EV System Planning, Sales + Installation

There are three main levels of charging an electric vehicle.

• Level I – Level I refers to the standard 110VAC outlets that you have in your home.  This is a very basic charge for an electric vehicle and will take much longer to recharge.  For example, recharging a 100% Nissan Leaf with a Level I EV charger will take approximately 20 hours from empty to full.  Recharging a Chevy Volt, which goes 40 miles on electricity and then switches to a small gas engine, will take approximately 5 – 6 hours to recharge from empty to full.
• Level II (Residential)– Level II residential charging stations push energy at 240Volts and 30Amps.  This is equivalent to a typical home washer or dryer.  Level II residential stations are typically built for single-family home garages where there is one dedicated user.  You can even easily purchase a Level II residential charging station at large hardware stores for around $700 – $1,200.
• *Level II (Commercial)– Level II Commercial stations have really emerged as the industry standard for charging vehicles when not at home. They deliver the same 240Volts and 30Amps as the residential stations, however, the real value comes in when the commercial stations are smart-networked.  This means that the station is connected to software that makes it easy for a building owner to manage their stations, see how many EV drivers have used the stations, run sustainability reports, bill for electricity usage and more.  To recharge a 100% Nissan Leaf with a Level II commercial charging station would take approximately 5-6 hours from empty to full and a Chevy Volt approximately 3 – 4 hours.  For this reason, Level II commercial stations are an ideal fit, both in charging time and affordability for commercial applications.
• Level III, or DC Fast Charging– Level III, sometimes referred to as DC Fast Charging, ranges from 200 to 600 VDC and can recharge an electric vehicle in as little as 30 minutes. This is a fantastic solution for charging on the go. However, the major setback for Level III EV charging is that there is not one standard plug for all EVs. In the US, there are two competing standards, CHAdeMO and SAE. Additionally, Level III charging port is not offered on any plug-in EV, like the Chevy Volt or Ford Fusion. In addition, owning and managing a Level III station is incredibly expensive, sometimes upwards of $50,000  to $70,000 for just the hardware or more. Your building also has to be well equipped to handle such an electric load capacity.  You will typically find Level III or DC Fast Charging stations purchased by your state government along interstate highways.