Charging an electric car at home

When is it worth charging your electric car at home? What should you look for when choosing a wall charger, and how should you install it at home? Find out in our article!

Electric cars are becoming increasingly popular in the US. However, it is not the price that makes people hesitate to buy one – the biggest obstacle is the problem of regular charging. Due to the varying – and constantly rising – prices at charging points and the frequent overloading of public charging stations, it is becoming increasingly important to have your own home charger if you buy an electric car.

But when is home charging most worthwhile? What is the ideal electric car charger for us, and how should we install it at home? Our article will answer these questions!

Charging electric cars: everyday problems

Where can we charge our car?

If our car runs out of power sooner than expected, we face a number of challenges. These include a lack of coverage, as it is by no means certain that we will find a charging station in time in a less developed, more sparsely populated area. Even if we do, we may have to wait for a charging station to become available. If we don't have the option of spending several hours at a public charging station during the day, we may find ourselves in a difficult situation when we need to recharge.

In our apartment building, a garage space may provide the opportunity for home charging, but we may not be so lucky, and even an extension cord hanging from the floor may not be enough to charge the car.

Compatibility between your electric car and charging stations

There is a wide range of charging stations in our country: we can find 22 kW fast chargers, which can be AC or DC (the latter being quick chargers), fast chargers over 50 kW (which are DC), and 100-150-350 ultra chargers (HPC).

Before purchasing an electric car, it is important to know their locations – and to download the app for the relevant charging network to make things easier. However, as each charging network has different chargers – and apps – it can be difficult to find your way around this maze. In addition, each provider requires a separate bank card and billing address, and some offer RFID key fobs for faster charging.

How much does charging cost?

Nowadays, free charging stations are hard to find, but there are a growing number of charging stations with different prices. You can choose between per-minute and/or per-kWh pricing, and which one is better for you depends largely on the performance of your car. With a lower-powered electric car, you can end up paying a lot with per-minute charging; you could even end up paying the equivalent of 15 liters of gas.

When is it worth charging an electric car at home?

When it comes to home charging, there is a wide variation in the brands of electric cars and the size of their battery packs. Charging a smaller model at home can cost as little as $3 (based on 6 liters of consumption). The cost of electricity from street chargers is several times higher, up to $11, based on the same amount of consumption, so it is much more economical to charge a lower-powered electric car at home. It is also worth considering that charging a completely flat battery usually takes 8-10 hours, which is typically possible at night.

Types of home charging

A home charger (emergency charger, also known as EVSE) is a simple plug-in charger that can charge at 8-12 amps, but is often not adjustable. As a result, it may trip the circuit breaker in front of it, or the old wiring and plug may melt or even catch fire. Its power consumption is the same as a boiler (approx. 2 kW), so it takes 10-12 hours to fully charge a car with a lower charging capacity. The risk is that they have no protections and are single-phase.

A wall charger that can be installed by drilling into the wall or using an external protective tube makes home charging easier: it is equipped with a fixed cable, so it is convenient to use, just lift the connector and plug it into the car. It is worth buying a plug-in version, which comes with a cable that is Type 2 on the charger side and Type 1 on the car side.

It is important to note that a wall charger is a convenient and reliable solution that comes with a number of safety features, can charge at a maximum of 32 amps per phase, can be paired with a mobile app with detailed statistics, and in the event of a fault, push notifications or a warning message on the display alert you to the problem.

Retrofitting a wall charger: what you will need!

If purchasing a charger would require expanding your home's electrical network due to increased power demand, you will need to obtain a permit. You can choose this option, i.e. increase the power supply, which is a longer process and costs money in phases. The other option is to manage the existing power supply for your household and the charger. This will require a power meter module after the main meter.

The installation of the indoor unit should always be carried out by a professional! The operation is much more complicated than replacing a light bulb. The installation costs approximately HUF 250,000-600,000 net. This includes the price of the wall charger, the cost of the professionals (including call-out fees), the cost of installation materials and labor, the electrical safety inspection (on-site survey), and the cost of the report and installation certificate.

We can install our new chargers in both apartment buildings and family homes: the prerequisite for this is a protected parking space or garage that is closed to traffic. Charging can only be started with a mobile app or RFID card, so only the owner of the charger can actually charge their car.

Charging electric cars at home: things to consider when choosing a charger

A good charger is one that solves several problems at once. This means that it meets the following criteria:

• Durable. When installing an outdoor unit, it is important that it is as resistant to weather conditions as possible. To this end, it should be well insulated and made of strong materials, but its aesthetic appearance is also important.
• Easy to install. It is important that it is easy to use and does not require any serious technical knowledge. AC chargers, for example, are equipped with a magnetic switch, a simple computer and some electronics (internal protections, temperature, relay jamming, phase monitoring, DC current leakage monitoring). The power from the wall is fed to the vehicle via a relay/magnetic switch, which indicates the required current.
• Safety. The device has a certificate or an EU declaration of conformity. It also has built-in protection (e.g. against DC leakage current).
• Smart solution. Remote monitoring and control of charging is extremely practical. They can be connected to the internet via Wi-Fi or an Ethernet cable, so you don't have to stand right next to them to control and regulate the power consumption.
• Reporting at its best. To keep track of your consumption, you can download a mobile app that displays clear and detailed data.
• Customizability. A smart charger is also ideal because the app allows us to select the charging mode (time-based, battery-saving, etc.), the current, and the charging time for our vehicle. In addition, we can view statistics and charging history.
• Cost savings. With dynamic power sharing, load distribution within your household can become child's play. This can be achieved by installing a smart consumption control distribution box.
• This way, the charger only provides our electric car with the amount of power that is available beyond the current power consumption of the house.
• Can be combined with solar panels. The load monitoring device monitors how much power is being fed back into the grid, so the charger knows when there is excess power from the solar panels and will charge accordingly.

What kind of charger do we need?

It is important to know the size of the battery in the car. Based on this, it can be decided whether the current capacity is sufficient with an intelligent power distributor and can be easily charged overnight, or whether the battery is large and capacity expansion is necessary.

It is also important to know how many kilometers we drive per day. If the maximum distance is 100 kilometers per day, it will be charged overnight. This means approximately 15 kWh consumption.

It is also worth knowing how many phases your electric car's on-board charger has: 1 or 3. If you choose a wall charger, make sure it is compatible. In addition, check whether your car's connector is Type 1 or Type 2: Type 1 is single-phase, while Type 2 can also be used for three-phase AC charging.

Wall chargers tailored to customer needs

Wosser has selected the wall chargers available in its range to provide innovative yet reliable solutions for customers.

Whether for home, apartment building, business premises or public charging, Voltie can adapt to all needs. Its attractive yet durable casing can withstand even the most extreme weather conditions, and with its own app, it can be easily controlled from anywhere. If you have solar panels at home, it can even be combined with them, making it an exceptionally economical solution. Its power, charging time and charging capacity are all adjustable. The Voltie concept has been refined to perfection based on feedback from 72,000 customers and eight years of professional experience. Voltie is a Hungarian product capable of delivering up to 22 kW of power.

Wallbox is a high-quality wall charger: the Spanish brand's smart chargers have been on the market since 2015 and are now available in 50 countries. The uniqueness of wall chargers, in addition to their expandability and wide compatibility, lies in their power: with a maximum output of 22 kW, they can charge an electric car up to eight times faster than an average charger.

Charging electric cars at home

Wosser helps you choose the right charging device for your car so you can conveniently charge your electric car at home.

Would you like to go further than just installing electric car chargers?

Our experts can also help you with the installation, maintenance, and remote monitoring of solar panel systems.