How One Electrician Made $500K on EV Chargers Alone
EV chargers, solar partnerships, and property manager accounts. The client acquisition playbook for electricians.
An electrician in suburban Denver saw a Tesla pull into his neighbor's driveway in 2022. The neighbor asked if he could install a Level 2 charger. Two hours of work, $1,200 invoice. Easy money.
Then something interesting happened. The panel was only 100 amps. Could not handle the charger without an upgrade. That turned a $1,200 job into a $3,800 job. The neighbor mentioned it at a HOA meeting. Three more homeowners called that week.
By 2024, that electrician was doing $500,000 a year in EV-related work alone. Not because he was the best electrician in Denver. Because he was the first one in his zip code to put "EV Charger Installation" on his truck and his Google profile.
The EV Niche Nobody Has Claimed Yet
EV charger installation is growing 5-7% annually, and most local electricians have not even added it to their service list. The homeowners buying electric vehicles skew affluent, own newer homes, and are not price sensitive. They will pay a 20-40% premium to hire someone who specializes in chargers versus a generalist.
Each charger install takes 2-4 hours and bills $1,200-$2,500. But here is the real play: roughly half of these homes need a panel upgrade to support the charger. That is another $2,500-$4,500 on top. One job, one truck roll, $4,000-$7,000 in revenue.
Partner with local EV dealerships. When someone buys a Tesla, Rivian, or Ford Lightning, the dealer can hand them your card. Most dealerships do not have an electrician they recommend. Be the first to walk in, introduce yourself, and leave a stack of brochures. That single relationship can generate 5-10 installs per month.
The $99 Whole-Home Safety Inspection
Offer a $99 whole-home electrical safety inspection. Advertise it on Nextdoor, your Google profile, and through door hangers in neighborhoods built in the 1990s and early 2000s.
What happens during the inspection is where the money lives. You check the panel, outlets, GFCI compliance, smoke detectors, and wiring condition. In roughly 70% of homes, you will find something that needs attention: outdated panels, missing GFCI protection, aluminum wiring, or overloaded circuits.
The average follow-up project from these inspections runs $2,000-$5,000. You are not selling. You are diagnosing. Homeowners trust the recommendation because they paid you to find problems. The close rate on inspection-generated work exceeds 60% because the homeowner saw the issue with their own eyes.
Target neighborhoods that are 3-5 years old specifically. Builder-grade electrical starts failing right around this age. Cheap outlets loosen, budget panels run out of space, and the homeowner who just added a hot tub realizes their electrical system cannot keep up.
Property Managers Are Annuity Income
One 200-unit apartment complex needs an electrician on speed dial. Outlet replacements, breaker trips, light fixture swaps, parking lot lighting, and the occasional panel work. A single property management account generates $8,000-$12,000 per month in steady, unglamorous, highly profitable work.
The pitch is simple: reliable response times and fair pricing in exchange for being their exclusive electrical contractor. Property managers do not want to call three electricians for quotes every time a tenant reports a dead outlet. They want one number that always picks up.
Start with smaller property managers who oversee 50-100 units. They are easier to reach, more likely to give a new contractor a shot, and grateful for reliability. Do great work for six months, then ask for a referral to their colleagues.
The Kitchen and Bath Pipeline
Every kitchen remodel needs electrical work. Dedicated circuits for appliances, under-cabinet lighting, outlet relocation, and sometimes a full panel upgrade to handle the new load. The same goes for bathrooms: GFCI outlets, exhaust fans, heated floors, and vanity lighting.
Partner with two or three kitchen and bath remodelers in your area. Offer to be their go-to electrician with priority scheduling and clean work. Each kitchen remodel generates $1,500-$3,000 in electrical work. A busy remodeler does 3-5 kitchens per month. That is $4,500-$15,000 in monthly revenue from a single referral relationship.
The key is showing up when they need you, not when it is convenient for you. Remodelers live and die by their project timelines. The electrician who shows up on schedule and passes inspection the first time becomes irreplaceable.