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Commercial EV Charging Electrical Engineering in California

Red Dog Engineering provides electrical engineering for commercial EV charging projects throughout California. Depending on the project, that may include existing electrical capacity evaluation, distribution modifications, load calculations, permit drawings, and PE-signed electrical documents where required.

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We work with electrical contractors, EV charging companies, developers, property teams, architects, and other project partners that need the building-side electrical system evaluated and engineered for a commercial charging project.

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Projects are led directly by Jerry Poon, PE, California Electrical Engineer #20878.

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Already have charger layouts, equipment data, existing electrical drawings, or plan-check comments? Send the project documents you have. Red Dog can review the available information and define the engineering scope and additional inputs needed for a proposal.

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Send Project Documents for Review

 

Initial document review is for project fit, scope, and proposal development. Project-specific engineering advice and design begin after engagement.

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Commercial and multifamily/common-area projects only. Red Dog does not provide single-family residential EV charger installation services.

Send Project Documents for
Scope Review

Send the available project documents for an initial review.

Or email directly: jerry@reddog.engineering

Commercial EV Charging Is a Building Electrical Project

Choosing the charging equipment is only part of the project. The new charging load still has to connect to an actual building electrical system that may already be serving substantial existing loads.

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The first electrical question is:

 

Can the existing electrical system support the proposed charging load, and what needs to change if it cannot?

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To answer it, Red Dog may need to look at the existing service, switchboards, panels, transformers, feeders, available capacity, and the proposed connection to the charging equipment.

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Two projects using similar chargers can require completely different electrical scopes.

 

One property may have usable capacity and a practical connection point. Another may require new distribution equipment, feeder changes, or utility involvement before the same charging load can be added.

 

That needs to be figured out before the permit set is developed.

Commercial EV charging stations in a commercial parking facility

Can the Existing Electrical System Support the Charging Load?

The existing electrical system and proposed EV charging load need to be evaluated together before the required modifications can be defined.

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A load calculation is part of that work, but the calculation alone is not the answer. The engineer also needs to understand what equipment the calculation represents, what loads the property is already serving, and how the proposed charging circuits fit into the existing distribution system.

 

Existing Electrical Capacity

Available electrical drawings, single-line diagrams, panel schedules, equipment information, and existing load data can provide the starting point.

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The quality of that information matters.

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A property with current drawings and well-documented electrical distribution may be relatively straightforward to evaluate. An older building with incomplete records, undocumented modifications, or conflicting information may require additional verification before the new load can be incorporated responsibly into the design.

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An empty breaker space does not establish spare electrical capacity. Neither does the service rating by itself establish how much additional load the property can accept.

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The relevant upstream panels, feeders, transformers, distribution equipment, service loading, and proposed EV load need to be evaluated together.

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A load calculation is only useful if it reflects the electrical system that actually exists.​

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Proposed EV Charging Load

The charger quantities and ratings define the new load being added to the property. Relevant information may include:

  • charger quantity;

  • equipment ratings and electrical characteristics;

  • proposed charger locations;

  • manufacturer electrical requirements; and

  • how the charging equipment is intended to operate.

 

Red Dog then checks that load against the available electrical infrastructure.

 

A charger layout can show where the equipment is intended to go. It does not establish whether the building electrical system can serve it or what modifications are required to get power there.

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Distribution Impact

Once the existing system and proposed load are understood together, the engineering can determine what needs to change.

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That evaluation establishes whether the existing system can support the project with limited additions, whether building-side distribution needs to be modified, or whether the project creates a larger service or utility requirement.

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The scope comes from the building and the proposed load—not from charger count alone. That evaluation becomes the basis for the electrical drawings, calculations, and distribution modifications required for the project.

Commercial electrical distribution equipment evaluated for added EV charging load

What Red Dog Reviews Before Defining the EV Charging Electrical Scope

The electrical scope should come from the project conditions—not from a standard package based only on charger count.

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Red Dog starts with the information already available and determines:

  • what is sufficient to support the engineering;

  • what needs to be verified; and

  • what additional information is required before the design can be completed.

 

Existing Electrical Information

Existing drawings can help establish how the property is currently served and where the proposed charging load may connect.

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Useful information may include:

  • electrical plans;

  • single-line diagrams;

  • panel schedules;

  • service and distribution equipment information;

  • available load information;

  • equipment or panel photographs; and

  • field information showing modifications that may not appear on the original drawings.

 

Good existing documentation can save time and avoid redrawing information that is already usable. Older, incomplete, or conflicting information may require additional verification before it can be relied on as a basis of design.

 

Proposed Charging Equipment and Layout

The electrical design also needs to reflect the equipment that will actually be installed.

