How Long Does It Take to Charge an Electric Vehicle. Onboard charger for ev

Onboard charger for ev

The Integrated On-board Charger (iOBC) is the innovative technique to design the on-board charging system in which the motor coil and traction inverter is used during charging as grid filter and active front-end power factor correction unit respectively. This technique helps to increase charging power density, reduce vehicle size and weight.

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Introduction

Electric vehicles (EVs) are the most competitive and promising transportation solution compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles due to their impact on carbon neutrality and resource efficiency [1]. To achieve ambitious EU Green deal targets, automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) aim to sell 100% of zero-emission cars from 2030 onwards [2] [3]. According to the Global EV outlook 2021, the global EV market for all types of car sales was significantly affected by the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. One-third of new car registrations dropped in the first part of 2020 when compared to the preceding year [4]. Though overall new car registration was falling, global EV car sales increased by up to 70% as 3 million new EV cars were registered in 2020, which was a record 4.6% annual growth. For the first time, Europe led with 1.4 million new registrations. China followed with 1.2 million registrations, while the number of new registration in the United States was 295,000 [4]. as shown in Figure 1. Two aspects are essential to sustain exponential EV growth and sales demand. First, developing chargers and the availability of fast charging options need to be confirmed. Second, the bidirectionality, performance, and lifetime of the existing charger topologies must improve so that EV charging becomes more affordable and reliable [5].

Figure 1. Electric vehicle sales (in thousands) in 2015–2020 (blue is used for BEV and orange for PEV) [4].

Two types of chargers are widely used for EV charging, i.e., on-board chargers (OBC) and off-board chargers. OEMs are still facing problems in the OBC as they are still expensive, bulky, and offer only unidirectional power flow (e.g., grid-to-vehicle (G2V)) [6] [7]. To obtain higher power density, OEMs have headed towards integrated bidirectional OBC that could offer a more efficient and power-dense solution. Thus, due to the bidirectional features of OBCs, vehicle-to-grid (V2G) functionality can be achieved, which can transfer electrical energy back to the grid during peak demand [8].

over, bidirectional features allow more functionalities in OBCs, such as vehicle-to-home (V2H), vehicle-to-device (V2D), or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), which leads to an increase in the power transfer capability [9]. However, power transfer capability is typically limited due to several constraints/tradeoffs such as cost, volume, and weight of the vehicle [10]. The iOBCs can help to overcome these limitations, as iOBCs build a closer integration of the motor and power electronics components (i.e., electric motor and traction inverter) for charging instead of using separate power electronics stages (e.g., AC/DC and DC/DC) and bulky inductors, as shown in Figure 2.

Integrated On-Board Charger (iOBC) Topologies

The iOBCs can be classified into isolated and non-isolated, as illustrates in Figure 3. Most non-isolated iOBCs use AC line as an input, using the motor winding. Each leg of the traction inverter is connected to each phase of motor winding. Thus, the inverter can be used as an active front-end (AFE) rectifier during charging. The non-isolated iOBC can also be built using a three phase and multiphase machine. Single three phase motor based iOBCs have been investigated in [11] [12] [13]. In these works, two operations (charging and traction) have been tested.

These topologies use a contactor switch as shown in Figure 4 to connect the grid supply to the neutral point of the machine winding [14]. The stator winding can be utilized as a grid side filter. The motor uses symbols R and Lf as stator resistance and inductance, respectively. The main drawback of this topology is the current stress on the one leg, which is three times higher than on the other converter legs. Another single-phase charging solution with two IMs and two sets of dedicated converters is described in [15] (see Figure 5). The power from the battery is transferred to both motors, hence the driving torque is shared by them. An improved interleaving switching based integrated charger based on a two-motor drive was introduced in [16]. Two slow recovery diodes, D1 and D2, are added to alleviate the CM noise. As each diode provides a low-frequency path for the input current, the system ground is connected to the input terminal. Additional boost inductors, L1 and L2, are utilized for the purpose of compensating for the small CM inductance. This technique effectively improves the efficiency and current waveforms concurrently. Four motor iOBCs are also suitable for single phase supply, described in [17] [18]. For the mode to take place it is necessary to disconnect the positive terminal of the battery from the dc-bus and to connect it to two isolated neutral points of two machines, as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 4. Single motor drive integrated on-board charger proposed by Gupta et al. [14] in 2020 (iOBC1).

