Suburban

Make
Chevrolet
Segment
SUV

What is a Home Charging Station and How Does it Work?

A home EV charger does exactly what the name says: it charges your EV (electric vehicle) at your home. In fact, it is called EVSE (electric vehicle supply equipment) by tech geeks, but most people just refer to an electric car charger. Every person that owns a BEV (battery electric vehicle) or PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) would need to be able to charge their vehicle at home, because residential charging is extremely convenient and still the cheapest way to charge your car if you live in the USA, especially if you take advantage of the lower electricity rates that may be available at certain hours in many states. In fact, the US Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy says that EV owners do more than 80 percent of their vehicle charging at home, where this refers to a single-family home while the vehicle is parked in the safety of the garage, plugged into an electric-vehicle charger. Of course, the job of the charger is to transfer the electrons from the electrical outlet to your EV's battery and the rate at which this happens is often expressed in miles of range per hour. Different types of EV chargers charge at different rates and may require certain equipment to be installed or purchased.

What is the Best EV Charger for Your Home?

The best home charging station for your EV would be the one that can recharge your battery to full charge in the fasted time. If you own a PHEV with a relatively small battery, you might not need a powerful charger, as the battery's charge could be replenished at night while you sleep. A simple Level 1 charger will probably be the best EV charger for your needs in this scenario. However, anything bigger, and full EVs, require a more powerful home EV charger, which would be the slightly more complicated Level 2 setup that can still be installed at home and is a lot faster. However, be sure to consult a trusted electrical contractor before any work is done on your house's electrical system and get more than one cost estimate for the work to be done. Furthermore, the manufacturer of your EV will be able to give you accurate information as to exactly what charging equipment you would need to charge your car. Do not hand over your hard-earned money until you have collected all the information and can make an informed decision.

If you don't live in a private home but in a multi-unit complex, there might already be EV charging stations on site. Many of these complexes now provide EV-charging stations to attract tenants and do their bit for sustainability. You can even work with the owner of your building to have charging stations installed, but just be sure to follow the correct legal channels.

Types of Home Electric Vehicle Charger and the Differences Between Them

Level 1

Level 1 EVSE provides the simplest, least powerful, and, consequently the slowest way to charge your EV at home. It means you are simply plugging into the standard 120 V AC (alternating current) plug and this will recharge the typical EV battery at a rate of around three to five miles of range per hour, depending on the vehicle. This is perfectly adequate to top up the battery of a PHEV or an EV with a small battery overnight. You need no special equipment on Level 1, besides a dedicated branch circuit. The cord used needs no more than the standard three-prong plug that goes from the car charger to the wall outlet, with a standard J1772 connector to plug on the other end that goes into the vehicle's charging port.

Level 2

A Level 2 home EV charging station can also be installed, but for this, you need a dedicated circuit of 20-100 amps, which will allow you to charge through a 240 V plug. This should not be a problem in the vast majority of cases, because most homes already have an adequate 240 V supply for higher-power appliances. If your home doesn't have adequate supply, rather expensive upgrades to the electrical system will be required, and you will have to jump through several regulatory and legislative hoops - but a professional electrical contractor should know these. Many Level 2 chargers come with an app, so you can monitor the charging process from a smartphone, too. Level 2 is a lot faster and adds anything from around 20 miles to a maximum of 60 miles of range to your EV's battery per hour. This EVSE is more expensive than Level 1 equipment and, depending on the type and brand, the price of such a charger can be as high as $2,000. For reference, a Tesla home charger costs $500. Keep in mind that this price does not include labor for installation and neither does it take into account any tax credits or utility or state incentives that may apply for installing an EV charger at your home. You can check on the US Department of Energy's website whether you qualify for any incentives, as well as check out more useful information in our article about EV charging stations.

Conclusion

Level 1 chargers get a bit of flak for being the slow and cheap option, but the truth is that you might need no more than that if you just run a PHEV and an overnight charge on your Level 1 charger is sufficient to top it up. You stand to save quite a bit in terms of equipment and installation costs too. In such cases, a Level 1 charger is simply the best choice. However, if you have a larger EV battery to top up, or time is of the essence, you always have other options and you can buy a Level 2 charger. It will cost more initially, but you get a much faster charging rate and you can fully charge even quite large EV batteries overnight. If you are considering a multi-unit complex, best to look out now for the ones offering charging on-site, as many of them in the US now do.