Do You Need Upgrades for Level 2 EV Chargers?
A Level 1 EV charger is sufficient in a lot of ways, most notably that you just need a regular house outlet to use it. However, it’s relatively slow, only featuring a charging speed of about 2-5 miles of range per hour. If you use your EV sporadically for short trips, that’s fine, but if you instead utilize it nearly ever day or for long journeys, that may not fast enough for you.
This is where a Level 2 EV charger enters the picture. It features a charging speed of 10-60 miles of range per hour. But it also usually requires 240 volts, which can necessitate upgrades since the typical home outlet is 120 volts. There are other considerations as well, related to things like amps, breakers, wires and its location.
Impact of Amps and Panels
When you use a Level 1 charger, you’ll only be drawing around 12-15 amps to charge your car while a Level 2 charger usually draws about 25-50 amps. If you have a 60-amp panel, you should get it upgraded before making this change since you’re also using that panel to power your home, and it can’t safely do that and charge your car as well.
If you have a 100-amp panel, that might work, but it’s going to cut it close, particularly if you want to run other appliances while you’re charging your EV. A load calculation can be done to determine if this will be sufficient for you.
Conversely, those who have a 200-amp panel in their home shouldn’t need to do any upgrades for this reason.
How Many Amps Are Needed?
The amps that are best for your circumstances depend on the time that you have to charge your EV and how much you’re using it. For example, a 30-amp charger’s usually more than enough if your driving needs are not extensive and your vehicle is smaller while a 50-amp charger provides greater charging power while remaining efficient. However, the more amps that you need, the more overall electrical capacity will be necessary.
In any case, you can’t go past a charger’s fixed max current while even if it’s high – i.e. 50 amps – it may not be safe to reach that when also taking into account your breaker, wire gauge and other factors.
Regardless, you may want to plan for upgrades that would be necessary for a 50-amp charger even if you only need a 30-amp one now so that, for example, those future upgrades can be done without rewiring needing to be done then as well.
Necessity of a Dedicated Circuit
Another requirement is a dedicated 240-volt circuit. It being dedicated means that it shouldn’t be sharing a circuit with any other appliances so that overloading doesn’t occur.
Get a Double-Pole Circuit Breaker
A Level 2 charger should also have its own dedicated breaker, and it should be a double-pole circuit breaker; its name comes from it occupying two spots on the breaker panel. If you don’t have space for this on your panel, it’ll need to be upgraded although rearranging circuits might be a solution.
A double-pole circuit breaker’s often used for HVAC units, water heaters, ovens and dryers as well.
8-10 Gauge Wire Recommended
You also need to ensure that the wiring that’ll transmit this significant current is more than enough for it. In most cases, 8-10 gauge wire will be what’s necessary.
Generally, a 10-gauge wire can be utilized if a 30-amp breaker’s being used while an 8-gauge wire will suffice for 40-50 amp breakers. However, if the distance from the panel to the charger is significant or you simply want to future-proof your setup, you may need an 8-gauge wire even with a 30-amp breaker.
Where Will Your Charger Be?
Another consideration is where your Level 2 charger will be located. You want it to be somewhere that offers convenience while also being safe. In most cases, it should be near where you park your EV as the longer the cables that are being used to charge it are, the more likely that unsafe conditions are being created.
In addition, take into account if your charger’s being used indoors or outside. If it’s outside, it should be designed to handle our heavy rainstorms as well as our relatively rare snowy days. An upgrade may be necessary to ensure this.
Upgrading With Smart Features
Level 2 chargers often come with smart features, which allow you to use your electronic device to do things such as starting and stopping the charging process, scheduling when it’ll be done and observing how much energy’s being consumed during that time.
Charge During Off-Peak Hours
As you decide when to schedule your charging process, keep in mind that some power companies charge more or less depending on when electricity’s being used; if this describes yours, you should focus on off-peak hours when possible.
Are Permits Necessary?
If most communities, you’ll need to file for permits to have upgrades done for your Level 2 charger. However, if you hire Mister Sparky or any professional electrician, this should be handled for you.
And note that local regulations usually require that a post-installation inspection also be done in order to ensure that your upgrades have been completed in a manner that meets NEC (National Electrical Code) or other local regulations.
Hiring a Licensed Electrician
If you need upgrades done to your home or otherwise to start using a Level 2 EV charger, consider the services of Mister Sparky’s licensed electricians. We serve Birmingham, AL, and we’ll ensure that you don’t have to put up with any malarky from your electrical system and that you’ll be able to use that Level 2 EV charger right away.
In fact, we highly recommend that you use a licensed electrician as so many of the upgrades that need to be done relative to Level 2 EV chargers can be quite dangerous, particularly those dealing with high-voltage systems.
