Not only are EVs the correct choice if you’re interested in helping out with making us all more environmentally friendly, they offer the convenience of being able to ‘fuel up’ at home. That’s something that’s never been available before – few people have their own, personal gas station!

One thing that puts people off from the installation of an EV home charger is the cost. To get an electrician out to install your charging station can be expensive. Happily, there are ways of installing an EV home charger yourself, and here we are going to go over the process.

The Main Issue With an EV Home Charger Installation is Your Home’s Electrical Supply

Before we describe how you can install an EV home charger, there is one hurdle that you have no choice but to get over. The amount of electricity we consume has risen substantially over the past twenty years or so. Most homes now have countless electrical devices from appliances and TVs to charging stations for mobile devices, gaming systems and computers. That’s a lot of power that is being guzzled.

Older homes often have around 100 amps of available service, which was more than adequate at the turn of the millennium. If your home has countless electrical devices already, installing an EV home charger could crank you over that 100 amp limit which will cause issues.

The answer then is to increase your home’s capacity, but that’s easier said than done. You may fall foul of local limits which are set for safety reasons so not to overburden your area’s electrical supply system. Also, increasing your home’s capacity is not cheap by any stretch of the imagination.

So, you will need first to check your home’s available supply and if it’s around 100 amps or lower, you’ll need to get advice from a qualified electrician.

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Installing a Level One Charger – Ideal if You Don’t Drive Over 40 Miles Every Day

If your daily EV mileage is under 50 miles per day, then you’ll be fine with a level one charger which is basically a trickle charger which delivers 12 amps, which is probably less than what your dryer uses. Just plug the charger into a convenient outlet once you get home from your last usage of your EV of the day, and leave it running overnight.

Eight hours of charging at level one will be enough to deliver you around 40 miles of charge. If you drive more than 40 miles per day than that charge will be enough to get you to a speedier charging point.

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Charger – for People Who Drive More Than 40 Miles Per Day

Level two chargers run twice as fast and supply twice the voltage as a level one charger. Some level two chargers can supply even more power, up to 80 amps, but these may place too much strain on your home’s electrical system. Most EVs don’t need that much power anyhow – a 40 amp circuit is more than enough for even the most powerful EV. An overnight charge will add over 100 miles to your current driving range.

The best thing you can do when installing a home EV charger is to get advice, and from a professional. Electricity can of course be deadly, so it’s not something to be dealt with in a casual, haphazard manner.

If you are in the market for an EV, make sure you check out what’s available at the Charlie Clark Nissan Showroom in Harlingen. We can always be contacted at (956) 423-6975 or online through our contact form.

There are plenty of benefits associated with owning an EV, and as gas-powered vehicles are slowly phased out, eventually if you own an automobile, it will be an EV. Not only are EVs much better for the health of our planet, they offer plenty of convenience too as, unlike gas-powered vehicles, they can be ‘powered up’ at home.

But not everyone has the option of charging their EV at home, as not everyone owns a house with a convenient parking and charging location. Plenty of people live in apartments and condominiums and have to park their vehicle wherever they can find a parking place. This dissuades such people from owning an EV, as they can only charge their vehicle at places that could be miles from where they live, and there’s always the risk of their EV running out of charge as they journey to the nearest convenient charging station.

So, this begs the question – what are the most convenient ways of owning an EV for apartment dwellers where a charging station or docking point cannot be arranged?

The Government is Looking at Ways of Making EV Charging Station Installation Easier

The good news for apartment dwellers who wish to own an EV is that your government is already thinking of you. The best way to encourage the use of EVs is for multi-unit dwellings such as an apartment block to have designated parking spots, some of which will have EV charging stations. Laws have been passed and legislation is being considered to make it easier for building owners to install EV charging statuibs. Indeed, some laws may make it a necessity that any multi-unit dwelling has at least the potential and ability for charging stations to be installed.

Of course, you may think that the obvious solution is for an apartment owner to apply to be allocated a dedicated parking place, and then pay for the installation of an EV charging point themselves. That, however, comes with another heap of issues. Apartment ownership is much more fleeting than home ownership. What happens if a tenant pays for a dedicated parking place and the installation of a charging point and then – due to a change of circumstances – is forced to move out six months later?

An Apartment Building with EV Charging Stations will Make it More Attractive to Potential Tenants

The onus, therefore, as many people argue, is for building owners to install charging stations. When it comes to getting their apartment rented, having dedicated parking spots and EV charging stations makes rental more attractive to potential tenants. Low-level charging stations are not actually that expensive to install, and an EV left to charge overnight at even a low-level charging station should have enough power come the morning to get any EV owner to any fast charging station within a 100 mile radius.

Of course, multi-unit dwelling does not always mean that a single person owns the entire unit and then rents out each individual apartment. Often tenants each own their individual apartment and then have shared ownership of the unit. In situations like this, the installation of a charging station becomes a little more complicated as the cost of installation is usually seen as a group expense, and not an individual one. However, if the installation is seen as a benefit to the whole group for the attraction of future owners and not just the owner of the EV who desires the installation, then agreements can be reached.

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Here at the Charlie Clark Nissan Harlingen showroom, we always have a decent selection of EVs and hybrid vehicles available for purchase, so please check out our inventory. If you want to learn more, then you can always contact us at (956) 423-6975 or online through our contact form.