Installing an Electric Vehicle Charging Station at Home

You’ve seen a lot of news about electric vehicles. The world’s automakers are producing more and more EVs, many more will be coming out in the very near future, and there are plenty of government incentives and dealer incentives to purchase an EV to put in your South Riding garage. Mercedes-EQ has led the way with this innovation thanks to the all-new Mercedes-EQ line. When it comes to buying a new car, the last thing that most people probably think about is how to prepare their home for it.

When you buy a new EV, your garage needs to be ready to charge it. While there are EV charging stations in the Centerville area, an electric vehicle home charger will still probably be your primary method of EV charging for you. Let’s delve into five easy steps you can take when installing an electric vehicle charging station at home as you get ready for your new Mercedes-EQ model!

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

If you haven’t already researched the types of EV chargers, now is a good time to start. When installing an electric vehicle charging station at home, you need to know that most home car charging systems fall into Level 1 or Level 2. Here’s more information:

• Level 1 EV charging often takes days to fully charge an electric car. This uses your ordinary electricity at home.
• Level 2 EV charging often takes several hours to fully charge an electric car. You can often get between 20 to 30 miles per hour of charge with Mercedes-EQ Level 2 DC charging, though. For this reason, most people intermix daytime “top-off” charging with overnight charging. While you sleep, your electric vehicle home charger fully charges to its fullest capacity. For the EQS, you could go from 10 percent to 100 percent charging in 11 around hours.

2. Ready Your Garage

If you haven’t cleaned out or organized your Ashburn garage, now is the time to do that! Make sure that you get your garage ready for an EV before you take delivery! You may wish to clean out clutter first if your garage has been used as a storage space for a long time. Have a yard sale or find a new place to store your items ahead of installing an electric car charger at home.

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 amount of current flow measured in Amperes. Most new homes come with a 100 Amp power panel, but there should be an amperage rating printed on your main circuit breaker. You’ll need to know this before installing an electric vehicle charging station at home.

Next, you’ll want to get a handle on how much electrical energy you consistently use in your house by performing a self-assessment of your electricity use before you install an EV charging system. You do not want to overload your electric distribution panel.

4. Hire an Electrician

Next, hire a professional electrician to discuss your needs and your home’s requirements. You can bring up any concerns you have about your power consumption and adding an electric vehicle home charger.

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 of 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 for your home at this point, it would be the time to do so and have it professionally installed by the electrician of your choice.

For electric car charging at home, Mercedes-EQ highly recommends a ChargePoint Home Flex system for best results.

Learn More About an Electric Vehicle Home Charger

Do you have additional questions or concerns about installing an electric vehicle home charging station at home in Chantilly? Contact us or call (571) 563-7230 for more information. We’re happy to help in any way we can as you explore your new vehicle options!