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EV charger installation·Toronto and the GTA

Do you need a 200 amp panel for an EV charger?
Toronto homes, real numbers (2026)

Short answer

Often, no. Many Toronto homes on a 100 A service can take a full-speed 48 A Level 2 charger, either straight in or with a certified load manager. The answer comes from 12 months of your own Toronto Hydro data, not from the number printed on the panel.

By Energable, engineering-led electrical, Toronto. Updated November 2026.

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How the check works

This is the method ESA accepts for adding a charger to an existing home. It takes your real usage, not a guess.

  1. Pull 12 months of meter data. Toronto Hydro records your use every hour. Download it from your online account, or send us a recent bill and we help you get it.
  2. Find the highest demand. The single busiest hour of the year, usually a cold January evening or a hot July afternoon.
  3. Multiply by 1.25. ESA Bulletin 8-3-15 adds a 25% safety margin to the measured peak before anything new is added.
  4. Add the charger at its full rating. A car with an 11 kW onboard charger charges at 48 A, so 48 A goes on top. No discount for charging overnight.
  5. Compare with the service. If the total stays within the 100 A service, the charger goes straight in. If not, a certified load manager or an upgrade is next.
Real Toronto homes

Three Toronto homes, all on 100 A

Same service size, three different answers. The difference is how each house actually uses power.

East Danforth: straight in

Older home, full panel, no heat pump
Highest demand in 12 monthsFrom Toronto Hydro data
18 A
x 1.25, plus a 48 A chargerThe Code calculation
70.5 A
The service100 A
100 A
70.5 A of 100 A. Full-speed charger, no upgrade, 29.5 A left for a heat pump later.

Midtown laneway house: straight in

Its own 100 A meter, split from the main house
Highest demand in 12 monthsFrom Toronto Hydro data
33 A
x 1.25, plus a 48 A chargerThe Code calculation
90 A
The service100 A
100 A
90 A of 100 A. Tight but within the service, so the charger went in without load management.

East York: with a load manager

Heat pump with a 10 kW backup coil
Highest demand in 12 monthsJanuary, heat pump and backup coil
67 A
x 1.25, plus a 48 A chargerThe Code calculation
132 A
With a certified load managerCharger pauses when the house needs the room
80 A
No upgrade needed. A UL 3141 energy management system pauses the charger in the few peak hours, modelled at 23 of 3,285 overnight hours.

A full panel is not a full service

A panel with no free spaces looks full, but that is a space problem, not a capacity problem. Where the panel is rated for them, single breakers can be combined into tandem breakers to open a spot for the charger's two-pole breaker. That is what made room in the East Danforth home.

Capacity is a different question, and only the meter data answers it.

When a 200 A upgrade does make sense

An upgrade is the right call when the house is already close to its limit, when you are adding a heat pump, induction cooking and an EV charger at the same time, when the panel itself is old or unsafe, or when a home still has two meters and two panels to consolidate.

In a former duplex in the Beaches we merged two 125 A services into one 200 A service, sized on two years of meter data, with room for a heat pump later.

What a certified load manager is

An energy management system (EVEMS) watches the whole house and pauses or slows the charger when the home needs the capacity, then resumes. To count toward the Code calculation it must be certified as a device, to UL 3141. A monitoring app on its own does not qualify.

Case studies

See it on real jobs

No upgrade

48 A charger on a full 100 A panel

East Danforth. 18 A peak, tandem breakers, installed in a day.

Read the case study →Load manager

100 A, heat pump and a 48 A charger

East York. Certified load manager instead of an upgrade.

Read the case study →Upgrade

Two meters into one 200 A service

The Beaches. When the upgrade was the right answer.

Read the case study →

Load assessment first

Get the answer for your home

Send your address, a photo of your panel and 12 months of Toronto Hydro data. We tell you which of the three answers fits your home and send a fixed quote within 1 to 2 business days.

Get My Load Check →
Straight Answers

Common Questions

The kind we would give before you commit a dollar of capital. Tap a question.

Can a 100 amp panel handle a Level 2 EV charger?
Often, yes. In three Toronto homes on 100 A, two took a full 48 A charger directly and the third needed a certified load manager, not an upgrade. The answer depends on your own 12-month peak, multiplied by 1.25, plus the charger at its full rating.
Is a load manager cheaper than a 200 amp upgrade?
Usually. An upgrade involves the utility, a new meter base and panel and more days on site. A certified load manager is a smaller job that installs beside the panel. We quote both after the load check so you can compare.
Where do I get my Toronto Hydro data?
Log in to your Toronto Hydro account and download the hourly usage for the last 12 months as a CSV. If you get stuck, send us a recent bill and we walk you through it.
Does charging overnight mean I can skip the calculation?
No. ESA counts the charger at its full rating whatever time you plan to charge. A certified load manager is how you get credit for charging around the house's peaks.
What size charger should I install?
Match it to the car's onboard charger. A car that accepts 11 kW charges fully at 48 A. A bigger charger than the car can use adds cost without adding speed.

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