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Useful information includes charger quantities and ratings, manufacturer electrical data, proposed equipment locations, and the relationship between the charging equipment and the building electrical system.

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The layout tells us where power is needed; the electrical design determines how to get it there.

 

Project Jurisdiction and Permit Requirements

The project address matters because permitting requirements and review procedures vary by jurisdiction.

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Red Dog identifies the applicable authority having jurisdiction and defines the electrical documentation needed for the project. Utility requirements are also identified when service capacity or utility-side work affects the building electrical design.

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If you do not have every document yet, send what you have. Missing project inputs can be identified during scope development.

Electrical engineer reviewing commercial project drawings at a workstation

Electrical Permit Drawings for Commercial EV Charging Projects

The electrical permit documents should clearly show how the proposed charging equipment is supplied from and incorporated into the property electrical system.

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There is no single drawing package that fits every commercial EV project.

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A small addition to an existing system may need a very different permit set from a project with new distribution equipment or service work.

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Depending on scope and jurisdiction, the electrical package may include:

  • power or electrical site plans

  • load calculations

  • fault-current calculations where required for permitting

  • panel schedules

  • single-line diagrams

  • feeder, conductor, raceway, and circuit information

  • equipment connection information

  • distribution-system modifications

  • electrical notes and details

  • California PE-signed and sealed electrical documents where required

 

The documents also need to agree with one another.

 

As one California example, San Diego's current EVCS requirements call for items including single-line diagrams, load calculations, fault-current calculations, panel schedules, conductor/raceway information, and manufacturer equipment data.

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Calculated loads should be consistent with the panel schedules. Panel and feeder information should agree with the single-line diagram. Equipment shown on the plans should match the electrical characteristics used in the engineering.

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The permit set needs to show one consistent electrical design: how the chargers connect to the property and how the distribution system supports them. When electrical plan-check comments fall within Red Dog's contracted scope, the affected engineering and drawings can be revised for resubmittal.

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Red Dog's standard EV scope is building-side electrical engineering and permit documentation. Electrical construction and installation remain with the licensed contractor. Civil, structural, accessibility/site design, communications or network design, equipment-internal controls, commissioning, and other specialty disciplines remain with the appropriate project team member unless specifically included in Red Dog's proposal.

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Already Have EV Charger Drawings or Equipment Information?

You do not necessarily need to start over.

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Commercial EV projects often reach the electrical engineer after contractors, equipment suppliers, architects, or other members of the project team have already developed portions of the work.

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You may already have:

  • equipment cut sheets;

  • charger layouts;

  • site or parking plans;

  • architectural or civil backgrounds;

  • contractor drawings;

  • existing electrical plans;

  • service and panel information;

  • utility correspondence; or

  • an initial permit set.

 

That work may be useful, but Red Dog still has to determine what can actually be relied on.

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Existing Information Can Reduce Duplicate Work

Red Dog reviews the available project information and determines what can support the design, what requires verification, and what engineering still needs to be developed.

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If existing work is usable, there is no reason to redraw it just because someone else prepared it.

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Existing Drawings Still Require Independent Engineering Review

An existing drawing set is not automatically ready for a PE seal.

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Before accepting professional responsibility for the electrical work, Red Dog needs to understand and independently review the underlying engineering.

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That may require:

  • confirming calculations;

  • correcting inconsistent information;

  • developing missing details;

  • revising the distribution design; or

  • obtaining additional existing-condition information.

 

The amount of work can range from limited corrections to substantial redesign.

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The number of sheets tells us very little about the engineering effort.

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If you already have a project package, send the available documents. Red Dog can determine what may be usable and what additional work or information would be required for the proposed engineering scope.


For substantially complete electrical drawing sets whose primary need is independent engineering review, correction, and sealing, see Red Dog's PE Review & Stamping service.

Send Project Documents for
Scope Review

Email the available drawings, equipment information, project address, jurisdiction, and contractor scope for review.

Or email directly: jerry@reddog.engineering

When EV Charging Requires Distribution or Service Upgrades

Commercial EV charging may fit within the existing service, require changes to the building distribution system, or trigger utility/service work. The existing system, proposed load, and connection strategy have to be evaluated together to know which one applies.

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Existing Capacity Is Adequate

Some projects can use the existing electrical service without modifying the utility connection.

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That does not necessarily mean the charging equipment can simply be connected as-is.

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New circuits, feeders, panels, disconnects, or other distribution equipment may still be required.

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The engineering identifies what can remain and what needs to be added or modified.

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Building Distribution Needs Modification

A property can have adequate overall service capacity while still lacking a practical downstream path to the proposed chargers.

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The project may require new or modified panels, feeders, transformers, distribution equipment, or connection points within the property.

