It is possible to charge your EV at home from a standard domestic 13A socket using a 3-pin charging lead, however:
- many wall sockets are ageing and charging regularly could be dangerous.
- the supply from a household socket will typically take upwards of 12 hours to charge an EV. A dedicated EV charge point can draw more electricity to charge the car more quickly.
It is therefore recommended that drivers have a dedicated EV charge point installed.
Some EV manufacturers offer a charge point when you buy an EV but there are plenty of domestic EV change points out there to choose from.
Charging at home is easy; plug one end of the cable into your EV and the other into the socket on the charge point. When the charge is finished disconnect the cable.
Location
Charge points are weatherproof. They can be located outside and are usually wall mounted and compact.
The charge point needs to be sited near to where you will park your EV so the cable can reach. For safety reasons, you should not use an extension lead.
Ideally you will have private off-street parking such as a garage or a driveway.
Demand
Charging an EV adds to the electricity demand in your home. Overloading the electrical supply at a property could result in a fire.
Your charge point also needs to be on a dedicated circuit.
A qualified electrician can assess whether your electricity supply is adequate to deal with charging an EV on top of your existing electricity load and will notify the Distribution Network Operator (DNO) of the installation.
Where an electricity supply is found to be unsuitable for a charge point it is possible to apply to the DNO for an increase in capacity.
There are several different types of chargepoint, which vary in how fast they charge an electric vehicle. At home, slow charge points are typically installed and come in power ratings of 3.6kW or 7kW. Some charge points offer both in the same unit.
A typical charging time for these kinds of charge points is 4-8hrs. The 7kW option will charge your car’s battery roughly twice as quickly as a the 3.6kW.
General rules are:
- The higher the power rating of the unit, the faster the charging will be.
- The bigger the battery, the longer it will take to charge.
However, the rate at which your EV can be charged is determined by its onboard charger. Details on this will be found in your EV’s handbook or brochure.
Slow charge points work with either Type 1 (5 pin) or Type 2 (7 pin) connectors. Type 2 sockets are used by the majority of EVs but do check what your EV uses.
It is likely you will need to use a different cable with a different connector for rapid charging at public charge points.
Charge points either come with a cable attached (‘tethered’) or without (‘untethered’).
There are advantages and disadvantages to both.
With tethered cables you know this will not be forgotten or stolen, and it may generally be more convenient.
With untethered you can change the cable more easily, if you buy an EV in future which has a socket that is not compatible.
Your charge point should be ‘smart.’ This means it will have additional features such as the ability to be controlled by an app remotely or programmed to charge at advantageous times like when tariffs are at their lowest, or when there is less demand on the grid.
‘Smart’ charge points can receive, understand and respond to signals sent by energy suppliers etc indicating when it’s a good time to charge or discharge.
If you have solar PV installed, it makes sense to use the electricity it generates to charge your EV – either directly by charging during daylight hours or via energy stored in a battery.
If you are planning to use solar PV to charge your car be sure to select a charge point that enables this.
Potentially EV batteries can have energy flowing to and from the vehicle, so with the right set up it is possible to send energy from the EV to your house and to the grid. In theory you could charge your EV at the cheapest times, and discharge your EV and use the energy in your home when you need it in your home and electricity charges are at their highest rate.
This is not yet possible but many energy suppliers and manufacturers are carrying out trials and pilot schemes with the aim to role this out commercially in future.
The cost of installing an EV charge point depends on:
- its power rating
- if your energy supply needs upgrading
- where the charge point is mounted
- if the cable is integrated
- the cable run
Typically, the cost of the hardware and installation will be around £1,000 (January 2021). This may fall as demand increases.
What it will cost you to charge your EV depends on:
- what you’re paying for electricity
- when you charge your EV if you’re on a time of use tariff
- if you have a solar PV system you can use to help charge your EV.
Charging your EV at home will cost you a lot less per mile than filling up with petrol, but it will also increase your electricity bill.
The Energy Saving Trust suggests that charging a pure EV to give a range of 100 miles will cost £2 to £4 or 2p to 4p a mile.
Savings will be greater when you are on particular tariffs. Time of use tariffs are covered further here. [Link to Yougen page on energy tariffs].
Various companies offer EV energy tariff comparison tools like RightCharge and power my EV to help you find the right tariff.
Go Ultra Low’s calculator can help you work out how much it will cost to charge your EV.
The EV chargepoint grant provides funding of up to 75% towards the cost of installing electric vehicle smart chargepoints at domestic properties across the UK. It replaced the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) on 1 April 2022.
More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-grants-for-low-emission-vehicles#ev-chargepoint-grant
