You might be thinking of buying one of those new-fangled electric cars, and may be wondering how they’re charged. That depends on which car you buy. The three main electric cars (electric vehicles or “EVs”) currently available for middle income families are the Toyota Prius, Chevy Volt, and Nissan Leaf.

Toyota Prius. Let’s say you buy a Toyota Prius. The Prius is a “hybrid.” A hybrid isn’t fully electric. It runs on electricity generated by a battery until the battery is depleted. Then, it turns to burning gasoline. In the case of the Prius, a 2010 model drives about 12 miles on a fully charged battery. But the Prius is continuously recharging the battery with a mechanism triggered by stepping on the brakes.

On the downside, the Prius currently doesn’t come with a “plug in” option. That means you can’t plug it into an electric outlet to charge its battery. However, Toyota is partnering with the EV company, Tesla, to develop a plug-in model that will be available in 2012.

Chevy Volt. The Chevy Volt, which started deliveries in the U.S. in December 2010, is also a hybrid. Unlike the Prius, the battery is not charged when you brake, but by plugging into the electric grid. It has a range of around 35 miles before it must start burning gasoline.

Nissan Leaf. The Nissan Leaf is currently the only all-electric EV available for middle income families. It can’t burn gasoline, but runs only on its battery. It has a range of about 100 miles before you need to start looking for an electric outlet.

HOW DO YOU CHARGE A PLUG-IN ELECTRIC CAR?

Level 1 Charging. Both the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf come with a charging cord, called a “Level 1 Charger,” as standard equipment. It looks like an extension cord. You can charge your car by plugging the Level 1 Charger into an electrical outlet in your garage or carport.

The advantage of Level 1 charging is that it’s simple and inexpensive to set up. Hire an electrician to install an outlet in your garage or carport. It will need to be on a dedicated circuit, meaning that no other appliances, like a washer, for example, are on the same circuit. The outlet will need to be the safety version usual in garages and outdoors (a GFI). Also, your electrician will need to check whether your electrical panel should be upgraded in size to handle the increased power demand.

Once the outlet is installed, the EV driver pulls out the Level 1 charging cord that comes with the car, starts charging, and lets the car sit… for a long time. A Chevy Volt battery takes 10 hours from empty to full; a Nissan Leaf takes 20 hours.

Even though Level 1 charging is slow, drivers who have short commutes may be satisfied with it because, if they work it right, they won’t start at empty. They’ll have charge left in their batteries and will simply top off at night.

Here’s how it can work. The 100-mile range of the Nissan Leaf is a lot more than the 33 miles the average American drives daily. If you drive the average 33 miles, you will use only one-third of the battery in a day. If you religiously plug in when arriving home, you will be able to top off at night and leave with a full charge in the morning.

For hybrids, like the Chevy Volt, the issue of leaving home fully charged is less pressing. At about 35 miles, when the battery hits empty, it turns to burning gas. This isn’t good for gas usage, but on the other hand, the driver may suffer less from “range anxiety.”

Level 2 Charging. While you may be able to make Level 1 charging work for you, you also have the option of faster charging by installing a special Level 2 Charger in your garage or carport. A Level 2 charger takes a Chevy Volt battery from completely empty to completely full in four hours; eight hours for the Nissan Leaf. So, even if you totally drain your battery, with a Level 2 Charger, you’ll be able to fill it by morning.

A Level 2 charger requires 240 volts, which is more powerful than house current. A Level 2 Charger is housed in a container about 18 inches around and hangs on the garage wall, sticking out about a foot. When you recharge with a Level 2 charger, it looks very much like filling your tank with gas. You stretch a “hose” over to the recharging socket built into the EV.

A Level 2 Charger is usually purchased when you buy your electric car. If you wish, Nissan or Chevy can arrange the purchase and installation. Nissan has partnered with AeroVironment to supply and install chargers. Chevy Volt has partnered with SPX. When a Leaf, for example, is purchased, the Nissan dealer arranges for an AeroVironment electrician in Los Angeles to look over the new owner’s garage, provide a bid, and do the installation.

The car buyer is free to look for a lower bid from an independent Los Angeles electrician; however, warranties and follow-up repairs on the charger may not be as advantageous.

Consumer Reports estimates that purchase and installation of a Level 2 Charger costs about $2,000. However, the price can vary quite a bit, depending on the distance of the charger from your electrical panel and on whether you need an upgrade of your panel size to accommodate the additional power demands of the charger.

THE FUTURE OF CHARGING YOUR ELECTRIC CAR

Level 3 chargers that can fully charge a Nissan Leaf in 15-30 minutes are currently available in Japan. However, they cost about $45,000 installed. When they come to the U.S., they will most likely be installed for electric trucks, company fleets, or for private cars at shopping malls and at gas stations, where EVs will zip in and out to top off their batteries.

An even faster system is currently being installed in Israel. A Palo Alto company called “Better Place” is building a network of “carwashes.” Only, when you drive your EV in, instead of getting a wash job, your spent battery is pulled out and within a couple of minutes, is replaced with a fully charged battery.

