Prepare Your Home For An Electric Vehicle in 5 Steps

The benefits of buying an EV include a potential reduction in your carbon footprint, lower maintenance costs, and high power output. Typically, you don’t need to do anything special before purchasing a vehicle—but if you’re bringing a new electric vehicle home to Lexington, you’ll need to prepare your home for an electric vehicle by installing a charging system.

Winchester is getting more public electric vehicle charging stations every day, but the predominant method of charging will likely be your electric vehicle home charger. Keeping that in mind, let’s delve into five easy steps you can take to prepare your house for a new Bolt EUV or the upcoming all-electric Silverado!

1. Research Your Electric Vehicle Home Charger

Now is the time to explore the options for your electric vehicle charging batteries. There are two types of electric vehicle home chargers for London drivers:

• Level 1 EV charging often takes days to fully charge an electric car and is typically only used as a backup method.
• Level 2 EV charging takes several hours to fully charge an electric car. You can typically get between 60-200 miles of range in just 20-30 minutes with Level 2 DC charging. For this reason, most people intermix daytime “top-off” charging with overnight charging.

2. Prepare Your Home for Electric Vehicle Charger Installation

Before bringing home your new EV, clean out that clutter in the garage! It’s worth taking the time to prepare your home for an electric vehicle by creating an open space where the charger will be easy to access.

3. Determine Electricity Consumption for Your Home

The electricity of your home is spread through the distribution panel. Usually, it will be rated for a maximum amount of current flow in Amperes. Most new homes come with a 100 Amp power panel, and you can find the amperage rating printed on your main circuit breaker.

You’ll want to determine how much electrical energy you currently use in your home before installing an EV charging system. This is so you don’t accidentally overload your electric distribution panel.

4. Hire An Electrician

Hiring an electrician helps you discuss any concerns you may have about your power consumption and putting in your electric vehicle home charger. They can help you install a dedicated 240-volt plug or a hardwired circuit back to the power panel. This usually costs just a couple hundred dollars; however, the cost could go up to $1,000 or $3,000 if the power panel isn’t sufficient as-is and requires upgrading.

5. Install Your Home Electric Vehicle Charging Station

After performing the research and choosing the charger for your electric vehicle charging batteries, have your home charger installed by an electrician prior to the delivery of your vehicle.

Learn More with Jack Burford Chevrolet,inc. Today!

If you still have questions or concerns about how to prepare your home for an electric vehicle, feel free to contact us anytime. Meanwhile, take the time to learn more about the Chevy lineup or stop by our dealership in Richmond to browse our available electric and hybrid models!