With gas prices where they are right now, you might’ve started thinking about going electric with your vehicle recently, Many people have. But it’s still a fairly new technology for the everyday person, so you might now be aware of just how easy it is to bring an electric vehicle home and keep it charged up and ready to hit the road.
But before we can get into installing an electric car charging station, we have to first really dive into what kind of charging station you need and what you want.
Kinds of charging stations
There are three kinds of charging stations you can have installed in your garage: Level 1, Level 2, and Direct Current. What you want in your home will depend on your specific vehicle, how much you use it, how far you want to drive, and your preference.
A Level 1 station is the standard electric vehicle charging infrastructure. It will provide the least amount of a charge, so it will take longer for you to fully charge your vehicle using this one. However, the positive is that Level 1 units can be used with a standard household wall outlet, which your garage most likely already has. So for installation, you just plug it in like any household appliance.
A Level 2 station requires a unit of 240 volts, which allows for a wide range of charging speeds. It’s one of the most suitable charging stations for most electric vehicles. This level of the station does require exclusive charging equipment and a dedicated electrical circuit of 20 to 100 amps. That means you’re going to want to bring in a professional, like we here at Simply Shocking, to install it because it’s far too risky to mess around with electricity and add circuits to your breaker. These will typically charge your vehicle anywhere from three to seven times faster than a Level 1 charger.
You don’t see Level 3 charging stations at homes very often, and that’s because they use quite a bit of power, as well as direct current, whereas the other two stations use alternating current. The voltage for Level 3 is much higher than it is in the two previous stations, as very few residential locations have the high-voltage supply that is required to handle this kind of equipment. This level of the station can provide up to 80 percent of a charge in roughly 30 minutes, but these also can cost tens of thousands of dollars to have installed.
Cost breakdown for each charging station
Obviously, a Level 1 charging station is going to be the most affordable, since it really only requires a basic outlet to be placed in your garage. The actual charger for a Level 1 station costs between $300 to $600 before labor, so you’ll have to price that out, as well, if want to have a new station installed.
For Level 2, you’re looking at somewhere between $500 and $700 for the actual charger, but since the labor is more intensive at that level because you need a circuit added to the breaker, the labor costs will likely be a good deal higher when having that work done.
A Level 3 charger can run you between $20,000 and $50,000, and labor could equal that cost.
If you have an older home and garage, you could be looking at added costs with all of these because you would have to upgrade your electricity to make sure you’re getting the most out of your charging station.
While many car companies are putting out affordable electric vehicles now, if you have a Tesla, having these parts installed will likely cost a bit more because Teslas have unique and exclusive adaptors for charging their vehicles.
Further decisions to make for your charging station
Now that you’ve got a bit more knowledge about your options for charging at home, you can decide which works best for you, your home and your budget. Once that decision is made, it’s time to start getting ready to make the jump to electric vehicles.
After you figure out which station you want, you have to actually get it. If you want to have a charging unit installed in your garage, no matter what level, you can match the charging station to the car you’re getting. You can usually go with the factory equipment, as almost every vehicle brand offers a branded home charging station.
However, if you don’t care about matching the logo on the charging station to the logo on your car, you can find good deals on charging stations from other car companies, or even on the secondary market. If you don’t mind looking around, this is a great option to save some money on your charging stations.
Perhaps the biggest decision you can make, though, is who is going to install your charging station. As mentioned above, you don’t want to tinker and mess around when it comes to electricity. The danger is real, and you can seriously injure yourself or do major damage to your home if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing. So unless you have a solid background as an electrician, it’s best and safest to leave it to the professionals.
That’s where Simply Shocking comes in. We have experience installing different levels of charging stations in garages, as well as outside your home. It’s whatever you prefer. The important thing is the installation is done properly and safely.
To protect the investment, you made with your electric car, proper installation of an at-home charging system requires a trained electrician to ensure your warranty stays intact. Many EV manufacturers and EV charging station manufacturers will nullify the warranty if the designated equipment is not installed by a certified professional.
The licensed and certified electricians with Simply Shocking are qualified to conduct residential electrical car charger installation that is recognized by all EV manufacturers and EV charging station manufacturers. When you choose us for your certified home electric car charger installation needs, you are getting service that you can count on.
Call us now at 503-309-0866 or email us at simplyshockingllc@gmail.com for more information or to set up your site inspection today. We look forward to serving you.
