Nice work Tom, very informative and explained perfectly. Those of us who live in the EV world sometimes forget how many questions people new to EV's have.

Just for info, here in the UK (240v power supply), the standard for single phase home chargers is 7.5kW - 32amps. The grid connection

11 months late, but this video has been a HUGE help for me understanding how much I should spend on an charger. Thank you, Tom!

Electrician my self, can’t explain better than you have. Got many answers. 🙏

One other thing people should consider is if they have “Time of day electric service” it may actually save money in the long run to install at least the fastest EVSE/circuit their EV can support, so that it can reach their preferred state of charge in the cheapest rate window.

Well done Tom. I can always learn something from your videos. It's very informative and explained clearly!

Hi Tom, regards from Brazil! I've been following you for a long time now. I work on the solar business and we also offer EV "chargers". Very nice and comprehensible compilation. I was really happy to see the same arguments I use for the actual recharging needs. That means I've learned well from you! Thanks a lot! Keep up the good work!

Best one stop shop for learning everything EVs. Thanks Tom! there no as comprehensive video as yours available on the net. Thank you for your service!

Tom, god knows how many youtube clips I have seen so far on this subject, and yet your clip was by far the best ever created, explained, and right to the points. I enjoyed it much. Thanks for your contribution.👍

Great Video Tom. This is a video I can send to my friends and family. So they can get a good idea of Charging. Keep up the Great Work.

Great video, Tom. The chart says it all. There isn't very much information on this basic charging technology out there, and it will be an eye-opener for most people (who are not technically schooled), even for people who already own EVs-who will no doubt be advising friends and relatives. This is especially true when most charging stories in the mass media exclusively talk about public charging-the familiar gas-station model. My charging station is on a 30-amp breaker, but using a 40-amp cable to the EVSE; the heavier gauge cable costs only a little more.

Very well done. Every potential EV owner needs to watch this!

Finally someone that knows how to explain. Its called a PROFESSIONAL! Subscribed!

Thank you. Bought a new plug-in hybrid and the manufacturer provided little info. This is just what I needed. Appreciate you.

Excellent timing of this video for me. I am in the process of choosing an EV to replace my X3 in few months and want to have a L2 installed. This is an important topic for people to get educated on. 👍👍

Great video, Tom. You are very good at explaining charging for "regular folks."

I've been looking for a video like this for awhile. Good job!

You do such an outstanding job in all of your videos. I always recommend your channel to anyone who has EV questions. Top notch. Thanks for what you do!

Great presentation. Very informative. That chart is an extremely useful tool. One just has to look at what your vehicle’s maximum usable capacity to determine what’s the most they would probably need as a worst case and look at 80% of that to see what’s the most they realistically probably would need. For example, the extended battery on a Mustang Mach E has 91 kWh usable. Since they recommend not to go over 80%, then 80% of 91 is 72.8. Since most people would rarely, if ever charge from 0%, the 32 amp output is probably more than enough (it provides 70 kWh over the 10 hours) and the 40 amp usable provided by your Lightning, which provides 85 kWh would be more than sufficient for a Mach E owner.

This great video should be included with every EV sale (or demo)! 👏👏👏!

Great video. On the charging esp winter time, I find it best to keep current low so battery is charging all night long. This has the battery warm when you are ready to go. This will allow a little more range when you go. It’s also good to preheat the cabin on the house so your max range for driving with a warm car, seats and wheel also.

What a good lesson and tips for people like me who are planning to buy an EV car soon! Thanks you very much Tom. I already subscribed, and I hope to see more of your videos like this in near future.

This is the explanation I've been searching for. Well done. Thank you.

Absolutely love this video! Great work Tom! Fantastic and easy to understand educational video for new and current EV owners. Charging and the electrical terminology is always confusing for people but you did a great job of making it easy to follow and understand. The chart is fantastic. Education is one of the keys to mass EV adoption. Love it.

What you provide here is simple amazing educational vid!!! Thank you for putting this together!

Thanks for making this video. I say that not necessarily for me. I just purchased my first EV in March 2023. Prior to making the switch to an EV I had to do a lot of research on all the topics you covered in this video, especially the topic of things to consider when your home has limited amperage. I think if your video had existed it would have cut down on the amount of research I would have had to do because it's all explained very succinctly and concisely in this one video. So, hopefully, future potential EV owners will greatly benefit from your video.

