How to Prep Your Home for an EV

How to Prepare Your Home for an Electric Vehicle

If you're planning to get an electric vehicle, it's important to prepare your home for the charging infrastructure. Here are the steps to make sure you're ready for your new ride:

1. Decide on the Electric Vehicle Home Charger Type (AKA Charging Level)

If you haven’t already researched types of electric vehicle charging batteries, 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 on the various levels of electric vehicle home chargers to choose from as you prepare your home for an electric vehicle:

• 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.

If you want to learn more about each type so you can get a better idea of how electric vehicle charging batteries work, be sure to contact us for more information.

2. Ready Your Garage

One of the first things you need to do to prepare your home for an electric vehicle is to make sure you have room in your Delray garage for your new charger. If your garage is overdue for a cleaning, now would be the time to do it. The best way to make sure the process goes smoothly when the charger gets delivered is to have a clean, clear space so workers have room to install the necessary parts in your garage.

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 current flow measured in Amps. Most new homes come with a 100-amp power panel, but the amperage rating should be printed on your main circuit breaker. Do not overload your electric distribution panel in favor of charging your electric vehicle’s batteries.

4. Hire an Electrician

If you have any concerns about your power consumption and adding EV charging, you can always consult the electrician you hire to do the installation. Additionally, 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 Al Packer Ford West Palm Beach to Learn More!

Whether you’re looking for an electric vehicle charging station or want to learn how to prepare your home for an electric vehicle, we can help you welcome an EV into your Lake Worth life. Contact us anytime at Al Packer Ford West Palm Beach or call 561-220-8444. Or start your EV journey with us and browse our current selection of EV models available at our West Palm Beach dealer.