Electric Vehicles come with an additional cost of installing EV charging stations at home. Charging an EV is extremely simple; all you have to do is to plug-in your vehicle at night and it will be fully charged in the morning. However, you can’t plug your vehicle in any other home socket just like your Smartphone, as it requires specific charging points offering sufficient volts to charge the car. Choosing the right charging station for your home is a bit tricky and you need to consider several factors before making the final choice because the final installation cost of the smart ev charger depends on these.

Level 1 and Level 2 charging:

Two standards of charging that are commonly used are Level 1 and Level 2. Level 1 is comparatively less powerful than the Level 2 charging station. Almost all EV models come with a Level 1 charger that you can easily plug-in the standard 120-volt socket. Whereas, you will have to purchase the Level 2 charging station separately.

Charging rate:

Charging rate of the charging station determines how quickly your vehicle will recover the range. Level 1 chargers are quite slow and they will recover 4-5 miles of range in an hour. Whereas, Level 2 chargers offer speedy charging and recover 25-30 miles of range in an hour. Therefore, if your EV will need 16 hours to get fully charged through a Level 1 charger, then it will be able to recover its full range in less than 4 hours if plugged-in a Level 2 charging point. Level 1 charging stations aren’t much practical when it comes to longer-range electric vehicles.

Installation Cost:

Installation cost of the home charging point largely varies with the charger type. External factors like location of the electrical panel, age of the home, the capacity of the electrical panel, community rules and others largely impact the final installation cost of the charging station. 3.6kW Charger - the average cost of installing slow 3.6kW Charger is £779 in full price, however, if you’re eligible for OLEV grant, then it will cost you around £279. 7kW charger – Installation of a fast 7kW charger at home is a bit expensive and this charging unit will cost you around £859 in full price. Whereas, if you take OLEV grant, then the installation will roughly cost you £359.

Additional Costs:

Apart from the basic equipment and installation costs, some enhancement and improvement costs will further increase the overall price of the unit. Pedestal kit – if you want easy access from the charger to your EV, you can add a pedestal kit. It will cost you an additional £500. WiFi-enabled – Several companies are offering WiFi-enabled charging stations and they are highly practical. They will let you monitor your EV’s charging progress and car power levels on your Smartphone. Though, they will cost you a few hundred dollars more. Utility upgrade – Several homes nowadays have 200amp electrical service, which makes a utility upgrade essential to support 100amp charging station. This means additional expenditure of around £200. Local Standards – Though as a part of government’s initiative to promote low-emission vehicles, the authorities have removed the restriction of gaining the permit for installation of a charging station. However, some towns and Counties may still have made it mandatory to get a permit for installation, so before carrying out the renovation, check with your local authorities. Moreover, don’t forget to follow the local standards for mounting the charging outlet such as height of the electrical upstand, distance from highway, building rules and others to avoid legal trouble.