How to Charge Your EV
One of the most frequent questions I get about the EV is how to charge it. The first thing you should do after purchasing an EV is download a series of Charge Finding apps. Here are the most popular.
Of these three, I tend to use Chargepoint the most. To date, we’ve also used Chargepoint chargers more than other chargers. Chargepoint has an app where you can pay directly for your charging time. Now, there are also times when a business has a FREE charger. More of which we highlight in our post about interesting places we’ve charged our EV.
Now, you bought your EV and it’s in your driveway. Surprise! You can plug your car literally into any outlet. Truly. Outside outlet to your house? Yep. The outside outlet on a light pole? Yup. The charge time will be the slowest and longest - but you’ll still get the charge. This is a Level 1 charge.
When we began our EV journey, we used a standard plug in the garage. Our Bolt EUV came with a charging cord and two attachments: one for a standard 110 volt plug (Level 1) and another for the fast charging 220 volt plug (Level 2). It is not necessary to have an EV charger installed on your house, but we HIGHLY recommend it. GM is still offering the perk of paying for the bulk of your Level 2 install. Here are your steps:
Set up the install
Contact your energy company to install another meter on your house
We paid about $250 out of pocket for the whole kit and caboodle. State Electric did our installation.
Because of the configuration of our garage, driveway and house, we had the installation take place on the back of the house. We had the option to have the Level 2 box in the garage, but the work to tear up the ground, build a trench and bury the line was a step (and extra cost) we didn’t want to go through. When it’s raining or the weather is cold, we park the Bolt in the garage and are still able to charge with the cord running under the door.
Once Steps 1 and 2 are done, your home is now its own gas station. Minus the smell and the wonderings about the cost of oil.
At home charging tips
When you charge your EV, you are using the electric power from your own home. We made the mistake of forgetting to focus the charging AT NIGHT during off peak hours (it’s cheaper). Your car will take longer to charge in the winter as well. EVs also get less miles per charge because of the effect the cold has on the battery.
A semi-full charge
We live in an area with many trees and exposed power lines. Just like we try to keep a backup charger for our phones and the batteries for the inverter, we aim to get our car as fully charged as possible. (As of this writing, we are still dealing with the Bolt EUV at 80%, per the recall. It would be really really great for GM to replace the battery before the winter months).
GM’s Chevrolet app
In addition to the charging apps I recommended, I am a big fan of Chevy’s own app. When we go on trips, the app automatically builds a border around where you are going, including the amount of juice you have left in the car. The app shows you Level 2 chargers in and around where you are going.
Level 2 Standard and Fast Charging
When you are on the road, you will want to find a Level 2 charger. There are Level 2 chargers that are FAST chargers, which is a bonus. This means that you’ll be able to get more energy in less time. When we drove from Detroit to Chicago, we managed to find fast charging Level 2 chargers along the way. You’ll pay more for a fast charger, but it’s worth it.
Now, a standard Level 2 charger is also FINE. It’s still faster than Level 1. You can find standard Level 2 chargers at hotels and other businesses. An ideal road trip scenario is when you can find a coffee shop, bookstore and/or restaurant. Since a typical road trip has you stopping for gas ANYWAY, why not find a charger that is near a restaurant, coffee shop, etc. For the record, we feel that the 500,000 charging stations that are being built should add other bells and whistles. We do, however, like the mandates that are being placed on the 500K, including being placed at 50 mile intervals.
Tesla Chargers and our Converter
Charging at a Tesla Destination Charger
Tee Hee!
This one was confusing, so let’s break it down.
Tesla was the first company to get the EV thing going. Hands down. As a perk, Tesla put together a network of chargers for Tesla owners. There are two types of charging:
Tesla Destination Chargers
Tesla Superchargers
Technically speaking, we shouldn’t use our standard Level 2 charger at any Tesla station, BUT we purchased a Lectron vehicle charger, which converts our Level 2 charger in a way that can be used in a Tesla Destination charger.
We tested this setup in Canada and it worked like a charm. What we can’t use and can never use (unless Tesla decides to change things up) are the Tesla Superchargers. There is no converter for this and it’s strictly for Teslas.
It will take a little getting used to, going from app to app, seeing which one you want to use. In about two months (which is how long it took us), things become pretty second nature! Don’t forget to email us with any other questions!