Summary
You can charge an electric car at home using a dedicated home charger (a standard 3 pin plug with an an Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) cable should only be used as a last resort).
- Electric car drivers choose a home charging point to benefit from faster charging speeds and built-in safety features.
- Charging an electric car is like charging a mobile phone – plug in overnight and top up during the day.
- Certain electricity tariffs like EDFs “GoElectric Exclusive 35 offer much cheaper electricity at specific periods (usually late at night) and scheduling to charge your car, either via the Pod Point App or the car itself can save you money.
How to charge an electric car at home
To charge an electric car at home, you should have a home charging point installed where you park your electric car. You can use 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 charger 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 EV chargers for your home are installed by qualified specialist installers like EV Made Easy.
Find out more about the benefits of a home charger here.
Tip: An electric car will have either a Type 1 or a Type 2 connector and you’ll need to choose a home charger that’s compatible with it. To make it easy, we automatically make sure you get the right chargepoint for your vehicle when you order.
Cost of installing a dedicated home charger
A fully installed home charging point costs from £799.
- Once installed, you only pay for the electricity you use to charge.
- The typical electricity rate in the UK is just over 28p per kWh*, while on Economy 7 tariffs the typical overnight electricity rate in the UK is 11p per kWh**.
- By switching to an electricity tariff designed specifically for EV drivers, like EDF’s GoElectric Exclusive 35 you could reduce this to just 4.5p per kWh and charge up for under £5 while you sleep***.
Visit “Cost of charging an electric car” to learn more about the cost of charging at home.
*Average in the UK in 2022 according to ofgem. Please note, energy prices vary and can go up and down. To find your current cost per kWh, please check your electricity bill or contact your provider.
** Average Economy 7 night time price according to nimblefins.
*** EV charging based on using a 7kW home charger and Octopus go plan at 7.5p/kWh off-peak.
How fast you can charge an electric car at home
Charging speed for electric cars is measured in kilowatts (kW).
Home charging points charge your car at 3.6kW 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).
Maximum charging speed may be limited by your vehicle’s onboard charger. If your car allows up to 3.6kW charging rate, using a 7kW charger will not damage the car.
For more details on the time it takes to charge at home, please visit “How Long Does It Take to Charge an Electric Car?”.
Tip: Most domestic properties have single phase power which means the maximum charging rate is 7kW. While faster chargepoints are available (such as a 22kW unit), these are usually found in commercial properties where there is a three phase power supply. Find out about the difference of single and three phase power in our EV Dictionary.
How to get an electric car charging point installed at home
Electric car charging points need to be professionally installed. A certified charging provider will include installation cost in the price of the unit.
- The installation process involves wall mounting the chargepoint on an exterior wall or garage, near to where you park and connecting it safely to the mains electricity supply.
- An installation should take around three hours to complete, depending on the individual requirements of the driver and the complexity of the installation.
- Installations can be book online or over the phone
Tip: It’s always wise to be at home during your install: The best charging providers will install a chargepoint in the most convenient and neat location for you, but also demonstrate how to charge your car and answer any questions you have.
How often should you charge an electric car at home
You can charge your electric car at home as often as 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. You don’t need to unplug once the battery is full, charging will stop automatically with a dedicated home charger.
- Most drivers also make use of charging facilities at their workplace or public destinations to top up charge.
Tip: Most cars will allow you to set a top charging limit. Always follow your manufacturer’s advice on how “full” to charge your car. Some will recommend setting a limit of a 90% charge to allow the battery management system to rotate the charging of cells evenly.
Optimising charging at home
As more people charge their electric cars at home, smart home chargers are a way to tackle new energy related challenges that will arise for drivers and networks.
Cheaper energy
While an EV driver is saving money overall by powering their car with electricity rather than fossil fuels, their home energy bill will still be bigger than it was before. The good news is, unlike fossil fuels, there are lots of things that can be done to understand and reduce the cost of electricity to get further savings.
By adjusting your charging schedule to take place at certain times, it is possible to take advantage of time of use tariffs which have specific periods when electricity is cheaper. It is possible to schedule when your car charges either via most electric cars/associated apps, or via a smart home charger’s app.
Many smart home chargers monitor home and EV energy usage so you can get a clear understanding of cost per kWh, which enables you to determine how much you are spending and switch to cheaper tariffs.
Tip: Dual-rate electricity tariffs allow you to get much cheaper electricity overnight. For example, for a 5 hour period overnight, Octopus Go costs just 7.5p/kWh. This would make it cost as little as 1p per mile to drive the Nissan LEAF.
Greener energy
Today an electric car is already greener than a combustion engine vehicle, but charging with ever more renewable energy makes electric car driving even more environmentally friendly.
The UK’s grid is continually getting greener with more and more renewable energy generation, such as wind power. While this means charging electric cars is getting more environmentally friendly overall, you can switch to one of the many renewable energy providers to make charging at home even greener.
Managing load on home energy supply
Charging an electric car at home places additional load on your electrical supply. Depending on the max charging rate of your chargepoint and vehicle, this load can damage your main fuse.
To avoid overloading your main fuse, some smart home chargers automatically balance the power drawn by your chargepoint with the rest of your home, ensuring it never causes your total demand to exceed the max available supply.
Another benefit of this feature is the ability to have more than one chargepoint installed so that you can charge cars simultaneously without having to manually switch between them.
Managing load on the grid
As electric cars become more widely adopted, the demand for power on the national grid will increase. There is a tendency for a lot of charging to be started when drivers arrive home after work and peak around 20:00. Unmanaged this could cause demand spikes that can put too much load on the local networks
Smart home chargers will be able to react to and/or anticipate this and manage the rate of charge across thousands of vehicles to smooth out these peaks. Thankfully this will be virtually unnoticeable for an individual driver (according to Pod Point data EV drivers only use their chargers approximately 25% of the time they are plugged in overnight). The net effect will be that everyone gets a full charge over a fractionally longer time, but the grid will be protected.
1 EV charging based on using a 7kW home charger and Octopus Go tariff at 7.5p/kWh off-peak.
