For the vast majority of buyers, most of your charging is likely to be done at home. And if you buy an EV that's got over 200 miles in range, you shouldn't have much problem getting to and from work, even if you work 75 miles away (i'm looking at you bay area). But what about road trips? Inevitably you're going to need to charge your EV somewhere other than your residence. And so in this post, we explore what the cost is likely to be and how to find the best bang for your buck charging your EV.
As most know, it's not necessarily easy to find a place to charge an EV. Fortunately, Tesla owners are spoiled with the abundance of Superchargers, but for owners of other EVs (the vast majority of the market), it's not so easy. To make matters worse, many of the chargers are pay-to-use...
But fear not, if done correctly you can charge your EV for less than the cost of gasoline. So to get you started, I'm going to break down the costs of charging by type of charger and include some pros/cons so you can choose the right equipment for your needs.
All About Home Charging
So let's get started with home charging. Now, most people will want to charge their EV overnight at home. This is the cheapest method of charging, but you will need to have a high-amperage dedicated circuit installed in your garage. However, if you're not planning on charging an electric car anytime soon, but are planning to move into one in the future there's no point spending a bunch of money now on a new circuit. You can just run an extension cord from your garage into your house and charge overnight that way until you can afford to move into a home that's ready for you to install a charging station.
Even if your garage circuit is installed, there are other considerations you'll need to take when charging at home. The most important of these is whether your circuit is on a dedicated breaker, or if it's sharing the circuit as part of a household circuit. Some electricians mis-wire circuits, and it can be impossible to tell without having an electrician take a look and check each breaker.
For the purposes of discussion, let's assume that your circuit is on a dedicated breaker. If you're in the US, that will be less than 100 amps. You can charge at any rate you wish on that circuit as long as nothing else is taking electricity from that breaker. So if you have 50 amps of power, then that means you can charge your car at 5x the normal rate for that circuit. For most people, that is enough power to charge at home overnight, but for some, it isn't.
If you're one of those people, you might consider getting a 240v charger installed. Next post I'll go over the differences between 240v and 120v chargers and when you should consider a 240v.
For now, let's assume that overnight charging is working for you and you're ready for a road trip. So you hop in your car and off to one of the many chargers available at popular destinations along your trip. Unfortunately, many will be one of the next types:
What are Level 2 Chargers?
There are a number of different companies and products making these chargers, but for all practical purposes, they are the same. They typically cost anywhere from $200-$800 for a home unit, and you can get them installed in your garage, or by a qualified electrician. They are all 240v/40 amps which means you can charge at 10x the normal rate on that circuit. They're also all plug-in, so you'll need to plug your car into them at night and unplug it in the morning before leaving for work or your trip.
How Much Does it Cost Tesla to put in superchargers?
This is the question that most people are asking right now. With Supercharger stations costing Tesla $150k+ to build, and with even more money spent at each location, these stations are probably the best-kept secret in EVs. So why aren't they free like other chargers?
As far as the initial cost to build a station, there are a couple of reasons. First, Tesla is spending a ton on each site because they're doing it all themselves. Most other charging networks pay a company called Electric Fuel to design, install and operate the stations for them under their brand. That lowers costs.
What's the cost to charge your electric car at home?
This is also one of the most common questions I get. It's actually pretty difficult to answer because there are so many different rates out there right now, and I'm not at all familiar with the various contracts that people have. However, for most people they're paying somewhere around $0.08/kilowatt-hour (kwh).
Charging at home normally requires you to replenish between 10 and 20 miles of range per hour of charging. That means you can charge your car overnight, or during the day while at work, and refill within the span of a lunch break. An overnight charge will get you roughly 30 miles of range per hour, and a lunchtime charge will get you roughly 20-25. Your actual mileage will vary based on the efficiency of your car, and other factors.
How much does it cost to charge an electric car at a public EV charging station?
This question really depends on how much it costs to charge your car at home. For most people who are charging overnight, their electric car is cheaper to charge at home than it would be to pay the cost of a public charging station.
On average, you can get about 30 miles of range per hour of charging time at a Level 2 charger. This means you can refill about 10 miles worth of range every 30 minutes. This makes a 30 minute lunch break at work enough to fill up your car, but an all-day road trip would require multiple charging stops.
Tesla has a list of their Superchargers here. Their new Destination chargers are also included on this list.
