Living with an EV, from home charging to winter range

Most EV owners charge overnight at home, in the garage or the driveway. Cold weather also shortens how far a charge takes you.

Charging at home

Level 1 uses the cord that comes with the car, plugged into an outlet on its own dedicated circuit. It works if overnight charging covers your daily driving.

Level 2 runs at 240 volts and charges faster. It suits drivers with irregular schedules, longer commutes or a car with a large battery.

Installing Level 2 is a job for a licensed electrical contractor. If your panel doesn't have the capacity, an electrician can add circuits.

Charging outdoors is safe, even in the rain, as long as the charger is rated for outdoor use. Choose charging equipment that's safety certified.

Range in the cold

In cold weather, an EV's efficiency can drop about 39 percent in mixed city and highway driving, and its range by about 41 percent. About two-thirds of that extra energy goes to heating the cabin. With the cabin heater off, efficiency at 20°F is about 8 percent lower than at 75°F, and range about 12 percent lower.

Two habits win some of it back:

• Warm the cabin while the car is plugged in. The heat comes from the charger instead of the battery.
• Use the seat heaters. Heated seats use less energy than heating the whole cabin.

The battery over time

An EV battery can be charged only so many times, and it will wear out eventually. Many makers cover the battery for 8 years or 100,000 miles. Check the terms in your car's papers.

An annotated example

What to do next

If you're adding Level 2 charging, have an electrician look at the panel and the circuit first. Before winter, find the car's setting for warming the cabin on a schedule, and set it for the mornings you drive.