Figure 5. Dual motor drive integrated on-board charger proposed by Woo et al. [15] in 2015 (iOBC2).

Figure 6. Four motor drive integrated on−board charger proposed by Subotic et al. [17] in 2014 (iOBC3).

A single-phase traction inverter integrated OBC is proposed in [19] (see Figure 7). For the charging mode from a single-phase grid, the traction inverter is configured as full bridge rectifier and inverter boost converter, using switches’ S1 to S5 configuration to connect the battery. This topology has a very simple structure and control, V2G features and small size.

Figure 7. Induction motor drive integrated on−board charger with motor winding reconfiguration proposed by Khan et al. [19] in 2012 (iOBC4).

A PMSM drive integrated charging system has been introduced in [20] for electric motorcycle application. A rectifier and line filter used as an extra component in this system is depicted in Figure 8. A four-phase synchronous reluctance motor (SRM) winding is utilized in the iOBC system described in [21]. as shown in Figure 9. This topology used one bridge of the inverter as a buck-boost converter and the other two bridges as a rectifier. The V2G and G2V functionalities of SRM drive iOBC have been explained in [22]. At first, two converter phases are utilized as a rectifier, with machine windings being employed as input filters. Then, when the grid voltage is rectified, the third phase acts as a dc-dc buck-boost converter to adjust the voltage to a value required by the battery. The fourth phase is not used during the charging process. To reduce switching losses, switch S4 is set permanently. There is no separate DC-DC converter for charging the battery in this topology, which gives simple reconstruction flexibility. Thus, the cost and size of the charger system decrease.

Figure 8. PMSM drive integrated on−board charger with neutral point access proposed by Tuan et al. [20] in 2021 (iOBC5).

Figure 9. SRM drive integrated on−board charger proposed by Khayam Huseini et al. [21] in 2015. (iOBC6). The charging mode configuration is highlighted in red.

A cost effective 3-ph on-board charging system with interfaced converter is depicted in [23] and shown in Figure 10. The specific role of the interfaced converter in this topology is to configure the system during operating mode. Due to its simplicity, it allows high-power charging with comparatively less size and weight. An additional three-phase interface converter is used to avoid hardware reconfiguration. A fast three-phase charging system based on a split phase machine has been described in [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] and is shown in Figure 11. The mid-point of three phase winding is connected to the grid through an EMI filter and a H-bridge front-end converter with a battery connected to the machine. The main disadvantages of this topology are stator leakage inductance due to employed distributed winding, and complexity in control. An integrated on-board charger with open-end stator winding (OEW) configurations of three-phase IM is described in [29] [30].

Figure 10. Three Phase integrated on−board charger with interface converter proposed by Shi et al. [23] in 2018. (iOBC7).

Figure 11. Three Phase Split-Phase Motor integrated on−board charger proposed by Hagbin et al [27] in 2014 (iOBC8).

The stator winding reconfiguration of these topologies can be carried out by using a switch as shown in Figure 12. Recently, Hyundai published a patent for a multi-charging system which is used in the Hyundai IONIQ 5 model, based on a OEW machine [31]. Another similar approach with asymmetrical hybrid multilevel converter as described in [32]. The OEW machine was also utilized to implement a dual drive integrated charger in [33] [34].

Figure 12. Integrated On−Board Charger based on Open-End Winding Machine proposed by Brull et al. [29] in 2016 (iOBC9).

