What it costs, what's permitted, and what to ask before you hire.
Last verified: 2026-06-08 · Data building
Likely first step
Check your electrical panel capacity
Panel / electrical
May require a panel upgrade
Complexity
Verify locally
Permit likelihood
Confirm with your building department
Rebate sensitivity
Verify current programs
Best first call
A licensed contractor for an itemized quote
Utility impact
Electric: Seattle City Light; gas: Puget Sound Energy
Rate and program details not yet verified — confirm with your utility.
Cost snapshot
Local cost data not yet verified. Get itemized quotes from 2-3 licensed contractors and compare line items.
Incentive snapshot
Section 30C Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit (residential EV charger)
Had a statutory cliff on June 30, 2026. For property placed in service Jan 1, 2023 – June 30, 2026: 30% of the cost of qualifying residential EV charging property, up to $1,000 per item (per charging port, fuel dispenser, or storage property), claimed on IRS Form 8911. Only homes located in a qualifying low-income community or non-urban census tract may have qualified. Installations placed in service after June 30, 2026 do not qualify. §30C federal EV-charger credit had a statutory cliff on June 30, 2026 (OBBBA Public Law 119-21, 139 Stat. 72, signed July 4, 2025). Under the statute, the credit 'will not be allowed for any property placed in service after June 30, 2026.' This was a cliff termination with no transition rate — installations placed in service on July 1, 2026 or later do not qualify, regardless of when payment or contracting occurred. For property placed in service Jan 1, 2023 through June 30, 2026, the credit covered 30% of the cost of qualifying alternative fuel vehicle refueling property installed at a U.S. home used by the taxpayer as a main home, capped at $1,000 per item (the cap applied separately to each charging port, fuel dispenser, or storage property). Property had to have original use beginning with the taxpayer. Census-tract eligibility was the load-bearing constraint: per IRS guidance, the property had to be installed in a low-income community census tract or non-urban census tract — 2015 Census Tract boundaries applied to installations placed in service before Jan 1, 2025; 2020 Census Tract boundaries applied to installations placed in service on or after Jan 1, 2025. Many urban high-income census tracts did not qualify even where the homeowner installed an otherwise eligible charger. Homeowners claimed the credit on Form 8911 attached to their federal tax return. Pre-cliff installs may have qualified — verify both the placed-in-service date and the census-tract eligibility of the install address with a qualified tax preparer before relying on this credit.