With more new and used electric cars being sold, increasing numbers of people are wondering how to charge them at home – at least the 60% of those fortunate enough to have a driveway (or 40% for those living in urban areas).
For these people, home charging is very popular for its sheer ease and convenience and, according to the Energy Saving Trust, 80% of EV charging taking place there.
Another appeal of home charging is that it's cheaper than charging anywhere else. Depending on your energy supplier, it may get even cheaper at night, when you don't need your car. You wake up each day effectively with a ‘full tank’ and so are less likely to require a street-side charger on your way to work.
It all sounds straightforward but there are many things to consider when it comes to charging at home, from picking the right type of charger to making sure you're benefiting from the financial incentives available.
Read our guide below for all the advice you need for charging your EV at home.
How do I charge my electric car at home?
There are a couple of options when home charging. Most drivers use a wallbox but some plug their car directly into a standard three-pin socket. However, this solution is very slow, with many car manufacturers limiting the current drawn directly from a socket to 2.3kW. This means a car with a typical 64kWh battery, such as the Kia Niro EV, can take more than 24 hours to fully charge. Bigger lithium ion batteries used in models such as the Tesla Model S or Mercedes EQS can take days. For these reasons, it's unsurprising that this method is called trickle charging.
For most people, a wallbox unit is a far better solution. Its charging speeds are more than three times as fast as a three-pin socket and it provides the convenience of mounting the box 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.
How often do I need to charge my car from home?
It depends how often you drive, how big your car's battery is, how you charge it and even what the outside air temperature is. According to the RAC Foundation, electric cars are driven an average of 26 miles per day. Some early versions of EVs, such as the Nissan Leaf Mk1, have a small battery and a real-world range of just 80 miles. Even so, with most commuters travelling less than 10 miles to work, even this is sufficient for up to four days of commuting without recharging. However, this assumes the car has been charged to 100%, whereas charging to 80% is the recommended limit for preserving an EV's long-term battery health.
For a longer range with less charging frequency, simply choose an EV with a bigger battery. The average size is 40kWh but 62kWh, such the battery in the Volkswagen ID 3, should provide about 250 miles or nine days of average-mileage driving without charging. If your car has a large battery but you charge it only from a three-pin socket, expect its charge level to still be low the next day. A wallbox charger will replenish most batteries to 80% overnight, meaning you won't have to charge again for a few days.
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So why do you go on about how trickle charging will take 24 hours to fully charge a battery?
The advantages and disadvantages of electric vehicles are very obvious, suitable for their own needs to choose. With electric vehicles, outdoor public charging piles for charging needs are popular, and household or portable chargers are indispensable. The choice of charger is also very important.
Dear AutiCar, do you know what would be a really useful article for millions of motorists? How someone who doesn't have a house with a driveway can get on with charging an electric car. I'm in Edinburgh, and the average home here is a 2 bedroom flat, which means very little chance to have a wall mounted box. All these sorts of articles, and electric car reviews, focus on being able to charge at home, when a large portion of the driving population do not have this facility.
Also, it could look at which cities (outside of London and the south east) do well with public chargers. Edinburgh is dreadful, with very few.