So, you have finally switched to an electric car? It was about time, wasn’t it? EV (Electric vehicles) have become extremely popular in Australia, and we’re not talking only about the central city. Quite on the contrary, the suburbs have recognized the value of EVs as well, which has, led to an increase in sales.
Regardless of where you are located, though, the benefits of electric vehicles are clear. They are great for the environment, as well as for your budget. So, there is absolutely no reason why you wouldn’t want to get one. Except maybe the fact that charging may be inconvenient if you don’t have a charging station nearby.
Well, that’s a problem that can easily be resolved. Put simply, what you can do is have an EV charging station installed right there at your home. It doesn’t get more convenient than that, does it? Sure not! People have been installing these at home for a while now, given that it provides them with the flexibility they need for their charging sessions, and the convenience of being able to charge the vehicle whenever they want, including overnight – which is the easiest and the most suitable option for everyone.
Now, if you’ve thought about it already, and if you’ve decided to have the product installed at home as well, then the next thing you want to do is go through with it. Yet, before you rush into anything, you have to learn about some of the mistakes you absolutely have to avoid in the process. There are some errors that people tend to make when having these products installed, and those lead to regrets afterwards. Since you don’t want the same thing to happen to you, there’s no doubt that you want to learn about those errors and then do your best not to repeat them yourself.
Choosing Your Installation Provider Randomly
The key, however, isn’t in hiring just any provider for the job. Quite on the contrary, if you want the procedure to be done perfectly, then you have to do better than choose a random provider to be your partner in the process. Choosing randomly is definitely a serious mistake that can lead to a lot of issues, so make sure to be more careful than that. Take your time to carefully research the different providers, and only make your final choice after you’ve gotten enough relevant information and after you’ve compared it.
1. Thinking You Can Do It Alone
First off, you can’t do this alone. I can’t stress that enough. An EV charger installation requires electrical work, and if you are not a licensed electrician that has experience with this type of work, then you are highly unlikely to do a good job. Not to mention that you could also get injured in the process, which is absolutely not what you want. Therefore, don’t assume that you can do this alone and, instead, always hire professionals for the job.
2. Not Checking Their Reputation
People usually do remember to research the providers. But, they still fail to check some important things, such as their reputation, for example. They check experience, the types of chargers they install, as well as the costs of the services, and they assume that this is enough. Yet, it most definitely isn’t.
Not checking the reputation or ignoring it if you find that it is not quite great, is definitely an error you shouldn’t make. If you do that, you may wind up hiring untrustworthy companies that won’t be able to complete the job successfully, and that may even cause some harm in the process. Since this is absolutely something you don’t want to happen, you should always remember to read some reviews, or perhaps even talk to some previous clients directly, all with the aim of determining reputation and simultaneously checking the quality of work done by those providers you’re considering.
3. Ignoring the Costs or Choosing Based on Them Alone
I’ve mentioned above that people usually do remember to check the prices. Even so, they often tend to ignore those costs, thinking that they are the same at every company, or assuming that they have to be quite high. That is one level here – one type of a mistake that people tend to make when it comes to the prices. And it can lead to overpaying when that is not necessary.
The second type consists of making their hiring decision based on nothing else but the prices of the EV charger installation services. This can lead to paying a low price, but not having the job done well. Ultimately, you may need to pay again for repair services or for repeating the installation from scratch, which will wind up costing much more in total than it would have you been careful enough to choose wisely the first time. So, the point is that you should consider the prices, but you shouldn’t take them as the most important factor.
Find out some more about the installation process: https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/electric-vehicle-chargepoint-charger-installation/
4. Not Assessing Electrical Capacity
In order for the EV charging station to be installed correctly, your home electrical system will have to be able to support the additional load. Therefore, not assessing electrical capacity is another crucial mistake that you should absolutely not make in this process. After all, you don’t want to have to deal with tripped breakers, overloaded circuits and even potential safety hazards. Hire an electrician to assess the capacity and let you know whether the system can support the installation, or if some adjustments have to be made.
5. Ignoring the Necessity of Choosing the Right Location
Similarly, you should never ignore the necessity of choosing the right location for the EV charger. You want it to be in a convenient and easily accessible spot, but also possibly in a spot that is close to the electrical panel, so that you don’t have to do much additional wiring, as that would drive the installation costs up. If you’re not sure how to choose the location, let the pros be the judge of that and give you the advice you need.
