If you have an electric vehicle and are lucky enough to have a driveway, installing an Electric Vehicle Home Charger is a must.
There are a couple of options for charging an electric vehicle at home. You can use a domestic three-pin socket or have a dedicated EV charge point installed – one good, one not so good.
Charging with a domestic three-pin plug should only be used for emergency or occasional use. It’s ok for an overnight charge when visiting friends or relatives, but definitely not for regular use at home.
A standard three-pin plug only delivers electricity at 2.3 kilowatts. A vehicle with a 100kWh battery would take over 43 hours to charge fully, but only 14.2 hours if you have a 7kW home charger.
Key Takeaway: Three-pin plugs and sockets are not designed to handle the heavy draw that an electric car places on them for long periods of time. You should only charge this way in an emergency
Is it worth installing an electric car charger at home?
Absolutely it is!
Public charge points are a lot more expensive than charging at home. (currently around £0.75 per kWh) Having your own charger is massively more convenient too.
Also, remember that EV owners with a home charger can opt for an energy tariff designed explicitly for people with electric cars.
These typically offer lower energy prices at night. This significantly reduce the cost to charge your vehicle if you program its charging sessions via the vehicle smartphone app or your Smart home charger.
Key Takeaway: A dedicated home charge point communicates with your electric car, making it the safest way to charge your car. Take advantage of cheaper energy tariffs, which will charge the EV at times when supply is high, but demand is low – clever.
So how much does it cost to charge an electric vehicle at home?
If you’d like to calculate the cost of charging your Electric Vehicle from 0-100%, multiply the size of the EV’s battery by the price per kWh unit.
The size of your electric vehicle’s battery is measured in kilowatt hours (kWh), and electricity is priced per kilowatt hour. What that will cost you depends on your contract with your energy supplier.
For example, an electric car with a 100kWh battery will use 100kWh of electricity to charge from empty to full. If your energy supplier charges £0.30 per kW of electricity, the car will cost £30 to recharge.
But of course, it isn’t quite as simple as that.
Most people don’t let their cars drop to 0%. Car makers recommend charging batteries to 80 or 90% to preserve battery health.
You will have to calculate how far your car travels on one kWh to truly assess your vehicle’s cost per mile. Thankfully your vehicle should display that info for you.
For an indication of up-to-date pricing, click here.
Example
We’ll use a Nissan Leaf in this example.
To recharge a Nissan Leaf with a 40kWh battery, the slowest and cheapest home charger, with a rate of 3.6kW, will take around 8-9 hours, meaning that it’s only practical for overnight charging on smaller EVs.
A 7kW home charger will be twice as fast as a domestic socket, delivering around 30 miles of electric range per hour, making it ideal for EVs with any size battery that needs charging at any time of day.
A 22kW home charger is even faster, but this requires a three-phase electricity supply, making it unsuitable for most EV owners.
However, many EVs cannot even accept a 22kW charge, so you should check the handbook or consult your nearest dealer before upgrading your home. Costs vary, but you’re looking at anything between £3,000 and £20,000 for a three-phase supply.
A single-phase supply will have a single fuse, while a three-phase electricity supply has three 100 amp fuses.
How is an electric car charger installed?
Your electric car charger will be installed on an exterior wall, close to where you park. Moreover, if possible, close to the point where your home’s electrical supply feeds into your property.
The installation process starts with a home survey to assess your particular setup. The installer will also tell you if any upgrades need to be made to your existing home electricity supply. If upgrades are necessary, they must be carried out before the charger can be installed.
Tethered or untethered home charge point?
Having chosen what size charger you need, you must also decide whether you want a tethered or untethered charge point.
The difference is quite simple: a tethered charger has a cable attached, while an untethered unit doesn’t – simple.
A tethered charger will come with a Type 1/Type 2 socket cable. There is no need to carry a cable in the boot of your EV.
While that’s convenient, you could end up with an obsolete home charge point should the industry eventually move away from Type 1/Type 2 sockets.
You’ll also have to put up with a fixed cable length and the need to put it away when not in use.
An untethered charger is much tidier, but you must supply your own cable. Most EVs come with a cable included with the purchase. If you need to buy one, it will cost around £100, but, on the plus side, an untethered charger gives you more flexibility. So you won’t have to change the unit should you buy another EV with a different plug requirement.
Here are some things to consider when choosing a position for your charge point.
- Do you want the charge point to be hidden or on view? Whether you have a tethered or untethered charge point will make a difference here. You may not like the tethered cable coiled up on the front of your house
- Where is the charging port on your EV? Some are easy enough – right on the front, but others are on a side or even further back where you’d typically have a fuel filler cap
- Factor in the length of the charging cable. Even on a private drive, a cable can present a severe trip hazard
- The charger will also require access to your home Wi-Fi signal to take advantage of the smart tools like remote charging and access to off-peak energy tariffs. So you may need to consider the position of your router.
And what about all those offers?
Some car manufacturers offer free or discounted home chargers when buying or leasing a new EV.
But look closely at these bundles because they may not be right for you or a good deal at all.
Pre-cooling and preheating
Another benefit of home charging is the ability to pre-cool or preheat the car’s interior temperature before starting your journey.
Because the energy is drawn from your home supply rather than the EV battery, there’s no impact on your estimated driving range – cool!
Conclusion
Home charging is the most convenient, straightforward, and affordable way to charge your electric vehicle.
To a certain extent, you decide when to charge and how much to pay for the electricity.
With a bit of forward planning, such as choosing the right charge point and energy tariff, you can enjoy the full benefits of charging at home.
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