According to the New York Times, while most owners of electric vehicles (E.V.) plug in their cars at home, and only occasionally use public charging stations, the number one new E.V. buyer concern continues to be “range anxiety”. To possibly help ease this anxiety, ChargeHub.com and other such online resources offer a free app or location maps that indicate nearby charging stations throughout Southwest Florida (and the U.S.) including Tesla free-charging stations that are part of its electric charging network all over the U.S.  

ChargeHub indicates that the city of Naples has 74 public charging station ports (Level 2 and Level 3) within less than 10 miles (82% of the ports are level 2 charging ports and 64% of the ports offer free charges). The app indicates Bonita Springs has 4, Fort Myers 25, and Fort Myers Beach has 2.

The difference between Level 1 and Level 2 Chargers

How fast a vehicle can be charged is determined by the charging level. Each level runs on a different voltage. The higher the level, the higher the voltage, and the faster the car will be charged. 

Level 1 Charging Stations

A Level 1 charging unit is the cable that comes with a new electric car as a standard charger, and just needs to be plugged into a normal household 120-volt, 20-amp electrical outlet.

Level 2 Charging Stations

A Level 2 charging unit is generally mounted on a wall and uses around 240 volts and 40 amps. There’s some variation, depending on the model vehicle model. 

Level 3 charging is the fastest type of charging available and can recharge an EV at a rate of 3 to 20 miles of range per minute. Unlike Level 1 and Level 2 charging that uses alternating current (AC), Level 3 charging uses direct current (DC).

Charging prices vary.