3 Things You Should Know About Home EV Charging Stations

With the price of gas skyrocketing to over $6 a gallon, it makes sense to look into other driving alternatives. Some people have the luxury of working from home or having access to an effective bus route, but for those that are in their cars almost as much as they are at home or work, electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming the choice for more and more people as they look into purchasing a new vehicle.

As other countries around the world have started adopting EVs more than fuel-powered vehicles, the US is slowly on the rise with this trend. More than 2 million cars on the road in the United States are a form of electric. That could be a pure electric vehicle or a hybrid of both electric and gas powered.

Either way, if you own an electric vehicle, how are you charging it? Are you driving to gas stations or charging stations in hopes of snagging one of the limited spaces available? Quick charging stations are great but are few and far between until more people adopt the EV lifestyle.

Let’s talk about home EV charging stations and some things you should know about the investment.

Types Of EV Charging Stations

Did you know that there are 3 levels of EV charging stations?

We won’t get into the super technical details but we are going to summarize the 3 levels and which is best for your home.

Level 1 is the simplest type of charging station and it just involves plugging your EV into a wall outlet. Since a wall outlet only emits a small amount of power it can take hours or even days to charge your EV. This is not convenient or efficient. We don’t recommend this type of charging station.

Level 2 is referred to as the residential charging level because it is the perfect combination of efficiency and effectiveness when it comes to charging your EV.

Even though Level 2 charging stations require an experienced electrical contractor (like us) to install, you won’t need to do any upgrades to your power grids.

A Level 2 charger can charge your EV about 10-12 times faster than a Level 1 charger and can charge your EV to full capacity in less than 6 hours.

Level 3 chargers are super chargers that you’ll find in public settings like gas stations or garages. These chargers can charge your EV to full charge in less than half an hour.

You’ll need a lot of power and electrical grid upgrades if you want this type of quick charging availability.

As experienced EV charger installers, we suggest the Level 2 charger as you can conveniently charge your car overnight.

At Home EV Charging Is Cost-Efficient

While you may think a home charging station will cost a lot of money, it actually costs less than a full tank of gas every month.

On average it costs $0.13 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) to charge your EV. If you have a 50 kWh battery capacity that means you’ll pay about $6.50 per charge. If you drive a 13 gallon gas powered car at the current gas price of $6.39 per gallon you’ll pay $83.07 for ONE tank of gas.

A typical EV can travel about 4 miles per kWh. This means if you travel 1,000 miles a month for work you will pay just $32.50. Meanwhile, if your gas powered car gets about 25 miles per gallon you’ll pay roughly $250 a month for those same 1,000 miles.

How’s that for cost savings?

You Don’t Need To Charge Your Car Every Night

Typically EVs can travel about 200 miles when fully charged. If you don’t drive a full 200 miles a day, you won’t need to charge your EV every night. With an EV you’ll want to be mindful of your travel and keep a list of the closest charging stations to your destinations.

If you own more than one EV you should be fine with one Level 2 charger as long as you know which nights each driver needs to charge their car.

You can also get a charging splitter (which we can install) to equally distribute power and charge both at the same time. It may take longer this way, but again you can charge overnight and not worry!

Want To Know More About At Home EV Charging Stations? Call SB Electrical Today!

If you’re interested in having an EV charging station installed at your home, call us today to get an estimate!

Here at SB Electrical Contractors, we offer commercial and residential electrical services for residents and building owners in the Santa Clarita Valley.

To learn more about SB Electrical Contractors and how we can help you with all your electrical and home contracting needs, send us a message or call us at 661-690-5525.

We also encourage you to review the services on our website and check out our blog page featuring articles like “Searching Electrical Contractors Near Me? See SB Electrical” for more information.