What is the best home EV charger?

With numerous home EV charging stations on the market, you are probably asking yourself which home EV charger is the best. Well, in short, the best home EV charger is one that covers your needs in full and fits your budget. So, let’s speak about the features the best home EV charger must have.

Charge-affecting features

Well, when it comes to electric car charging points, the first features you should consider is the power output and the number of charging ports. So, what is the best home EV charger when considering these features? To answer the question, let’s assess your charging needs. Both current and future.

For example, let’s imagine the following situation:

• You have got a car of small battery capacity – say, something like the Volkswagen e-Up
• There is only one electric car in your household
• You plan neither changing it for a larger one nor buying one more car

In this case, it is not wise to chase a super-powerful EV charging station that outputs 11 kW and more. As well as install a station with two or more charge ports. To clarify, if your car battery accepts only 7.2 kW, you cannot take full advantage of stations with higher output. So, why overpay for a station of 11 kW if 7 kW is quite enough?

However, the situation differs if you plan to change your current car to something bigger soon. For example, to the Renault Zoe, which battery is one and a half times larger and its charge power limits reach 22 kW. In this case, it is wise to install a 22-kW station now. And if you plan to buy an extra car in the next few years, choose a station with double ports right now.

Other features

In addition, it is worth speaking about such features as station intelligence, cable and its length. These features do not affect its charging performance but may avail greater convenience when in use. Here, the best home EV charger is a device that is:

• Smart – because it will be one of the general government requirements for the EV charging stations in the near future and because it is reasonable to have control over your charging sessions and associated spendings.
• With built-in cables – because having built-in cables is very convenient both to use and to store
• With cables of sufficient length – because it is both bad to have too long cable and too short cable

By the way, at Auto-E, we offer a wide range of EV charging solutions for home. So, please, visit our Home EV chargers page and choose an EV charger that is the best for your needs.