Recently, segmented winding based three phase induction machines have caught researcher’s attention. This type of multi-winding machine is derived from the traditional three-phase machine, using the same number of stator slots and rotor poles. Various segmented three-phase machines have been reported in the literature, including the three-phase six-winding machine as shown in Figure 13 reported in [35] [36]. and the three-phase nine-winding machine depicted in Figure 14 and described in [37] [38]. Multiphase machines have more than three phases; typically five, six and nine. They are categorized in two types as symmetrical and asymmetrical machines based on the spatial angle of two consecutive machine phases. They can have one or multiple isolated neutral points. The nine phase machines have higher torque and lower copper loss then six phase machines. The nine phase machine based iOBC topologies are investigated in [39] [40].

Figure 13. Integrated On−Board Charger based on 3-Phase 6-Segmented Winding Machine proposed by Han et al. [36] in 2018. (iOBC10).

Figure 14. Integrated On−Board Charger based on 3-Phase 9-Segmented Winding Machine proposed by Raherimihaja et al. [37] in 2018 (iOBC11).

Since these topologies have a higher phase inverter as shown in Figure 15, a significant drawback of these converters is the relatively higher number of semiconductor switches and the complexity of the corresponding driving circuit. An impressive solution was introduced in [41] to reduce the number of switches.

Figure 15. Integrated On−Board Charger based on Nine Phase Winding Machine proposed by Abdel-Khalik et al. [38] in 2017 (iOBC12).

The nine-switch converter was utilized with six phase machines as shown in Figure 16, where the stator coils act as filter during charging. The advantages of this topology are zero torque production during charging, the power factor is unity at the grid side and no phase transposition is needed. Additionally, only three additional switches are needed for changing the mode. The most challenging drawback is the utilization of low dc-link capacitance.

Figure 16. Integrated On−Board Charger based on Nine Phase Six Phase Winding Machine proposed by Diab et al. [41] in 2016. (iOBC13).

A five-phase machine approach (non-isolated method) as shown in Figure 17 is described in [42] [43] [44]. An efficiency analysis of the various integrated charger topologies shows that a nine-phase charger corresponds to the highest efficiency (reaching 86% during the charging mode). During charging, the efficiency varies from 79% to 86% based on the applied topology, while the efficiencies are slightly higher, between 81% and 89%, during the V2G mode. On the other hand, the isolated iOBCs can be implemented in two methods. One method can provide galvanic isolation by an additional transformer placed on the low-frequency AC side, as in [45]. Otherwise, the electrical isolation can be performed by reconfiguring the connections of the electrical machine to make it act as a transformer, which is proposed in [46] [47]. with six-phase and a nine-phase machines, respectively. In [48]. a six-phase machine is used as transformer as shown in Figure 17 and provides galvanic isolation in both three- and single-phase input operation, with the peculiarity of achieving torque-free charging in single-phase configuration.

Figure 17. Integrated On−Board Charger based on Five Phase Winding Machine proposed by Sabotic et al. [42] in 2016 (iOBC14).

Figure 18. Isolated Integrated On−Board Charger based on Six Phase Machine Reconfiguration proposed by Pascetto et al. [48] in 2020 (iOBC15).

To sum up, researchers have seen the different aspects of the previously mentioned topologies, showing technical features such as V2G, torque ripple issues, and torque generation during charging. Thus, all topologies are compared according to the average torque production during the charging process, hardware reconfiguration between the propulsion and the charging modes, V2G feature, torque ripple issues, and the charging power as a ration of the traction power.

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How Long Does It Take to Charge an Electric Vehicle?

There is no simple answer, but knowing the variables will help you better estimate the time it takes for an EV fill-up.

Figuring precisely how long it takes to charge an electric car is akin to asking, How long does it take to cross the country? It depends on whether you’re on a plane or on foot. Recharge time is dependent on a host of variables, many of them nuanced—even the length of the charging cable can influence it—that make providing a precise answer impossible. But we can give you some reliable guidelines.

