How to Prepare Your Home for an Electric Vehicle

Joining the EV revolution comes with many benefits — among them, is the potential elimination of visiting a gas station to fill up your car. Imagine replacing your trips for fuel with the capability of charging your vehicle from the comfort of your Woodway garage. Well, get ready because preparing for EV ownership entails installing an electric vehicle home charger. However, there’s no need to worry about how to get it done, the team at Allen Samuels Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram FIAT has you covered with this step-by-step guide to help prepare your home for an electric vehicle.

1. Choose Your Charging Type (AKA Charging Level)

Once you decide to make the switch to electric and become an EV owner, you should do some research on EV chargers starting with what types of chargers are available and how they work. 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. Prepare Your Garage

While there are plenty of EV charging stations in the Waco area, who doesn’t want the convenience of charging their car before heading out? Having a home charger gives you more time to prepare for your adventures on the roads of Temple and keeps you from having to stop on the way to your destination. So, before you take delivery of your new electric vehicle, make sure your garage is ready to accommodate an EV charger. It’s a good idea to declutter and organize the area especially if it’s primarily used as a storage space. 

3. Locate Your Power Panel & Assess Consumption

A very important step in preparing your Gatesville home to charge an EV, is to make sure the power panel in your home is able to evenly distribute electricity throughout the entire structure. 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 of 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

You can purchase an EV charger at your local Home Depot or Best Buy store where the prices range from $200 to $900. 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 Allen Samuels Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram FIAT to Learn More!

Upgrading your mode of transportation to an electric model can be a life-changing event, so If you have additional questions or concerns about getting your home ready to receive your new EV, our service department is here and ready to assist. You can also explore our service tips and tricks page for DIY tasks you can master at home. Feel free to contact us anytime online or call 254-772-1000, we look forward to serving all your electric vehicle needs.