EV charging guide | What to know when buying an electric car

New electric vehicles are being consistently introduced these days and, in our experience, most are absolutely worth the hype. If you're wondering which to buy, here's our list of best electric cars and SUVs. However, as good as making the switch to an EV sounds for environmental, economic or general automotive reasons, there's an elephant in the room: charging. There are a lot of specs and measurements that are bound to be foreign and a bit mind-numbing to those used to simply filling up every so often at a Shell or Chevron. Finding the right charger is definitely more complicated than just choosing between 87, 89 and 91 octane.

While it's easier than ever to use your smartphone’s mapping apps to find a nearby electric vehicle charging station, the hard part is knowing: Will that station work with your EV? Is it fast enough to charge your car in a reasonable time? What about Tesla, which always does things its own way?

As the world slowly shifts away from gas pumps and towards recharging cables, everyday EV drivers need to figure out the details of charging stations, things like kilowatt (kW) ratings and connector types. Welcome to the answer station.

Levels 1 and 2 vs. DC fast charging

Starting at the highest level, there are three main types of EV charging stations. Level 1, Level 2 and DC Fast Charge, sometimes incorrectly called Level 3. Speaking of incorrect word usage, EV drivers sometimes refer to charging stations as “chargers,” even though the actual charger is a device that’s onboard the car itself and converts the AC power from the grid to DC power that the battery can use. Technically, the devices installed near parking spots are called Electric Vehicle Service Equipment (EVSE), but we understand that "chargers" just has a nice, logical ring to it.

In any case, the slowest charging rate is called Level 1, using a standard 120-volt outlet (the same one you’d plug a toaster or vacuum cleaner into). Level 2 chargers, common for home and destination charging, use 240-volt outlets like those used in your house by a clothes dryer. While DC fast chargers require their own high-voltage cables. Level 1 charging mostly occurs in private residences or businesses, so anything you see on a digital map is likely to be Level 2 (on some maps I’ve seen, like the built-in navigation in the Polestar 2, Level 2 stations are called “slow”) or a DC fast charger (often labeled “fast”).

kW

There is another unit that determines how fast your EV will charge once you plug it in. The kilowatt rating of a station — almost always written as kW — basically describes how fast a charging station can put electrons from the grid into your car. The higher the number, the faster it is. Extension cord-style Level 1 EV charging cables that plug into standard household outlets in the U.S. can handle up to 1.9 kW (although most operate at 1.4 kW). Level 2 can reach 19.2 kW, while the newest DC fast chargers are in another realm altogether with 150-kW and 350-kW ratings.

While the exact amount of energy that can be put into an EV’s battery is based on more than a charging station’s kW rating, a good rule of thumb is that Level 1 allows for roughly five miles of range being added in one hour of charging, while Level 2 is around 25 miles per hour of charging. For DC fast charging, the numbers can range from 100 to over 200 miles added per hour.