3 Must-Have Features for Your Home EV Charger
While a standard home powerpoint can technically juice up your car, a smart home EV charger offers a far superior experience. Here's why your home charger should come with these three key features:
- Monitor and Analyse: Know Your Data
A smart charger provides real-time data on charging speed, energy consumption, and past charging sessions. This information empowers you to:
- Optimise your budget: Analyse energy costs associated with charging and identify opportunities for savings.
- Plan for electric vehicle taxation: Having accurate data can simplify electric vehicle tax reporting, if applicable.
- Make informed decisions about energy plans: Track your energy usage patterns and choose an electricity plan that best suits your charging needs.
- Load Management: Protect Your Home's Electrical System
Older switchboards, large air conditioners, or limited electrical capacity can pose challenges when charging an EV. Thankfully, smart chargers come equipped with load management features. This ingenious function ensures your EV charging doesn't overload your home's electrical system by:
- Throttling the charging speed: The charger intelligently adjusts the power delivered to your EV based on your home’s available capacity, preventing system overload. While many chargers offer load management, the capabilities can vary significantly. Some systems are more dynamic and customisable, allowing users greater control over how power is distributed. If you'd like to learn more about Dynamic Load Balancing and how it can optimise your charging setup, feel free to get in touch with us for detailed information.
- Harness the Power of the Sun: Solar Integration
If you have solar panels at home, why not make the most out of it by refuelling your EV with clean, free energy from the sun! Smart chargers with solar integration capabilities make this easy. Here's how it works:
- Multiple charging modes: Switch between grid power, solar power, or a hybrid approach depending on your needs and solar availability.
- Fast charging with grid: Need a quick top-up? Utilise grid power for faster charging.
- Sustainable charging with 100% solar: When the sun is shining brightly, tap into your solar panels for environmentally friendly charging.
- Hybrid mode for optimal balance: Combine grid and solar power for efficient charging, potentially reducing your reliance on the grid.
It's important to note that some smart chargers require a baseline charging rate to ensure safe battery operation. This means even in solar-only mode, a minimal amount of grid power might be needed to maintain an appropriate charging speed. Furthermore, different brands of chargers offer this feature in different ways - directly or indirectly. Actual or estimated etc. If you’re looking to charge your EV with solar energy, please feel free to contact us to discuss more.