Solar Energy Show

Electric vehicles are great: they’re affordable, great for the environment and low maintenance. And where electric rates are low — or if you have rooftop solar power -- EVs are cheaper to drive per mile than gas-powered cars. But you have to think about how you will charge your EV: there are only a few thousand public charging locations in the U.S. — compared to 100,000 gas stations. When you buy an EV it comes with a 120 volt charger that you can plug into just about any outlet. These 120 volt chargers are convenient, but can take awhile to completely charge your battery — about 12 hours for a Chevy Volt, 17 hours for a Nissan Leaf and 59 hours for a Tesla. So if you drive a lot you will definitely need a higher capacity charger, either at home or at work. There are three choices for EV chargers: Level 1 chargers (120 volts), Level 2 chargers (240 volts) and Level 3 chargers (480 volts). Level 1 chargers are cheap and work just about everywhere, whereas Level 3 chargers are fast, but expensive and only wor