Ignoring the more minute variables, the charging time of a vehicle comes down to a few primary factors: power source, the vehicle’s charger capacity, and battery size. Ambient conditions play a smaller part, with both cold- and hot-weather extremes adding to charge time.

Factors That Affect Charging Time

Charger Level

Let’s start with the power source. Not all electrical outlets are created equal. The common 120-volt, 15-amp receptacle in a kitchen is to a 240-volt outlet that powers an electric dryer as a squirt gun is to a garden hose. All electric vehicles can, theoretically, charge their large batteries off the standard kitchen outlet, but imagine trying to fill a 55-gallon barrel with a squirt gun. Recharging an EV battery with a 120-volt source—these are categorized as Level 1 according to SAE J1772, a standard that engineers use to design EVs—is measured in days, not hours.

If you own or plan to own an EV you’ll be wise to consider having a 240-volt Level 2 charging solution installed in your home. A typical Level 2 connection is 240 volts and 40 to 50 amps. While fewer amps is still considered Level 2, a 50-amp circuit will maximize most EV’s onboard chargers (more on those in a minute). Because, if you’re not maximizing the effectiveness of the vehicle’s onboard chargers, a lower-than-optimal power source is essentially a restrictor plate that lengthens the charge time.

For the absolute fastest charging possible, you’ll want to plug into a Level 3 connection, colloquially known as a DC fast charger. These are the EV equivalent of filling that barrel with a fire hose. A certifiably lethal current of DC power is pumped into the car’s battery, and miles of range are added in short order. Tesla’s V3 Superchargers pump out up to 250 kW and Electrify America’s automotive defibrillators fire out up to 350 kW of heart-stopping power. But like all charging, the flow is throttled back when the vehicle battery’s state-of-charge (SoC) is nearing full. And vehicles’ ability to accept DC charging varies widely. The Porsche Taycan, for example, can charge at up to 270 kW, while a Chevy Bolt EV can manage only 50 kW.

How Much Range Does a Fast-Charger Add in a Half-Hour?

Generally speaking, when an EV battery’s SoC is below 10 percent or above 80 percent, a DC fast charger’s charging rate slows considerably; this optimizes battery life and limits the risk of overcharging. This is why, for example, manufacturers often claim that fast-charging will get your EV’s battery to 80 percent charge in 30 minutes. Some vehicles have a battery preconditioning procedure that ensures the battery is at optimum temperature for Rapid charging while en route to a DC fast charger. So long as you utilize the in-car navigation system to get you there, that is.

Maximum Charging and Driving Range

That last 20 percent of charge may double the time you’re hooked up to the fast charger. The time-consuming affair of completely filling the battery via a DC charger makes these units best utilized on those days when you are traveling a long distance and need additional electricity to reach your destination. Charging at home overnight–sometimes called top-up charging–is a better solution for getting the juice you’ll need for daily, local driving.

Battery Size

As the hunt for range supremacy continues, the battery capacity of some EVs has ballooned to absurd levels. Others are targeting increased efficiency. This plays a massive role in charging time. Upsize our barrel to an 85-gallon unit. Even with a fire hose, it’ll still take longer to fill than the smaller 55-gallon barrel. While a GMC Hummer EV is built on an architecture capable of 350-kW intake, filling its 212.7-kWh battery compared to the 112.0-kWh pack found in a Lucid Air Grand Touring requires exponentially more time, even if the charging rate is similar. The Lucid can travel over 40 percent further on a charge while having 100 kWh fewer in its battery pack than the Hummer. Efficiency, indeed.

No doubt someday manufacturers will settle on a single metric for expressing charge times. But for now, know that filling up an EV’s battery still takes considerably longer than topping off a gas-powered car’s fuel tank no matter how or where you do it.

