EV Charger Installation in La Porte Starts With a Load Calculation, Electrician Says
Houston Bay Area homeowners buying an electric vehicle should get a load calculation before a Level 2 charger is installed, a La Porte master electrician says - because on an older home with a smaller electrical service, that calculation, not the charger, decides whether the house needs a new panel, a lower charger setting, or no change at all.
Houston Bay Area homeowners buying an electric vehicle should get a load calculation before a Level 2 charger is installed, says Tyler Beene, owner and Master Electrician at Power Surge Electric LLC in La Porte. On an older home with a smaller electrical service, that calculation decides whether the house needs a new panel, a lower charger setting, or no change at all.
The math is set by the National Electrical Code, which treats EV charging as a continuous load, so the circuit and breaker are sized at 125 percent of what the charger draws. A charger set to 40 amps needs a 50-amp circuit. At 240 volts, that charger pulls 9,600 watts. A 100-amp service is rated for 24,000 watts in total, so one charger takes about 40 percent of it before the air conditioner, the dryer and the range are counted. Texas adopted the 2026 edition of the code as the state electrical code on September 1, 2026. It keeps two ways to check whether an existing home can carry a charger: a calculation built from the appliances in the house, or the home's maximum metered demand over a full year.
"I spent four years on the utility side at CenterPoint, so I look at the whole path the power takes, from the transformer to the car," said Beene, who holds Texas Master Electrician license #38432 and has more than 11 years in the trade, including a five-year apprenticeship through IBEW Local 716. "Most homes can take a charger. The load calculation tells you which ones can't, before anybody spends money on the wrong fix."
Most homes do well at 32 to 40 amps, which adds about 25 to 30 miles of range per hour, Beene says. Simple outlet installs typically cost $400 to $1,000 and hardwired chargers $800 to $2,500, by his firm's stated ranges; a panel upgrade costs more, and the company says it recommends one only when the numbers call for it. Homeowners can start the process with three photos - the electrical panel, the parking spot, and the path between them. Power Surge Electric serves 21 communities across the Houston Bay Area, from La Porte, Baytown and Deer Park to Pearland, League City and Lake Houston.
