Electric vehicles (EVs) are certainly the future, but they’re at a point in their production where they’re incredibly inaccessible to everyday people. Even as prices of the vehicles themselves decrease, there is still one expensive part about owning an EV that many have not taken into account – installing the charger into their home.
In a survey we conducted with 2,000 car buyers in January 2023, we discovered that 57 percent of people believed that installing an electric vehicle charger at home would be too costly or difficult for them.
Today, we’re going to delve into this and break it down, to discover just how challenging it is and whether it truly is a barrier or not to more people owning an electric vehicle.
Why do you need to have a charger installed at home?
While there are charging points popping up in many fuel stations across the country, it’s not guaranteed that there’s one local to you, plus it’s so convenient to be able to charge at home. If you live in a relatively rural area where charging points are still less commonplace, you’ll almost certainly need a charger at home.
Not only that, the cost to fill up at a public electric charging point can be almost double the cost of what it could be at home! So if you’re buying an electric vehicle, you need to have one at home. However, that doesn’t mean to say you can always get one. There are criteria which enable you to have an electric charger at home, so be sure you tick these boxes before you invest in the car.
Criteria to fulfil to have an electric charger at home
The first one may sound rather obvious, but you will need off-street parking! Of course, there is no way to fit the charger on land that you do not own, and nobody owns the street outside their house. If they do, then they certainly own a driveway too which is the most preferable place to pop your charger anyway. So yes, make sure you have a suitable parking spot for the charger.
You also need a suitable electrical supply from your home. Now, this one isn’t quite as much of a problem if you don’t have it. Perhaps your home is quite old and you haven’t updated the electrics in many years – an upgrade might be needed in order to fit the electric charger. These upgrades can be costly depending on what type of supply you have so just consider that they could be an additional expense. Without it, you can’t install the charger so there’s no way around it.
Another box to tick is that your parking spots shouldn’t be too far away from your meter. Now, this one applies more to people who live in flats, where they have a dedicated parking spot which they own, but they can’t get close enough to their meter in order to install the charger.
This one is for people who rent their accommodation. If you rent, you’ll need to get permission from the landlord. If you’re renting a house this might be relatively straightforward, but if you’re renting a flat, you need to get permission from the building owner – not just the landlord of your flat. It’s a complicated process but it should be possible.
How much will it cost to install an electric charger?
If you believe you tick all the criteria for having an electric charger installed, then great! The next thing you need to consider is if you can afford to get one installed, as they’re anywhere between £500 and an eye-watering £1,000 – and that’s just for the basic chargers which are 7kW.
If you’re looking for a speedier charge with a 22kW electric charger, you’ll more than likely have to upgrade the electricity in your home, which can be between £3,000 and £15,000. Of course, the price of the charger itself will also be slightly more expensive, but it can take your charging time down from roughly 14 hours to just three.
The good news is that there are government grants available for this. Sadly, no longer for homeowners. But for those who own flats, are tenants, or are landlords, they can apply for 75 percent installation costs up to the value of £350. So if you’re not looking for a super sophisticated charger, and are either a tenant, landlord, or flat-owner, you could install an electric charger in your home for a lot less than you may think.
Remember, when it comes to installation, things like the construction of your home, your home’s electrical system, your electricity distribution, and even the company you go with for installation, can increase or decrease the price. So be open minded and get a few quotes before committing.
If you’re looking to buy an electric car with car finance, please contact the team at ChooseMyCar. Even if you have no deposit or have bad credit, we can help you secure your next car.