There is a common misconception that the thing you plug into an electric car is the charger. In fact, there’s a battery charger in the car that converts the AC electricity from the wall into DC electricity to charge the battery. Onboard chargers trickle power into the battery pack safely and have their own power ratings, typically in kilowatts. If a car has a 10.0-kW charger and a 100.0-kWh battery pack, it would, in theory, take 10 hours to charge a fully depleted battery.

To gauge the optimal charge time of a specific EV, you divide the battery capacity’s kWh number by the onboard charger’s power rating, then add 10 percent, because there are losses associated with charging. This is assuming the power source can maximize the vehicle’s charger.

Typical onboard chargers are at least 6.0 kilowatts, but some manufacturers offer nearly twice that, and the cream-of-the-crop have more than triple that figure. The current Tesla Model 3 Performance, for instance, has an 11.5-kW charger, which can take full advantage of a 240-volt, 60-amp circuit to recharge its 80.8-kWh battery, while the rear-wheel-drive Model 3 comes with a 7.6-kW charger. Doing the recharge-time math indicates that it will take nearly the same time to fill the two cars’ batteries, though the Performance model’s is roughly 30 percent larger. The beauty of a well-paired electricity source and onboard charger is that you can plug your EV in at home with a nearly depleted battery and have a fully charged steed waiting for you in the morning. You can also find approximate recharge times on some EV manufacturers’ websites.

K.C. Colwell is Car and Driver’s executive editor, who covers new cars and technology with a keen eye for automotive nonsense and with what he considers to be great car sense, which is a humblebrag. On his first day at C/D in 2004, he was given the keys to a Porsche 911 by someone who didn’t even know if he had a driver’s license. He also is one of the drivers who set fast laps at C/D’s annual Lightning Lap track test.

Jacob Kurowicki’s love affair with cars doesn’t end at track weapons and posh land yachts, but rather extends to the dopey and eccentric. Pining for a Pontiac Sunfire GT as a child was the first indicator, but an ongoing desire for a Lamborghini LM-002 is the kicker. He luckily found a home in the Car and Driver testing team that allows him to further develop his love for the automotive world and the oddities that come with it.

How Long Does It Take to Charge an Electric Vehicle?

There is no simple answer, but knowing the variables will help you better estimate the time it takes for an EV fill-up.

Figuring precisely how long it takes to charge an electric car is akin to asking, How long does it take to cross the country? It depends on whether you’re on a plane or on foot. Recharge time is dependent on a host of variables, many of them nuanced—even the length of the charging cable can influence it—that make providing a precise answer impossible. But we can give you some reliable guidelines.

Ignoring the more minute variables, the charging time of a vehicle comes down to a few primary factors: power source, the vehicle’s charger capacity, and battery size. Ambient conditions play a smaller part, with both cold- and hot-weather extremes adding to charge time.

Factors That Affect Charging Time

Charger Level

Let’s start with the power source. Not all electrical outlets are created equal. The common 120-volt, 15-amp receptacle in a kitchen is to a 240-volt outlet that powers an electric dryer as a squirt gun is to a garden hose. All electric vehicles can, theoretically, charge their large batteries off the standard kitchen outlet, but imagine trying to fill a 55-gallon barrel with a squirt gun. Recharging an EV battery with a 120-volt source—these are categorized as Level 1 according to SAE J1772, a standard that engineers use to design EVs—is measured in days, not hours.

If you own or plan to own an EV you’ll be wise to consider having a 240-volt Level 2 charging solution installed in your home. A typical Level 2 connection is 240 volts and 40 to 50 amps. While fewer amps is still considered Level 2, a 50-amp circuit will maximize most EV’s onboard chargers (more on those in a minute). Because, if you’re not maximizing the effectiveness of the vehicle’s onboard chargers, a lower-than-optimal power source is essentially a restrictor plate that lengthens the charge time.

