Buying a charging station: everything you need to know
A quick guide to buying a charging station - If you decide to take the plunge and opt for a 100% electric vehicle, not only will you need to store for the vehicle itself, but you will also need to consider purchasing a 240-volt Level 2 charging station for your home. Why would you want to do that? Simply because the 120-volt chargers that come with the vehicle take forever to fully charge the batteries, which becomes unbearable, except perhaps in the case of short-range plug-in hybrids.
Two solutions are available to you. The first is to turn to a car dealer, who can send an expert to analyze your electrical installation and sell you a charging station, which is often more stylish and attractive than what is usually found on the market. Of course, the operation will be more expensive, as dealers are business people.
You can also purchase the terminal yourself and supervise its installation by ensuring that the connections are made by a master electrician. This is what many homeowners decide to do. We therefore decided to proceed with the shopping and installation of our charging station and to do so, we obtained the advice of Normand Dupuis, expert in electric vehicle equipment for the multinational Leviton.
Have the government pay for your terminal
Not only does the government offer a rebate on the purchase of an electric vehicle, but it also subsidizes the purchase and installation of the charging station, which will help reduce costs. You can get a rebate of $350 for its purchase and $250 for the installation and power infrastructure.
The catch is that you must have purchased an electric vehicle, as you will need to provide its serial number. So if you want to install one for a future purchase or to accommodate family, friends and passers-by, you will have to pay 100% of the cost of your charging station. You can't just do part of the installation to save a few dollars either, as all the work (running the wires, installing the plug, etc.) is part of the installation and must be compliant and certified for grant purposes.
There are two things to consider when purchasing a charging station. The power of the current it provides and the charging capacity of your vehicle. A charging station that is less powerful than your vehicle's charger will increase the time required and you will not use the vehicle's capacity to the fullest, while a charging station that is more powerful than the on-board charger is a waste, since the car's charger manages everything! The ideal is to have equivalent powers.
The steps
According to Dupuis, the first step is to have your home's electrical system evaluated. These days, heat pumps, spas, water heaters and more can overtax electrical distribution panels that weren't designed at the time to accommodate all this luxury equipment. A simple connection of your terminal could turn into a much more expensive operation if you need to have circuits joined or even have a secondary panel installed by an expert. It is important to keep these costs in mind. You may have to settle for a lesser terminal because your installation cannot handle more.
It is important to evaluate everything before buying. This is the mistake we made. We thought that the most powerful terminals used a 30 amp network, but it is not the case. We had to review our pre-installation to accommodate a higher power.
The most powerful residential terminal
Leviton, one of the largest manufacturers of its kind, markets three types of charging stations. The smallest, Evr-Green Mini, uses a 30-amp circuit and has a charging capacity of 4.8 kW. That's not very powerful, especially since vehicle chargers are more powerful these days, but it's still 5 times faster than a 120-volt level 1 charger. It is very compact and easy to install. A dryer-type outlet is all you need.
The second terminal, the Evr-Green 320, the most popular from the manufacturer, has a capacity of 7.7 kW thanks to its 32 amp circuit. It has a fairly long wire that allows it to go around the car. Another thing to consider when buying. It competes with what Bosch, Schneider and EVDuty offer on the market.
Leviton's most powerful charging station, the 40-amp Evr-Green 400, delivers 9.6 kW of power, making it the most powerful available on the market today, regardless of brand. For now, few vehicles other than Tesla's can harness all that power, but according to Dupuis, it's best to plan for the future, especially since you'll only be eligible for one grant per address to purchase your charging station. However, you need to plan for a much more robust installation, since it requires a 6-gauge wire and a 50-amp circuit, which is much more than your stove!
It is in fact the latter that we installed. We had to review our pre-installation, because the wire gauge was not sufficient according to our electrician. Once the plug is in place, the installation of the terminal only takes a few seconds. Simply remove the cover, attach the terminal to the wall and plug the power cord into the outlet. It is also possible to opt for a permanent installation by plugging your electrical wire directly into the heart of the bollard, to be favored when your device will be located outside, but you lose the advantage of being able to move it easily.
In short, beyond the purchase of the vehicle itself, the shopping and the installation of a charging station will have reserved some surprises. It's best to plan ahead to avoid unpleasant surprises and, above all, to keep financial costs to a minimum.
In conclusion, here are some manufacturers of charging stations. These can be purchased online or in many big box stores
Leviton
https://www.leviton.com/en
EV Duty
https://www.elmec.ca/home.html
Bosch
https://www.boschevsolutions.com/en-ca/charging-stations
Schneider
https://www.se.com/ca/en/
