How to Prep Your Home for an EV in 5 Steps

If you’re considering an electric vehicle, your purchase will contribute to a greener environment in Queens. Once you’ve made the purchase, it’s time to prepare your home for an electric vehicle. Electric vehicles (EVs) utilize an electric battery to operate properly, meaning it needs to be charged every so often to function, depending on your driving habits. While there are convenient places to charge your vehicle around Staten Island, it’s best to have an electric vehicle home charger, so you can charge overnight and every day. For more information on how to prep your home for an EV, read below! 

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

There are different types of electric vehicle home chargers that you can use for your new EV. If you haven’t researched the variety available to you, take a look at your electric vehicle home charger options below: 

• Level 1 EV charging: This type of charger often takes several days to fully charge an electric car. 
• Level 2 EV charging: This type of charger typically takes only 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. Prepare Your Garage

If you haven’t already, clean out your garage and designate a specific spot for your charger. It’s much more efficient to do it before the charger is delivered than to do it as the professionals are trying to install it. 

3. Find Your Power Panel & Assess Consumption

Next, find your power panel. The power panel distributes electricity throughout your entire home so everything has electricity. It typically measures the maximum current flow in Amperes and newer homes come with a 100mA power panel. You can also look on your main circuit breaker to get the exact number. Check to see how much electricity you consume by performing a self-assessment of your electricity use before getting your charger installed. This is important as you want to avoid overloading your electric distribution system. 

4. Hire an Electrician

Now it’s time to hire an electrician to make sure you’ve properly prepared your home for an electric vehicle. This is also a great opportunity to ask them any questions about your power consumption and how an electric vehicle home charger will impact your consumption. If you want, you can ask them to install a dedicated 240-volt plug or add a hardwired circuit back to the power panel if it requires upgrading. 

5. Buy Your Charger & Have it Installed

Now you’re ready to purchase your charger! If you haven’t already, purchase the charger that will best fit your Bronx lifestyle and get it installed by a professional. 

Purchase a new EV at Bay Ridge Volkswagen Today!

If you have any questions about how to prepare your home for an electric vehicle, feel free to contact us! You can also test-drive our electric vehicles and our finance team will help you through the purchase process.