HOW TO CHARGE AN ELECTRIC CAR AT HOME UK

The biggest question which will face new electric car drivers is “how will I charge at home?”

If you're wondering how to charge an electric car at home in the UK you'll be glad to hear there are plenty of options which will make charging your electric car almost as simple as plugging in your phone and your Eden experts will tell you all you need to know. You will wake up every morning to a full battery and never have to visit a petrol station again.

Most electric car owners will choose to have a dedicated home charging unit installed by an electrician. The good news is that there is even a grant available to help fund this, as the government is very keen that we all make the switch. In fact, it will soon be a legal requirement for all new building developments to include a charge point with new houses.

Your specialist at Eden will help talk you through the options and show you how a home charge unit works. They will even fill out the grant paperwork and put you in touch with the installer.

There are a few different options for a home charge unit. The most common can deliver charge at two different rates – 3.6 kW or 7.2 kW. The higher the wattage, the faster your car will charge. We’d recommend you invest the little more you’d need to have the higher power unit as all the electric models from Peugeot, Vauxhall, Hyundai, Mazda, Citroen and MG are capable of accepting this level of supply. It simply means your car will replenish its battery faster and can work out cheaper over time.

In addition to being more convenient if you want to do a lot of driving in a day, it also means you’ll be able to take maximum advantage of cheaper night-time rates from your energy supplier. As you’re likely to be sleeping rather than driving in the early hours, this is the perfect time to plug your car in - especially as the electricity rates can be a third of the price compared to the daytime.

Once you have chosen your unit’s power output, the next decision is whether to go tethered or untethered. The former option has a cable and plug permanently attached to the unit, and when you arrive home and want to charge you simply unravel it from the charger and plug it straight into your car.

The untethered unit has a socket built in and requires you to use the special ‘Type 2’ cable which is supplied with all the electric cars sold by Eden. This type of charging is slightly less convenient but is neater, and will allow you to swap between different cables if you need to charge more than one car.

If you don’t want to fit a home charge unit, there is a final option which is nicknamed the ‘granny charger’. This is a cable, usually supplied as an extra-cost option with the electric cars sold by Eden, that simply plugs into a normal domestic socket. It earned its title because it is only really designed to be used temporarily, such as when you are visiting a relative and need a small top up to get you home.

As it uses the same wiring as domestic devices its power supply is limited, and will usually only deliver 2kW. That means it could take more than a day to completely charge a car with a larger battery.

It may sound complicated at first, but charging will soon become second nature and you’ll soon learn to love having your own filling station on your driveway!

Watch our video on how much it costs to charge an electric car! ➡

All information correct at the time of publication