How much does a home EV charger installation cost?

This is a great question! It is also one that is very difficult to answer because there are so many differences in installations. One price rarely fits all but let’s look at what’s involved in your new charger installation.

Chargers

A quick look at Google’s shopping page shows an average of £500.00 for a home EV charger, more for the latest designs. Add another £100.00 to that if you want one with its own cable (called a tether). So that’s £500.00 – £600.00 straight away (plus postage) and all you have is a charger in a box.

And a charger isn’t just a high-powered socket. It contains complex electronics to communicate with your car, the internet and its own App. Its software can allow remote monitoring, charging scheduling and even fault diagnosis.

And it has to work outside, in all weather conditions, year after year. No small feat.

Survey

Any reputable installer will want to know what is likely to be involved in connecting your new charger to your fuse box (known as a Consumer Unit). This involves looking at photos of your home and working out how to run the cabling through walls, ceilings, rooms or across outdoor spaces.

And they will also want to make sure your home meets basic electrical requirements and has enough spare electrical capacity for an EV.

They also need to make sure that there is spare space in your Consumer Unit.

Installation

Your charger must be installed by a qualified electrician. Ideally, but not necessarily, one who has also completed an EV charger training course. He will arrive at your home and undertake the installation, check to make sure it is working correctly, set up your App/software and provide a detailed electrical certificate.

OZEV

Until the end of March 2022 you receive £350.00 towards the cost of your installation. Great news for you BUT this requires a further 16 pages of documents plus photos to be submitted to OZEV on top of the rest of the work the installer has completed. If you’re reading this after March 2022 then, unfortunately, you will not be eligible for the grant for your home anymore, unless you live in rented accommodation.

VAT

Don’t forget VAT! At 20% this adds another £100.00 on top of £500.00 or £200.00 on top of £1000.00 so remember, the installer is charging 20% less than you actually pay.

So, those are the key elements of everything that is involved in a home EV charger installation. Phew! But if this is all the same for everyone why isn’t there a standard price?

So why are there price differences?

Every installation is unique. Your fuse box location, the age of your fuse box, the spare electrical capacity you have, the charger location, cable route, cable length, etc. is different to everyone else’s.

Additionally, cable may need to be run underground or the charger may need to be fitted on a specific post.
Chargers, as we have said, vary in price and, again, using Google’s shopping channel here, these range from £350.00 all the way up to £1,000.00.

Internet Prices … From …

With such a wide range of chargers and differing amounts of work required for every EV charger installation you can see why the phrase ‘One price fits all’ doesn’t apply here.

But wait! The internet shows standard prices for installations from some companies. How can this be?

Some installers create a standard price based on a standard amount of cabling, running on only outside walls, with the cheapest charger etc. This is fine, of course, but be aware that these prices will rise if your installation falls outside the standard criteria and you may end up spending as much as than an installation company which calculates a specific price just for you.

It is a good idea to treat these standard internet prices as ‘Prices from’.

Ok, so where do I begin?

With a Google search or recommendation. Talk to a number of installers and get a feel not just for pricing but also customer service, support and their online reviews. It’s a simple answer we know but given the information above you should now be better equipped to make the right decision for you.

Summary

Chargers are a substantial addition to your home. They are your personal ‘petrol pump’ that will last for many years. And, in comparison, they cost a fraction of the value of your electric vehicle.

Installation is not only the work of a skilled tradesman/company but also the addition of a high powered fuel system for your EV, complete with its own mini-computer inside it.

When you look at it this way, EV charger installations provide excellent value at almost any cost.