100 Amp Home EV Charging Solution - PowerSmart

There’s a lot of confusion out there about owning an EV if your house only has a 100-amp electrical panel. Search around online and you’ll see plenty of people saying you must upgrade to 200 amps before you can think about charging at home. I’m here to tell you that’s not true.

Yes, a bigger panel gives you more breathing room, but you can absolutely run a Level 2 charger on 100 amps if you’re smart about it. The main concern is that the panel has less headroom for things like the oven, dryer, or AC running at the same time. If too much happens at once, you can push the system to its limit.

When I first got my Bolt, I was careful to only charge overnight when nothing else was running. That worked for me, but not everyone in the house remembers to think that way. I needed a solution that could keep everything safe without requiring constant attention.

That’s where Emporia comes in. They make the smart charger I use, and they also sell the Vue Energy Monitor. The Vue is a little device with sensors that clamp onto the main service wires inside your panel. It watches how much power your house is using in real time and talks directly to the charger.

Here’s the clever part: if the monitor sees the house pulling close to the 100-amp limit, it tells the charger to back off automatically. As soon as things calm down, charging speeds back up. No breaker trips, no manual scheduling, no stress.

The monitor itself costs about $99 for the base version, and if you want to unlock the load management feature, called PowerSmart, in the app you’ll need to buy a software upgrade that runs $125–$200 depending on your charger. Compared to the thousands of dollars a panel upgrade can cost, it’s an absolute bargain.

If you’re comfortable with light electrical work, installing the Vue is pretty straightforward. The sensors just snap around the main service wires in your panel — nothing gets cut or spliced. Hook it up, connect it to Wi-Fi, pair it with the charger in the app, and you’re off and running.

DIY Setup Guide

If you’re comfortable working around your panel, this project is very doable as a DIY job. Here’s the basic process:

1. Install the Emporia Charger on a 240V circuit. If you already have a dryer or range outlet, sometimes a splitter can be used, but ideally you’ll want the charger on its own breaker.

2. Install the Vue Monitor by clamping the two sensors around the main service feeds in your panel. This step does mean opening the panel, so be cautious and take your time. The clamps snap around the wires — you don’t cut or strip anything.

3. Connect the Vue to Wi-Fi and link it to your Emporia app.

4. Enable the Power Smart feature in the app. This is a paid upgrade ($125–$200 depending on charger version).

5. Pair the Charger and Monitor. Once connected, the system automatically balances charging with your household power use.

6. Test it out — run a few appliances while charging and watch the charger throttle itself down when needed.

I’ve had this setup running for a few weeks now and it has been flawless. Charging happens at the maximum speed my house can handle, and I can see exactly where my power is going in the app. Owning an EV with a 100-amp panel is totally possible, and Emporia’s system makes it easy.