Everything You Need To Know To Find The Best Ev Solutions Charging Station

Click here to get more.

Quick Facts About Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

• Download the apps for charging stations you&#;ll use locally and for travel.
• Smaller EV batteries can charge to capacity faster than larger batteries.
• You can find free chargers but be prepared that they may charge slower.

Unlike a gasoline-fueled car, one major perk of an electric vehicle is that you can plug it in at home or use an EV charging station when you&#;re on the go.

Plugging into an electrical outlet at home is one thing. But those EV charging stations popping up at the end of big suburban parking lots or in urban parking garages open up a world of questions.

Good news! We have answers and a reminder not to be afraid of what is admittedly a very different infrastructure for electric cars than what you are used to with gas cars.

Spoiler alert: Electric cars are a cinch to charge once you work out the basics.

RELATED: How Do Electric Car Tax Credits Work?

Electric Car Charging Station Location Apps 

First things first: Download a charging station location app to your smartphone. Every EV&#;s built-in navigation system can point you toward charging stations. But that is only half the battle. You will want the latest information, and many apps can tell you if the plugs are in use and if there is some fault with the station. This can save you tons of frustration.

Individual charging networks have their own apps. However, a widely used app is PlugShare, which relies on users to supply current information (pun intended) about charging stations. You&#;ll find out about any recent changes and developments. For instance, is the EV charger in a parking lot now under construction, or are those chargers temporarily off-limits or charging slower than usual?

PlugShare works with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay so that you can pull it up from most late-model EV touchscreens.

A good backup to download and utilize is ChargePoint. Sometimes it is easy to compare the two, and many users report that ChargePoint is more user-friendly than other apps.

Using the apps from charging station providers such as EVgo, Electrify America, and ChargePoint streamlines payment and allows for monitoring of your vehicle&#;s charging status. At public chargers, you do not need to use the car manufacturer app to get your EV plugged in and charged, though some carmakers may require it.

Are EV Charging Stations Free?

Some public stations provide charging at no cost. But free EV charging stations are far less common than those requiring payment.

You may wonder just how much it will cost to charge an electric car at a public charging station.

Generally speaking, most charging stations will charge by the kilowatt-hour (kWh), the amount of energy transferred to the car&#;s battery. Unless it&#;s a free charger, the fee for the session is more than what it would cost to plug your electric car in at home. Most households in the United States pay an average of 16 cents per kWh. It&#;s unlikely you&#;ll find many public chargers that offer to juice up your EV for less than that.

Fees at some public stations are priced per minute.

In many cases, individual station owners set charging prices. Just because there&#;s a ChargePoint network logo on the charger doesn&#;t mean prices are uniform. The charger at your local grocery store might not cost the same as the station in a nearby shopping center parking lot.

Some major retailers, such as Whole Foods, offer free charging through at many locations, though realistically, this perk is bound to expire at some point.

Additionally, most new car dealers offer free charging stations on-site, though their usefulness is dubious. For example, car dealership locations don&#;t tend to be in the most convenient areas. Also, dealers will need to use them for their cars. After hours, many dealers close gates that will prevent drivers from reaching those stations, too.

In short: Don&#;t expect to get by with free charging forever.

Still, it likely costs less than $5 to add 100-plus miles of range to most electric cars, making plugging in cheaper and greener than filling up with unleaded. However, certain vehicle models may be more expensive to charge than others. For example, charging a GMC Hummer EV pickup could cost a driver about $100 at a public charging station Level 3 DC fast charger.

Time Spent at Charging Stations

Battery size is a fundamental part of the charging-time equation. It makes sense that smaller batteries can charge to capacity faster than larger batteries. However, many variables affect charging speeds. The level of battery technology, the quality of the equipment (both the charger and the vehicle), and environmental factors such as the ambient temperature affect how fast EVs charge.

In broad terms, Level 2 charging stations charge at about 6 kilowatts (kW) or a little higher and can add about 20 miles of range in an hour of charging at home or using a public charging station.

DC fast chargers use high-voltage direct current to charge at 50 kW and up to 350 kW if the car can accept that rate. It&#;s not uncommon for EVs to gain 80% charge in about 30 minutes or less during quick charging.

Here&#;s another rule of thumb regarding the time you spend at an EV charging station: The last 10% of EV battery charging can take as long as the first 90%.

