I Avoided EV Ownership Heartache With This Portable Charger For Cheap and Easy Home Charging
Have a clothes dryer in your house? Then you can easily—and cheaply—add an EV charger. This is what I learned.
I was bold in my proclamation that I would only drive an EV at home, road trips and short hops included. I can do this. With an electrical box in our garage and EVs in many of my neighbors garages, it should be easy. So I hired an electrician to install an outlet in my garage and ordered a level 2 EV charger from Lectron.
A short time later my long-term review car arrived, a 2024 Mustang Mach-E Premium with a standard range battery. It needed to charge so I proudly pulled it into the garage, opened the charge door and plugged in my charger.
And it immediately tripped the circuit breaker.
This story is 100% human-researched and written based on actual first-person knowledge, extensive experience, and expertise on the subject of cars and trucks. Additionally, Ford provided the Mustang Mach-E for this test drive and Lectron provided the charger used in my garage.
Now to Figure Out This Frustrating Puzzle
Charging a car at home on the daily was new-ish for me; I’d had EVs before but mostly I hadn’t had to charge them or used a public charger. And, I’d had plug-in hybrids that charged just fine in my garage.
Then, I test drove a Dodge Charger Daytona for a week and found that on the multimedia system I was able to set the level of power draw—the amp level the car will pull—to as much or as little power as I wanted. I set the level to under 28 amps and voilá, it charged overnight.
But the Mustang Mach-E doesn’t have this little piece of tech; it’s set to draw 48 amps, though the charger that Ford provides will draw at 32 amps. Both are too high for the highest breaker in my electric box, which is 30 amps.
Of course, the circuit breaker will trip when the power draw is too great (rather than burning down your house). I could have the electrician come back and install a larger 40 amp breaker, but at what cost? And honestly, I don’t think he did it right the first time so I’d need to start over with another electrician.
I was starting to think that that maybe this wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought.
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When In Doubt, Call a Friend
My friend Liv and her husband Patrick have owned several EVs and have been down this path, so I called for advice. Get a smart charger, they advised. That will let you set the amp draw to something below the maximum the breaker allows—which is 30 amps.
I went back to Lectron, this time for a smart charger: one that would allow me to download an app to see what’s going on with the charger and that most importantly, will allow me to set my level of power draw.
And it is simply brilliant.
Successful Charging at Last
With the level 2 EV charger from Lectron installed—essentially, removed from the box and plugged into the wall—I downloaded the Lectron app and activated it via wifi. That’s the key: The charger needs to be wifi-enabled; with that small piece complete I am able to do a lot with this charger. I can set my charge times, begin charging or end charging
I can even set up my own charging station and charge others for the privilege of using my Lectron charger (though my current portable charger doesn’t support this). I could actually allow others to charge their car in my garage and have them pay for it.
The Lectron portable smart charger has been liberating. Now, I can charge when I get home, or when I think of it. I can see the charge level on my phone via the Ford Pass app, and I can see my charging history on the Lectron app. I like having two ways to do anything— the main way and a backup, so I appreciate having both apps.
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How Much Did All This Cost?
The Lectron charger was $279, though the price fluctuates with sales and can be found on Amazon sometimes for less. Mine came with a 16’ cord, though there are other chargers with longer cords for people who need to charge outside or run a cord from another floor. Had I needed to put the outlet near the electrical box and the car was further away, a longer cord would solve that issue. I also bought a Lectron cord holder for $20 to so the cord stays neatly coiled on the wall.
It cost me $150 to have the level 2 EV charger outlet installed in my garage. I could upgrade to a breaker with a larger amp output, but that would be another $150 at least, perhaps more if any work needed to be done to my electrical box. I would still need the charger, so having one that can adjust to my situation seemed the best idea. And, its portable so I can take it with me if I need to, or lend it to my daughter when she installs a level 2 outlet in her garage.
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Did I Save Money?
In all, the cost of the charger, the holder and the electrician was $449. I broke down my cost of charging for the typical month, which was about $55 for 1,000 miles of driving. The cost of gas for the same mileage would be about $136. At that price it would take me 6 months to recoup the cost of installing the level 2 EV charger. So yes, I saved money going this route.
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What About a Power Wall—And the Ford Promise?
My solution was really simple. I don’t yet plan to use my EV to power my home, I don’t have solar panels and I only charge one car. But if I wanted to do any of those things, a power wall would be a good solution.
Ford offers the Ford Promise with all its EVs, which is essentially a free standard wall charger and basic installation, with up to 80 feet of wiring and an upgrade to a 60 amp circuit, as part of the purchase. This could cost between $1,000 and $2,000. What it won’t cover is updating your electrical box, upgrading the power to your home or moving the power to your garage if it’s more than 80 feet away.
If I were purchasing the Ford Mustang Mach-E this would probably be the best solution for me. But for my needs the Lectron portable charger is ideal.
The Simple Solution Was the Best For Me
For those reasons, I really like the simple solution of a basic electrician visit and a smart charger: it’s simple and easy to use, I can get my bearings with the basics and decide later if I want to upgrade to a power wall.
The cost is minimal and it follows that key metric: If you have an electric clothes dryer you can add a level 2 EV charger.
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