First off, great video Tom! In my research over a year ago, I had these same questions, and steps, and knew I wanted to figure out how much power items take in my house. 12:15 an even better way to understand how much power your house is using is to actually measure it over weeks/months. I got the Emporia Home Energy Monitor, so i can tell how much power my house takes, max Amp/kw draw, etc. It helps in letting your electrician know what your usage actually is rather than just base it off a load calculation. 18:01 Another point when deciding with your electrician what size circuit to install is if your house has conduit, you may be able to just use existing conduit and run new wire to your EVSE. This will save a bit of money to not have to run a new conduit to your garage. This what I did... I already had 1/2" conduit running to my garage that had room in it, so he just wired it with the max size wire (10ga) that will fit into a 1/2" pipe, and a 30 amp circuit, so I can charge at 24amps. So my Emporia Smart EV charger is just set to 24amps. I figured if in emergency i could run to the nearby Supercharger and top off, but I've never had to do that in over 15k miles. Eventually I'd like to get new subpanel installed in my garage, but in the mean time this has been fine and much cheaper.

I sincerely want to thank you for the quality of this presentation! I now understand the terminology and functionality of charging operations. Will receive my ioniq5 in a week and will listen to your other presentation in your list about my incoming I5. Thank you

I preordered a Volvo EX 30 for my first-ever EV. I’m trying to educate myself ahead of time and figure out what charger will work best for that vehicle as well as my home. Thanks for making these! I’m saving them to a playlist for the 2024 delivery.

I think this is the best educational video a new (Or even experienced) EV owner can view. Well done!

This video is great for sharing with prospective EV owners! Thanks for making it!

I believe that a slow charge is healthier for an EV battery.

In 1988, I expected to have a home/office data-center, so had 300A service installed with 2 panels. It was a new service so added about $1200 for the added amps. Most homes are 150-200A. Good call, about doing higher gauge wiring and industrial sockets. One solid run of wire from the breaker/fuse box to the charger is best since every connection is a unbalanced load that produces heat. Stay safe, and stay charged.

Great presentation thanks for taking the time to educate us because this is coming soon. Can you do a video on the in floor induction charging where you park your car over the charger? These have such potential to simplify home charging

I know a lot about this subject in the uk and was curious about the us. I am writing this comment because I wanted to say what a good job Tom did, explained everything clearly. I am sure it will help a lot of people.

A very informative video: Thank you! I'm 1-2 years out from the purchase of my first EV, but it's good to start thinking about the wiring requirements now.

When I purchased my 2015 model S in March this year, I also purchased 2 x Tesla power walls. The power walls were both installed on dedicated 40 amp, 230V circuits. The model S was factory restricted to AC charge at 16 amps, so I had the onboard charger modified to charge at 32 amps. This is perfect for me and the way I use the car. I also have mobile 8 and 13.5 amp chargers to trickle charge when the model S is not in use. At my livin house, the power wall installation was $1200 for the dedicated circuit and $750 for the PW, all up about 2K. My other house was $750 for the PW and $450 for the DC as it was much easier to install the DC at my holiday house. I live in Australia.

Good session. I started with Niro EV - max it could do was 7.2kw, but I put in a 50 amp circuit anyway. I did use the 14-50 but didn't know about the "industrial grade" socket so I will definitely change that! The Kia was charged with a charge point set to 32 amps. Both the charger and the Niro were sold to my daughter when I got my Lightning Lariat, I have not rewired yet, but using the included Ford Charger (comes with large battery option) I set the dip switch to 40 amps and wired a pigtail 14-50 plug into it. So far, like you said, this is adequate for the driving I do. I have plans to run wire for 100amp. I save some money by doing much of the wire running myself, then have a licensed electrician come in and connect to the breaker and charger. Most of the reason for doing the 100amp would be to eventually support the home power option of the F150, but I don't have the money for the Sunrun inverter system for home power backup. One thing you may want to mention with your chart - some vehicles cannot accept all levels of charge. I tested the lightning with a J+ charger and the TT30 adapter; the truck must have seen 110 volt and only charged at 12 amps when the 30 amp 110-volt socket could handle 24amps. If it could have used 24amps that would have helped greatly at some campgrounds (2x standard outlet). The portable charger that comes with the lightning works great at campgrounds with 14-50 sockets, giving 7.2kw rate.

