Charging at Home

Lev­el 1 — 120 Volt Charging:

Did you know that you can charge your elec­tric car at home? It’s as sim­ple as charg­ing your phone! Just plug it into a typ­i­cal 120 volt out­let (aka any three-prong out­let) and voila!

Because these out­lets have a low­er volt­age, they are typ­i­cal­ly referred to as “slow charg­ers" or "trick­le charg­ers,"  aver­ag­ing between 12–15 hours for a full charge. All EVs will come with a stan­dard charg­ing cord that you can plug into this outlet—most cords are between 12–25 feet in length, mak­ing it easy to plug in any­where in your garage or even inside your house!

This slow charg­ing is per­fect for dri­vers who dri­ve less than 50 miles a day, depend­ing on your car’s bat­tery range (the typ­i­cal Amer­i­can dri­ves just 37 miles a day).

Pro-tip: You can pro­gram your car to charge overnight when elec­tric­i­ty is cheap­est. In fact, many util­i­ties incen­tivize EV dri­vers to charge dur­ing these hours. As a bonus, most elec­tric­i­ty sources are green­er dur­ing off-peak and late-night hours because this is when wind ener­gy is at its peak. This pro­vides ben­e­fits for your wal­let and your car­bon footprint!

Lev­el 2 — 240 Volt Charg­ing:

Lev­el 2 charg­ers use 220 volt out­lets, which is the same type of out­let where you plug your dryer.

You can have these charg­ers installed in your residence—either in your garage or on an out­side wall, depend­ing on your pref­er­ence. Most peo­ple go with a wall-mount­ed charg­er so that it takes up less space. You will need to call an elec­tri­cian to install the charg­er because of the high­er pow­er capacity.

The price for the machine and the instal­la­tion can range from $500-$2,000, how­ev­er, you can often find rebates from your local util­i­ty, so be sure to check out their rebate programs.

Lev­el 2 charg­ers pro­vide faster charg­ing times for your vehi­cle. The dura­tion to reach a full charge can range from 4–8 hours with this type of charg­er, which may be more con­ve­nient for EV own­ers that dri­ve longer dis­tances more frequently.

There are many options of where to pur­chase Lev­el 2 EV Charg­ers. You can find them at stores like Home Depot, which offers a vari­ety of options, or you can buy them straight from the man­u­fac­tur­er, like Charge­Point or Clip­per Creek. Below are some resources to check out:

Home Depot – offers a vari­ety of options includ­ing Siemens, Charge­Point, Juice­box, and Lec­tron rang­ing in price from $380-$740.

Ama­zon – offers a vari­ety of options from Ama­zon brand to Juice­Box from Mus­tart to Elec­tri­fy Amer­i­ca and so much more.

Lowes – you can find Siemens Lev­el 2 charg­ers for sale at Lowes for prices rang­ing from $430-$735.

Lev­el 2 Charg­er Manufacturers:

Note: we do not endorse any of these man­u­fac­tur­ers over anoth­er. Please let us know if we are miss­ing a brand!

Lec­tron

Levi­ton

Max Green

Megear

Morec

Mus­tart

Pota­to

Prime­com

Siemens 

Zen­car

Want some guidance for charging at home?

Watch the video below to see how to charge at home with your lev­el 1 or lev­el 2 charg­er and for some oth­er tips and tricks!

Interested in installing an at-home Level 2 EV charger?

Do you live in a rental? We can help you explain why adding a charg­er makes sense.

Live in an apart­ment? We can help your prop­er­ty own­er get grants to install charg­ing for you and your neighbors.

Do you park on the street? Con­tact us about charg­ing options.

Con­tact a Dri­ve Elec­tric Coach today for more information!