How EV Charging Works

Alex

August 7th, 2026

The Short Answer: Electric vehicle charging is the process of moving electricity from the grid into an EV battery. There are three levels. Level 1 uses a standard 120-volt outlet and adds a few miles of range per hour. Level 2 uses a 240-volt circuit, adds roughly 20 to 30 miles per hour, and is what most people install at home. DC fast charging is found at public charging stations and can refill most of a battery in under an hour. What matters more for most homeowners is whether your electrical panel can support a Level 2 circuit, which is what a licensed electrician determines during a site evaluation.

More than 8.3 million plug-in electric vehicles have been sold in the United States to date, according to Argonne National Laboratory, and most of those electric vehicle owners eventually need the same piece of information: how to charge safely and reliably at home.

The good news is that the answer is simpler than you might think. This guide covers what happens when you plug in, what separates the three charging levels, which connector types matter, and what home charging installation involves.

What Happens When You Plug In

An EV battery stores direct current, or DC, while your utility delivers alternating current, or AC. Something has to convert one to the other, and where that happens depends on the charging level. With Level 1 and Level 2 charging, the car handles it. The onboard charger inside your vehicle converts AC to DC before power reaches the battery, which is why the box on your garage wall isn’t technically a charger at all. It’s electric vehicle supply equipment, or EVSE, and its job is to confirm a safe connection and manage the flow of power. A DC fast charger skips the car’s converter and sends direct current straight to the battery, and that shortcut is what makes fast charging so much quicker.

For a homeowner, the practical consequence is simple. Most vehicles cap out around 7 to 11 kilowatts through the onboard charger, so a Level 2 unit at a single-family home is sized to what your car can accept. Matching the equipment to your charging needs and getting the circuit installed correctly is the whole job.

The Three Levels of EV Charging

Level 1 Charging

Level 1 is the cord that came in the trunk. Plug it into a standard 120-volt outlet, and the car charges slowly. Most vehicles gain somewhere around 3 to 5 miles of range per hour, which means a full charge on a depleted battery can take multiple days.

That sounds useless, and for many EV drivers it is. But it works fine for a plug-in hybrid, because those vehicles carry much smaller batteries and can top off overnight without much trouble. It also works for anyone with a short commute who plugs in every single night. There’s no equipment to install, though the outlet does need to be properly grounded and on a dedicated circuit, which is worth having an electrician confirm before you rely on it nightly. Once it checks out, the only ongoing cost is the electricity.

Level 2 Charging

Level 2 is where most home charging happens. A Level 2 charger runs on a 240-volt circuit, the same kind of service that feeds an electric dryer or oven. This charger doubles the voltage of a standard outlet and dramatically increases the power delivered, which is why most EVs gain roughly 20 to 30 miles of range per hour and often more. Plug in when you get home, and the car is full by morning regardless of how far you drove.

Level 2 charging equipment shows up in three places: 

• Homes, where it is installed on a garage wall or an exterior wall. 
• Workplace charging, where employers install units for staff. 
• Public, where charging stations are placed in parking garages, shopping centers, and hotels, often as dual-port chargers that serve two vehicles at once. This is also the main charging option for apartment complexes and other multifamily housing where home charging isn’t possible.

Installing a Level 2 charger involves more than mounting the charging equipment. A licensed electrician should evaluate your home’s electrical system, determine whether a panel upgrade is needed, install a dedicated 240-volt circuit, and ensure everything meets local electrical codes.

DC Fast Charging

DC fast charging is the public charging tier, and it is not something you install at a house. These units require heavy commercial electrical service and cost far more than a home setup.

The payoff is speed, which is what makes DC fast-charging the right tool for long-distance trips rather than daily use. A public charger of this type can add over 100 miles of range in 20 to 30 minutes, and many EVs will reach 80 percent charge in well under an hour. Charging speed drops off sharply above that 80 percent mark, which is deliberate. Pushing a lithium battery hard when it is nearly full generates heat and shortens the battery’s life, so the vehicle’s software slows the charging session down to protect it. 

Connector Types

The connector type on your vehicle is worth knowing. J1772 is the AC plug used for Level 1 and Level 2 charging on nearly every non-Tesla EV, and it’s what most home chargers use. CCS and NACS are the two DC fast charging connectors. NACS is the one Tesla developed, and most major automakers are adopting it as the shared standard. Adapters are widely available, and many newer public chargers offer more than one cable.

Anderson Power Services installs EV chargers compatible with today’s vehicles, and we’ll determine the right solution for the car in your garage during your free consultation.

Paying for a Charging Session

Home charging simply shows up on your electric bill, billed per kilowatt hour like anything else in the house. It is the cheapest way to charge by a wide margin, and the fuel cost per mile is typically a fraction of gasoline, especially if your public utility offers lower overnight rates.

Public charging works differently. Most networks run through a mobile app that finds available chargers, starts the charging session, and handles payment. Many public chargers also accept a credit card or an RFID tap at the unit itself, and the user interface on the charger will walk you through it. Some workplace and retail chargers are free to use.

Home Charging Installation

• Free consultation. We start on-site or virtually to work out where the charger should go and what your vehicle can accept.
• Panel evaluation. During your consultation, we check whether your electrical panel has capacity for a new 240-volt circuit. If it doesn’t, we’ll tell you upfront what a panel upgrade involves rather than discovering it mid-install.
• Circuit installation. We run a dedicated circuit from your panel to wherever the charger will live, usually a garage wall or an exterior wall near the parking space. Cost depends mostly on the length of that run and whether the panel needs upgrading.
• Mounting and connection. We mount the charging equipment, wire it, and test it before we leave.
• Permits and code. We file the permit application and handle code compliance in your jurisdiction, so the install passes inspection the first time.
• Network setup. We’ll get your charger connected to its mobile app so you can schedule charging for off-peak hours and track usage.

What Happens to Your Charger During a Power Outage

Here is a question most EV articles skip, and it matters a lot in the Southeast.

Your EV charger runs on grid power. When a storm takes out the power grid, your charger goes down with it, and a vehicle you cannot charge is a vehicle you cannot drive. For a household that has gone all-electric, that turns a routine outage into a genuine problem.

A standby generator sized to include the charging circuit solves it. This is a real consideration for anyone pairing clean transportation with a house in hurricane country, and it is worth raising with your installer before the charger goes on the wall rather than after the next storm.

Get Your EV Charger Installed by Anderson Power Services

Electric vehicle charging comes down to a few straightforward ideas. AC power goes into the car, and the car converts it to DC. The one exception is DC fast charging, where the station does that conversion itself before the power reaches the car. Once you know which level fits your situation, what’s left is sizing the circuit, pulling the right permits, and getting it properly installed.

Anderson Power Services is a ChargePoint Authorized Dealer, and our technicians handle the parts of an EV charger install that homeowners can’t: evaluating whether your panel has capacity for a 240-volt circuit, upgrading it if it doesn’t,

We’re also an authorized Generac dealer, which means we can handle the charger and the backup power that keeps it running through a storm. Home standby generators, automatic transfer switches, propane tanks, and portable generators are all part of what we do, along with Peace of Mind Service Plans that include scheduled maintenance and 24/7/365 remote monitoring.

Every EV charger installation starts the same way, with a free on-site or virtual consultation to work out sizing and placement. Financing is available through Synchrony, and with a 4.9-star Google rating across more than 1,000 reviews, we help homeowners across the Southeast keep the power on and the car charged. Call 770-599-5321 or schedule your free consultation today.