Although it’s possible to recharge an electric vehicle in public, most EV owners will rely on an electric vehicle home charger for their day-to-day needs. Installing an electric vehicle charging station at your Edgewater or Crofton home will require the help of a professional, but before you ever pick up the phone, there are several things to do to prepare your home for an electric vehicle. We’ve laid out everything you need to know.
Choose Your EV Home Charging Stations
With any electric vehicle, charging the batteries takes time—but it may take more or less time depending on the charging method that you employ. For at-home charging, you can choose between Level 1 and Level 2 methods:
- Level 1 EV chargers can take days to fully charge an electric car. However, you don’t need a wall box — a standard three-pronged (grounded) outlet will suffice.
- Level 2 EV charging usually takes less than twelve hours to recharge your vehicle from nearly empty to nearly full. However, you’ll need a professionally installed wall box in order to use this method at home.
If you’d prefer to do less charging—or no charging—while improving your gas mileage at the same time, it’s worth it to compare hybrid vs. electric vehicles in depth.
Preparing Your Home for an EV
Clean Up Your Garage
If it’s been a while since you cleaned out your garage, you’re going to want to make a space for your vehicle to charge. So clean up that garage!
Find Your Power Panel & Assess Consumption
Every home should have a power panel that distributes electricity throughout the entire building. You’ll see it’s related to a maximum amount of Amperes of current flow. Typically, new homes come with a 100 Amp power panel and you should see it rated on your main circuit breaker.
You’ll want to perform an assessment of your electrical usage so you don’t overload the system when you install your EV charger at home.
Hire a Professional
Crofton shoppers should hire an electrician to discuss any concerns they have about power consumption and installing an EV charger at home. If you want to charge electric vehicles at home, you’ll need to install a dedicated 240-volt plug or add a hardwired circuit back to the power panel. Usually, this costs a couple hundred dollars, but could be up to $1,000 or $3,000 if it’s found that your power panel is not sufficient as-is, and requires upgrading.
If you’re planning an upgrade, now is the time to purchase your EV home charging station and have it professionally installed by the electrician of your choice.
Contact the Team at Jaguar Annapolis Authorized Service to Learn More!
If you still have additional questions or concerns when it comes to charging electric vehicles at home, contact us anytime. Come visit us in Annapolis or call for more information.
