Car Charger Installations
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Car Charger Installations
The way of the future
Electric cars are obviously and definitely the way the future of the car industry is heading. How will this effect you directly when you pull this shiny new vehicle into your garage or driveway and go to plug it in?
Contrary to the hype and propaganda around these wonderful vehicles there are considerations one has to make before purchasing an electric vehicle. The largest consideration is can your home’s service handle the additional load on it’s equipment? Some electric vehicles can draw up to 100 AMPS at 240V for hours at a time. This can put a load on a 100, 150, or even 200 AMP service that will have deleterious effects on your service equipment and appliances, or electronic equipment in your home. Services are sized to operate at approximately 80% of total overhead capacity. On a 200 AMP service this means the load should calculate at 160 AMPS against a 200 AMP service. There are formulas found in the NEC that govern these calculations and can be explained more completely in the field by your estimator. If you purchase a vehicle that is going to require 50, 60 or even 100 AMPS to charge the odds are pretty good a 100 or 150 AMP Service is not going to allow for this, and even in a lot of 200 AMP service situations a car charger takes the calculation above the 80% benchmark. What can you do?
BEFORE you buy a car contact us and we will happily respond and perform a RLC (residential load calculation). We can ascertain service overhead that is available and what size charger you will be able to add onto your existing service. There are considerations to keep in mind when it comes to charging. The HIGHER the amperage available the FASTER and more ECONOMICAL the charging will be. Operations cost is a serious consideration. This vehicle will be in your driveway every day and will probably need to be charged daily. A 5.00 a day charge vs a 9.00 a day charge will add up to real money over the course of a year. We can determine what size charger can efficiently operate on your existing service.
Sometimes even a 20 AMP charging situation requires a service upgrade to allow for this added load. We can perform service upgrades to insure your service performs properly and efficiently after the installation of a car charger. It is important to balance the cost of charging vs the cost of a service upgrade when making a final decision on your vehicle purchase. Another critical component of the service updating process is what Duke’s infrastructure can handle in your specific area. As demand increases with the introduction of more and more of these vehicles, coupled with already high loads being consumed by HVAC equipment, Duke’s system is being utilized heavily as is. We will need to verify utility overhead for an update to accommodate your vehicles is even AVAILABLE in your specific part of the grid.
As you can see there are a lot of components that need to be considered over and above just the electric vehicle purchase. Call us anytime for a free evaluation of your electrical service and what your best options are for charger sizes and possibilities. Of course we perform any car charger installations from 20 – 125 Amps and service upgrades are a key component of our daily operations as well!