Charging your EV Car at Home

As you can charge an electric car at home, you don’t have to go out of your way to charge up en-route.  No more detours to the petrol station, you can literally charge your vehicle as you eat, work, relax or sleep.  This convienience, to leave the house with a full battery, is not only time efficient but it also helps to reduce one of the main reservations many potential EV owners have - range anxiety, the fear of running out of charge and not being able to find a charging station.  However, its worth noting that as the median range of an EV car currently sits at around 250 miles, its unlikely that you would run out, doing any of your usual daily activities.

There are a couple of options when home charging. Most drivers use a wallbox installed at their home, but some plug their car directly into a three-pin socket (known as trickle charging).

While trickle charging seems most straightforward, it’s a slow process, charging at a maximum rate of 3kW. That means a car with an average 64kWh battery, such as the Kia Niro EV, can take almost 24 hours to fully charge. Even bigger lithium ion packs seen in models such as the Tesla Model S or Mercedes EQS can take days.

For most, a wallbox unit will be a far better bet, with charging speeds almost twice as fast as a three-pin socket and the convenience of mounting it directly onto the wall of your house or garage. Cables also don’t need to be run into the house through open doors or windows.

What is a wallbox charger?
A wallbox charger is a stand-alone unit which is wired directly into your domestic electricity supply. It’s mounted to the external wall of your property and allows you to quickly and easily plug your car in to charge.

You can install fast charging units that will reduce the time it takes to replenish the battery, as well as ‘smart’ units that you can programme remotely to only charge at certain times (such as when your electricity tariff is cheapest) and that can condition the battery to increase its lifespan. Other chargers can be linked to solar panels, helping reduce your bills and carbon footprint.