How to Prepare Your Home for an Electric Vehicle

So you’ve decided that electric performance is better for your Carmel drives and you have a model in mind. However, before you drive that new car home, you’ll need to prepare your home for an electric vehicle, which means setting up an electric vehicle home charger. Our team at Penske Honda has five steps that you should take to get your home EV ready. Keep on reading to see how you’ll be able to rely on your electric vehicle home charger conveniently without having to only rely on public electric vehicle charging stations in Indiana! 

First, Choose an Electric Vehicle Home Charger Level

Before we can get our electric vehicle charging batteries powered up, you’ll need to first decide which charger type you should get. Most electric vehicle home chargers are either Level 1 or Level 2. See the difference in time to charge an electric car between these types: 

• 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.

Second, Get Your Garage Ready 

If it’s been a while since you’ve tidied up your garage, now would be a perfect time to get it all cleaned and organized for your electric vehicle home charger. Make room for the at-home electric vehicle charging station, so you’re all set when the charger is delivered to your home in Fishers.

Third, Locate Your Power Panel & Assess Consumption

The power panel in your home distributes electricity throughout the entire building and it should be rated for a maximum amount of current flow measured in Amperes. Most new homes have a 100 Amp power panel, but you can look at your main circuit breaker to see the printed amperage rating. Then, you’ll need to figure out how much electrical energy is being used in your house by performing a self-assessment of your electricity use. When you prepare your home for an electric vehicle, you want to make sure you’re not overloading your electric distribution panel.

Fourth, Hire an Electrician for the Home Electric Vehicle Charging Station

Now, with the assessment, you’ll need to hire an experienced electrician in Westfield to talk about your power consumption and how an electric vehicle home charger will affect it. 

You can also consider having them install a dedicated 240-volt plug or add a hardwired circuit back to the power panel. On average, 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 and needs upgrading. 

Lastly, Buy Your Electric Vehicle Home Charger & Install It 

Buy the charger that you’ll use for your electric vehicle charging batteries at home and once it arrives, get installed! 

Learn More About the Electric Power at Penske Honda 

Do you have any questions about either at-home or public electric vehicle charging stations? Feel free to reach out to the team at Penske Honda for more information or learn more car-buying tips to make your car shopping in Indianapolis easily!