It’s a wonderful thing that you have purchased an Electric Vehicle.   No gas, no oil, no emissions and super fun to drive!

Your vehicle probably came with a charger that can be plugged into a standard outlet. This is known as Level I charging, and while no special equipment is needed – it results in only 6 miles per hour of charge.  Even if your vehicle is plugged in for 12 hours overnight, you’ll only get 72 miles.  While that might be ok for local driving, most EV owners want to take advantage of the maximum range of their cars, which these days are usually between 250 and 300 miles.  That’s why you’ll want a Level II charger installed.

That’s where your home’s EV Readiness comes in.  You’ll need a space to mount the charger close to where you will park the vehicle.  Most importantly, your home’s electrical service will have to be evaluated to make sure there that there is adequate space in your main electrical panel to connect an EV Charger. 

Your electrical panel is made up of a number of circuits, each with a breaker to control the flow of electricity.   The breakers are sized according to how much amperage it can handle.   The size, or capacity, of the breaker that will control the charger will dictate how quickly you can charge your vehicle.  Here’s a summary of how many miles per hour you can expect with different sizes of breakers:

	Breaker Size		Miles per Hour Charged
	20 Amps		12
	30 Amps		18
	40 Amps		25
	50 Amps		30
	60 Amps		36
	70 or 80 Amps		37

Most of our clients will find the 40 Amp breaker sufficient.  Even if the vehicle is nearly empty when arriving home. a typical overnight charge of ten hours, e.g. 9 PM to 7 AM, should allow for a full, or nearly full, charge in the morning. 50 AMPs, if the electrical panel can accommodate, is optimal at 30 miles per hour in charging.

The total capacity of the main electrical panel is also a factor EV Readiness. You can’t install a large breaker if there is not room for it.   A number of our clients have only 100 AMP services, making it sometimes challenging to accommodate any charger beyond a simple wall outlet.  Also, many of our clients who are adding EVs are also adding heat pumps and/or electrically powered domestic hot water that require large breaker sizes. For these clients an upgrade to a 200 AMP service or more will be necessary.

Same Sun of Vermont installs EV chargers and performs system upgrades when necessary or desirable. Contact us to discuss your home’s EV Readiness, or to schedule an EV Charger installation.