Charging Your Electric Vehicle at Home – pros & cons

Charging

Charging

Charging

Charging of electric vehicles; The world of electric vehicles is an exciting place. They’re incredibly fun to drive, have futuristic designs, and aim to improve the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere. Once you’ve considered switching to an electric vehicle, you need to decide how you’re going to charge it.

If you own your home, you might be wondering if it’s worth buying a home charger or if you can just rely on public electric vehicle charging networks. So should you install an EV charger in your garage? Let’s see if this best suits your needs.

That said, electric car owners tend to primarily charge at home. choose one for most of your EV charging sessions. Whether you live in a single-family home or an apartment, have a garage or private parking, charging your electric car at home is the cheapest and most efficient way to recharge your EV battery. Discover the simplicity of charging your electric car at home and find out how to increase the benefits of electric driving.

Electric cars are different

Let’s start with the obvious. Electric cars are different. They can be recharged wherever electricity is available. A conventional car needs to find a gas pump, but an electric vehicle can plug in anywhere there’s an outlet. Therefore, an electric car can recharge the battery while you sleep, watch TV or help your children with their homework. Can a gasoline car do this? Nope!

Not too long ago, phones needed cables, cable TV was new, and apps were something restaurants served before the main course arrived. Then the iPhone arrived and everything changed. Today, fiber optics makes cable television obsolete. Things change and change is often scary. Once you discover just how superior electric cars are to conventional cars, you too will want to join the electric vehicle revolution.

What is an EV home charger?

As the name suggests, a home EV charger is simply charging equipment for your electric vehicle designed for home use. Home electric vehicle chargers are a great way to save money because you won’t have to pay the public charging rate and you won’t have to waste time waiting for your vehicle to charge.

And most importantly, you can forget about distance anxiety. Simply plug in your car when you get home from work and wake up to a fully charged vehicle in the morning.

Chargers designed for your home often have different installation methods. Some level 2 chargers can be plugged into the nearest 240-volt outlet available in most homes, while others require wiring with the help of an electrician.

How fast are home electric vehicle chargers?

Most electric vehicle chargers available for your home today are slower than those you find on public charging networks in the United States. However, that’s exactly what you want with a home charger.

Level 2 chargers are a great way to keep your electric vehicle batteries healthy for the long haul. Rated around 40 amps, level 2 home chargers tend to produce between 9 and 10 kW. It will be nice to add about 30 miles of range to your EV. Although slower than public DC fast chargers, this is an ideal speed to fully charge your vehicle overnight.

Which home charger is the right one for my electric vehicle?

As the number of electric vehicles increases each year, the availability of public charging networks and home charging stations also increases. But which one is perfect for your EV?

Luckily, most EVs on the market doesn’t use a proprietary charging port, with the exception of Tesla. When Tesla started making the Model S, no standard ports were used, so Elon Musk designed a slimmer connector that could support high-performance charging.

Most EVs you will come across use a CCS port. These are compatible with many DC fast chargers on various networks across the country. One of the few remaining electric vehicles on the market that does not have a CCS port in the United States is the Nissan Leaf, which uses a CHAdeMO port. These companies want their chargers to be compatible with various modern electric vehicles.

For example, ChargePoint’s Home Flex charger, which costs $699, is compatible with everything from the Tesla Model 3 to the Mazda MX-30 to the Nissan Leaf. Buying a charger like this would be a great way to future-proof your home charging station in case you have multiple types of EVs in the future.

Tesla also sells its own home charger called the Wall Connector. It has several advantages; the wall outlet is more affordable at $550 and can produce up to 11.5 kW of power. Tesla will even connect you with a Tesla Certified Technician to install it in your home. If you currently own a Tesla and think you’ll have more in the future, this might be the way to go.

Should You Buy a Home Electric Vehicle Charger?

Should You Buy a Home Electric Vehicle Charger?

If you own a home and don’t mind having one professionally installed, a home EV charger is a no-brainer. This is one of the most important aspects of owning an electric vehicle. Minimizing range anxiety is the best way to enjoy driving your new tech with peace of mind.

Level 2 home chargers range from $400 to $700, and although they are expensive, they are a one-time purchase that will make your life easier in the long run. However, if you live in an apartment building and can’t install a home charger, you can still buy an EV! Take a look at the charging networks on your route and see if planning when to charge might work for your situation.

Electric car charging 101

Electric car charging 101

There are three basic types of charging, level one, level two, and level three, also known as DC fast charging. In the United States, 120 volts is standard in all homes and businesses. In many other counties, 240 volts is standard. You can plug any electric car into a 120-volt outlet and add 4-5 miles of range every hour. Many people drive 30 miles or less on a typical day.

