How to Install a Level 2 Charger

How to Install a Level 2 Charger

Stu­art Cum­mings, a Col­orado EV own­er, shared some tips with us about installing a Lev­el 2 charg­er in your home. While Stu­art has also installed a Lev­el 2 charg­er on his own, we’ll be cov­er­ing the basics of how to install a charg­er with the help of an electrician.

Please ref­er­ence this guide for more infor­ma­tion on decid­ing between your need for a Lev­el 1 or Lev­el 2 charger.

Step 1: Know Your Car

First­ly, you’ll need to deter­mine how much pow­er your car pulls or draws, in watts. This may depend on how many hours of charge you need, how big your car’s bat­tery is, and if you’ll be upgrad­ing to an elec­tric car that may need more amper­age in the future. This num­ber will deter­mine the size of the cir­cuit break­er pan­el you’ll need to charge your car.

Step 2: Pick Your Charger

Sec­ond­ly, you’ll need to choose what charg­er to buy based on the pow­er your car needs, as deter­mined from Step 1. Stu­art rec­om­mends con­nect­ing with the EV com­mu­ni­ty to find a charg­er that suits your needs. Ask your neigh­bors, friends, fel­low EV own­ers, or talk to a coach who can help. You can also take a look at the list of Lev­el 2 charg­er man­u­fac­tur­ers we have on our web­site. Then, read reviews and com­pare prices and sizes. Make sure to do some research because each charg­er may have its own spe­cial fea­tures, such as set­tings to allow you to de-rate the charg­er if it doesn’t need the full rate of pow­er or built-in cord hang­ers. Stu­art has a Bosch and EVo charg­er, both of which have dif­fer­ent features.

You’ll also need to decide where to place your charg­er depend­ing on where the vehicle’s charg­er port is locat­ed. Do you want it at the front of your garage or the back? Plac­ing it clos­est to the garage door may be help­ful to enable charg­ing inside and out­doors. If you don’t want to wor­ry about place­ment or con­fig­u­ra­tion, con­sid­er pur­chas­ing a longer charg­ing cord that will reach the charg­ing port no mat­ter how you park. If you pre­fer charg­ing out­side, there’s no need to wor­ry about charg­ing in the rain or snow. Every elec­tric car has a safe­ty delay once it starts get­ting pow­er and when you pick up the charg­er, the volt­age is so minus­cule and doesn’t even get passed into the car until it plugs in, so there is no risk of elec­tro­cu­tion. More about charg­ing in the rain here.

Step 3: Find an Electrician

Once you have your charg­er, you can start look­ing for an elec­tri­cian. Sim­i­lar­ly to the charg­er selec­tion process, it’s a good idea to speak with friends, neigh­bors, EV own­ers, or a coach to get a rec­om­men­da­tion. Ask the elec­tri­cian for a cost and time esti­mate to install the charg­er. Mon­ey-sav­ing tip: If you live in a high-priced area, look out­side your city for elec­tri­cians that may have low­er rates!

Step 4: Take Advantage of Tax Incentives

Don’t for­get about the Fed­er­al Alt-Fuel Infra­struc­ture (Charg­er) Tax Cred­it! You can get $1000 for the pur­chase and instal­la­tion of a Lev­el 2 charg­er (lim­i­ta­tions apply). For more infor­ma­tion, ref­er­ence the Alter­na­tive Fuels Data cen­ter site.

Learn more about Lev­el 2 Charg­ing and con­tact Stu­art Cum­mings at if you’d like to learn more about his charg­ing expe­ri­ence. In addi­tion, our coach­es can pro­vide free guidance.