The pressure to be fully charged when leaving home will ease as chargers are increasingly installed in public places in the U.S. In my hometown, Los Angeles, Level 2 Chargers are already available in train stations, the main airport (LAX), the L.A. Convention Center, and other public places. One can easily find the network of existing public chargers on-line. In addition, malls will begin installing Level 2 or Level 3 Chargers as an inducement for shoppers and workplaces as an employment benefit.

Click here to visit our website.

It is difficult to obtain total peace of mind when you can’t really see what is going on behind the walls of your house. Because of this, you may want to look into having an electrical safety inspection completed by an electrician in Glendale. The electrician will go through and check some of the most common problems that lead to an electrical fire. The inspection will certainly make you feel better knowing your home is safe or identifying problems that could lead to a disaster if left unchecked. The Electric Connection has the staff available to complete one of these inspections in a professional and timely manner.

A quick inspection takes only a few minutes, but can quickly identify any potential problems. If you are not sure whether you need an inspection follow these guidelines.

*Lights that flicker, pop or don’t work at all could indicate a bigger problem.

*An outlet that doesn’t work or when it is in use, the breaker trips.

*You have exposed wiring anywhere in the house.

*A home that was built before 1950 and has had no electrical updates.

These are just some of the most common and obvious signs of trouble. If you have recently moved into a house, but are not sure about the condition of the Glendale electrical system, it is always a good idea to get a complete safety inspection. Older homes may have been constructed with aluminum or cloth insulated wiring. Today, we know this is not an ideal situation and should be upgraded. This isn’t something the average person would be able to see just by looking at it. This is why you need an experienced professional to take a look and determine just how safe your home’s electrical system is. Give The Electric Connection a call today and schedule your electrical safety inspection before it is too late.

Acquiring Pennington generators falls under preparedness for emergencies. With such equipment available, there is no need to worry about unexpected power outage for there is a ready alternative source of energy to run several appliances, depending on the power capacity. In purchasing such apparatus, several aspects should be considered. It offers an array of advantages and disadvantages, thus these should be weighed before considering the purchase of equipment that will best fits a household’s needs.

Also referred to as the emergency power source, it is generally known to produce clean energy, converting fuel into electricity in the process. Most use gasoline, because this is one of the cheapest fuel alternatives. However, some run with diesel or propane. Fuel is readily available almost everywhere, but some prefer storing fuels at home so that when the need arises, it can be easily loaded to the generators. Note however that fuel, especially those that are fossil based have short shelf life. Storing would entail the purchase of anti-coagulants to lengthen the storage life of fuel. Therefore it is not also advisable to keep the fuel inside the generator set for it may pose a certain degree of risk to the system, which may lead to permanent damage.

The engine of the equipment requires regular test runs. It is not recommended to allow it to stand idle for a long time. Allowing it to stand idle would lead to malfunction. Once every month, even in the absence of a power outage, Pennington generators should be run and allow to run so as to optimize its operation. This is to prevent the scenario of having a dysfunctional system when real power emergency occurs.

In running the engine, an average noise level of 60-70 decibels is produced for portable type and even higher for heavy duty types. Portable Pennington generators actually exceed the noise level produced by normal conversation by a few decibels, thus it is more advisable to choose this instead. In general, noise is a distraction that can hinder the normal flow of activities in the household. But it should be noted that power outage does not happen often and the noise is just a little sacrifice compared to the benefits that we reap from a reliable alternative energy source in times of emergency.

The dimensions of the entire package should likewise be considered. Compact versions, considered to be space savers, are more favorable because it is easier to keep and store compared to the bulky heavy duty type. However, if the heavy duty type is preferred, especially for larger Pennington households with larger electricity demand, transportability and mobility can be assured if the generator has built in wheels.

Lastly, it should be made sure that the product purchased complies with the safety and environmental standards. This way, it can be assured that only clean energy is generated and no harmful fumes that can adversely affect the health of family members are emitted.

In choosing Pennington generators, make sure that it is worth the investment by studying carefully all the aspects of the equipment.

Having smoke alarms is one of the essential ways you can protect your family in your home. The NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) has estimated that nearly 70 percent of those who perish in a house fire were in homes where there was no smoke alarm. Additionally, it is estimated that nearly one thousand deaths per year could be prevented by installing smoke alarms in every home. Learn more about the considerations you must make regarding smoke alarms and then call a Los Angeles electrical company, such as The Electric Connection, to install this important device today.

Building Codes

There are building codes that mandate the installation of smoke alarms. These are developed at both the state and local level. Since there are so many codes and requirements you must keep in mind, it is recommended that you find an electrician in Los Angeles that has a thorough knowledge of NFPA 72 – National Fire Alarm Code as well as these local ordinances.

Location

It is important not only to have a smoke detector, but also to install enough and install them in a proper location. It’s important to install the number of smoke detectors that are required in your area. Additionally, connecting the detectors, means that there will be an early warning if a fire breaks out in another part of the home. When working with an electrician, Los Angeles residents should request that the detector be mounted on the ceiling or high on the wall.

Power Source

A smoke alarm can operate on batteries, electrical systems or a combination. An alarm that operates on both is most desirable, since it protects you even if there is a power outage or dead battery situation. Testing your smoke alarm regularly is vitally important to make certain it will be there for you when you need it.

If you want to talk to a Los Angeles Electrician about installing a smoke alarm system in your home, visit us at ElectricConnection.com or call us at The Electric Connection today.