Electric vehicle technology continues to advance at an extremely rapid pace. This has resulted in things like the price of EVs coming down quite a bit and a major increase in range or mileage. There have also been some fairly significant advancements in the area of home EV charging systems. Discover some of the biggest trends to look for and what benefits they can provide.
240-Volt Level 2 Charging Stations
Despite the increasing availability of public charging stations, the vast majority of EV owners almost exclusively charge their vehicles at home or at least do so as much as possible. This is why the number of homes with Level 2 charging stations has grown so much in recent years. It’s now reached a point where statistics show that there are more than 10 times the number of home charging stations as there are public stations.
With most EVs, you don’t need any special equipment to charge your vehicle at home. All you need to do is use the adapter for your charging cord and plug the cord into any standard 120-volt outlet. This is what’s known as Level 1 charging. While Level 1 charging is convenient in a way, you need to charge your vehicle for an extremely long time to get any significant range. On average, you’ll usually only get about 3-4 miles for each hour of charging. That means Level 1 charging is really only going to be sufficient if you only ever drive a short distance each day.
Level 2 charging stations run on a dedicated 240-volt circuit. The increased voltage means your battery will charge much faster, and you should have no issues getting an 80% charge overnight. You could get a full 100% charge, but EV manufacturers recommend never going above an 80% charge or else you’ll end up shortening the life of the battery. If you have a Level 2 station and two EVs, you also shouldn’t have any problem charging both of them overnight. In most cases, it will only take four to five hours before you receive an 80% charge no matter how low your battery is when you plug the vehicle in.
A Level 2 charging station can either be hardwired directly to the 240-volt circuit or plugged into a special type of 240-volt outlet. Generally speaking, hardwiring the station is the better way to go. If the station is hardwired, it will provide more consistent power and more even charging speeds.
Smart Charging
Most Level 2 EV charging stations available nowadays are so-called smart chargers. A smart charging station connects to the home’s Wi-Fi network. When the EV is home, it also automatically connects to the home Wi-Fi network. This then allows you to use an app on any mobile device to monitor things like how much life your EV battery currently has and the current rate of charging. You can also do things like adjust the amount of power the charging station supplies to speed up or slow down the rate of charging.
A smart charging station is a great way to protect your vehicle’s battery while also ensuring you always receive sufficient range to get where you need to go. For instance, you can often use the app to set the number of hours you want your vehicle to charge for. If you’re charging the battery overnight, a smart charger will charge at a fairly low speed. This helps protect the life of your battery by preventing it from getting as hot. If you can only leave the vehicle plugged in for a few hours, the station will supply more power so the battery charges faster and you get more range before you need to leave.
Another useful thing about a smart charging station is that you can program a specific time for the battery to start charging instead of just having it immediately start charging when you plug it in. This can be extremely beneficial if your electricity company charges different rates for peak and off-time hours. This type of rate plan is becoming more and more common. It’s mainly put in place to encourage people to use less electricity during times when usage is highest in an effort to lessen the strain on the grid.
If your electricity provider does charge higher rates during peak hours, programming your smart charger so your vehicle only starts charging during the off-time hours can save you quite a bit of money in the long run. Any time you need to charge during the peak hours, you can also set the vehicle to charge more slowly so that the charging station uses less electricity.
Vehicle-to-Grid Charging
One of the biggest recent advancements in EV technology is the introduction of vehicle-to-grid charging (V2G) stations. The concept of V2G is similar to that of net metering for solar power systems. The way it works is that you use your EV battery to store power that you can then send back to the grid at certain times. As with net metering, the electricity provider then pays the homeowner or gives them credits for all of the power they send to the grid.
As long as your EV is compatible, installing a V2G charging station is an easy way to reduce your electric bills. For instance, you can charge your vehicle during the off-peak hours and then send some of the power stored in its battery back into the grid to reduce how much you have to pay for all of the electricity your household uses during the peak times. If your home has solar panels, you can also use the solar power they produce to charge your EV battery. Doing so means you’ll save even more if you then send the free solar power back to the grid.
V2G uses bidirectional charging. Traditional EV charging just works in one way. That means the AC (alternating current) power coming from the home’s electric system gets converted into DC (direct current) power that’s stored in the vehicle’s battery. A bidirectional charger can also work the opposite way by taking the DC power stored in the battery and converting it back into AC power that then gets sent to the grid.
Vehicle-to-Home Charging
Vehicle-to-home (V2H) charging is also bidirectional and works along a similar concept to V2G. The difference is that instead of sending the power stored in your EV battery into the grid, you can use it to directly power things in your house. That means you can use your EV battery to supply electricity to your home during a power outage. You may be surprised to learn that most EV batteries can store enough power to supply electricity to the average home for around two full days.
As with V2G, V2H is also an easy way to reduce your electricity bills. If you charge the battery during the off-peak hours, you can then use it to fully power your home during the peak hours. All V2H chargers are smart chargers, meaning you can easily use the app to program the times to charge the battery and the times when you want to send the battery power back to your home.
When you need an experienced, honest and reliable electrical contractor in Fenton, MO, or the Greater St. Louis area, Potts Electric is the one to turn to. Our expert electricians specialize in the full range of services including home EV charging station installation. If you want to upgrade your home with a Level 2 charging station or need any other assistance with your electrical system, give us a call to get the service you deserve.