For the absolute fastest charging possible, you’ll want to plug into a Level 3 connection, colloquially known as a DC fast charger. These are the EV equivalent of filling that barrel with a fire hose. A certifiably lethal current of DC power is pumped into the car’s battery, and miles of range are added in short order. Tesla’s V3 Superchargers pump out up to 250 kW and Electrify America’s automotive defibrillators fire out up to 350 kW of heart-stopping power. But like all charging, the flow is throttled back when the vehicle battery’s state-of-charge (SoC) is nearing full. And vehicles’ ability to accept DC charging varies widely. The Porsche Taycan, for example, can charge at up to 270 kW, while a Chevy Bolt EV can manage only 50 kW.

How Much Range Does a Fast-Charger Add in a Half-Hour?

Generally speaking, when an EV battery’s SoC is below 10 percent or above 80 percent, a DC fast charger’s charging rate slows considerably; this optimizes battery life and limits the risk of overcharging. This is why, for example, manufacturers often claim that fast-charging will get your EV’s battery to 80 percent charge in 30 minutes. Some vehicles have a battery preconditioning procedure that ensures the battery is at optimum temperature for Rapid charging while en route to a DC fast charger. So long as you utilize the in-car navigation system to get you there, that is.

Maximum Charging and Driving Range

That last 20 percent of charge may double the time you’re hooked up to the fast charger. The time-consuming affair of completely filling the battery via a DC charger makes these units best utilized on those days when you are traveling a long distance and need additional electricity to reach your destination. Charging at home overnight–sometimes called top-up charging–is a better solution for getting the juice you’ll need for daily, local driving.

Battery Size

As the hunt for range supremacy continues, the battery capacity of some EVs has ballooned to absurd levels. Others are targeting increased efficiency. This plays a massive role in charging time. Upsize our barrel to an 85-gallon unit. Even with a fire hose, it’ll still take longer to fill than the smaller 55-gallon barrel. While a GMC Hummer EV is built on an architecture capable of 350-kW intake, filling its 212.7-kWh battery compared to the 112.0-kWh pack found in a Lucid Air Grand Touring requires exponentially more time, even if the charging rate is similar. The Lucid can travel over 40 percent further on a charge while having 100 kWh fewer in its battery pack than the Hummer. Efficiency, indeed.

No doubt someday manufacturers will settle on a single metric for expressing charge times. But for now, know that filling up an EV’s battery still takes considerably longer than topping off a gas-powered car’s fuel tank no matter how or where you do it.

There is a common misconception that the thing you plug into an electric car is the charger. In fact, there’s a battery charger in the car that converts the AC electricity from the wall into DC electricity to charge the battery. Onboard chargers trickle power into the battery pack safely and have their own power ratings, typically in kilowatts. If a car has a 10.0-kW charger and a 100.0-kWh battery pack, it would, in theory, take 10 hours to charge a fully depleted battery.

To gauge the optimal charge time of a specific EV, you divide the battery capacity’s kWh number by the onboard charger’s power rating, then add 10 percent, because there are losses associated with charging. This is assuming the power source can maximize the vehicle’s charger.

Typical onboard chargers are at least 6.0 kilowatts, but some manufacturers offer nearly twice that, and the cream-of-the-crop have more than triple that figure. The current Tesla Model 3 Performance, for instance, has an 11.5-kW charger, which can take full advantage of a 240-volt, 60-amp circuit to recharge its 80.8-kWh battery, while the rear-wheel-drive Model 3 comes with a 7.6-kW charger. Doing the recharge-time math indicates that it will take nearly the same time to fill the two cars’ batteries, though the Performance model’s is roughly 30 percent larger. The beauty of a well-paired electricity source and onboard charger is that you can plug your EV in at home with a nearly depleted battery and have a fully charged steed waiting for you in the morning. You can also find approximate recharge times on some EV manufacturers’ websites.

