How to Prep Your Home for an Electric Vehicle

If you’re interested in purchasing an electric vehicle like the much-talked-about Mercedes-Benz EQS, you’ll want to know about electric vehicle charging batteries and transformation your home garage to an electric vehicle charging station. Learn how to prep your home for an electric vehicle, so your home can be the primary method of charging your vehicle. Don’t hesitate to contact our service center if you have any questions! 

1. Choose a Charging Type (AKA Charging Level)

If you’re not familiar with electric vehicle charging batteries, it’s essential to do some research. Most home charging systems fall into Level 1 or Level 2. Review additional information below about the charging time:

• Level 1 EV charging often takes days to fully charge an electric car. 
• Level 2 EV charging often takes several hours to fully charge an electric car. You can often get between 60-200 miles of range in just 20-30 minutes with Level 2 DC charging, though. For this reason, most people intermix daytime “top-off” charging with overnight charging.

2. Prep Your Home for an Electric Vehicle

Clean out or organize your garage better so it can get turned into an at-home electric vehicle charging station. This should be done before you purchase your vehicle. Clean out any clutter, and make sure there’s plenty of space.

3. Find Your Power Panel & Assess Consumption

The power panel is what distributes electricity throughout the entire building. This should be rated for a maximum amount of current flow that’s measured in Amperes. Typically, new homes come with a 100 Amp power panel, but there should be an amperage rating that’s printed on your main circuit breaker. 

Then, learn and understand how much electrical energy your consistently use in your home by doing a self-assessment of your electricity before installing an EV charging system. You mustn’t overload the electric distribution panel.

4. Hire an Electrician

The next step is hiring an electrician. This is your time to talk about any concerns you have about your power consumption and add an electric vehicle charging station. You can also ask them to install a dedicated 240-volt plug or add a hardwired circuit back to the power panel. This can cost a few hundred dollars, but it could also be up to $1,000 or $3,000 if your power panel is not sufficient as-is and requires an upgrade.

5. Buy & Have Your Charger Installed

If you haven’t yet, do some research on an EV charger and purchase it. The charger should be installed professionally by an electrician.

Get Additional Tips at Mercedes-Benz of Modesto!

Have any additional questions about how to prep your home for an electric vehicle? Don’t hesitate to contact our service center at any time!