Should I have a Level 2 home charger for my Slate Auto truck?

When you own an electrified vehicle, especially something with a plug on it, you might be wondering if you need to have home charging or if you can get by otherwise. In the case of the Slate Auto electric pickup truck, you will have to charge it. So should you get a dedicated level 2 home charger for your new vehicle? The answer isn’t cut-and-dry, so let’s get into it.

Does the Slate truck come with a mobile charger?

The Slate Auto electric pickup truck, even if you get it with the flat pack SUV kit, needs to be plugged in to recharge its range. Fortunately, as of the time of this writing, Slate is including a mobile charger with every new truck it sells. This can plug into a standard electrical outlet in North America and charge at a rate of 1 to 2 kW. Slate says that’s good for around 2 to 5 additional miles of range per hour, or approximately an additional 20 to 50 miles of range.

For you, that might be enough. But if you’re looking to recharge it a bit quicker, the mobile charger does support basic level 2 charging. If you have a NEMA 14-50 plug attached to a 240-volt outlet, you’re good to go for 25 to 40 miles of range per hour at around 7 kW. If you don’t have a NEMA 14-50 outlet, a competent electrician can install one reasonably quickly and at not a ton of expense.

The mobile charger isn’t the most glamorous home charging solution, but for many, it’ll get the job done. But if you want to have the mobile connector live permanently in your truck — for when you go on trips and need a backup way to charge — or if you want something even quicker, then you’re going to want to get a hardwired home charging solution.

Do I need a dedicated home charger (EVSE)?

A 48-amp dedicated EVSE — the fancy name for a home charger — can charge at a rate of around 10 kW, and can completely recharge your truck in 5 to 8 hours, and if you purchase one that supports even more amps, you can peak charge the truck at its supported 11 kW. That’s 4 to 6 hours to recharge your truck.

Dedicated home chargers typically have Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connectivity, which means you can program them to only charge your vehicle during off-peak hours (if you have a time-of-use electric plan), and you can keep track of how much electricity you’re using. Some can communicate with other smart electrical equipment, like the Emporia EV charger, to help save money on your power bill and also make it easier to set up charging equipment in a home with an older electrical system.

Whether or not you need a dedicated home charger is up to you and your use case. It’s not cut and dry because the company includes a mobile charger with each truck, so even if you have a basic 110-volt wall socket, you can recharge the truck, and in some cases, you might not need anything more than that.

We like the convenience of a dedicated home charger, with longer cables, easy cable management, and durability. But as a Slate buyer, you might not be interested in spending a ton of money to go electric, so you don’t technically have to get one.