Charging Your EV

Levels of Charging

Let’s take a look at the three different levels of charging for your electric car.

• Level 1
  The first and lowest charge level is to use a 110 or 120-volt outlet. This is the standard three-pronged socket you will find at home or in your garage. You use it to plug in your laptop, your microwave, and your lawnmower. These plugs have enough juice to charge your electric car while you sleep, roughly eight hours or so.
• Level 2
  The second level of charging bumps it up a notch to a 220 or 240-volt station. These are the four-pronged outlets similar to those used for a stove or other heavy-duty pieces of equipment. The charging time for one of these is between 5-10 hours depending on the type of vehicle you have. With a level 2 charging station, you can easily install it at your own home. They come with a standard wand able to be plugged into all-electric vehicles except for Tesla models since they have their own special ports.
• Level 3
  These are the fastest chargers out there, outputting up to 400 volts. The battery in your car can be charged fully within 30 minutes to one hour. These stations are special and are often found on major travel routes and on highways throughout Canada.

Level 3 fast-charging comes in three different types.

1. CHAdeMO
   There is CHAdeMO, which was developed by Korean and Japanese manufacturers. This model of fast charging can be found on the Kia Soul Electric, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, and the Nissan LEAF. If you drive a Tesla model, you will need to buy the proper CHAdeMO adapter.
2. Combined Charging Systems (CCS)
   Next is the CCS, otherwise known as combined charging systems. They are utilized by nearly every European and American manufacturer of electric vehicles. They can be found on the Volkswagen e-Golf, the Chevrolet BOLT, the Ford Focus Electric, the Hyundai Ioniq Electric, the Jaguar I-PACE, the Hyundai Kona Electric, and the BMW i3.
3. Tesla Supercharger
   As the name suggests, the Tesla Supercharger type of fast charge is available only for Tesla vehicles. They have an enormous network of Superchargers scattered through Canada, the U.S.A. and Europe to be used by their customers.