Electric vehicles have been around since the early 1900s but were not widely popular as the infrastructure to keep an EV charged was not as sophisticated as it is today. The costs to develop and implement the infrastructure were too high to justify moving away from your standard internal combustion engine. This was the case until September 2012 when Tesla introduced their Supercharger network. A network of fast charging stations along major routes and near amenities removed one of the largest barriers to mass adoption of EV’s “Range anxiety.”
Without the fear of running out of charge mid trip, many people started to take the leap and purchase their first EV. At this time, the supercharge network was exclusive to Tesla vehicles so of course that was most people’s first option. Having the supercharger network was crucial to the growth of the EV market but it was not perfect, with various performance and reliability issues as well as an increasing demand it became less and less appealing to go to public charging stations.
While at home charging has been around since the inception of EV’s in the early 1900s it has become much more popular since the resurgence of EV’s. Being able to come home after a long day and plug your car in, rather than going out to find a charging station has made it much more convenient for those who own EV’s. While it’s easier than ever to own and maintain an EV, it is still crucial that you do it in the right way. Having a licensed electrician install your home’s EV charger is the best way to ensure that it is installed safely and properly.
At Penfold Electric our goal with any job is to ensure that you have all of the information that you need in order to make an informed decision on any job in your home. If you’re interested in getting an EV charger installed at your home our first step is to set up a site assessment to see exactly what would go into getting your charger installed. There are many factors that need to be taken into consideration; what car you have, or are planning to get, the level of charger that you are looking to get installed, and most importantly the capacity of your electrical panel to support the installation of an EV charger.
This site assessment will cost $100, with this investment you will receive expertise from one of our residential technicians about what charger would be best for your situation, a breakdown of the full process of installation, as well as 4-6 options for the different ways that you can proceed with the job. With all of this information you will be able to make an informed decision that works best for you and your home’s electrical system. When you choose the option that you would like to go ahead with, the $100 site assessment will be deducted from the total of the job so you only pay for the work that is going to be completed.
So you have decided what option you want to go ahead with and you’ve paid the deposit for the job, what happens next? A member of our team will reach out to confirm a date that works with your schedule for our team to come out to do the installation of your new EV charger. In order to install an EV charger at your home a permit from the Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) is required prior to the work being done. We will reach out to them and acquire this permit and set up a post installation inspection. Why is this important? A permit is important for both insurance and warranty purposes.
If you have any questions about the process of getting an EV charger installed at your home or you would like to set up a site assessment at your home reach out to Penfold Electric at 365-886-1294 or email us at penfoldelectric@gmail.com
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