How to Prepare Your Home for an Electric Vehicle

Thinking about adding an EV to your Lincoln, NE garage? It may seem a bit overwhelming to think about everything it requires, but we’re here to help simplify one aspect of EV ownership. When it comes to installing an electric vehicle home charger, there are a few things to consider. With our guide below, you can learn how to prepare your home for an electric vehicle with ease. Read on to explore this process in five easy steps. When you’re ready to upgrade, browse our new vehicle inventory to find your match, and then apply for financing online to start the purchase process.

1. Decide on a Charging Type (AKA Charging Level)

If you haven’t already done research on types of electric vehicle charging stations, now is a good time to start. As a refresher, most home car charging systems fall into Level 1 or Level 2. Here’s more information:

• 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, though. For this reason, most people intermix daytime “top-off” charging with overnight charging.

2. Ready Your Garage for an Electric Vehicle Home Charger

If you haven’t cleaned out or organized your garage, now is the time to do that before installing an electric vehicle home charger! Make sure that you get your garage ready for an EV before you take delivery! You may wish to clean out clutter first if your garage has been used as a storage space for a long time. 

3. Find Your Power Panel & Assess Consumption

The power panel in your home distributes electricity throughout the entire building. It should be rated for a maximum amount of current flow measured in Amperes. Most new homes come with a 100 Amp power panel, but there should be an amperage rating printed on your main circuit breaker.

Next, you’ll want to get a handle on how much electrical energy you consistently use in your house by performing a self-assessment of your electricity use before you install an electric vehicle charging station system. You do not want to overload your electric distribution panel.

4. Hire an Electrician

Next, hire an electrician. You can discuss any concerns you have about your power consumption and adding EV charging. You can also have them install a dedicated 240-volt plug or add a hardwired circuit back to the power panel. Usually, this costs a couple of hundred dollars, but it could be up to $1,000-$3,000 if it’s found that your power panel is not sufficient as-is and requires upgrading. 

5. Buy Your Charger & Have it Installed

If you haven’t already researched and purchased an EV charger at this point, it would be the time to do so and have it professionally installed by the electrician of your choice.

Contact TNT Ford With More EV Questions

In addition to your home charger, there are plenty of electric vehicle charging stations to take advantage of while you’re on the road in Des Moines and Omaha, NE. If you want to learn how to locate these stations or find the right vehicle for your lifestyle, feel free to contact our Red Oak team and we’ll be happy to assist you.