K.C. Colwell is Car and Driver’s executive editor, who covers new cars and technology with a keen eye for automotive nonsense and with what he considers to be great car sense, which is a humblebrag. On his first day at C/D in 2004, he was given the keys to a Porsche 911 by someone who didn’t even know if he had a driver’s license. He also is one of the drivers who set fast laps at C/D’s annual Lightning Lap track test.

Jacob Kurowicki’s love affair with cars doesn’t end at track weapons and posh land yachts, but rather extends to the dopey and eccentric. Pining for a Pontiac Sunfire GT as a child was the first indicator, but an ongoing desire for a Lamborghini LM-002 is the kicker. He luckily found a home in the Car and Driver testing team that allows him to further develop his love for the automotive world and the oddities that come with it.

There’s no one size fits all answer. We’ll help you figure out what’s right for you.

There are a lot of factors to consider when shopping for home EV charging equipment for your electric vehicle. You certainly want to make sure you’re buying a unit from a reputable company, that the unit is safety certified, has a good warranty, and is built to last many years.

However, one of the most important considerations is: How powerful of a charging station do you need? Most battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) available today can accept between 40 to 48-amps while charging from a level 2, 240-volt source. However, there are charging stations available today that can deliver more power, and some that can deliver far less, so deciding how many amps you need for your EV charger might seem a little confusing.

There are four main questions you should consider before purchasing your home EV charging equipment.

How much power can your EV accept?

Electric vehicles are limited to accepting a certain amount of electricity which will be listed in either amperage (amps) or kilowatt (kW). All EVs have onboard chargers, which convert the electricity they receive in the form of alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) which is how it is stored in the vehicle’s battery.

The power of the onboard charger dictates how much AC power the vehicle can accept. Some EVs have more powerful onboard chargers than others, and they range in power from 16-amps (3.7 kW) up to 80-amps (19.2kW). Therefore, the first thing you need to consider is how much power can your EV accept.

How many miles do you usually drive?

Most Americans drive about 40 miles per day. With home EV charging, you only need to replenish the miles you drove that day because you can plug in every night when you arrive home. Therefore, it’s a good idea to know what your daily and weekly driving needs are, because you can probably get by just fine with a home charger that delivers much less power than your EV is capable of accepting.

If you do use a lower-powered home charger and occasionally need more range for a long trip, you can access public DC fast chargers to rapidly charge up for the long drive.

How much power is available at your home?

Your home has a limited supply of electricity, and you may not have enough available power to install a high-powered dedicated circuit for the EV charger without an expensive service upgrade.

You should always have an electrician perform a load calculation of your service before purchasing your EV, so you know if you can install a home charger, and if so, what is the maximum amperage it can deliver.

What is your EV charger budget?

Besides the cost of any possible electric service upgrades, you may need to install the dedicated EV charging circuit, you also need to consider the cost of the charger. Electric vehicle charging equipment can cost as little as 200, and it can also cost up to 2,000, depending on how powerful the unit is and what features it offers.

You should decide what you can and are willing to pay for the charger and installation before searching for a charger. Talk to your electrician about the difference in cost to install the charger based on how many amps it will deliver.

Lower-powered chargers should cost less to install because the thinner wire as well as the less-powerful circuit breaker will cost less than what is required for higher-powered chargers.

EV charging circuits and miles added

Eye on the future

While you may be just getting your first electric vehicle, it surely won’t be your last. The entire industry is in the early years of transitioning to EVs while internal combustion is being phased out. Therefore, it makes sense to consider down the road when you may have two EVs in the garage.

If you have the budget to install a high-powered circuit for charging now, it’s probably the right decision, even if your current EV cannot accept all the power the circuit can deliver. In a few years, you may need to charge two EVs at once, and the single high-powered circuit can power two EV chargers, and ultimately save you the expense of installing a second, lower-powered circuit.

So check out the video and let us know if you have any questions about your home EV charging needs. Leave your Комментарии и мнения владельцев and questions in the comment section below and we’ll try to answer them.