Well said and thought out, great information. I did a service upgrade when I installed solar and put my old 100 amp panel in the garage as my subpanel! Garage is set for this century :)

Wonderful presentation. Great electrical info for any electrical application not just for Ev’s.

Well done on how to find what is needed and when. We are 5 years into EV ownership. So far level 1 charging has worked well in two locations. We average a bit over 50 miles per day and its mostly local. We keep our car max charge at 80% and normally do not go below 40% SOC. But it took time to learn how to live with these cars. Just like our gas cars, we would run them from 100% full to about 25% , our range was about 75% of total. On Longer trips and using SuperCharging we range between 5% and 80%

Tom this is the best video I have seen on this topic for new users.

This was an excellent discussion to inform home owners about requirements they should consider. Looking at it from the neighborhood supplied by a utility, there needs to be coordination with the utility because a neighborhood circuit can be overloaded just like your home can. Some utilities also charge by the KW demand a customer may use during any 15 minute period during the month, possibly $20/KW for example. Commercial customers see this more however increased capacity of utility circuits must be considered. The utility may love to see the increased load and sales however upgrades may be needed.

Excellent and thorough video. I’m a new EV owner and you’ve taken all the anxiety and stress out of figuring out the charging debacle. I was ready to return my EV because there were no DC charges close to my home. I drive 65 miles a day for work and need more than the 1kw trickle I’m getting now. Thank you for making this easy to comprehend.😅

Awesome info Tom, I’m an electrical engineer and I agree that it’s best to over build when it comes to the circuit and EVSE. I’m new at the EV game and still learning stuff every day. One suggestion I would make is to include one other electrical property called, “resistance”. Unwanted resistance can equate to inefficiency. Example: My idea was to use a 50 amp circuit (I’m limited because I live in a condominium) which dictates 6 gauge electrical wire and a EVSE designed for 40 amps. The EVSE I bought was a Wallbox 40 amp unit which is a very popular brand. But what I learned is the Wallbox 40 amp unit only uses 10 gauge wires for the 25 foot EV service cable. I noticed when I charged my vehicle, the cable would get very warm to touch. The smaller the wire, the more “resistance” creates heat loss which in turn loses money in the long term. I’ve decided to change to an EVSE designed for 48 amps and dial it back to 40. My hope is the new unit will have a larger gauge service cable and run very cool. For those who may be confused about my numbers, the lower the number, the larger the wire. Hence 10 gauge (10AWG) is smaller than 6 gauge (6AWG). Most manufacturers don’t mention the gauge wire used in the service cables. It would be great if you added those figures when you review the different EVSE units. Thank you and keep up the great work!

Thanks for the video. This was the information I needed to install my EV "charger". Definitely going to future proof my install.

Something that is worth mentioning is power loss during transmission. It sounds silly, but it really adds up. 120-v charging has around 40% transmission loss due to heat! Nearly half your power is just GONE. As you increase the amperage, that rate goes down. So it might make sense to get a higher amperage charger even if you don't need it to save money on transmission losses over time.

Great presentation. With you and the out of speck guys, so much helpful and entertaining info. Thanks

Really good video. When I try to explain this stuff to people I get stuck on "where do I start?" Oversize with adjustable output is great advice. I have an old 32amp charger that is on its third EV. At the time I bought it, that was pretty good sized EVSE. With my PHEV, it was really overkill. Then along came our Bolt as our second car, and it was plenty. Now, with an Ioniq 5 as our only car, it still gives me an overnight charge easily and reliably.

We went with a pair of 48A Charpoint chargers to be future proof for the next few years at least (well before the NACS announcements). I usually recommend a 48A/60A circuit for most people if they can afford it and if it works. That will allow some of the greatest flexibility. On our Bolt, we get just shy of 40 miles per hour of charging.

Great explanatory video. Answered all my questions.

