Four Advantages of a Home EV Charger

The future of cars is unquestionably electric. With fossil fuels becoming more and more expensive and electric vehicle technology rapidly improving while becoming more affordable, it’s only a matter of time before electric vehicles outnumber traditional gasoline engines. Electric vehicles offer a number of perks and benefits, including the ability to never have to visit the gas station again. They do require refueling in the form of charging, but you can charge your vehicle at home each and every day with a home EV charging system. If you’re considering investing in an electric car, either a full-electric or a hybrid, you should strongly consider installing a home EV charging system alongside your new electric vehicle.

Drop That Inverter Weight

If you have ever tried to charge your electric vehicle with a standard 120 volt outlet, you have probably noticed one frustrating fact: this type of charging can take anywhere from 18 to 24 hours to fully charge your vehicle if your battery is empty. Standard outlets are so slow for charging because the batteries in your car don’t actually use the AC current that comes from your outlets. These batteries only store and utilize DC power, and that means the AC current needs to be inverted before it can be stored. Inverters are fairly large and heavy, and that’s why car companies can only put smaller inverters onboard electric vehicles. These small inverters simply don’t have the capacity to produce enough power to fully charge your vehicle quickly.

Instead, an EV charging system removes the inversion step from your vehicle. Because inverters installed in your home do not need to be carried, they are not limited to a certain size or weight. That means you can install a much larger inverter that produces a much greater amount of useable current. Thus, you get faster charging.

Reduce Current to Increase Safety

Believe it or not, charging using a standard 120-volt connection could actually be dangerous for your home. Charging uses a pretty large amount of current, and higher amounts of current mean greater amounts of heat. Too much heat over a long period of time is bad for your electrical system and eventually leads to important components wearing out and failing.

An EV charging system is typically installed with a 240-volt connection. By increasing voltage, you can decrease current while still receiving the same wattage. That means far less heat, less wear and tear on electrical components, and greatly increased safety.

Monitor Your Car’s Condition

EV charging systems are more than just devices you plug your car into—many of them are care stations that offer a number of perks and benefits for your vehicle. The sophisticated charging circuits in these chargers can provide a number of additional functions, such as monitoring your car’s battery health or analyzing performance to keep track of your energy consumption and efficiency. These chargers can also detect problems in your charging cycle and shut down if they encounter any sort of an issue. In short, they make a great companion for electric vehicle ownership!

How important is keeping track of your battery’s health? To put it into perspective, the average cost of an EV battery for a small vehicle is about $110 per kilowatt hour. Batteries can range in size from around 20 kilowatt hours on the smallest end to up to 100 kilowatt hours at the biggest end. That means replacing a worn-out or damaged battery can cost anywhere from $2200 to well over $10,000! That’s an awfully expensive repair that you could avoid by simply improving your charging habits and taking advantage of technology designed to prolong the life of your battery pack itself.

Solar Charging Is a Breeze!

Are you looking to power your car without increasing your electric bill? Hooking your electric vehicle into a solar energy system is a great way to add additional charging power and capacity. If you already have solar power installed in your home, adding your EV charger to your home’s grid will help you better-utilize more of the power your panels produce each and every day. Imagine being able to get where you need to go and not paying a single penny for the energy that gets you there? With a fully-owned solar energy system, that might become a reality!

Many EV charging stations can be set up to specifically take advantage of solar energy that a home solar photovoltaic system produces, allowing you to get where you need to go with the power of clean, completely reusable energy!