trench once.
- Fire-zone inspection failures. Installing a charger on a wood-sided mountain garage in 95033 without FHSZ-rated fire raceway or a remote emergency disconnect means the final inspection fails. Then the homeowner waits six more weeks while a fix gets permitted. We build FHSZ compliance into the original plan, not as an afterthought.
- Voltage drop on long runs. When the charger is 100 feet or more from the main panel, which is common on hillside lots, undersized wire causes voltage drop and slower charging. We size the feeder for the actual distance, not the flatland default.
Pricing for EV Charger Installation in Los Gatos, CA
Let’s talk real numbers for Los Gatos. A straightforward Level 2 charger install, with an existing 200-amp panel and the charger within 25 feet of the panel, runs $1,200 to $1,800 including the permit. Tesla Wall Connector installation in Los Gatos typically runs $1,400 to $2,200 depending on wire run length. Panel upgrades for EV charging in Los Gatos start around $3,500 and go up from there, with most 100-to-200-amp upgrades landing between $4,000 and $6,500. Long trench runs on hillside properties in 95033 add $40 to $80 per foot of trench, including conduit and labor.
What affects your price in Los Gatos: panel capacity, distance from the panel to the charging location, whether you need trenching, whether your property sits in a CAL FIRE Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone, and whether you’re pairing with solar. We quote upfront. No signature wanted tonight. Bring us your utility bill, we’ll bring you the math. Call (877) 550-6892 for a free estimate.
We Also Serve Cities Near Los Gatos
Our crews handle EV charger installation in Los Gatos and the surrounding communities. We regularly work in Saratoga, Campbell, Communications Hill, and San Jose. If you’re just up Highway 17 or over the 85 interchange, we’re already familiar with the local building departments and utility territories. Learn more about our EV Charger Installation service, or if you’re in the heart of downtown, see how we serve Los Gatos directly. We’re a local crew that shows up on time and answers the phone.
Serving Los Gatos, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Los Gatos area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs - EV Charger Installation in Los Gatos
Yes. In CAL FIRE Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones, which cover most of 95033 and the upper reaches of 95030, the Town of Los Gatos Building Division enforces fire-rated raceways and a remote emergency disconnect for EV charger circuits. The disconnect must be accessible from outside the structure. We document this in the permit package so it passes the first inspection. Flatland neighbors in Campbell do not face this requirement, but Los Gatos hillside homeowners do. Call (877) 550-6892 and we’ll tell you exactly what your property needs.
Anything over 100 feet from the panel needs upsized wire to avoid voltage drop, and on Los Gatos hillside lots with long driveway runs, we routinely see charger locations 150 to 250 feet from the main. At that distance, undersized wire causes slower charging and overheating risk. We size the feeder for the actual distance, using 2/0 copper or larger where a flatland job would use 6 AWG. If you’re on a large parcel in 95033, tell us where the garage or workshop sits and we’ll calculate the run before we quote.
Not exactly. Net metering in Los Gatos, under current PG&E programs, credits your solar production at a reduced rate compared to what you pay for evening charging. You’ll offset much of the cost, but not all of it, unless you have battery storage to shift production into charging hours. We’ll model it off your actual bill so you see the year-25 numbers, not a brochure estimate. And the charger install itself is a separate cost, not free. Bring us a bill and we’ll show you the honest math. Call (877) 550-6892.
You need a panel upgrade, and on Los Gatos homes where the Building Division requires load documentation for hillside electrical work, we recommend sizing at 200 amps now so you do not do this twice. Between the charger’s 48-amp continuous load, a heat-pump water heater’s 30-amp draw, and your existing well pump or septic lift station on 95033 properties, a 100-amp panel simply cannot handle it. We’ll pull the permit in Los Gatos, do the upgrade, and leave headroom for future additions. Upfront pricing. No surprises. Call (877) 550-6892 to schedule a panel assessment.
Because the Town of Los Gatos reviews EV charger permits on hillside properties the same way it reviews solar permits on those properties. If the home sits in an FHSZ, the Town wants explicit documentation of NEC 690.12 rapid-shutdown compliance and fire-department roof-access setbacks, even when the work is a charger, not a solar array. Installers who submit boilerplate flatland plans get kicked back. We submit Los Gatos-specific documentation the first time, because we’ve been through this review process more times than we can count.
Take two weeks. Think about it. The price will be the same. If a salesman needs an answer tonight, the answer is no. We quote the year-25 output, not the day-one brochure number. That’s how we’ve done it since 2011, and that’s how we do it in Los Gatos today.
Written by Gus Petrakis, Owner at Gus’s Solar, serving Los Gatos since 2011.