Charging Station Reliability

Pulling into a filling station that&#;s unable to pump gas is an uncommon situation. Unfortunately, finding an EV charging station that&#;s out of order is not newsworthy. A study from the University of California Berkeley found significant reliability issues with fast chargers in the Greater Bay Area.

Charging networks claim uptime rates of 95% and higher. However, the study found almost 23% of 657 DC fast chargers in the nation&#;s biggest EV market were nonfunctional. The chargers were out of order because of &#;unresponsive or unavailable touchscreens, payment system failures, charge initiation failures, network failures, or broken connectors.&#;

Unlike their gasoline counterparts, EV charging stations rarely have an attendant watching over the equipment to help keep it operational. As a result, the public charging infrastructure has plenty of room for improvement.

To its credit, Electrify America ranked highest among EV charging networks in user experience in a study by Umlaut, an engineering services firm owned by Accenture. The study considered app usability, charging locations, and ease of completing a charging session.

RELATED: My First Time Charging an EV

How to Use a Car Charging Station

Most public EV charging stations will require you to sign up for an account, though this is simple enough. These networks will store your credit card on file and typically give you a card to wave in front of the charger to activate a charging session. Hint: Keep that card in your glove box or center console.

From there, charging couldn&#;t be more effortless &#; and cleaner.

1. Pop open the vehicle&#;s charging port
2. Grab the charger from its holster
3. Plug in, and walk away for a while.

Pro Tip: Find a charging station near a restaurant or coffee shop, should you need to whittle away time. Read about taking an EV road trip and get tips.

A display at the charging station will show you how much electricity (and how much money) you&#;ve added to your electric car. And there will be a clearly marked number you can call if you have any questions or need assistance.

Most public charging stations deliver Level 2 power, adding 25 miles per hour to a Chevrolet Bolt EV, for example. Level 3 chargers or DC fast chargers, also known as direct current fast chargers, provide way more power, but they are far less common and cost more to use.

Tesla&#;s Supercharger network offers DC fast charging, but only to that automaker&#;s vehicles. And that brings up an important note for Tesla owners. To use a non-Tesla charger, you will need an adapter available for less than $100. Non-Tesla vehicles can use Tesla&#;s Level 2 Destination Chargers.

How To Install a Car Charging Station at Home

The most convenient places to top off are where your electric vehicle will most likely be parked: home and work. You&#;ll want a Level 2 charger at home, which requires 240-volt power reasonably close to the car.

Drivers who park in a private garage or even a driveway will likely have no issues. The 240-volt electricity is generally easy to add to a garage. The plug needed for a charger is the same as an electric clothes dryer.

Goto EraCharge to know more.

A brief unscientific survey of electricians across the country found an average installation cost of around $250 for a 240-volt outlet. However, numerous factors can make this estimate more expensive. That said, many new homes get built with accommodation for electric cars. Also, you can potentially find incentives to install chargers or get discounts on electricity rates.

From there, you will need to pick out a charger &#; plan to spend between $400 and $700. The charger plugs into your new 240-volt outlet and features a cable that plugs into your car. Longer cables are available for most chargers for drivers who need the charger inside a garage but must park outside.

Drivers who park on the street or use apartment garages may need to come up with another solution. Municipalities generally frown upon a charging cable stretching across the sidewalk to a car, and installing your charger in a multistory garage is, of course, a no-go.

Read More About Electric Cars:

Here's what you want to look for in an EV charger, in descending order of importance for the average buyer.

Safety first

EV chargers are generally safe, but ensure the model you have in mind is UL-certified (an industry-standard mark of safety based on third-party testing by Underwriters Laboratories). As long as it&#;s UL-certified and you use it as directed, the charger is unlikely to cause a fire. All the models mentioned above are UL-listed, but some lower-cost models sold through Amazon are not.

Outlet vs. hardwire

Some EV chargers use a hardwired electrical connection &#; no plug, no outlet. Others plug into an outlet. For L2 chargers, that's typically a 4-prong, NEMA 14-50 outlet, like many electric stoves or clothes dryers. A lot of models come in both types.

Either type is valid, and it's a matter of personal preference. Here's what to know about each style:

Hardwired

• It's a cleaner-looking installation with shorter cable runs, no visible plug, and no outlet.

