EV Home Charger Installation
Electric vehicles are going to be more and more common in cities the size of the Gold Coast. While there are plenty of places to charge your EV publically, the reality is that most private cars are parked at home at night and it is far more convenient for EV owners to have EV charging points installed in their homes or garage. Other benefits of installing an EV home charger include:
- You wake up with a full battery charge every morning
- The price per kWh of electricity is generally cheaper than public EV charge points and if you have solar you can utilise the free power generated from your own solar panels, keeping the price down even further
- No waiting at public charging stations for your car to charge
Types of home EV charging stations
There are two levels of EV charging in the home, and both will need to have a charging point, ideally within 3 metres of the car. You don’t want to have extension cords crisscrossing the garage or driveway to the car.
The two levels are
Level 1: AC trickle charging: Electric cars come standard with a 240-volt charger which can be plugged into a regular outlet. This is the slowest method of charging your car, and it can take from four to 48 hours to charge your car, depending on the battery size. What you’re getting power-wise is around 2.0kW of power through a normal 10-amp socket, as the name suggests, it is trickling in. This form of charging is probably the most convenient for hybrid electric vehicles.
Level 2: AC Fast charging. EV owners can install a level 2 wall box charger which increases the charging power to 7.2kW. This system works off standard 240v single-phase wiring and does require a qualified electrician to install it. This system will charge your vehicle much more quicker than the level 1 trickle charging option.
