In Idaho especially, a new owner of an electric vehicle may be very excited to skip the gas station. The smell, the inclimate weather, the prices etc. are all things that can be avoided by having an electric vehicle that can be charged at home.
There is quite a bit of convenience that comes with having a home charging station for electric vehicles. Depending on the actual station, the exact charging times will vary, but if left charging overnight, a drained battery could surely be fully charged by morning. We do the same thing with our phones, watches, earphones, so why not just plug in our cars overnight too?
Charging stations do not have to be located inside a closed space such as a garage or shop. If you decide on an outdoor charging station, the durability and safety of the electrical work should be adjusted accordingly and done to professional standards.
Level 2 is the most commonly used type of home charging station. You can read more about the different charging station levels below.
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It used to be that the few charging stations around Idaho Falls were always vacant. However, they are filling up more and more consistently.
The advantage of using these charging stations is that they are typically in a convenient location and will charge your battery quickly. As mentioned early, an advantage of being a business owner with a charging station is drawing in potential customers.
With the changing of the tide, it may also soon be expected that your business offers a type of charging station not only for customers but for employees as well.
Level 1
You may have already done your own research on electric vehicles. Many dealers will tell you not to worry about the charging station because they will send you with an at-home charging kit. This is where knowing the levels is important. Most of these kits are for a basic three-prong electrical outlet which sounds really convenient, but is painfully slow!
While you wouldn’t need the help of an electrician for this level of charging, time is money and you will most likely want to upgrade sooner rather than later. The average charge time for this level is four miles per hour of charging. That means it could take 50 hours to fully charge the electric vehicle.
Level 2
The majority of people who install a Level 2 charging station in their home hire an electrician to run a 240-volt circuit to their garage.
While a level 2 charging station is still not as fast as you might expect, it almost quadruples the number of miles per charging hour. In one hour of charge, you can go about 16-17 miles. That means 12 hours should get you a full charge.
Level 3
This level of charging station is only offered commercially. This is due in large part to residential grid areas not allowing or supporting this level of electrical supply.
This level makes sense for businesses because a full charge can be achieved in as little as one hour! From a business standpoint, if a customer needs a place to charge their vehicle you could potentially procure that person’s business in your store for that amount of time. It’s a win-win. The customer gets a fast charge and you get higher foot traffic.