Very well done Tom, great video/information!!!

A really great video, very informative and well explained.

This was incredibly helpful! Thank you!

I've owned my EV for over a year now. This has been the best video re: this topic. Well done and very informative.

This was extremely helpful overall, and the chart at 15:09 explaining the relationship between breaker amps, evse amps, kw and mi added was exactly what I needed. Thanks!

Thank you for the best informative video with simple language on ev. great work

Charger, smarger. Your detail and delivery are excellent and you demonstrate a sincere desire to inform with clarity.

Great video Tom, I especially like the charging chart.

Very informative. Thanks and keep’em coming.

Another great video by you Tom. Thanks.

Great job Tom, like always very informative

Really informative. I jumped and installed a 32 amp charger when my wife got her Mini Se last year, which I now know was overkill. It all worked out though, as it's a perfect size to share with my 2024 Polestar 2, which should be arriving in August.

Superb, comprehensive essay on a crucial EV topic, especially for those considering buying their first EV.

Is there any benefit to charge at lower amperage, for example 24A vs. 40A, on at 50A circuit (14-50 plug)?

Mr. Your subject matter may be limited but you might be making one of the best done and informative videos on UKposts thank you.

That chart at 15:00 was very helpful. Thanks. 👍

I am so glad you made this video. I don't own an electric vehicle yet, but I am thinking of installing a tesla level 2 smart charger before purchasing a vehicle. Now I will choose to install a 240w dedicated outlet for a second vehicle. That means 2 dedicated lines and tie them into my solar power smart panel.

Tom, this is an excellent video for EV novices or 1st time home charging people.

Great job of breaking it down and making it understandable!

So helpful. The 240 volt outlet I use is only 20 amps with oversized copper wire, which is fine for my Chevy Volt hybrid. When my Cybertruck arrives I'll probably be fine going to a hard wired 30 amp setup.

I live in Brazil, your video helped me a lot to define a better wire, thinking in future, today we bought a BYD Dolphin with 7.1 kW wallbox, we are installing a separate 220V, this car accepts 6kW using type 2 and 66kW using CCS , thanks again

Thank you. Finally competent and comprehensive information!

Thanks for giving useful information. Really I appreciate to give us details information.

AWESOME explanation. The EV sellers should pass this link to every buyer. (I can’t tell you how many times I have gotten into this discussion with the EV cautious). I think the fear shuts their hearing off. 🤷🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️ Great video!! 🙌🏼

Especially good to have terms explanation section. As USA centric, you are missing 3 phase AC charging, very common in European single family homes. After brief lookout, almost all sold chargers (including Tesla wallconnector) here are 3 phase 230V up to 32A 22kW, usually limited 16A 11kW because of car or blackout avoidance.

One of the most informative vdeos on this topic!!

TY, from an earlier video I took the suggestion and got a 32amp charger. Works fine and nothing gets hot.

Very informative video. Thank you Tom

I’m getting an ev soon, I needed this thanks Tom

Thanks for this video and its valuable information. I had a 220 or 240 volt outlet installed in my garage before I got my 2023 Tesla, and have the basic mobile kit to interface to the vehicle. Being retired, only drive around town so most of my charging of the EV is just at home, and I don't connect to my 220 volt outlet every night. I charge up my vehicle on off peak hours when electricity rates are lower. Works very well so far. Take care.

“This may be your first EV, but it won’t be your last EV.” Truth. I got my Tesla M3 SR+ in March, 2021. My wife, an EV doubter, saw the light and dumped her Camry for a VW ID.4 in July of that year. Two years on, and neither one of us is looking back. She’s very excited about the VW Buzz (and I gotta admit, so am I). Regardless of when we get our next EV, neither of us is going back to gross ICE vehicles. Great job on this video, Tom! It’s an excellent primer, and I’ve sent it to some I know who’ve expressed an interest in EVs. Safe travels to all.

