So, you’ve decided to install a new level 2 charger in your home. Assuming that you do not already have a NEMA 14-50 or NEMA 6-50 outlet available, you will need to decide, prior to the electrician coming on site, where you would like to place your new unit. Factors that go into this decision include, whether you have a garage on site, which side of the vehicle the EV charge port resides, and length of the cord on your new level 2 charger.
If you do not have a garage onsite, then the charger will need to go outdoors. A hardwired level 2 charger may be the best option for outdoor installation (and in some cases required option), but if a NEMA 14-50 or NEMA 6-50 plug is used, then it will need to be placed in a weatherproof enclosure. It is worth speaking with a licensed electrician in advance if considering an outdoor installation, prior to purchasing a level 2 charging unit, to confirm if you need a hardwired installation or not.
If you do have a garage onsite, then placement of the EV charging unit in the garage will better protect it from the elements, and you are likely to have more options in terms of deciding on hardwired vs NEMA 14-50. The use of the NEMA plug does mean that if the charging unit ever fails, you may be able to begin using a new unit without the electrician coming back for a reinstall. However, the choice of hardwired removes one potential point of failure with the plug.
Many different EVs have the charging port on a different location of the vehicle, and your choice of placement of the charger ideally can adapt to ease of charging access over time, even if you decide to switch which EV that you drive. The following is a sampling of EVs for sale in the US intended to illustrate the differences:
- 2024 Nissan Ariya: front passenger side of the vehicle
- 2024 Toyota bZ4x: front driver’s side of the vehicle
- 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E: front driver’s side of the vehicle
- 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5: rear passenger side of the vehicle
- 2024 Tesla Model Y: rear driver’s side of the vehicle
- 2024 Kia Niro EV: middle of the front bumper of the vehicle
- 2024 Kia EV6: rear passenger’s side of the vehicle
- 2024 Ford F-150 Lightning: front driver’s side of the vehicle
- 2024 Honda Prologue: front driver’s side of the vehicle
You may ask, is it a dealbreaker if the EV charger is located on the opposite side of the car than the charging port? This is a situation that quite possibly will happen in the future when you switch to another vehicle. Luckily, no, the answer is, absolutely not. Consider the length of the cable for several popular level 2 chargers:
- Grizzl-E : 24 ft long cable
- ChargePoint HomeFlex : 23 ft long cable
- Wallbox Pulsar Plus : 25 ft long cable
Suppose that you place the charger at the midpoint, length-wise, of your vehicle, on the opposite side of the vehicle, and your vehicle is 78 inches wide, 194 inches long. And, assume that the charger is placed at the same height of the charging port, but the charging port is located on the opposite side of the vehicle as the charger. You won’t want to be lifting the cord over the vehicle each time you charge, but would uncoil it and snake it around the vehicle. As an estimate, the cord might need to be, if completely taut, at least 78 / 2 + 194 / 2 inches long, plus 36 inches extra once on the same side as the charge port. This is 39 + 97 + 36 =172 inches = 14.3 feet, meaning that for any of the options listed above, there still is at least 8.5 feet extra in leeway, which will still be helpful to allow the cable to rest on the ground, rather than being suspended in the air during charging such that someone might trip on it. But, putting the charger at the midpoint, lengthwise, of the vehicle, on one side or the other, can be a good hedge in case the charge port changes locations from one vehicle to the next.
If you have a 2 car garage, and want to maintain the flexibility of charging an EV in either side of the garage, then this is where alignment of the charge port on the car starts to really matter. If the charger is at the midpoint, length-wise, of the left-hand side car in the garage, and you want to charge a car on the right side of the garage with charge port on the rear passenger side, then that would be, at minimum, 194 / 2 + 78 * 2 + 48 + 36 inches = 97 + 156 + 84 = 337 inches = 28 feet away with the wire completely taut and off the ground, which is out of reach for most level 2 EV charging cords. You thus are stuck with either putting 2 level 2 chargers in the garage, putting the single EV charger in the middle front or middle rear of the garage, or picking EVs that have the charge port on a specific side of the vehicle that faces the center point of the garage. Some level 2 EV chargers, such as those made by Primecom, do offer cord lengths of 30+ feet, which is an option for this situation.
If you do end up placing 2 EV chargers rather than 1 during the installation, due to reasons about inability for the charging cord to reach both sides of the garage, costs can go up substantially as you may need to also install an Electric Vehicle Energy Management System, such as the DCC-10 or DCC-12 made by Thermolec, if your main electrical panel does not have sufficient capacity to accommodate both level 2 chargers charging at the same time. These units regulate overall power draw if both chargers are drawing power at the same time.
The other factor to consider in charger placement is ease of electrical install. Is the electrican going to easily be able to drop a wire, leading all the way to the circuit breaker box, in your chosen placement, or is it on the complete opposite side of the garage? Will the wire need to snake behind a wall that is not easily accessible in the back? If so, consider if the placement can be on the opposite side of the vehicle, noting that the 20+ ft cord lengths are often long enough to accommodate placement on either side. Choices made here may be a factor both in ease of electrical installation, and in the cost of the quote given to you.
Overall, several factors go into chosen placement of an EV charging system, but by doing some research upfront you can be sure that your chosen placement will be futureproof even if you end up switching EVs that each have different charge port locations.