There are three basic ways to charge an electric car: at home, at work, or at a public charging point.
Home charging
Want to have a “full tank” each morning? The ordinary driver will only need to charge at home each evening to have enough power for their daily commute.
Although you may use a standard domestic 3-pin outlet to charge, a dedicated home EV charger is by far the superior choice.
Around 7kW of electricity is normally delivered by dedicated EV home chargers. The majority of automakers, in contrast, limit the amount of current that can be pulled from a typical domestic 3-pin socket to 10A or less, or a maximum of 2.3kW.
Therefore, a 7kW home charger provides roughly three times the power and is roughly three times as quick as using a domestic plug.
What does it cost to install a home electric vehicle charger?
An at-home charging station typically costs about £800.
The current grant amount from OLEV’s Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme is up to 75% of this expense, with a £350 maximum payout.
A subsidy provided by OLEV may be available to help you pay for a home charge station if you own or have main access to an electric vehicle and off-street parking.
Workplace charging
Electric cars are more practical for commuters who live further from their houses thanks to charging stations at work.
Use the government’s Workplace Charging Scheme if your place of employment lacks an established electric car charging station (WCS).
The WGS is a voucher-based programme that offers an upfront cost contribution of up to £300 per socket for the procurement and installation of electric vehicle charge points, with a 20 socket cap.
Public charging
Public EV chargers are available in gas stations, parking garages, supermarkets, movie theaters, and even on the side of the road.
For longer trips, public chargers at gas stations serve as the equivalent of our present forecourts. A quick charging device may provide up to 80% of the charge in as little as 20 to 30 minutes.
The network of public charging stations is expanding at an amazing rate. At the time of writing, Zap-Map indicates a countrywide total of 31,737 charging stations at 11,377 various places (May 2020).
EV charging networks
In the UK, there are several public EV charging networks, each of which approaches charger availability in a little different ways.
The largest public charging network in the UK is called Polar. Access is provided as a pay-as-you-go or subscription service, and it is granted via an app or membership card.
Additionally, Ecotricity requests consumer registration using an app that regulates the charging process.
Tesla owners may just show up at a Supercharger station in the meantime and wait for their EV to be recharged.
Regional charging networks also exist, although many of them provide users of bigger EV networks access.
How much does it cost to charge an electric car?
It costs about £5 to completely charge an electric car at home.
It costs about £7 to £10 to charge an EV to 80% capacity using a public quick charger (the amount you would typically use here).