They connect as soon as they get home and their car is ready to meet their daily needs every morning. No expensive charging equipment or electrician is needed. This is called level one charging and it works well for many drivers. Level 2 charging uses 240 volts and is considerably faster than Level 1. A Level 2 charger can add 12 to 50 miles of range for every hour plugged in. Why the variation? A number of factors are at play here. First, this 240-volt circuit can supply between 20 and 100 amps of electricity.

Second, each car is equipped with factory-integrated charging equipment, and the onboard charger controls the rate at which the battery can be charged.

What type of installation to use to charge your electric vehicle

In practice, it is recommended to opt for at least one reinforced socket (such as the Greenup 3.7 kW), which is very secure and offers greater charging power. It’s convenient and cheap (especially if you take advantage of nightly prices). Whether you choose to use a simple household socket or a high-power Wallbox, whether you charge your car in your garage or in your driveway, everything is possible!

Wall Charger

Most of them run on 120 or 240 volts. If you don’t have one, you can buy one online for around $200. Many come with a set of adapters so you can plug them in anywhere in your home or on the go. Then take your new car home, plug it in and be merry.

If you don’t have a 240-volt outlet near where you park, you can hire an electrician to install one. You don’t need a wall charger, although you can decide to buy one.

Some utility companies vary the price of electricity throughout the day, depending on demand. This can make charging your car more expensive during peak hours or cheaper during off-peak hours. Some wall chargers will adapt to the tariff structure to only charge when the tariff is lowest (usually between 11 pm and 5 am).

With the app, you can see what your battery’s state of charge is, what the charge rate is, and what your car’s charge limit is. Many manufacturers recommend not regularly charging to 100 capacity to extend battery life.

However, most manufacturers offer wireless connectivity that lets you perform many functions of a wall charger directly. The answer is that a wall charger is a convenience, not a necessity. What is needed is a 240-volt outlet near where you charge your car if you need to charge faster than with a 120-volt outlet. For example, say you drive 100 miles a day but can only add 50 miles overnight using this standard wall outlet; obviously that won’t work for you.

Quick charge

In most cases, home charging is sufficient. But on longer trips, you can find high-powered (50 kilowatts) fast-charging stations on major highways. They represent approximately 10 to 15% of public charging stations. In these terminals, you can recharge 150 kilometers of autonomy in just 30 minutes in a Renault ZOE.

Inductive charging

Inductive charging involves transferring electrical energy through an electromagnetic field, rather than a wire. This type of technology already exists for mobile phones, and could also be used for vehicles in the future. This could take the form of an inductive charging pad that you park your car on, or inductive loops built into the road surface, allowing your car to charge while you drive. Renault has been studying this type of technology since 2012.

The charging time of an electric car or a plug-in hybrid vehicle depends mainly on the capacity of the battery and the charging power of the vehicle. minutes. To make your task easier, Renault offers a charging time simulator that allows you to estimate the charging time for your car depending on the type of vehicle and the charging station’s charging power.

Q&A

How often is it recommended to charge an EV at home?

Most daily or weekly trips are easily covered by the range of most electric vehicles. In fact, most of us don’t even need it fully charged, so try to keep it between 20% and 80% except for long journeys.

Can I plug in my electric car at home?

Unlike most conventional gas-powered car owners, EV owners can “recharge” at home: just walk into your garage and plug it in. Owners can use a standard outlet, which takes a while or install a wall charger for much faster charging. All EVs come with a 110 volt or Level 1 compatible household plug kit.

Charging Process Q&A

How much power do you need to charge an electric car at home?

For electric vehicles, this requires about 10 kWh of electricity (most electric vehicles consume an average of 3-4 miles per kWh). Charging an EV at 40 A (9.6 kW) means it will take just over an hour to charge to the minimum required daily. quantity, compared to 1 hour and 20 minutes at 30 A (7.2 kW).

How long do electric car batteries last?

Most manufacturers offer a five to the eight-year warranty on their battery. However, the current prediction is that an electric car battery will last 10-20 years before needing to be replaced.

Can I use my dryer outlet to charge my EV?

If you plug in the dryer outlet splitter and put the dryer on the main outlet, you get power when you need it and stop EV charging. Once a laundry load is complete, it will change and leave the car to recharge.

Can an electric car be washed while charging?

Of course, it’s perfectly safe, thanks to the “dip test” that manufacturers put on every type of car they make. This replicates the most intense rain and flood conditions, to ensure the car is completely waterproof. You can wash an electric car the same way as any car.

What’s the biggest problem with electric cars?

Cost. This one is obvious: EVs are a bit more expensive than ICE vehicles right now for a variety of reasons (automakers trying to recoup R&D costs, lack of meaningful government incentives to encourage adoption, expensive battery packs), which is a barrier for many consumers.

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