If you don’t have off-street parking, you, unfortunately, won’t be able to get a dedicated home EV charger, and you may be worried about how you are going to charge your EV. Or perhaps you do have off-street parking, but you are not ready to invest in a home electric vehicle charger just yet. If either of these sounds like you, you may be wondering, can I still charge my EV without a dedicated home charger?
The answer, in short, is yes. Keep reading to find out how…
Top up your charge using fast charging points when out and about, or make a detour to fully charge. You can usually find these chargers at public destinations; supermarkets, public car parks and hotels are generally a safe bet, but you can also use Zap-Map to find your nearest public electric vehicle charger.
Whilst public fast EV charging may be convenient when nipping into town, such as doing your weekly shop or hitting the gym, it can be time-consuming. Fast public chargers come as either 7kW or 22kW, which are the same ratings as dedicated home chargers. On average, for a Tesla Model S, it will take 11 hours to fully charge with a 7kW and 6 hours with a 22kW, which means you will have to keep yourself busy for quite a few hours if you are after a full charge. The specific charging times depend on your make and model, as different EVs will have different charging times. Some electric vehicles might also not have an on-board charger capable of charging over 7kW, such as the Nissan Leaf, meaning you will be there for longer. However, it is less convenient to charge for these lengths of time in public, compared to charging at home.
Furthermore, it’s important to note that some public charging stations do charge or require an in-store purchase, increasing the cost of charging your electric vehicle.
Usually found in more obscure places, such as motorway service stations, DC rapid charging is the fastest way to charge your electric vehicle. This is due to the 50kW rating, meaning you can charge your electric vehicle up to 80% in approximately 20 minutes.
While it’s the quickest way to charge, it is not recommended to use a rapid DC regularly. Typically, DC charging is meant for longer journeys or if you need to charge quickly, as continued use can damage your battery.
Overall, if you are going to rely on public charging, you don’t have to worry, as there are over 30,000 charging points across the UK in over 18,000 locations, according to Zap-Map. This is especially the case if you are from the Greater London area or the South East, as Zap-Map found these areas to have more electric vehicle charging points than elsewhere in the country.
However, the lack of convenience and the potential damage to your battery are issues to consider.
To read more about the difference between fast and rapid electric vehicle charging, please click here.
3-pin plug charging is where you use a standard three-pin domestic socket in your home to charge your EV. To do so, you will need a 3-pin plug car charger, either in the form of a Type 2 to 3 pin charging cable or a Type 1 to 3 Pin charging cable. More often than not, you will have received the relevant cable when you purchased your car; however, it can differ between manufacturers.
Whilst you can charge at home with this option, there are some severe drawbacks to 3-pin plug charging, such as:
Realistically, 3-pin plug charging is only recommended in emergency or one-off cases. To read more about 3-pin plug charging, please click here.
Your employer may have already taken the transition to electric into their own hands, meaning you can charge your EV at your workplace. This is convenient as you can charge whilst working and save money.
If they haven’t invested in electric vehicle chargers, maybe ask them if there are any plans in the works? After all, there is the Workplace Charging Scheme that reduces the purchase and installation cost of electric vehicle charging points for the workplace by 75%, up to £350 (including VAT) per socket, with a maximum of 40 grants available. It is even expanding this year to include small accommodation businesses.
Some of the main benefits of investing in EV chargers for your business include future-proofing your business and making your workplace more attractive to both customers and employees. To read more about the benefits of electric vehicle chargers for your business, please click here.
Unfortunately, you will have to stick to the public charging points if you work from home.
Read more on why you should invest in a home electric vehicle charger here.
If you are thinking about getting an EV charger installed either at home or at work, please get in touch with us for helpful and unbiased advice. We install nationwide with quick installation times.
You can browse our exciting range of dedicated EV home charge points here. Or, if you still don’t know where to start and prefer to speak to someone directly, call us on 03333 44 96 99 or fill in the contact form below. Our expert customer service team are always happy to help.
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This type of electric charger has it's own cable to charge your car.
This type of electric charger requires a seperate cable to charge your car.
Spread over a 60 month period.
Tenants and homeowners are eligible for finance.
You decide the amount of months.
Minimum of £1000.
We will contact you to process the credit application. Approval is subject to application, financial circumstances and borrowing history. 13.9% APR representative. T&Cs apply.
Your order is not confirmed until your application has been approved.
We lay SWA cable laid at 600mm deep, with a protective cable warning tape laid 150mm above the cable. These are laid on a sand or sifted sand soil bed then backfilled.
We position overhead cables at a minimum height of 3.5m and are run along a catenary wire. The cable run should not be accessible to vehicles.
Standard Installation
Our instant price is fixed if it falls within our standard installation package plus any additions that you have selected (extra cabling for example). This package covers the majority of homes in the UK. Before we undertake your installation we will carry out a digital survey to check that nothing has been missed. After reviewing the survey results some additional work may be required in order to complete your installation safely and to the required standards. If this is the case, we will contact you well before the installation date and advise the cost of any required work. You can then continue with your installation, or alternatively we will refund you in full if you do not want to proceed.
Included in our standard installation is :
• Fitting of a single phase charge point to a brick or plaster wall or other suitable permanent structure
• Up to 10 metres of cable, run and neatly clipped to the wall between the electricity supply meter / distribution board and the charge point.
• Routing of the cable through a drilled hole in a wall up to 500mm (20 inches) thick if this is needed.
• The fitting and testing of electrical connections and protections required for the charge point.
• An additional three way consumer unit, if required
• Installation of a Type A RCBO in an RCBO enclosure
• Up to 3 metres of plastic trunking to conceal interior wiring.
• An O-pen earth protection device if the charge point requires it. (This is NOT an earth rod)
• Up to 4 hours of labour from your installer to complete the work.
• Electrical testing of the whole installation.
• Handover and setup of the charge point and any app that may be needed.
Not included in our standard installation (additional work) :
• Where the installation requires additional cabling over and above the amount you have told us about.
• Upgrade/replacement of the main incoming supply fuse where the local DNO (eg Northern Powergrid) would need to attend site.
• If the charge point is to be mounted on a post/pedestal rather than an existing wall and where you have not selected a post as an extra cost option in your order.
• Installation of a charge point to a three phase supply.
• Where gas and water mains bonding (earthing) is not in place at your property. If this is not in place, additional work would be required before installation of the charge point.
• Any groundwork that has not been selected during the order process.
A Surge Protection Device is not included in our standard installation.
What else you need to know :
• On the day of installation, please ensure that the area around your consumer unit (fuse box), incoming electricity supply meter and proposed charge point location (including where the cable is expected to be run) is clear and free of obstructions.
• We will need your WiFi password as part of the installation process in order to connect your charge point to the internet. Please have this available for the installer. Details will not be kept.
• The charge point must be on your own designated off road parking.
• The charger will be fixed in line with current guidelines at a height where it cannot be hit by a vehicle.
• Our installers are not able to enter loft spaces; lift floorboards or flooring; take apart any furniture of work above a height of 2m. If you anticipate that any of this may be required, then please contact us and we can discuss in more detail and provide you with a quotation.
• Should there be extreme weather conditions our installers may not be able to continue with you installation if it is not safe to do so (for example flooding). They will always do their best to complete the work where they can.
If you have any questions then please contact our customer service team who will be happy to help. Please also read our terms and conditions.
