FAQs about Home Electric Vehicle Chargers

An electric car charger, or EV charging point, is an electrical device that allows you to charge your electric car at home. You connect the charging point to your car’s socket with a cable in order to charge the car’s battery. The charger is usually installed in your garage or on an external wall.

EV chargers are generally quick to install. It normally takes no more than a morning, and can be as little as two hours. If the cable run between the charger and the fuse box is particularly long or complex, the installation can take up to a day.

You can charge your car by plugging one end of a cable into your car’s charging socket and the other end into a standard 3-pin socket. In this way, you don’t need to get a dedicated charging point installed, though you will need a special cable. The drawback of charging an EV via a 3-pin socket is that it’s very slow.

We recommend having a proper electric car charger installed instead. You will then be able to charge about three times more quickly, and the charging cable is locked in place, making the whole charging process safer.

A car charger allows electricity to flow from your house into your car in order to charge its battery. The charger itself is connected to your fuse box. Basically, the charger is a high-powered socket that has one specific function: to provide up to 7.4 kW of power to your electric car’s battery.

A tethered charger has a cable permanently attached. When you park your car, you simply grab the cable and plug it into your car’s charging socket.

An untethered charger – also known as a universal or socketed charger – doesn’t have a cable permanently attached. When you arrive home, you would normally get the cable out of your boot, plug one end into the charging point and the other end into your car. It also allows you to purchase a longer cable if this is a requirement.

Ultimately, the choice between a tethered or untethered charger depends on your personal preferences and the specific requirements of your EV.

If you have both solar PV panels and an EV charging point, you can charge your car with free electricity from the sun. Your car needs to be plugged into its charger while the sun is shining.

You can even get charging points, like the Myenergi Zappi, which have a ‘solar mode’, guaranteeing your car will only be charged when there is surplus solar electricity available.

Electric car charging points are often installed externally and require special earthing protection in order to comply with the regulations. This protection is provided in one of three ways: (i) earth protection built into the charging unit itself, (ii) connecting the charger to an earth rod, or (iii) installing a ‘connection centre’ that sits between the charger and your fuse box.

So you only need an earth rod if the charging point doesn’t have protection built in, or if there isn’t room for a connection centre like the ones made by matt:e.

Car chargers generally cost between £1,000 and £1,200 including installation.

Yes there is, but the government changed the rules on 1 April 2022. Now the EV chargepoint grant – which replaces the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) – is open to:

• Homeowners who live in flats
• People in rental accommodation (flats and single-use properties)
• Details of the new scheme can be found here.

The quality and features of EV chargers are improving all the time. Many of the latest models allow solar charging, have built-in earth protection, can be programmed to work with off-peak tariffs, and provide lots of data via a smartphone or tablet app.

Our most popular charger is the Zappi, made by Myenergi, which can also connect to other home energy devices from the Myenergi eco-system. Other brands and models we install include EO Mini Pro 2, Ohme Home Pro and Andersen. Interested in another make? Just let us know.

V2H and V2G are still a relatively new technology and not yet widely adopted. These allow electric vehicles to act as energy storage device, by allowing excess energy from the vehicle’s battery to be used to power the home or to be sent back to the grid. With the increase of EV adoption and the development of the technology, it is expected that V2H and V2G systems will become more common in the future.

Currently, there are a few EV charging solutions available in the market that incorporate solar PV integration as a standard feature, such as the MyEnergi Zappi and SolarEdge EV charger. These systems are designed to enable charging from excess solar power only when specified, rather than charging at full rate throughout. This allows for optimal utilisation of the solar energy generated by the PV system and can result in significant cost savings.

Although, if you currently have an EV charger which does not have this PV integration feature you can still benefit from the solar as the charger will act as a home appliance when plugged in and be supplemented with your solar system, corresponding to a reduction in household energy costs.

You can really drive down the cost of motoring if you charge your electric vehicle on a dedicated EV electricity tariff.

The best ones available at the moment are:

• Intelligent Octopus
• OVO Charge Anytime

Your property requires off-street parking so that the charger can connect to your electricity supply. Also if you rent your property you would need permission from the landlord prior to installation.