Introduction
The average UK driver only travels 20 miles per day, so a lot of the time you won’t need to use public charging points; home charging will do just fine. There are two ways of doing it: the first is straight from the mains.
CHARGING AN ELECTRIC CAR FROM THE MAINS
Many people choose to charge their electric vehicles – in a garage or driveway- from a domestic socket. Charging from the mains in the UK can take up to 18 hours.
As a short-term or occasional solution, charging from the mains domestic socket is fine. However, you can charge your car much faster if you install a specially designed charging point. For a 40KW battery a typical 7kW home charging point will charge an electric car from 0-100% over the course of around 3-5 hours for cars with a 60kW capacity 6-8 hours .
INSTALLING A HOME EV CHARGER
Home chargers can charge an electric vehicle from flat to full in 4 hours. Some are even quicker. Getting a charger installed on your property makes your life easier, for a number of reasons:
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- It means you can charge your car overnight, meaning no having to wait around at a charging station in the middle of nowhere.
- It’s good if you live somewhere remote and don’t have access to nearby public charging points.
- It allows you to charge up to 2.5x faster than with a 3 pin plug.
- It means you can charge your car overnight at a set time and at a cheaper rate of electricity. Which tariff you pay is dependent on your supplier .
- No having to wait around at a charging station in the middle of nowhere.
- It means you can charge your car overnight, meaning no having to wait around at a charging station in the middle of nowhere.
Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS)
To help private plug-in vehicle owners offset some of the upfront cost of the purchase and installation of a dedicated domestic recharging unit, the Government is running the EVHS.
The scheme provides full electric vehicle or battery hybrid vehicle drivers grant funding towards the cost of installing electric vehicle charge point at their homes. Customers who are the registered keeper, lessee or have primary use of an eligible electric vehicle may receive up to 75% (capped at £350, Inc. VAT) off the total cost of the charge point and installation costs.
To be eligible for the grant you will need to:
- Have purchased an eligible new or used electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle from 1st October 2016 onwards
- The charge point must be installed on private off-street parking
- An OLEV-approved smart charge point must be installed
- Installation must be performed by an OLEV-approved charge point installer
- The date of installation should be no more than 4 months ahead of the date of delivery or date of becoming the registered driver of the electric vehicle
To read the full terms and conditions of the OLEV Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme, please click here.