Sacramento, CA
EV CHARGER INSTALL ESTIMATING.

## EV Charger Estimating in Sacramento Moves Fast — Your Bids Should Too Sacramento sits at the center of California's EV push. The state's own fleet is headquartered here, SMUD runs some of the most aggressive EV incentive programs in the country, and the metro added roughly 12,000 new EV registrations in 2023 alone. That demand flows directly to licensed C-10 electrical contractors across the region — and it shows up as a bid queue that doesn't slow down. The problem is that EV charger installs are not flat-rate work. A Level 2 EVSE circuit in a 1960s Midtown bungalow pulls a panel upgrade into scope. A commercial fleet depot in West Sacramento needs a load management study before you can size the transformer. Every job is different, and a spreadsheet from 2021 won't price it right in 2024. Estimate.Pro handles the variability so you can get a sendable bid out of a walkthrough in 8 minutes. ### What Makes Sacramento EV Work Distinct **Panel capacity is the first question every time.** Sacramento's older neighborhoods — Curtis Park, Land Park, Tahoe Park — run heavily on 100-amp service. Before you quote a 48A Level 2 charger, you need to know whether the panel supports it under NEC Article 625 load calculation rules. Estimate.Pro includes an Article 625 load calc worksheet built into the scope builder. You answer the questions; the app flags whether a panel upgrade is in scope. **SMUD rebates shift the customer conversation.** SMUD offers residential EV charger rebates and time-of-use rate incentives that customers bring up on every sales call. You need to know the numbers cold. The app lets you note applicable rebate offsets in the estimate so the customer sees net cost alongside your contract price — no separate spreadsheet, no confusion at signing. **Sacramento City permit fees are predictable but time-sensitive.** The City of Sacramento Department of Community Development charges a flat electrical permit fee for EVSE installations, currently in the $150–$200 range for residential work, with commercial calculated on valuation. Placer County and El Dorado County jobs — common for contractors serving the full metro — use different fee schedules. Estimate.Pro lets you set jurisdiction-level permit line items in your saved workspace so the right fee populates by default. **C-10 license scope matters for subcontract decisions.** California requires a C-10 Electrical Contractor license for EVSE installation. If you're a general contractor pulling in EV work and subcontracting the electrical, your bid needs to capture the sub markup clearly. The app supports multi-trade scopes with separate labor pools so you don't accidentally flatten your margin on the pass-through. ### The 8-Minute Walkthrough Workflow 1. **Walk the job.** Use AR measurement on supported devices to capture panel-to-charger run distance. Camera measurements are flagged as estimates — you know what's verified and what needs a tape. 2. **Build the scope.** The EV charger scope template covers EVSE supply circuit, conduit run, panel connection, breaker, mounting hardware, and permit. Add a panel upgrade line if the load calc flags it. 3. **Price it.** Material costs pull from your saved workspace — your actual supplier pricing, not a national average that doesn't reflect Western Nevada Supply or Interstate Electric pricing in this market. 4. **Send it.** The bid is client-ready with line-item detail, permit allowance, and optional rebate offset noted. Median time from walkthrough start to sent bid: 8 minutes. ### Pricing That Fits Your Operation Estimate.Pro runs on a free forever tier — no credit card, no trial clock. When your volume grows, Pro is $39 per seat per month. Elite at $79 per seat adds Stripe Connect invoicing with 0% platform fee and invoice exports. If you're running a crew with multiple estimators, the Crew plan at $399 per month is a flat rate regardless of seat count. On the Free tier, Stripe Connect payments carry a 3% platform fee. Pro and above pay 0%. ### Built for 25 Trades, Tuned for Electrical Estimate.Pro supports 25 trades. The EV charger install workflow shares infrastructure with the broader electrical trade — conduit, panel work, load calcs — so the scope items are native, not bolted on. If you also bid solar-plus-storage under NEC 690, the same platform covers both job types without switching tools. Sacramento's EV market is not slowing down. The contractors who win the next round of fleet depot contracts, HOA common-area installs, and multifamily retrofit bids will be the ones who turn estimates fastest without losing accuracy. Estimate.Pro is built to get you there.