Checklist to consider before buying an EV Charger

We all agree that having a Level 2 charging station at home is the most convenient way to charge your electric vehicle, but before buying your EV Charger, you should consider a few points:

- NACS or J1772 (charging port)
First thing to consider is what kind of receptacle does your EV have: SAE J1772 or NACS.
At the moment all Emporia Level 2 EV chargers come with the SAE J1772 connector, and an adapter is required if you're going to charge a Tesla/NACS supported vehicle. In Q1 2024 Emporia will offer the same Level 2 EV charger with a NACS option as well as J1772- you can find more information about our plans here. 

- Charger location

Where am I planning on installing my EV Charger? This will help your electrician plan for the wire length needed to run from your electrical panel (breakers) to the EV Charger itself. 

- My vehicles' max charge rate 
What is the max charge rate your electric vehicle can take? If your EV can take only 32A, maybe you don't need to hardwire your unit to get up to 48A. The Emporia EV Charger can provide any amperage between 6A and 48A as needed. 

- Existing electrical system and panel requirements
EV Chargers will consume a ton of power when charging your vehicle (up to thousands of Watts) so its important to make sure your existing electrical system can safely provide that power. Many customers will run into a situation where their existing panel (or electrical supply) might be too small for an EV Charger to be installed as-is. Its important to refer to a professional electrician for this part of the installation planning as they'll be best suited to help determine if your existing electrical supply is too small for an EV Charger installation. Emporia has a specific feature to work in these types situations where the existing supply might be too limited for a traditional Level 2 EVSE installation: Load Management EV Charger

Additional tips for calculating panel sizing requirements can be found on this article.

Feedback and Suggestions

This knowledge base is pretty new for the Emporia team. Our goal is to provide all of the information we can to help you manage your energy in better ways. If this article wasn't helpful, or we could be more clarifying on any points please reach out to the Customer Support team and we'll certainly work to improve these guides.