• You can avoid installing a bulky outdoor-rated outlet because the hidden electrical connection already makes the charger more weatherproof.

• Hardwired connections can charge faster than plug-in chargers (if your car and electrical wiring can support it).

• You'll need an electrician to install it, then uninstall and replace it when it wears out (though this shouldn&#;t happen for 5-10 years), so the costs can add up over time. 

Plug-in

• If you already have an outlet, you don't need to hire an electrician. Even if you need a new outlet, or your outlet wears out, you won't need an electrician to swap out chargers in the future, which saves you money in the long run.

• Certain models are weatherproof (for outdoor use), though you'll need to plug into an outdoor-rated outlet.

• They have a maximum charging speed of 40 amps (20-30 miles of range per hour). That's the safe limit for a NEMA 14-50 outlet.

Connector type: Tesla vs. everything else

In North America, EV chargers come with one of two connectors for at-home use: 

• A Tesla connector shaped for the port on a Tesla.

• A J connector, shaped for the port on literally every other make and model of EV.

It makes some sense to get a charger with a connector that matches your car's port, but it doesn't actually matter because they're cross-compatible. Adapters to get a Tesla EV to work with a J charger cost about $50. Adapters to plug a J vehicle into a Tesla charger are about $150. 

Cord length

We've all pulled up to the gas pump on the wrong side, and we'll all end up parking our EVs too far from the charger at least once. You probably won't regret having the extra length of a longer cable.

According to the National Electrical Code, the maximum safe cable length is 25 feet. Most Level 2 chargers are at least 20 feet long. Aim for something in that range. 

Technically speaking, longer cords could be less energy efficient than shorter ones. More energy can get wasted traveling along the longer wire, but real-world testing by Car & Driver didn&#;t find any meaningful difference from model to model.

Scheduling

EVs draw a lot of electricity. If you can find ways to pay less for electricity, you can save a lot of money over time. Solar power is an excellent way to save (and EnergySage can help you get quotes for rooftop or community solar). You could also look into discounted rates from your utility company.

More than 60% of households in the US are eligible for discounted electricity at certain times of day, according to the Energy Information Administration. Utility companies usually call these programs "time-of-use" or "dynamic pricing" plans. 

If you sign up for one of these plans and do most of your EV charging when power is relatively cheap (usually overnight), you can save a ton of money.

An EV charger with a scheduling feature (via mobile app) can help you take advantage of those discounts. You can physically plug in the car whenever it's convenient, but it won't start charging until a time that you've specified in the app. You can always override the schedule if you need to start charging immediately.

Some lower-end chargers have a timer rather than a scheduling feature. You'll set it on a basic LED interface built into the power "brick" on the cord. It's not elegant, but it works.

Other notable features

An app: Most L2 charging stations can connect to Wi-Fi and have some sort of mobile app. It's where you'll set charging schedules (see above), adjust the power output (see below), monitor the charging status, and track your energy use over time. They all basically do the same thing, but some are better looking, others more prone to glitches, and a few try to shoehorn in an extra interface for public charging networks, too. If you think this will be something that matters to you, check the app store ratings before buying.

Output control: This lets you control the charging rate. If you own a 32-amp charger, you can usually set it to supply just 24 amps, 16 amps, or even 8 amps to your car. Why would you do this? Maybe you're trying to manually manage your home's electrical load to avoid tripping an underpowered breaker, or you&#;re acting out of some sense of courtesy for the electrical grid. 

You never really need to do this. The EV itself will only ever draw as much power as its battery can safely handle, and there's no good evidence that L2 charging is any worse for an EV battery's longevity than L1 charging. Still, most L2 chargers provide this option if you want it, though not all of them.

Demand response: Certain EV chargers are also compatible with demand response programs through your utility company. If you opt-in, it gives the utility some control over your charger (via software), typically in exchange for a small cash rebate. 

Demand response typically works like this: The utility can turn off or turn down an EV charger at peak demand to help avoid overloading the grid. That might be during the early evening on the hottest days of the year, as people arrive home from work and crank the AC or frigid winter mornings in regions with a lot of electric heat. All the demand response programs we know of allow you to override the utility company's control, but you might lose out on the rewards.

For more information, please visit Ev Solutions Charging Station.