EV charging points
Alfen EV charging point
Alfen EV charging point
Installation
Standard
up to 10 meters, 6mm 3core + CAT5e data cable, weatherproof glands.
COST: Included
Optional
Fusebox with Surge Protection and 40A MCB (necessary if there is no space in existing fusebox).
COST: £250
Standard plus10
up to 20 meters, 6mm 3core + CAT5e data cable, weatherproof glands.
COST: £180
EV charging point installation
What do you need to install an electric car charger?
You need to have a few things in place before you can have a home charger installed:
Off-street parking – charge point firms will not install points if you do not have this
Wi-fi access for the chargepoint, plus a smartphone to control the charger
Suitable home electricity supply
Parking spot should be within a certain distance of the electricity meter – though you can pay extra for longer, more complex installations
Permission from the landlord if you rent the property
What affects the cost of installing an electric car charger?
Where your internal electricity distribution board is. If the desired location for the chargepoint is a long way from this, the extra wiring and/or drilling through multiple internal walls willl push up costs.
Your house’s electrical system. Homes that haven’t had their electrics updated in a fair few years may require additional work before the system can handle the high demands placed on it by a charger.
The charger being installed. Some chargepoints are harder to install than others, taking more time and effort.
How is an electric car charger installed?
An electric car charger is installed on an exterior wall, and will be close to where you park, and ideally close to the point where your home’s main electrical feed enters the property.
The installation process starts with a home survey to assess your particular setup, and this is usually a no-cost service. We will also tell you if any upgrades are recommended to your home electricity supply.
The next step is to have the charger installed in a suitable location, connecting the wiring to your fuse box and installing an isolator switch. The system is then tested to ensure that all is working as it should.
The installation charge includes all the wiring and cabling that is required for the job, and it should take around 2-3 hours for most installs.
Is it worth getting an electric car charger installed?
Yes, absolutely, 100%. Public chargepoints are significantly more expensive (think £0.75 per kWh or so) than charging at home compared to off-peak home rates as low as 9.5 pence per kWh. Having your own charger is a massive convenience boost, too. So to charge a 50kWh EV battery from full to empty you could pay £32.50 at a public point, or £4.75 at home.
Also bear in mind that standard three-pin plugs only deliver electricity at 2.3 kiloWatts, meaning a car with a 100kWh battery would take over 43 hours to fully charge using this, against 14.2 hours if you have a 7kW home wallbox. Plus three-pin plugs and sockets are not designed to handle the heavy draw an electric car places on them for sustained periods of time, and it is only recommended to charge in this manner in an emergency.
You could also consider making a little extra money by renting your home charger out when you’re not using it; companies like JustPark can help facilitate this.
How much does it cost to charge an electric car at home?
The size of an electric car’s battery is measured in kiloWatt hours (kWh), and electricity is priced per kiloWatt hour, with rates dependent upon the contract you have with your energy supplier.
The cost of charging an EV from 0-100% is therefore calculated by multiplying these two things.
For example, an electric car with a 100kWh battery will take 100kWh of electricity to be charged from empty to full. If your energy supplier charges £0.30 per kW of electricity, the car will cost £30 to recharge.
In reality, it isn’t as simple as that, as people don’t let their cars drop to 0%, while car makers recommend charging batteries to 80 or 90% to preserve battery health.
Another way of looking at things is to work out how far your car travels on a kWh. Almost all EVs show average miles per kWh if you fiddle around in the display settings, and a car that manages 4 miles per kWh is more efficient than one that does 2.5 – it’s the electric-car equivalent of miles per gallon. A car that does 4 miles per kWh will cost 7.5 pence per mile in electricity (assuming the notional £0.30 per kWh cost), while one that does 2.5 will cost 12 pence per mile.
Also bear in mind that most EV owners with a home charger have an energy tariff that’s designed for people with electric cars. This may see lower energy prices at night, greatly reducing the cost to charge the car if you schedule its charging sessions via the car’s smartphone app (which most EVs have) or your home charger, if it’s a smart one.
Cost of installing an electric car charger at home
Think the £500-£1,000 ballpark for the installation of a standard 7kW home fast charger, and the same again for the charger itself. Many chargepoint companies bundle the cost of installation together with the charger.
Do be warned, though, that given how different individual houses can be (see next section), you really are best off getting a quote.
Faster 22kW chargers are also available, but they require three-phase power supplies which UK households do not have by default. It is possible to have your power supply upgraded, but this can be an expensive and involved business, with prices range from £3,000, and exceeding well over £15,000 depending on the nature and location of your home and its electricity supply.
Chargers have become pretty advanced in recent years, with wi-fi connectivity and dedicated smartphone apps now almost par for the course. Their prices are also slowly coming down, and while there may no longer be a Government grant available for most people, wallboxes can be had from around £600 or so. Units with their own LCD display screen rather than relying solely on an app can be more expensive, as can those which can be linked to and liaise with solar panels (if you have these). Budget £900 to £1,100 for a more sophisticated charger.
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We don’t believe in starting a job by telling you what you need. Instead, we listen to our customers – each job and each home or business premises is different, and every client has specific needs or desired outcomes. Throughout the work we carry out, we’ll explain what we will be doing and why, so there aren’t any surprises for you. When we come into your house or commercial space, we will aim always to be polite, punctual and respectful. You won’t find our teams leaving a mess or making a lot of noise while we work
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We don’t believe in starting a job by telling you what you need. Instead, we listen to our customers – each job and each home or business premises is different, and every client has specific needs or desired outcomes. Throughout the work we carry out, we’ll explain what we will be doing and why, so there aren’t any surprises for you. When we come into your house or commercial space, we will aim always to be polite, punctual and respectful. You won’t find our teams leaving a mess or making a lot of noise while we work
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EV charging point
We don’t believe in starting a job by telling you what you need. Instead, we listen to our customers – each job and each home or business premises is different, and every client has specific needs or desired outcomes. Throughout the work we carry out, we’ll explain what we will be doing and why, so there aren’t any surprises for you. When we come into your house or commercial space, we will aim always to be polite, punctual and respectful. You won’t find our teams leaving a mess or making a lot of noise while we work
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