EV Charging for Small Businesses: What North Idaho Owners Should Consider

August 29, 2026 · Family-owned electricians in North Idaho

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For most small businesses in Bonner and Kootenai counties, the real cost of adding EV charging isn't the charger. It's whatever your electrical panel and service can't currently handle. A single Level 2 charger might run $600 to $2,500 installed if your panel has room. If it doesn't, you're looking at a service upgrade that can add several thousand dollars before you've bought a single charging cable.

What actually drives the cost

The charger itself is a small line item. What matters is what's behind your electrical panel. Level 2 chargers (the kind most businesses install for employees or customers) typically need a dedicated 40 to 50 amp, 208/240 volt circuit per charger. If you're installing two, four, or six of them, you're adding a meaningful electrical load, not just plugging in a coffee maker.

Confirm this before anything else: get an electrician to check your panel's available capacity and your service size. Older commercial buildings in Sandpoint or Coeur d'Alene, especially ones that predate a lot of newer code and equipment, often have panels that are already close to full. If yours is full or close to it, you have two paths: a subpanel and load management setup, or a full service upgrade from the utility meter in. That second option is the expensive one, and it's where budgets blow up if nobody checked capacity first.

Other factors worth weighing

Panel capacity is the big one, but it's not the only thing that changes the price or the plan.

• Distance from the panel to the parking spot. Trenching and conduit runs across a parking lot cost real money, sometimes more than the electrical work itself. Confirm this by walking the actual route with your electrician, not just eyeballing it from inside.
• Number of chargers now versus later. It's often cheaper to run larger conduit and a bigger subpanel now, even if you only install one or two chargers today, so you can add more later without re-digging the parking lot. Ask your electrician for a "future-ready" quote alongside the bare-minimum quote.
• Networked versus non-networked chargers. If you want to charge customers, track usage, or restrict access to employees only, you need a networked charger with software and usually a monthly fee. Non-networked chargers are cheaper up front but give you no billing or access control. Decide this early because it affects which equipment gets installed.
• Demand charges from your utility. Commercial electric rates often include a demand charge based on your peak draw, not just total energy used. Adding several chargers that all run at once can spike that peak and raise your bill in a way that has nothing to do with how many miles get charged. Ask your utility account rep how your specific rate schedule handles demand charges before you commit to multiple simultaneous chargers.

How to plan the installation

Work through this roughly in order:

• Decide who you're charging for: employees, customers, or fleet vehicles. This changes charger count, speed, and whether you need payment or access software.
• Have an electrician assess your panel and service capacity, and get a real number for available amperage, not a guess.
• Get a site walk to price the conduit run from panel to parking spot, including any trenching, asphalt cutting, or concrete work.
• Check with your local building department and, if applicable, your HOA or landlord about permitting. Commercial EV charger installs generally require an electrical permit and inspection in Idaho, and if you're leasing space, your landlord needs to sign off.
• Look into incentives before you buy equipment. Avista and Idaho Power have both offered commercial EV charging rebate programs in past years, though availability and amounts change, so check current offerings directly rather than relying on older numbers. There's also a federal tax credit for commercial EV charging equipment that has changed in scope over the past few years, so confirm current eligibility with your accountant before assuming a specific percentage.
• Choose Level 2 for most situations. DC fast charging is a different animal entirely, usually requiring three-phase power and a service well beyond what most small businesses have, and it's generally not worth the cost unless you're specifically trying to attract highway travelers for quick charging stops.

When it's not worth it yet

Not every business benefits from installing chargers right now, and it's worth saying that plainly. If your parking lot sees a handful of customers a day and none of them currently ask about charging, spending several thousand dollars on a service upgrade to support future demand that hasn't shown up yet is a bet, not a clear return. EV adoption in North Idaho is real but still smaller than in bigger metro markets, and a rural or small-town business with low foot traffic may not see enough usage to justify the investment for several years.

It also may not make sense if your panel is at capacity and a full service upgrade is required just to add one charger. In that case, run the numbers on what a service upgrade costs versus what you'd actually gain, whether that's employee retention, a marketing angle, or a new customer draw. Sometimes the honest answer is to wait, especially if you're leasing your building short-term or expect to move locations in the next few years. A landlord who won't split the cost of a service upgrade, combined with a lease that's not long enough to pay it off in savings or added business, is a real reason to hold off.

On the other hand, if you're already planning an electrical panel upgrade for some other reason, adding EV-ready conduit and capacity at the same time is usually cheap incremental cost compared to doing it as a separate project later. That's the scenario where it almost always makes sense to add it now rather than wait.

If you're weighing this for a business in Bonner or Kootenai county, the first real step is getting an honest look at your panel capacity and service size before you get quotes on chargers. Sageland Electric does this kind of assessment for small business owners across North Idaho and can walk you through what your specific building can support.