Electric vehicles are becoming more common in Portland, and having a reliable charging solution at home makes owning one easier and more convenient. With a home EV charging station, you can charge overnight, reduce reliance on public stations, and ensure your vehicle is ready whenever you need it.
If you have an electric or hybrid vehicle, you must consider how and where you charge it. The type of charging station for an electric vehicle (EV) that you use can have a major impact on the life and health of your EV battery. In this guide, we’ll explain all you need to know about the different EV charging stations and why installing a Level 2 charging station at your home is an intelligent investment.
Home EV Charging Stations and Their Effect on EV Batteries
There are three types of home EV charging stations. Which one you normally use can have a major effect on your vehicle’s battery life. Some can cause the battery to degrade more quickly. If your EV battery starts to degrade, your vehicle’s range will also decrease.
Level 1 Charging: Slow and Steady—plugs into a standard 120V outlet, charges overnight or longer.
Level 1 charging is the slowest option, just plugging your EV into a standard 120-volt outlet. With Level 1 charging, it will normally take 20 to 40 hours or more to fully charge your battery if it’s mostly empty. This means that Level 1 charging isn’t all that practical unless you normally don’t drive that many miles per day.
Level 2 Charging: The Overnight Hero—240V, practical for daily home charging.
Level 2 charging stations operate on a 240-volt circuit and are generally the most practical option for home use. If you install a Level 2 charger in your garage or outside your home, you can fully charge your vehicle overnight. Depending on the ambient temperature and the range of your vehicle, it will take a Level 2 station somewhere between four and 10 hours to charge a mostly empty battery.
Level 3 Charging: The Speed Demon—DC fast charging, ideal for road trips, but heats battery.
Level 3 DC fast charging is found at most public charging stations and can fully charge your EV in under an hour. Unlike Level 1 and 2 stations, which supply AC power to the vehicle’s internal charger, Level 3 chargers deliver DC power directly to the battery.
These fast chargers are convenient for road trips or when your battery is low, but charging quickly generates more heat, which can degrade the battery over time. Occasional use is fine for most drivers, thanks to modern battery management, but experts recommend limiting frequent Level 3 use to trips or emergencies.
How Home EV Charging Works: The Role of the Internal Charger
Level 1 charging is technically the best option for protecting your EV battery since it charges much more slowly. We say “technically” because an EV’s internal charger can adjust the charging rate to prevent the battery from charging too quickly. It does this automatically based on how much charge the battery currently has.
When the battery is mostly empty, the charger will charge it faster but not so fast that it could damage the battery. The charging rate will greatly decrease as the battery starts nearing 80% charge. This is important to prevent the battery from being damaged.
When the cells in the battery are fuller, the charger has to work harder since the cells have less space for the energy to be stored. If the battery were to continue charging faster when the cells were mostly full, it would quickly start to heat up and potentially suffer damage.
Home EV Charging Station Settings: Charge to 80%
Most manufacturers recommend that you normally only charge your EV battery to 80%, and most EVs have a setting that allows you to set what percentage you want the battery to charge to. Even though the rate of charging decreases as the battery nears 80% complete, constantly charging it to 100% puts much more strain on it. This can cause it to degrade more quickly and shorten its lifespan.
Charging your battery to 100% occasionally isn’t that big of an issue. It is sometimes necessary if you have a long trip ahead of you. That said, the lithium-ion batteries in EVs work most efficiently when they have between 20% and 80% charge.
Another thing to consider is that charging from 80% to 100% takes less time than charging from 0% to 80%, although the final 20% charges more slowly than earlier levels due to tapering.
Home EV Charging Environment: Temperature Matters
If possible, you’re always better off charging your EV inside a temperature-controlled environment or somewhere that isn’t extremely hot or cold. Charging your battery in extremely hot or cold temperatures will cause it to degrade much more quickly. Ideally, you should always charge your battery in an area between 50- and 85-degrees Fahrenheit. This will lessen the strain on the battery and help prevent it from degrading.
Another reason is that batteries charge much more slowly in colder temperatures. If you charge your vehicle outside during the winter, you won’t receive nearly as much range in the same time as you would if you charged it in your garage, where it’s warmer. The fact that batteries charge more slowly in colder temperatures means that the internal charger will reduce the amount of current that it sends to the battery to prevent it from being damaged.
Benefits of a Home EV Charging Station
Having a Level 2 EV charging station at your home can make your life much more convenient and help save you money. Not only does Level 3 charging cause your battery to degrade more quickly, but most Level 3 stations are also fairly expensive. They charge anywhere from $0.35 to $0.60 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity. The average electricity rate in Oregon is only around $0.15 per kWh, which shows how much cheaper it is to charge your EV at home. By comparison, residential electricity rates vary by state, but in Oregon the average is around $0.15 per kWh, making home charging significantly cheaper.
If you only need to drive a few miles between charges, you’re generally fine just using Level 1 charging. However, if you take a road trip, you would need to leave your vehicle plugged in for nearly two full days to get back to a full charge. This makes a Level 2 station a great investment, as it will allow you to plug in your vehicle overnight and always ensure you have a full charge in the morning. If your family has two EVs, you could even charge both of them daily by plugging one in when you get home and switching to the other before you head to bed.
Another thing to consider is that many electricity providers charge higher rates per kWh at the peak times of the day. With a Level 2 station, you can save money by setting the charger to start charging your vehicle at off-peak times when electricity rates are lower.
EV Charger Installation Services with 3 Mountains Services
The expert electricians at 3 Mountains Home Services are ready to help install an EV charging station at your home. We also provide a full range of other electrical installations and repair services for customers in the Milwaukie, OR area. To schedule a consultation and learn more about your options for EV charger installation, book online or give our expert electricians a call today.