EV home charging options

14 September 2022

EV owners have a wide range of options to keep their vehicles charged and it’s not as complicated as you might think. Your travel patterns will determine where to charge your car, and how quickly you need a charge. Luckily, more options for charging on-the-go are becoming available.

For home charging, a 10 amp or 15 amp plug and use of your own solar power can be the cheapest, lowest carbon option to fuel an EV. Referred to as ‘level 1’ or trickle charge, charging from a household electrical power point adds around 12km of range per hour of charge (depending on the EV model). At least 5kW of rooftop solar would be needed to meet the charger’s energy demand.

For faster home charging, ‘level 2’ involves getting a specialised 32-amp charger installed by an electrician. 35km range can be added to an EV per hour of charge from a 7kW charger on a single-phase system, or more than 100km range per hour of charge from a 22kW charger on a 3-phase system.

The power demand from ‘level 2’ home chargers will require a bigger rooftop solar if drivers are wanting to self-generate their own charge during the day. Choosing GreenPower from your electricity provider and using power during off-peak hours is still cheaper and a greener source of transport compared to petrol, diesel or gas.

More public fast charge stations are expected in the future but you can view existing charging sites for the Gold Coast, Tweed and Byron regions on the My Electric Car website.

NSW Government plans anticipate the Tweed will host up to 62 public EV fast charge stations by 2031. So far, private businesses such as Kingscliff Shopping Centre, Tropical Fruit World and M|Arts Precinct are leading the way to make the Tweed EV accessible.

Check out more EV resources on Council's saving energy page.

Image: A 7kW home EV charger can provide around 35km range per hour of charging.