How much does it cost to get an electric charger installed at home?

If you qualify for the new grant this will significantly bring the cost of installing a home charger point down.

The power used by EVs is measured in kilowatts, which is the same unit your electricity is measured in. Electric car batteries have a capacity which typically ranges from around 32 kWh (kilowatt hours), like you’ll see in the Volkswagen E-Up, all the way up to 100kWh and beyond, as with the BMW iX. Typical battery sizes for EVs now range from around 50kWh to 80kWh.

To work out how long it takes to charge an EV from zero to 100%, all you have to do is divide the battery capacity by the speed of charging. Home charge points typically offer speeds of 7kW, although it’s possible to get slower and faster ones. This gives you the amount of power a full charge consumes.

To calculate the cost of a full charge, simply multiply how much you pay for electricity by the capacity of your car’s battery. Plenty of energy companies offer tariffs aimed at EV drivers which cost less, while more and more are able to deliver renewable energy to your home.

To give you an idea of how long and how much it costs to charge different electric cars, we’ve put together a handy table below. According to the Energy Saving Trust, the average cost of electricity per kW in the UK is £0.245 (from 1 April 2024), so we’ve based our calculations on that cost.

Arranging installation of a home charger is easy, and you can do it through either your energy provider or a specialist company. You can use Zap Map to find a charge point installer near you by entering your postcode and the brand of charger you’d like.

If you lease an electric car with us, this is something we can help you arrange.

Home charge points are available in 3kW and 7kW forms, but 7kW chargers are most common. They come in a lot of different styles, whether you’re after a futuristic design to be a feature of your driveway, or a small, subtle covering to hide your charge point inside something like a wood-effect box.

There are plenty of different brands you can choose between, while you should look out for the type of connector your car has and the features on offer with different chargers, such as compatibility with apps and other energy-saving devices in your home. You can also choose between different cable lengths to suit your needs, while companies like ChargePoint also offer 24/7 support.

Allowing you to charge up at times of the day when the demand for energy is low, means there’s less strain on the electricity grid. You can program your charger to come on overnight to take advantage of the lower energy prices you get on your electricity tariff, while their safe, fast and easy nature makes them win-win all round.

Vehicle-to-Grid, or V2G charging is where electric cars effectively act as power banks, returning energy to the electricity grid during peak times. Whereas smart charging helps the grid by managing the demand placed on it, V2G technology goes a step further by taking energy from car batteries to power both your home and the country’s electricity network.

The concept is almost like having a huge decentralised power station across the UK. This will rely on renewable energy where cars are charged by a supplier offering it, while your car will still be fully charged when you need it to be. V2G technology is improving all the time and will become more accessible over the coming years.

To learn more about electric vehicles simply get in touch with our expert team today. And if you know which make and model you’d like to drive off in, fill out our online form for an instant quote on your next electric car lease.