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Choosing a home charge point

23 / 09 / 24  |  Driver Guides

The government’s decision to implement the ban on new cars that use an internal combustion engine (ICE) by 2035 means that electric vehicles (EVs) are never far from the news.

There’s now a much wider choice of EVs for you to choose from for your next brand-new car. There’s also a range of home charging options to look at too, whether you own or rent your home and whether you park it on public roads or not.

New-build houses with associated parking spaces are obliged to include an EV charging point and grants are available to help with the cost of installing different kinds of chargers, depending on your eligibility.

We’re here to help you explore which of these chargers is the best option for you, if you drive an EV and are interested in home charging.

Wall boxes

It’s possible to charge your new EV with a standard three-pin plug, but it’s a long process. Wall-mounted charge boxes offer a much greater degree of usability and efficiency to drivers with off-road parking at home.

Wall boxes come in a range of capacities and incentives for the user. From a simple 3.6kW charger to more powerful devices that can use solar energy, you’re sure to find the right one to fit your requirements.

Before you begin the process of installing your wall box charger, you’ll need to conduct a site survey to make sure your choice of charger is compatible with your house. Many wall box installers can offer this service as part of a package.

Installing wall box chargers

Once you’ve received your home point charger from your supplier, you can arrange for an installer to drill through the exterior wall and connect the box to the mains.

Remember, if you’re renting, you will need to seek your landlord’s permission before installing the charger. In fact, your landlord can apply for a grant to cover up to 75% of the cost of purchasing and installing a charge point, up to the value of £350.

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Types of wall box charger

3.6kW charger

  • Only slightly faster at charging than if you were to plug your car into the mains with a three-pin plug
  • Perfectly acceptable if your daily mileage is low
  • Great if your car is a hybrid model which doesn’t take long to charge

7kW charger

  • The most popular kinds of wall box EV chargers on the market
  • Almost twice as fast as a 3.6kW charger
  • Will be enough to fully charge most EVs overnight

22kW charger

  • It can strip hours off the time it would take a 7kW charger to complete its job
  • It’s the highest-specification charger out there, make sure that your home’s electricity supply is ready for it
  • You’ll need a three-phase supply to power it, rather than a single-phase
  • Check your car’s charging capacity as not all hybrids can handle 22kW fast charging
Tethered versus untethered charging

When selecting your charger, you’ll have the option of tethered or untethered.

Tethered Untethered
Uses cables which are hard-wired into the wall box. A cable that can be connected to a charger, either at your home or in a car park, and then disconnected to be used at another charging location.
Having a built-in cable can make things easier – you don’t need to get the cable from your garage or car boot. Simply drive up and plug in. You’ll need to remember your cable to be able to charge.
There’s no risk of forgetting your cable or losing it. There’s no cable to tidy away on your driveway, but the cable will require storing.
If you need any maintenance, your cable will need to be repaired. Untethered chargers offer more flexibility as you’ll be able to use your cable elsewhere.
As the cable is connected, you’ll need to tidy it away when you’re finished using it. Untethered cables can be upgraded or switched if you get a new EV that requires a different cable or want to purchase a longer cable.
Tethered chargers can be more secure, as the cable cannot easily be removed and stolen.
How to use home charge points
  • Exactly how to use your home charge point will depend on the one you choose, as it’s likely the process will differ slightly depending on your model
  • Park your car in a spot the home charge point can comfortably reach with the cable
  • You’ll need to plug the correct end into your EV to allow it to charge, while the other end is connected to the home charge point
  • If your home charge point charger uses an app, open it up and start charging
  • You can even set a charge schedule to decide when you’d like to charge your car and choose what capacity you want to charge to
Budgeting
  • Figure out what your budget is first as all wall box chargers have different prices
  • A wall box charger is a one-time expense to factor in but there are some grants available in the UK and Scotland that can help
  • Check your energy tariff and see if you can find cheaper rates elsewhere
  • A great tip is to find the off-peak energy times and schedule your EV to charge during this period
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On-street charging

Wall boxes are a great resource for people who have access to off-road parking, however this excludes a significant proportion of drivers in this country.

This is where the On-street Residential Charging Scheme (ORCS) comes in.

It works by adding charging points to street furniture, such as lampposts. This drives down the cost of installing them because the groundwork isn’t as intrusive as it would be if the road had to be dug up.

The work is paid for by local authorities. Over 200 have taken up government funding to install an ORCS, with EV owners then given a smart lead that monitors their usage. The driver pays for their charging to the same local authority.

Similarly, trials are also underway to look at the viability of chargers that ‘pop-up’ from the road and plug into the car.

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