More and more drivers in Luxembourg are opting for an electric vehicle. It would be ideal if you could charge your vehicle at home. Can you install a charging station at your home? How does that work? What are the advantages? We will help you make the right choice.
Have you decided to buy an electric vehicle? Very good! Like a growing number of car drivers, you also support a new mobility.
However, choosing an electric vehicle still rises some questions. Many of them concern the possibilities for charging the vehicle battery and ensuring autonomy in everyday life.
Why should you install an electric vehicle charging station in your home?
Today, the capacity of electric vehicle batteries is able to meet the daily needs of most users. The autonomy of a battery makes it easy to drive to and from work, do some shopping, visit a friend nearby or even take your child to and from a nearby recreational activity.
One of the challenges, however, is the ability to charge your electric vehicle’s battery at the end of the day. If you install a charging station for your electric vehicle at your home, you no longer have to worry about this point.
How do you charge your electric vehicle at your home?
Most electric vehicles can be charged from a simple household socket. However, this option requires a relatively long charging time. Due to the low charging power (approx. 3 kW), charging takes several hours. Furthermore, this is not THE solution, as charging at a household socket poses a risk to the safety of the electrical system. Household sockets are not designed to provide 3 kW of power for several hours.
For convenience and safety, most car manufacturers therefore recommend using a wall-mounted charging station, which can have a charging power of up to 22 kW (although most are limited to a power of 11 kW for residential use). This type of system can significantly reduce charging time.
How to install a wall-mounted charging station for electric vehicles?
When installing a wall-mounted charging station in your home, certain rules must be followed for protection against overloading and for convenience. To do this and to ensure compliance with the legal framework, you must consult a professional, a licensed electrician.
This person must register the system with the grid operator before carrying out the work. From a power of 7 kW, the station must be connected to the SMARTY smart meter so that remote load shedding is possible. Load shedding from a distance can reduce the grid load if necessary and thus avoid overloads and a shutdown of sensitive installations.
Which charging station is right for you?
Once the installation of an electric vehicle charging station has been approved at your premises, all that remains is to choose the most suitable product. The stations available on the market today are compatible with most vehicles.
In addition, there are other aspects to consider:
- Will the station be installed indoors or outdoors?
- Does it need to have one or more charging ports?
- What power do you need?
- Do you need access control (to control access to charging with a badge)?
- Do you need or want to track your charging data and associated costs?
Depending on the answer to these questions, the installer can offer you the connection that is right for you. In Luxembourg, the mydiego.lu initiative offers “all-inclusive” plans for the installation of a connection in your home (single-family or multi-family).
Be sure to remember that there are currently public subsidies for the installation of chargepoints for electric vehicles.
Charging station and photovoltaic system: a win-win situation
Opting for electric mobility is opting for more sustainable mobility, provided that the electricity used to charge your electric vehicle’s batteries is clean. Enovos offers you 100% green electricity through its various concepts and supports the development of renewable energies in Luxembourg and in Europe.
Electric mobility is also a solution that can prove interesting if you become a producer of green energy yourself. For example, installing photovoltaic panels on your home makes it possible to increase your energy autonomy and, in particular, to drive with the electricity generated by your panels directly at your home.