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Service capacity and downstream distribution are related, but they are not interchangeable.

Capacity at the service does not by itself establish that the existing distribution system can accommodate the charging project as proposed.

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Projects that expand into substantial panel, feeder, transformer, service, or other existing-building distribution modifications may also fall within Red Dog's broader Facility Upgrade Electrical Engineering service.

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Utility or Service Work Is Required

If the existing electrical service cannot support the proposed project, service modifications or utility involvement may become necessary.

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Red Dog can identify the premises-side electrical requirements and incorporate utility requirements that affect the building design. Where direct utility coordination is required, the proposal should define whether that coordination is included and which project participant is responsible for it.

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The serving utility ultimately determines requirements associated with its own service and infrastructure.

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A service upgrade should come out of the evaluation, not be assumed at the start.

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California EV Charging Permits, AHJs, and Utility Coordination

California law requires cities and counties to adopt streamlined EV charging station permitting procedures, but the actual application requirements and review process still vary by jurisdiction.

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That makes the project location part of the engineering scope.

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Authority Having Jurisdiction

The local authority having jurisdiction reviews the permit documents applicable to the project.

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The electrical submittal may include plans, calculations, equipment information, single-line diagrams, panel schedules, and other supporting documentation based on the project and local requirements.

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Red Dog develops the electrical design around the actual jurisdiction rather than assuming one standard plan package will satisfy every California AHJ.

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Serving Utility

The utility becomes involved when the project affects electrical service or requires utility-side work. LADWP, for example, requires plans for commercial, public, and multifamily chargers and has a separate process for commercial EV service requests.

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Its role may include evaluating utility capacity, establishing service requirements, identifying utility upgrades, and coordinating new or modified service.

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That role is separate from the premises electrical design.

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Where confirmed utility requirements affect the building-side work, Red Dog can incorporate them into the electrical engineering.

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Electrical Engineer​

Red Dog's role is the premises electrical engineering included in the contracted scope.

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That may include:

  • evaluating existing electrical infrastructure;

  • determining required distribution changes;

  • preparing calculations and drawings;

  • coordinating relevant equipment information; and

  • responding to electrical plan-check comments.

 

The AHJ reviews the permit.

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The utility controls its service requirements.

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The electrical engineer develops the premises electrical design connecting the charging project to the property.

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Keeping those lines clear avoids designing around utility or permitting assumptions that have not been confirmed.

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About the Engineer

Red Dog Engineering is led by Jerry Poon, PE, California Electrical Engineer License #20878. Jerry has 15+ years of experience in MEP engineering, electrical design, and permit-driven commercial work. His experience includes existing-building electrical systems, equipment load additions, panel and feeder modifications, load calculations, single-line diagrams, and coordination with contractors and project teams through the plan-check process.

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For commercial EV charging projects, Jerry focuses on how the proposed charging load integrates with the existing electrical system. That includes evaluating available capacity, identifying required distribution modifications, and preparing electrical drawings and calculations that clearly document how the charging equipment is supplied from the property.

Before signing and sealing a drawing package, he reviews the underlying engineering, verifies that the plans, panel schedules, single-line diagrams, and calculations are consistent, and identifies any corrections or additional information needed to accept professional responsibility for the work.

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Commercial EV charging projects are led directly by the PE responsible for the electrical design and permit documents, including the plan-check responses covered by the agreement.

Send Your Commercial EV Charging Project for a Scope Review

If you already have a commercial EV charging project in development, send the information currently available.

Useful starting information includes:

  • project address and permitting jurisdiction, if known;

  • number and type of proposed chargers;

  • equipment cut sheets or manufacturer electrical information;

  • site, parking, architectural, or civil backgrounds;

  • existing electrical drawings;

  • available service, switchboard, panel, or transformer information;

  • photos of existing electrical equipment when useful;

  • proposed charger locations or layouts;

  • contractor or vendor scope, if available;

  • utility correspondence, if service discussions have already started;

  • permit or plan-check comments if the project has already been submitted; and

  • target permit-submittal or construction schedule.

 

You do not need to determine the complete engineering scope before contacting Red Dog.

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The initial document review is used to determine project fit, required inputs, and proposal scope. It is not a substitute for project-specific engineering or technical consulting before engagement.

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If the project is a fit, Red Dog will provide a proposal identifying the engineering scope, required project inputs, major assumptions, fee, anticipated turnaround, and included permit or plan-check support.

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If the EV charging work is only one part of a larger tenant build-out involving general power, lighting, or other tenant electrical scope, the project may instead require Red Dog's Commercial Tenant Improvement Electrical Plans service.

Or email directly: jerry@reddog.engineering

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