How to Charge Your EV at Home: A Beginner’s Guide
EVs are a brilliant invention that is environment-friendly, sleek, modern, and twice as cheap to charge and run as their gasoline rivals. Furthermore, the EV market is constantly growing, with items like portable EV chargers becoming easily available.
But before you purchase an EV, you might want to know more about EVs, especially how to charge them at your house so that you won’t have to go to a charging station every time you want to recharge your car.
In this guide, we’ll teach you exactly how to do that. So let’s get started!
Basics of An Electric Car
An electric car consists of 3 main components — the battery, the electric motor, and the motor controller.
EVs use different types of batteries depending on their price and other factors but the most commonly used are:
- Lithium-ion batteries
- Lead-acid batteries
- Nickel metal hydride batteries
The battery loses its power after continuous use and therefore needs to be charged from time to time.
The motor controller’s function is to deliver electrical energy to all of the car’s components. It also manages essential performance indicators and oversees the vehicle’s overall operation.
Both the motor and motor controller are dependent on electricity, therefore EVs need to be charged regularly.
How Does EV Charging Work?
Charging your EV is quite simple. All you need is a power outlet to plug the vehicle in and an EV charger. In this regard, EVs are similar to phones as different types of EVs are compatible with different types of chargers.
A typical EV charger consists of a box and a cable. All you have to do is connect the EV to a power outlet with the help of the cable. One end of the cable will go into a port inside your EV and the other end will be plugged into a port on your chosen EV charging station.
But before you try to charge your EV at home, it might be a good idea to insure it to prevent the unexpected costs that can come with damage to your vehicle.
Charging at Home
Having the freedom to charge your EV at home is amazing because you won’t have to go to an electric station every time your vehicle runs out of juice. Also, if your car’s battery goes down to 0, you won’t have to tow it to a power station.
So charging your EV at home is convenient and also cheaper than taking it to a power station. But how exactly do you charge your EV at home? Well, the process is pretty simple — in fact, it’s just like charging your mobile phone at home!
All you’ll need is a charger and a garage with a power/electric output. The process of charging your EV is the same as explained earlier.
All EVs are made with charging units that are compatible with 240 volts sockets. This means that you can use your standard house socket to charge your EV.
The only downside of charging your EV at home is the amount of time it takes to charge your vehicle. Depending on the power levels of your electric vehicle, it may take more than eight hours to fully charge it.
Electric Car Charging Speed: What You Need to Know
There are 2 main levels of EV charging at home. Here’s a quick run-down of each.
Level 1 Charging
Level 1 charging is when you use your household socket to charge your EV. In this type of charging, the charging station usually comes with the EV itself, which means all EV owners have access to this level of charging.
However, despite being a convenient and easy method of charging your EV, most EV owners don’t use this method often and keep it reserved for emergencies and roadside assistance.
That’s because level 1 charging stations are 240-volt plugs, and it can take over 24 hours to reach 80% battery charge. In addition, only one EV can be charged at a time.
Level 2 Charging
To avail yourself faster-charging speeds at home, you will need a better and faster-charging station. You can accomplish this with the help of a level 2 power station. Using a level 2 power station is the fastest way to charge your EV at home.
It needs to be directly wired into your domestic supply, which may require the assistance of a certified electrician. It can then be installed in your house’s garage, the backyard, or your private parking area.
Level 2 charging stations have a 240-volt plug, and can charge a plug-in hybrid vehicle to 80% in 4–5 hours.
You can purchase a high-quality EV power station from EVSE.
Conclusion
Charging your EV at home is a pretty simple process. All you need is a power outlet and an EV charger.
Keep in mind that not all EV charging stations are the same. So make sure the power station you buy meets your requirements and is compatible with your home electricity supply.
We hope this article was helpful and you now know how to charge your EV at home!