3 Benefits of installing a Residential EV Charger

The ability to charge your car at the comfort of your own home almost seems too good to be true...but it is not!! Residential EV charges are like Netflix. Before Netflix, you had to go hit up BlockBuster or to the movies in order to see a movie. Although this can be a fun outing once in a while, if you watch movies often you might get tired of having to change out of your pjs every time you want to watch a movie. Imagine how much money you would spend if you had to pay theatre rates every time you wanted to watch a movie?  Having a residential EV charger works the same way. You can charge your EV at home with the push of a button and a fraction of the cost...with the added benefit of being able to make popcorn during a blackout! Residential EV Charges are convenient, cost efficient and could even work like a back-up generator to give you peace of mind during an emergency!

Convenience

Spending a few hours killing time at your local mall while you charge your car may not seem like a big inconvenience at first, but this trendy new hangout spot is going to get old real fast! Luckily EV growth hasn’t got to the point yet where there are lineups for these charging stations….but this is a high probability in the future. Not only will you have to wait for your car to charge, but you may have to wait in line while others charge theirs too! Wouldn’t it be awesome to be able to come home and know that your car would be recharged and ready every time you need it. 

You do have a couple options too.  There are level 1 and level 2 chargers available for residential users like yourself.  As you scale up your charger they come with some pretty awesome  features.

Many EV chargers like the VersiCharge even come with smart charging so you can charge your car with a click of a button. Now you don’t even have to climb back out of bed when you realize you forgot to turn charging on before recharging yourself.

Are Solar Panels Cost Effective?

To charge your car at home you have to use electricity and obviously there is a cost to electricity. The cost of charging your vehicle will vary with a number of factors but charging your car at home is a cheaper option than paying a third party provider at the charging station. To determine how much it will cost you will need to know the #kWh needed to charge your car and the price/kWh that your electric provider charges. You will also want to look at how many km you drive in the year and how many full charging cycles it would take to get you those km. 

If for example, I have a Hyundai Kona 2020 and it would take 64kWh to fully charge and that would give me 415km of driving. If I estimate that I will drive 15,189km a year, that would equal  36.6 full charges. 26.6x64kWh=2342.4kWh needed.The average electricity price in PEI is 0.174/kWh so it would cost you $407.58/ year. 

Wait a minute….$407.58/year!! WOW... That is expensive! 

Now before thinking that this is a crazy amount...how much do you spend in gas a year now…$1,500?? 

Related: Are Solar Panels Worth it in Canada?

There are also a ton of other ways to save money while charging your car. Rebate programs for EV vehicles are becoming more popular so the potential for savings is even greater!  With more and more provinces switching to time of use rates, by optimizing charging times with your smart app, you can decrease your cost even further. Want to save even more??? Power your EV Charger using the energy generated by your solar panels! We can take your EV charging needs into account during your FREE solar assessment so that your system can offset some (or even all) the cost!

Bidirectional Charging

Essentially, bidirectional charging allows you to power your home using your car! During a power outage, your car (when hooked up to the charger) can act as an energy source for your house.  With the size of the batteries that are in new EV’s currently (60-100kWh) , that means about 2-3 days worth of power! 

We have all experienced some sort of power outage and know the stress of not knowing when our power will return. Things are all fine and dandy for a few hours but when your food starts to spoil or it’s minus 30°C out, things start to get stressful. By having a residential EV Charger that has bidirectional charging, your car can now act like a generator and provide security for you and your family!

Luckily the future is here and you do not have to kill several hours a week parked at the local mall just so you can charge your car. By installing an EV charger at home, you can sleep well knowing your car will be able to get you where you need to be!  Besides the convenience, charging your EV at home is also cost efficient and can provide you with security during a power outage if you select one with bidirectional charging.