Charge at Home / The basics
Level 1 vs. Level 2 charging at home
The cord that came with the car, or a 240-volt circuit: what each one adds overnight.
Level 1 is the cordset most EVs ship with, plugged into an ordinary 120-volt outlet. Level 2 is 240 volts, the same kind of circuit a dryer or a range uses, feeding a wall-mounted charger.
The difference is power. Power is volts times amps, so doubling the voltage doubles what each amp delivers, and a Level 2 circuit also carries more amps.
| Setup | Charger draw | Power | Miles per hour | Miles in 10 hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1, 120 V outlet | 12 A | 1.44 kW | 4.2 | 42 |
| Level 1, 120 V, 20 A circuit | 16 A | 1.92 kW | 5.6 | 56 |
| Level 2, 240 V, 20 A circuit | 16 A | 3.84 kW | 11.3 | 113 |
| Level 2, 240 V, 30 A circuit | 24 A | 5.76 kW | 16.9 | 169 |
| Level 2, 240 V, 40 A circuit | 32 A | 7.68 kW | 22.5 | 225 |
| Level 2, 240 V, 50 A circuit | 40 A | 9.6 kW | 28.2 | 282 |
| Level 2, 240 V, 60 A circuit | 48 A | 11.52 kW | 33.8 | 338 |
Range figures assume a car that uses 30 kWh per 100 miles and loses 12 percent of the energy between the wall and the battery. Your car's figure is on its fueleconomy.gov label; the calculator takes yours.
Which one you need
Count the miles you drive on a normal day, then look at the last column. If a 42-mile night covers your day, Level 1 may be all you need, and it costs nothing to set up as long as the outlet is on a circuit the car does not share with a freezer or a space heater. The Department of Energy notes that overnight Level 1 charging requires no additional cost or installation.
If your days are longer, if two cars share one garage, or if you want a full battery the morning after a road trip, a 32-amp Level 2 charger on a 40-amp circuit adds about 22.5 miles an hour, which refills most days in an hour or two.
What decides the speed
Three things, and the slowest one wins: the circuit, the charger's setting, and the car's own onboard charger. A car whose onboard charger tops out at 7.2 kW will not charge faster on an 11.5 kW wall unit. See amps and breaker size for the circuit side.
Sources
- U.S. DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center: Charging Plug-In Electric Vehicles at Home (accessed 2026-10-23)
- U.S. DOE and EPA, fueleconomy.gov: compare electric vehicles (accessed 2026-10-23)
This page was drafted with a language model from the sources listed above and published under the quality gate; the editor samples pages after publication. Every number on it is computed by the site's calculator code, not typed.
General information for planning, not electrical, tax or legal advice. A licensed electrician and your local code decide what is safe in your home.
Found an error? See Corrections.