If you’re looking for a new car in the Ballantyne area, you could be considering an electric vehicle; after all, EVs have many benefits, including reducing your carbon footprint, lower maintenance costs, and of course, no more trips to the gas station. However, you’ll need to prepare your home for an electric vehicle, and that means installing an electric vehicle home charger.
While the Pineville area is home to multiple electric vehicle charging stations, charging at home will likely be your primary method of charging your new Mercedes-Benz EV. With that said, installing an electric vehicle home charger is within reach for many Waxhaw drivers—and the team at Mercedes-Benz of South Charlotte shows you how in five easy steps below.
1. Decide on a Charging Type (AKA Charging Level)
If you haven’t already done research on types of electric vehicle charging stations, now is a good time to start. As a refresher, most home car charging systems fall into Level 1 or Level 2. Here’s more information about electric vehicle charging batteries:
- Level 1 EV charging often takes days to fully charge an electric car.
- Level 2 EV charging often takes several hours to fully charge an electric car. You can often get between 60-200 miles of range in just 20-30 minutes with Level 2 DC charging, though. For this reason, most people intermix daytime “top-off” charging with overnight charging.
2. Ready Your Garage for an Electric Vehicle Home Charger
If you haven’t cleaned out or organized your garage, now is the time to do that before installing an electric vehicle home charger! 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.
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.
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 electric vehicle charging station system. You do not want to overload your electric distribution panel.
4. Hire an Electrician
Next, hire an electrician. You can discuss any concerns you have about your power consumption and adding EV charging. 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 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 at this point, it would be the time to do so and have it professionally installed by the electrician of your choice.
Contact Mercedes-Benz of South Charlotte to Learn More
Of course, if you have additional questions or concerns about preparing your home for an electric vehicle, or are curious about our electric vehicle charging batteries, you’re welcome to contact us anytime online or by phone at (704) 412-9078. Meanwhile, explore our selection of Mercedes-Benz All-Electric vehicles or continue your research.
