What to know about buying a home charger

[ginforce]

http://www.plugincars.com/quick-guide-b ... 26875.html

It may surprise EV newbies to learn that an electric car’s charger is found on board the vehicle. It’s the equipment buried in the guts of the car that takes an AC source of juice from your house, and converts it to DC—so your car’s battery pack can be charged.

This fact doesn’t stop nearly everybody from calling the wall-mounted box that supplies 240 volts of electricity a “charger.” Actually, that box, cord and plug has a technical name—Electric Vehicle Service Equipment or EVSE—and if you have an EV, you’re going to want to install one at home.

So, it’s slightly misleading to say we’re providing guidance about chargers, because we’re really talking about buying an EVSE—which is essentially no more than an electrical device allowing drivers to safely connect an electric car to a 240-volt source of electricity. It’s not rocket science, and you should not overthink the selection and installation of an EVSE.

That said, there are important differences between the various home chargers (uh, I mean EVSEs). And there are a few best practices to keep in mind.

[jimmyjon]

Good info. I found it helpful

[sam]

A great feature that some electric vehicle models offer if they can preheat the interior when the car is charging so no extra battery is being used you can have your vehicle in the charger from overnight started heater interior and off you go

[PluggedIn]

Most of these chargers are level 2 so it still takes 8-10 hours to charge. I like the sound of level 3 that can recharge your battery in 30 minutes. Is it possible to install level 3 in your garage? Has anyone done it?

[LeftieBiker]

The L-3 chargers (the L-2 ones are charging stations) are large, heavy, very expensive, and require enormous amounts of power.

[SparkE]

Most of these chargers are level 2 so it still takes 8-10 hours to charge. I like the sound of level 3 that can recharge your battery in 30 minutes. Is it possible to install level 3 in your garage? Has anyone done it?

It is *possible*, but I know of nobody crazy enough to have done so. The electrical connections required are generally "light industrial" (3-phase) and the L3 chargers generally cost (a lot) over $15,000.

And one doesn't need to charge the battery 60% in an hour at the typical home - the vehicle is going to be there overnight, and can charge for 8-10 hours.

[PluggedIn]

Thanks for the info. I didn't realize they would be that expensive! I guess I'm just impatient and would like a quick solution to recharge!

[GlennD]

The trouble with L3CCS chargers it that even if you could afford one you can not supply the 3 Phase 440V that they run on. Home charging is strictly L2 but 240V is much faster that 12A @ 120V. My EVSE is metered and 28.5A @ 249V is much faster.

I am disjointed that it does not charge at least 30A but it is slightly faster than NISSAN;S leaf.