Sixty-four hours. This is how long a fully exhausted Chevy Bolt EV takes to fully charge if you plug the electric vehicle into the same socket you use to charge your phone.
Although most EVs have a longer range (the Bolt has enough juice for 259 miles, while the Tesla Model is 3 to 353 miles), the most basic Level 1 charge is painfully slow, even just to top up. To speed things up, more level 2 home options are now on the market.
This week, Spanish electric charging industry Wallbox unveiled its first level 2 charging box set for US drivers. It’s about eight to ten times faster than the basic level 1 charging of the house, and it takes about four hours to fully charge a Chevy Bolt and similar cars. It does not sound fast enough when you are traveling, but it will recharge the battery enough to calm any anxiety over range, even if it is only plugged in for an hour or two.
Level 2 is what most public charging stations offer, although faster DC charging stations are in demand with their fast, 15 to 30 minutes ‘fill up’. At that time, a Nissan Leaf or similar car could be up to 80 percent empty. But there are far fewer public DC charging stations. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, only about 16 percent of all charging stations are fast, and most fast chargers are located along highways.
The Pulsar Plus charges EVs faster.
Wallbox’s $ 649 Pulsar Plus 40 amp output box (which needs to be professionally installed) is one of a small but growing group of faster charging options for individual homes. All new EVs in the United States have a cable that you can connect directly to a wall without an electrician, but no one has a level 2 setup. A more effective 48-amp Wallbox Pulsar Plus version is coming later this year for $ 699.
At the end of 2019, the ChargePoint charging network released the Home Flex for $ 699. JuiceBox is another smart home drawer kit for level 2 home drawers in your garage. Siemens has a charging pack connected to your smartphone. But it’s about that. In a call, Doug Alfaro, general manager of Wallbox, called the installation of a faster home charger “a convenient upgrade”, as you can skip public charging stations for faster charging.
Alfaro highlighted the flexibility of a smart charger in a video call where he muted the Pulsar Plus mated to a Nissan Leaf. Through the app you can schedule, monitor and remotely control the loading.
“It can be 50 times cheaper to use electricity overnight,” he said, adding that you can plan the schedule whenever you want to start charging. Tariffs for use can make charging homes worthwhile, especially for drivers with utilities that offer cheaper electricity at night or other off-peak hours.
Giovianni Bertolino, head of e-Mobility at the renewable energy industry Enel X North America, encourages more charge level 2 charging, especially for cars that have been parked and plugged in for hours. “You do not need fast, expensive DC charging stations,” he said in a call. “Level 2 is perfectly fine.” For example, a super-fast 30-minute charging session to get 80% full battery can cost $ 10 or more. The Level 2 charge for a full four-hour charge is estimated at about $ 8 in electricity.
Global consulting firm Ernst & Young recently found that President Biden’s plan to add 500,000 new EV charging stations in the US by 2030 may not be enough to meet demand. The research indicates that it can only cover up to 57 percent of the required amount. This means that instead of setting up, even with the potential new stations, it’s worth it to load faster to your home.
Jessika Trancik, a professor at the Institute of Data, Systems and Society at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said in a call that better options for household levies would help speed up widespread EV adoption.
“The faster charge does help build confidence,” she said.
A clear shortcoming of the home drawer is that it is not available to everyone. So there should be more charging options available for people who do not have a dedicated, private place to upload. For people living in apartments or relying on street parking, access to faster chargers is crucial to convincing them to go electric for their next vehicle.
“But there is no substitute for charging capabilities when people are at home,” Trancik said. “The easiest option seems to be when you’re at home, even if it’s in a public place.”