New Ford electric vehicle owners get free home charging stations and why that's not good news for everyone

Choosing a Level 2 home charger for an EV can require a lot of brain power. Hardwired or NEMA? Which brand? How many amps? NACS or J1772? That's a lot to think about. To make this easier, Ford is offering a Level 2 EV charger and easy installation to anyone who chooses a new Ford electric vehicle. It's an excellent piece, but it also shows that North America still has some work to do before everyone has access to the Level 2 store at home.

Spacers

To briefly explain the context: There are three charging levels for most electric cars:

• A Stage 1 The charger simply plugs into a 120-volt outlet, similar to how you would plug in a laptop or toaster.
• Stage 2 Charging requires a charger that is powered by 240 volts, and this charger can handle a significant amount of current, up to 50 amps for some devices.
• DC fast charging is the ultra-fast charging standard for when you are on the move and need to charge between 50 and 350 kW of power into your battery as quickly as possible. Almost no one installs this technology at home.

Now let's get back to Ford's offering. In a blog post on LinkedIn that was later turned into a press release, Ford CEO Jim Farley stated the following:

It's simple. Buy or lease a Ford Mustang Mach-E, F-150 Lightning, or E-Transit at retail and take home a free home charger or have it delivered, and when you're ready, an expert will come by to install it for free install a standard installation. This takes the guesswork out of installation, including costs, and allows you to save time and money by fueling at home. Less stress, more comfort. If you're a Ford Pro fleet customer, we're offering a cash incentive for commercial charging.

While Ford isn't the first company to include a Level 2 charger when purchasing a new electric vehicle, it's still a smart move. Of course there are rebates from energy suppliers and governments, but that still means paying upfront and applying for a rebate in the hope that it comes in a timely manner. Having everything included from the start will speed up setup and should make everything as seamless as possible for new EV drivers.

However, not everyone who buys a Ford electric vehicle will actually benefit from a free Level 2 charging station. See, CleanTechnica reports that more than 40 million American homes still have a 100 amp connection, and if you have a 100 amp connection, an air conditioner, and an electric stove, you simply don't have the leeway to have a breaker to charge it Add electric vehicles without exceeding your home's power supply. Upgrading to a 200-amp connection can cost thousands of dollars, and while you'll ultimately recoup that in savings on home charging, the upfront cost can be hard to bear.

At the same time, 21.28 million American households consist of multifamily housing units with five or more units, and this situation brings with it a number of other complications. Shared parking facilities may not be able to be upgraded to Level 2 charging, and when technically feasible, these renters, condo owners and co-op members may still have to fight with their property managers, homeowners associations or co-ops to get Level 2 electric vehicle charging stations installed.

Therein lies the problem for literally millions of people. The promises of cheap charging while you sleep and the promises of only having to seek out DC fast chargers on road trips may not come true for people who don't have access to a Level 2 charger at work It's not possible for an electrician to plug a Level 2 charger into the home electrical panel on a whim.

I say this not just from compassion, but from experience. I don't have a level 2 charging station at home, and yes, it sucks if I drive an electric vehicle. Sure, plugging into a 120-volt outlet for a Level 1 overnight charge increases range, but it rarely replenishes the power used the day before, and the fairly frequent visits to public DC fast-charging stations aren't nearly as convenient as easy charging a gas tank. Public chargers may be out of service, located in inconvenient locations, or simply vandalized.

To convince everyone of the promise of clean, electric everyday drivers, we need to make serious efforts to expand Level 2 home charging. While it's helpful when an automaker includes a free home charging station with a new electric vehicle, there's still a long way to go. It should come with time, but before you pull the trigger on a new EV, check whether you have the capacity to support a Level 2 charging station if you have your own breaker panel. Otherwise, you might be in for a surprise.

(Image credit: Ford)

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