Prepare Your Home for an Electric Vehicle

If you’ve recently bought an electric vehicle in the Mooresville area such as the new Chevy Bolt, there’s a bit of prep work you have to do to your garage before it arrives. EVs require a bit more home preparation than other cars, namely because you’ll want to install an electric vehicle home charger. While public charging stations are becoming more and more common, it’s easiest and most convenient for you to do your charging from home. Therefore, there are a few key steps to follow so you can make sure everything is ready when your new EV arrives. Greg Hubler Chevrolet has everything you need to know in the guide below.

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

When it comes to picking an electric vehicle home charger, there are two different variants to consider: Level 1 and Level 2. Here are the details:

• Level 1 chargers are simply the standard electrical outlet, the kind that you use to power everything from your refrigerator to your phone. While they are the cheapest and most common kind of charger, they often take multiple days to fully charge an electric car.
• Level 2 chargers are made specifically for EVs and take a matter of hours to fully charge an electric car. However, you can get a good amount of mileage–anywhere from 60 to 200 miles–off of just 20-30 minutes of charging. You can easily charge an EV for your morning commute by plugging it in before going to bed.

2. Ready Your Garage

Before your EV gets delivered, make sure there’s enough room in your garage to fit the vehicle and your new electric vehicle home charger. This includes clearing out any clutter and finding your home’s power panel. The power panel is in charge of distributing electricity throughout the entire building, and is rated for a maximum amount of current flow measured in Amperes. Your power panel’s Ampere rating should be printed on the circuit breaker.

3. Assess Your Consumption

After you’ve located your home’s power panel, you’ll want to assess how much electrical energy you consistently use in your house. This is so you don’t accidentally overload your electric distribution panel by charging your new EV.

4. Hire an Electrician

The next thing you’ll want to do is hire an electrician to install your electric vehicle home charger. Depending on what your research has told you, you can have them install either a Level 1 or Level 2 charger. The electrician can also either install a dedicated 240-volt plug or they can add a hardwired circuit back to the power panel. The average cost of installing an electric vehicle home charger is usually a couple hundred dollars, but if your power panel is insufficient and needs upgrading, it could increase to anywhere between $1,000 and $3,000.

5. Buy Your Charger & Have it Installed

Research and purchase the EV charger of your choice, then have an electrician professionally install it. 

Contact Greg Hubler Chevrolet to Learn More!

If you have any questions about installing an electric vehicle home charger, electric vehicle charging batteries, or anything else we discussed above, feel free to contact us anytime! You can also stop by our dealership near Plainfield and Martinsville to talk to an expert in person. And if you haven’t bought an EV yet but you’re interested, you can get pre-approved right from our website!