Convenient service for electric cars
The number of electric and hybrid cars is growing. Heavy transport is also becoming more electric. When buying an electric car, charging at home can be an issue. With our electric car charging calculator in Elenia Aina, you can easily find out if your home connection has enough capacity.
Before buying an electric vehicle charger, find out whether your property's electrical connection has enough capacity to charge an electric vehicle. In Elenia Aina, you will find an electric vehicle charging calculator. The calculator shows the available capacity of your electricity connection and calculates for you the capacity of the charging device. The calculator will also tell you what, if any, modifications are needed to get enough capacity for the charger.
The sizing depends on the amount of power required and the time of charging. By trying out different options with the charging calculator, you can plan for the actual charging power requirements and possible choices between increasing the fuse size of the electrical connection and load management. Cars are often parked overnight, when a small amount of power is enough to charge the battery to almost full capacity. It is generally not advisable to size the connection with full charging power for all times.
If your electricity connection does not have enough capacity for the power required by the electric vehicle charger, the calculator recommends load management, i.e. limiting the charging power according to other consumption. Another option is to increase the size of the electricity connection.
You can print out the result of the electric vehicle charging calculator to use when purchasing a charger. The information from the calculator will also help the electrician with any modifications required. The installation of a charger is always the work of a professional electrician. Among other things, the electrician ensures the safety of the equipment.
The charging calculator is available for households with only one point of use on the electricity connection. It does not yet cover housing associations. The electric car charging calculator is available from Elenia Aina. Elenia Aina is a free service that allows you to manage your daily electricity affairs at the time you want. At the moment, Elenia Aina is only in Finnish.
Acquiring a charging station for your electric car
- Contact your car dealer or charging operator to find out the type of charging equipment you need.
- Get in touch with an electrical engineering professional to find out whether the condition and dimensioning of your property’s electric system permit the installation of the equipment.
- Contact your electricity network provider to find out if your electricity connection supports the installation of charging equipment.
- If changes are needed, anticipate future charging requirements.
- Use a professional electrician or equipment supplier to help with the design and installation of the charging equipment.
Professional electricians guarantee safety
It is a good idea to have a professional verify the condition and dimensioning of the electric system. If the dimensioning is insufficient or the components are in bad condition, they may cause a fire or electrical safety hazard if subjected to long-term loading. Increasing the capacity may necessitate changes to the property’s electricity connection and main distribution board.
Charging device for detached house?
In the case of a detached house, the charging solution is easy to implement as long as you only need one or two charging devices. That said, the charging system may require the main distribution board to be changed or expanded. It may even be necessary to build an entirely new connection for the charging equipment. If that is the case, you should make provisions for future requirements.
Housing cooperative?
The construction of charging stations requires a decision by the housing cooperative. The charging devices can be acquired as required or all at once for all parking spaces. To start with, the easiest solution is to build a number of charging stations, which does not necessitate changes to the property’s electric system.
If the electric system does not have enough capacity to add charging stations, it is necessary to extend the property’s electricity connection, service cable and main distribution board and to implement new cable outputs from the main distribution board to the charging equipment. A fair distribution of the costs between the residents is an important consideration. It is also possible to implement a new electric system for the housing cooperative’s parking lot so that the property’s existing electric system does not need to be changed.
What kind of electricity connection will you need?
The size of a one-family house is usually 3x25A, with a maximum power of 17 kW. Typically, the charging equipment of an electric car uses 3.7–22 kW. If the connection power is exceeded, it will result in the main fuse burning. You can prevent this by limiting the charging capacity, acquiring load control or extending the electricity connection.
The table below shows the connection capacities and the maximum capacities of the charging systems. If the connection is also used for something other than charging an electric car, it requires a charging capacity control system to avoid over-increasing the electric load.
| Connection size | Connection capacity | Charging system’s maximum capacity |
|---|---|---|
| 3x25 A | 17 kW | 1 x 11 kW (3x16A)/4 x 3.7 kW (1x16A) |
| 3x35 A | 23 kW | 1 x 22 kW (3x32A)/2 x 11 kW (3x16A) |
| 3x50 A | 33 kW | 1 x 22 kW (3x32A)/3 x 11 kW (3x16A) |
| 3x63 A | 42 kW | 2 x 22 kW (3x32 A)/3 x 11 kW (3x16A) |
| 3x80 A | 53 kW | 2 x 22 kW (3x32A)/4 x 11 kW (3x16A) |
| 3x100 A | 67 kW | 3 x 22 kW (3x32A)/6 x 11 kW (3x16A) |
| 3x125 A | 83 kW | 3 x 22 kW (3x32A)/7 x 11 kW (3x16A) |
| 3x160 A | 107 kW | 4 x 22 kW (3x32A)/9 x 11 kW (3x16A) |
| 3x200 A | 133 kW | 6 x 22 kW (3x32A)/12 x 11 kW (3x16A) |