Professional Electricians in Towson, MD

The cost to charge your EV will vary depending on how much you pay for electricity and the capacity of the battery. On average, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) costs less than $1 a day to charge. Electric vehicles will cost $2-$4 per day to charge at home.

Electric cars still have to undergo the same safety testing and evaluations their fuel-powered counterparts are subject to. Even if the supply of electricity is cut in an accident, the airbags will still deploy. Many people are concerned about the batteries in electric vehicles as a fire risk, but the risk of fire in an accident is much lower than in a gasoline powered internal combustion engine (ICE). Pedestrian and bicycle involved accidents are statistically more likely with EVs because the lack of engine noise sometimes causes them to not remain safe around your vehicle. Drivers should keep this in mind and remain cautious of this possibility.

Electric vehicle charging stations use a connection port standard referred to as J1772. This design includes several layers of shock protection and specifically protects safety even in wet conditions. The pins are inside the charging head preventing physical contact. Until a connection with the vehicle port is made, no voltage flows to the pins, and power will not flow until requested by the vehicle. If a port is removed during charging, proximity detection pins are the first to disconnect and automatically interrupt the flow of power.

Utility companies have moved toward a Time-of-Use model to help manage grid resources. EV owners can opt-in to a program with their utility provider (BGE and PEPCO both have programs in Maryland) and with a monthly service charge receive reduced rates for vehicle charging during off-peak hours. These programs use data from Smart Meters to assess usage and enable EV owners to charge their vehicles over-night for as low as $0.03/khw.