My wife's picking up a Mach-E from the dealership in Elk Grove next month, and I've been playing spreadsheet with electrician quotes for the past two weeks because that's just how my brain works. Panel is a 200A Square D with four open slots, home is a single-story built in 1998, and the run from panel to where she parks is about 20 feet along an unfinished garage wall, so no trenching, no drywall to patch, nothing exotic.
Three quotes: $400 from a guy a neighbor recommended on Nextdoor (no permit mentioned, cash preferred, could start this week), $1200 from a company with a 4.5-star Yelp rating and 200+ reviews (includes permit, inspection, and a NEMA 14-50 from a reputable brand), and $2200 from a Home Depot referral that subcontracts to a licensed outfit (also includes permit, but felt like I was paying for the Home Depot name on top). I already have an Ioniq 5 charging fine off our other 14-50 in the second bay, so I know roughly what a proper install looks like — I just don't know if $400 for the same scope is a steal or a shortcut. What did you actually pay for something this straightforward, and is there a real reason to be suspicious of the cheap guy beyond "it's cheap"?