You covered 99% very well. The only thing I would add is that where I lived in California, you got a real low charging rate between the hours of 11pm and 7 am. This reduced the charging to 8 hours, but as in my case, I left home at 6:15 am and sometimes even earlier cutting down my available hours to charge. This was never a problem because I had a 30 amp (24 amp) and a 20 amp (16 amp) charger available. My car only had a 33kw battery and my wife's PHEV only had a 17kw battery. With this setup, I think we really only used the 30 amp charger 98% of the time and used the small 20 amp charger very rarely. On another note, we had at work 2 chevy volts and a Prius prime that ran for 18 months without any of them using gas off of a single 120 volt receptacle in the parking garage. Our needs were light being in San Francisco and only driving 10-15 miles a day. I would set them all to charge at 8 amps and use a timer to charge one for 6 hours and then the other for 6 hours every night. The third one was my Volt that I would plug in during the day as I was mostly office based. I had to set them at 8 amps because occasionally somebody would plug in one level down and take 12 amps during the day. It was a difficult feat but I did keep 3 PHEV's from the gas station with a single receptacle for 18 moths.

Came here to see hoa many amps needed. Left with a whole lotta of usefual information to boot. Thanks a lot.

Thanks, Tom. It is more accurate to refer to volts as pressure (force is close), but not speed. Current is volumetric flow, more akin to speed than pressure or volts.

Great video Tom very nicely done.

When you live in a hurricane zone, it's handy to be able to charge up at the house while you are putting up window boards and packing the car.But you don't have forever to dawdle. I settled for 40 amp ClipperCreek as an optimum between reasonable speed and cost 2 years ago.

Very good info. I'm also a big fan of your earlier work. Can you say "Those pajamas are impossible!"? It cracks me up every time.

That was a great video, full of useful facts and explanations, plenty of hints and very good tips all delivered at a level non electrically educated folks can understand and absorb, and the best advice, 'Don't go the cheap route'.

Thanks for a very thorough review, which should be a continual reference. My only concern is that more emphasis should be placed on continuous use circuits only being set at 80% of breaker capacity. A 40 amp circuit should only be used for a 32 amp or lower EVSE, for example.

If you buy a friendly EV, a Toyotal Prius or Chevy Bolt, you can charge on a 110 home outlet. You can also use a 220 one.

Very well done. Every potential EV owner needs to watch this!. Very well done. Every potential EV owner needs to watch this!.

Very useful information. Thanks for explaining how all this works.

I agree that we all get too worried about charging speeds, especially when you get your first EV. We only have 20 amp service to our detached garage, so uprading to higher service would have been expensive. I had a Wallbox installed, dip switch set it to max at 16 amp. We've had our EV for about a year now and only once has the charging speed been an issue, and that was because my wife had two "longer" trips in one day. I also put in a 48 amp Emporia at my office, which is only 1/4 mile away from our house, so if we need a faster charge we have another option.

Thanks for posting, I learned a lot today..

Thanks for the very informative video. I learnt a lot from you.

I love this guy's explanation. So clear.

This is all good advice. Personally, I put in a 50 amp circuit and paired it with a 32 amp max EVSE. The circuit needs to be future proof, but the EVSE can be sized to your current needs. You are going to wear out your EVSE eventually by dragging the wire across the concrete, plugging and unplugging it every day, etc. I figured out that there was essentially no scenario where it would be critically important to me to charge my current vehicle at 40 amps vs 32 overnight. So I saved a bit of money on the cost of the EVSE, I have an extra margin of safety on the circuit, I'm being more gentle with my batteries by not charging them as fast as possible, and I've given up nothing for it. Do your own homework, but charging as quickly as possible at home is not nearly as important as most people think it is. Fast charging matters on road trips, but at home it makes little difference if your car is done charging at 3AM or at 6AM if you almost never leave home before 7AM.

Great explanation! My electrician said my main panel cannot pull 50 amps for my model 3 via mobile charger. It sorta is pointless to use 50 amps since it caps out at 32 amps with mobile charger any way. As you mentioned, we have to account for how much we drive and the cost. I realized 30 amps is all I need without having to upgrade my main panel. Now it works and I am getting 24 miles an hour to my Model 3.

My ID4 is capable of charging at 48 amps, but I am getting by quite comfortably on the 16 amp charger I bought years ago for my Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid. It can be slow, sometimes taking over ten hours to get me back to 80%, but it's never been a problem. And, I've never been tempted to spend the money to upgrade the wiring and charger.