5 Steps to Preparing for an Electric Vehicle Home Charger

When it comes to buying a new car, the last thing that most people probably think about is how to prepare their home for it. While EVs have many benefits — among them, a potential reduction in your carbon footprint and lower maintenance costs than most gasoline cars — one aspect of them that requires a bit of preparation is taking delivery of them. Namely, when you buy a new EV, you want to make sure that your home is ready to charge it. While there are EV charging stations in the Winter Haven area, home charging will still probably be your primary method of EV charging for the foreseeable future, anyway.

1. Decide on a Charging Type (AKA Charging Level)

If you haven’t already done research on types of EV chargers, now is a good time to start. As a refresher, most home car charging systems fall into Level 1 or Level 2. Here’s more information:

• Level 1 EV charging often takes days to fully charge an electric car. 
• Level 2 EV charging often takes several hours to fully charge an electric car. You can often get between 60-200 miles of range in just 20-30 minutes with Level 2 DC charging, though. For this reason, most people intermix daytime “top-off” charging with overnight charging.

2. Ready Your Garage

If you haven’t cleaned out or organized your garage, now is the time to do that! Make sure that you get your garage ready for an EV before you take delivery! You may wish to clean out clutter first if your garage has been used as a storage space for a long time. 

3. Find Your Power Panel & Assess Consumption

The power panel in your home distributes electricity throughout the entire building. It should be rated for a maximum amount of current flow measured in Amperes. Most new homes come with a 100 Amp power panel, but there should be an amperage rating printed on your main circuit breaker.

Next, you’ll want to get a handle on how much electrical energy you consistently use in your house by performing a self-assessment of your electricity use before you install an EV charging system. You do not want to overload your electric distribution panel.

4. Hire an Electrician

Next, hire an electrician. You can discuss any concerns you have about your power consumption and adding EV charging. You can also have them install a dedicated 240-volt plug or add a hardwired circuit back to the power panel. Usually this costs a couple hundred dollars, but could be up to $1,000 or $3,000 if it’s found that your power panel is not sufficient as-is and requires upgrading. 

5. Buy Your Charger & Have it Installed

If you haven’t already researched and purchased an EV charger at this point, it would be the time to do so and have it professionally installed by the electrician of your choice.

Contact Dodge Chrysler Jeep RAM FIAT of Winter Haven to Learn More!

Do you have additional questions or concerns about getting your home ready for an electric vehicle? Contact us anytime at Dodge Chrysler Jeep RAM FIAT of Winter Haven or call 863-251-5517. Meanwhile, browse our current selection of vehicles!