With gas prices rising and instability in the Middle East, the thought of an electric car in the garage might be getting more appealing.
Before you jump for the new technology, though, make sure your garage is ready to be a refueling station. It may have to be rewired.
Experts say you need at least a 12-amp circuit to charge a car in a reasonable amount of time. You also need a circuit with little or nothing else on it.
Even if you have that dedicated circuit, it still may not work for you. Most garages have standard 120-volt outlets. But a dedicated 240-volt outlet, similar to those that power an electric dryer, can cut charging time in half. That's important depending on the electric car you buy.
Two mass-market electric cars, the Chevrolet Volt and the Nissan Leaf, have different power systems and different charging needs. The all-electric Leaf needs more juice than the Volt to refill the batteries. It takes eight hours to recharge a Leaf even with a 240-volt circuit, double that at 120 volts. The Volt has a small gas motor on board that can keep the car going when the battery runs out. Its smaller battery pack can be recharged in 10 hours even on 120 volts, five hours or less at 240.
AeroVironment, which makes charging stations for Nissan, recommends outfitting your garage with a special 240-volt station. You'll need an electrician who knows about car charging to figure out your needs and hook the station to a dedicated 40-amp circuit, said Kristen Helsel, of AeroVironment.
"This is no different than installing an appliance or something else," she said. "We need to take the power from your breaker box and run it to where you want the charging station installed."
Helsel said it costs about $2,000 for the dock and standard electrical installation services through AeroVironment and a Nissan dealership.
The Volt, however, may not need anything. If you have a dedicated circuit in your garage, General Motors recommends charging the car first on 120 volts before buying a 240-volt charging station.
"Most cars are parked more than 10 hours," said Britta Gross of GM. "If I were a consumer, I would always try 120 first, and if you're not satisfied, then you can consider the 240-volt upgrade."
GM's Volt charger costs $495, and about $1,500 to install, though it could be more depending on the work needed, Gross said.
And whether you need a special charging station depends on how far you drive. If you go only 20 miles a day, a 120-volt outlet will work for either car because the battery doesn't have to be fully charged every night.
Topping off the charge
A 120-volt outlet wouldn't work for James Brazell, 84, a retired oil company executive who lives in Asheville and was among the first in the country to buy a Volt. He didn't want to use any gasoline, yet he makes several short trips per day, and on days he attends class at UNC Asheville, he drives 51 miles, more than the Volt's electric range.
At first, he used the standard outlet in his garage, but he ended up using a half-gallon of gasoline in four days. Then the charger he ordered from GM arrived at a cost of $530 including shipping. An electrician installed it for an estimated $300, although he hasn't received the final bill. Now he plugs the car in after short trips. He likes driving by gas stations.
"It makes me feel good, especially when gasoline went up 30 cents a gallon the day I got the car back here."
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