Drive Green

Charging At Home

Charging at Home

Most EV owners will charge at home to ensure that they start every day with the car ready to go.

Do I need to install a Home Charge Point?

We recommend that EV drivers consider installing a fast method of charging at home if budget and location allow. However, if you are able to leave your car on charge every night you may find slower charging with a 3-Pin lead from a standard 13amp plug to be perfectly manageable.

Woman using public ev charge point

Can I charge at Home?

As long as you have off-street parking and access to a power supply it is super easy to charge your car. With off-street parking, you are able to fully exploit EVs benefits. The typical driver will be waking up every morning with a full battery and maximum range.

Most EV drivers have a choice of two options for charging at home if you have off-street parking:

  • Installing a dedicated EV ChargePoint
  • Using a 3- pin charging lead and a standard household plug

If you don’t have off-street parking, you will not be able to charge on your drive, and you will instead need to charge using the public charge network and charging at a convenient nearby charge point. Please visit our ‘Charging Without Off-Street Parking’ section, to find out more about how you will charge your car if you can’t do it at home.

Charging Without Off Street Parking
Charging Your EV. Man plugging in ev charger in his garage with a smart home charger

3-Pin / EVSE / Granny Charging

This refers to charging using a portable charging lead that is plugged into a standard 13amp domestic power socket. This will charge your EV at a slower rate (10amps / 2.3 kW typically), which will equate to the delivery of about 10 miles of range for an hour charging time. Despite being a slower charge rate, since most cars are charged overnight, and most people’s daily usage falls well below 100 miles, 3-pin charging is still perfectly adequate for many EV owners.

A 3-pin charging lead can be used as a temporary and occasional, or permanent means of charging your EV. Charging using a 3-pin charging lead is the perfect way to charge away from home, for example when you are away on holiday or visiting friends or relatives.

(We provide all our cars with a 3-pin charging lead that can be used as a temporary and occasional, or permanent means of charging your EV.)

Fast Charging at Home

Fast Charging Is the next step up on the charging ladder from charging at home from a 3-pin plug. Fast Charging is the charging you will be able to do if you get a dedicated home charge point installed. Fast charging simply allows you to charge your Car’s battery a lot quicker. Most home fast chargers deliver 32amps / 7kW of charge, which is about 25-30 miles of range for an hour of charging time for most EV’s.

Where budget permits, we advise that you install a dedicated EV fast charger at home, as this provides a very elegant means to charge your car, it enables quicker charging for when you need it, and will provide greater charging capacity for households that intend to become 2 EV households.

Woman Charging EV at Home

Home Charge Point Installation

There are many models of ChargePoint available from multiple manufacturers, and home charge-points come in many shapes, sizes, and outputs. Despite the variety, they all perform basically the same function.

You may decide to select your charge point installer, ahead of your choice of charge point, as having a good approved or recommended installer, available in the time frame required, and quoting an appropriate price, is potentially more important.

The installer you choose may only be accredited to installer certain units, and therefore this might dictate the actual charge point unit you choose to have installed.

The main thing is to make sure the ChargePoint has all of the features you require and has the right connectors to allow it to charge your vehicle. At Drive Green we can help advise on the most suitable charge point for your needs, we can recommend installers through our membership scheme, and we can even help arrange installation.

Home Charge Points
UK Goverment Logo

Government Incentives

Currently, the government provides a grant towards the total costs of ChargePoint installation through the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme. Our recommended charge point installers are OLEV approved enabling you to benefit from the government support available for your home charge points installation.

Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme
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Written by
Richard Norris
January 26, 2022

Richard is the driving force behind Drive Greens eco-goals. Richard has been involved in the sustainable living and renewable energy sector for many years and his expertise has brought success to several green businesses. His background has a huge influence on Drive Green’s direction and message.

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