EV Charging

To charge an electric car at home, you will need a home charging point installed where you park your electric car, or an EVSE supply cable for a 3 pin plug socket as an occasional back up.

• Drivers usually choose a dedicated home charging point because it’s faster and has built-in safety features.
• A home charging point is a compact weatherproof unit that mounts to a wall with a connected charging cable or a socket for plugging in a portable charging cable.
• Dedicated home charging points are installed by qualified specialist installers like Pod Point.

A home charging point, fully installed, costs from £279 with the government OLEV grant.

• Electric car drivers get a £500 grant for purchasing and installing a home charger with the OLEV grant.
• Once installed, you only pay for the electricity you use to charge.
• The typical electricity rate in the UK is about 14p per kWh, while on Economy 7 tariffs the typical overnight electricity rate in the UK is 8p per kWh.

Visit “Cost of charging an electric car” to learn more about the cost of charging at home and “OLEV Grant” to get a deeper understanding of the grant.

Charging speed for electric cars is measured in kilowatts (kW).

Home charging points charge your car at 3.7kW or 7kW giving about 15-30 miles of range per hour of charge (compared to 2.3kW from a 3 pin plug which provides up to 8 miles of range per hour).

For more details on the time it takes to charge at home, please visit “How Long Does It Take to Charge an Electric Car?”.

You can charge your electric car at home as often you need to. It can be treated the same as charging a mobile phone, fully charging overnight and topping up in the day if necessary.

While it is not necessary for most to charge every day, many drivers plug in each time they leave their car out of habit, giving them maximum flexibility should they have to make an unexpected journey.

• By charging overnight, electric car drivers can take advantage of cheap nighttime electricity rates and drive for as little as 2p per mile.
• Overnight charging also ensures that the car’s battery is full each morning for the day ahead.
• Most drivers also make use of charging facilities at their workplace or public destinations to top up charge.