EV Chargers in St. Louis

How Long Does It Take to Charge an Electric Vehicle?

The answer depends almost entirely on what type of charging equipment you are using. 

A standard 120-volt household outlet, sometimes called Level 1 charging, adds roughly three to five miles of range per hour. For a driver who commutes thirty miles a day and plugs in overnight, that can be sufficient, but for anyone with a longer commute or a larger battery pack, it falls well short of practical. 

A Level 2 charger, which operates on a dedicated 240-volt circuit, adds between 20 and 30 miles of range per hour depending on the vehicle and the charger's amperage rating. Most EV owners who install a Level 2 charger at home find that plugging in overnight reliably delivers a full charge regardless of how depleted the battery was when they arrived.

The vehicle itself is as much a factor as the charger. Every EV has a maximum onboard charging rate, and a charger that exceeds that rate does not charge the car any faster. A charger rated for 48 amps paired with a vehicle that accepts a maximum of 32 amps will charge at the vehicle's limit, not the charger's. This is worth understanding before investing in a higher-capacity circuit, since the right setup depends on matching the charger to the vehicle rather than simply installing the largest circuit available.

What St. Louis Homeowners Should Know Before Installing an EV Charger

A Level 2 charger draws 30 to 50 amps continuously for several hours, which is a significant load by any measure. Before installation, a licensed electrician needs to confirm that your existing panel has the available capacity to support a new dedicated circuit. In many homes throughout St. Louis County and St. Charles County, particularly those built before the 1990s, a 100-amp service panel may already be running close to capacity. In those cases, a panel upgrade is the right first step.

The location of your charger matters as well. Most homeowners want the unit mounted inside or just outside the garage, close to where the vehicle parks. Running a new circuit from the panel to that location involves routing wire through walls, attic space, or conduit depending on your home's layout. Our team maps out the most practical path before any work starts.

Permitting is required for EV charger installations in most St. Louis municipalities. Requirements vary between St. Louis City, unincorporated St. Louis County, and surrounding jurisdictions in St. Charles and Franklin Counties. Don’t worry! Potts Electric manages the permit process as part of every installation, so nothing gets missed.