But now there’s a more fundamental problem to solve: what will it take and how much will it cost to get your home ready for an electric vehicle?
Should I buy a charger before having an electric vehicle?
In fact, probably not. Almost all electric vehicles come with what is called a Level 1 charger. These chargers plug directly into a standard outlet. But while they require minimal effort and money, they also charge a car’s battery at a slow rate. You might be able to add tens of miles of range with an overnight charge, but it will take more than a day to fully charge an empty battery. You also need to make sure your home’s electrical system can handle the extra load of charging an extra car, for example, doing laundry or using a microwave oven (more on that below).
When you hear about installing an EV charger in a home, those conversations are mostly about Level 2 chargers. Because they’re more powerful, consumers can charge their battery overnight and get dozens kilometers of additional autonomy by plugging the car in for an hour. Level 2 chargers require a different type of outlet (think the outlet your washer and dryer uses) and you’ll need to call an electrician to install one.
“Whether or not you absolutely want to upgrade to Level 2 has a lot to do with how far you drive each day,” says Simon Ouellette, CEO of Mogile Technologies, an electric vehicle research company in Montreal. Another consideration is whether you have other options for charging your vehicle. “If there are many [public] chargers near your office or on the street where you live… so the urgency is not there in the same way as if you are really going to depend on your own residence to charge your car. (According to US Department of Energy data, nearly 4 in 5 public chargers are Tier 2.)
Level 3 chargers are the fastest of all, but since they require so much power, it’s rare to see one installed in a private residence.
How do I know if my accommodation can accommodate an electric vehicle?
First, the bad news: If you’re relying on street parking, your home probably can’t accommodate an electric vehicle. As long as you have a driveway, garage, or other place to store your car, you can install an electric vehicle charger. However, “some installations are more complicated than others,” says Caradoc Ehrenhalt, founder and CEO of EV Safe Charge, an electric vehicle charging solutions company in Los Angeles.
In general, it is much easier and cheaper to park the car near an existing power source. These days you can buy chargers that come with around 25 feet of cable, so as long as you can park within that distance you should be fine.
But some owners are not so lucky. Ehrenhalt gives the example of an independent garage that is not connected to a power source and is located far from the house. To install an EV charger in this situation, you must connect the garage to the property’s electrical panel. This could involve digging trenches and running the cable underground, or even cutting through the surface of the driveway before filling and retrieving it. In extreme cases, the whole process can take several days.
If your electrical panel is in the basement, your ceiling is another factor, says Ouellette. You may need to drill holes through to run the wiring.
The other potentially costly dilemma for future EV owners is whether your home’s electrical system is equipped to handle the added load of charging a car. A licensed electrician can help you answer this question. Harvey Faulkner, a master electrician and owner of Focus Trade Services in the DC area, says a major clue you’ll need an upgrade is if you look at your electrical panel and it doesn’t have a room for additional circuit breakers.
How much does an EV charger installation cost?
Installation costs vary greatly depending on where you live and the complexity of the job.
“If you had a sign literally right next to where you want to park your car and you put a charger a few feet away, that kind of installation by a licensed electrician, including permits, could usually start at $500,” says Ehrenhalt. But most installations, he says, cost between $1,500 and $3,000.
This total will increase significantly if your electrical panel or underlying electrical service (the amount of electricity that may be supplied to your home by the utility) needs to be upgraded.
An EV charging station “is really just a dedicated power line,” says Michael Anthony Harris, electrician at Harris Electric Company of Washington. “And to make a dedicated line work, your panel needs to be able to support it.”
If you need a new panel, expect to pay an additional $2,000 to $4,000 on top of the cost of installing the EV charger. If you need a full electrical service upgrade, expect to pay an extra $5,000 to $8,000, according to Harris.
Then, of course, there’s the cost of the charger itself. With the exception of Tesla’s Supercharger (which is only compatible with Teslas), all Level 1 and Level 2 chargers available in North America have a standard plug that will work with any electric car. From there, the options are differentiated by size, charging speed, cord length, and whether they connect to WiFi, among other features. Some have hoods or covers to protect them from snow, rain and ice. They can cost between a few hundred dollars and a few thousand dollars. A popular model, the Juice Box 40, costs around $700, and another oft-recommended charger, the ChargePoint Home Flex, costs $749. You’ll want to talk to an electrician to find out which one is right for you.
And don’t forget your monthly electricity bill, which is sure to rise. Still, once the initial expense of buying the car and installing the charger is behind you, the gas savings will quickly add up. Plus, electric vehicles have lower maintenance costs than gas-powered vehicles, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, because their batteries and motors require less attention and you don’t have to worry about changing them. the oil.
Can I install an EV charger if I live in a condo building?
If your building doesn’t already have an EV charging station, this is where things can get tricky. “There are so many variables that come into play,” says Ouellette, including how people pay for electricity in the building and the rules that govern the common space. “It’s not just a variable of the physical reality of your condo and all that. But it’s also who’s on the board and are they problem solvers? »
Even if everyone can agree, it is still necessary to determine the power that the building can accommodate. If, for example, the building can handle two EV chargers in addition to powering elevators and lights, how will those chargers be shared? If not, does the building want to pay for the electrical panel or service upgrade? Ouellette notes that he usually comes back to the issue of building bylaws and rules, and “it could be a long loop.”
