The Hidden Charge: Electric Vehicle Charging Stations 

     Electric Vehicle Charging Stations and their hidden costs.  Congratulations on your new Electric Vehicle! Whether it is a Tesla, Ford, BMW, or other manufacturer, your new electric vehicle is going to need an electrical charging station.  Now that you have purchased the car, there are only a few questions left for you to answer.  The first of which is, ‘how am I going to keep this thing charged?!’. In 2021 electric vehicle charging stations in Bellevue, WA are no longer difficult to find as they once were.   But finding the time to charge your vehicle at one of these stations can still be a hassle. 

To combat this, many families choose to install home electric vehicle chargers.   These can be hooked directly into their homes power grid. These home charging stations allow homeowners to conveniently and efficiently charge their vehicles in the safety of their own garages with minimal muss or fuss. However, while these stations are incredibly useful to an EV owner the price of an upgraded EV charger installation is almost never included in the purchase price of the vehicle itself. As such many EV owners call their upgraded charging stations a “hidden charge” of EV ownership. 

The Real Price of Your New Electric Vehicle

In this section you will find the basic information to get your home ready for an electric vehicle.  In order to better prepare yourself for the ‘real price’ of your EV purchase we have included some basic EV charger information below: 

Firstly, EV chargers generally come in two types: Level 1 and Level 2. A level 1 charger utilizes a normal 120-volt connection, which can use any standard household outlet; there are no extra costs here. The downside is that charging times can be terribly slow. Secondly, once you own an electric vehicle you will likely find that they typically do not deplete more of the battery than can be replenished overnight using a basic 120V connection. A level 2 charger uses a higher-output 240-volt power source, like the one that you plug your oven or clothes dryer into. This way, charging times are much faster than with a Level 1 EV charging station.

In conclusion, a level 1 charger is typically included with the purchase of your vehicle, but a level 2 charger must be purchased and installed by a certified electrical company. 

An average Installation Cost Should Include: 

• Installation Charge 
• Permitting Charge (if applicable) 

You can read more about Electric Vehicle Chargers here.