Why You Need a Charging Station; The Advantages of a Home Charging Station

At home EV charging is growing in popularity, with more people looking to enjoy the convenience and affordability aspects. Think about it. You get home, plug in your car to the domestic socket with the Mode 2 charging cable, and wake up to a fully charged and ready to go electric vehicle. Straightforward. Right?
After all, you don’t use much power at home at night. So why not make the most with overnight EV charging?
While many EV car owners opt to use their domestic power system to charge their cars, you might be unknowingly burdening your domestic socket. You see, your domestic socket is built for simple tasks like phone charging and boiling water and not power-intensive tasks like EV charging.

Table of Contents hide

1. Practicability

2. Charging Speed and Safety

3. Flexibility and Comfort

Practicability

Let’s put it into perspective. While the power of a regular household electrical device like a kettle (2.3 kW) is comparable to the charging power of a Mode 2 cable, your EV will take about 10 hours to reach full capacity. I doubt you’d be willing to leave your kettle boiling in the socket for 10 hours. Will you?

And even with power-intensive home appliances like microwaves, vacuum cleaners, and hair dryers, they consume considerably less power than your EV’s charging cable. What’s more, you only use your vacuum cleaner for a few minutes or maybe an hour at most, but with your car, a full charge will take several hours (especially with a Mode 2 charging cable).

And in a domestic system that’s not built to support extended periods of intensive power transfer, you risk melting your socket or cables.

The risk is even higher when you’re using an older domestic installation. Long hours of EV charging can transition to very hot transition boxes and burnt cables in severe cases.

Remember: The Mode 2 charging cable in your boot is designed to be used in emergencies when you run out of power and have to boost your EV batteries. It takes longer to attain 80% (optimal battery charge) and should not be used as a permanent alternative to a dedicated charging station.

Charging Speed and Safety

This goes without saying; a charging station enhances your EV charging speed and safety. Unlike a domestic socket that’ll require about 10 hours, a 240-volt plug-in Level 2 station takes 4-5 hours to deliver optimal battery charge (80%).

Forget the risk of overworking your domestic power socket and burning the cables with a fine-tuned charging station. In most cases, your electrician will match the charging power of your electrical installation, so the EV charges to a maximum, taking the least amount of time.

In rare cases, the electrician might need to adjust your electric installation accordingly to match the desired charging power for your car. The process takes a little adjustment, and with the right person for the job, you won’t even notice the hitch.

Flexibility and Comfort

Besides EV charging safety and speed, the charging station’s flexibility and your comfort are vital. One of our top recommendations is to connect the charging station with the in-house photovoltaic system so excess solar energy can be used to charge the car. Also, you can schedule the charging times based on your schedule with a charging station, so you don’t have to grab the emergency only Mode 2 charging cable during the day. Some charging stations come with extra bells and whistles like dedicated mobile apps to schedule and monitor the station from anywhere. This way, you can keep unauthorized persons away and set daily reminders to charge your car at the appropriate time. To learn more about this, check out our resourceful guide on Choosing the Right Home Charging Station.