What do I need to think about before getting my first EV charger?

Charger location

Most home chargers are fitted to the front wall of the property but the actual location is entirely up to you, so consider where you’ll be parking your new car and where will be most convenient for you.

Bear in mind too where your charging cable will run when your car is plugged in. Will it be out of the way or, at night, could you forget it is there and trip over it? Or does it form a barrier between your home and the driver’s door when connected? Where, on your new EV is its charging socket?

Connecting a charger to your home

Your charger will be connected by a heavy duty cable which will run from your fuse box (consumer unit) to your charger. How easy is this? In most cases the cabling will run from your fuse box to the nearest outside wall and around the outside of your house to the charger. If this is difficult to do an outside ‘fuse box’ can be installed and connected to your main incoming electricity supply. However discuss with your installer initially.

How is my charger connected to my home?

Your new EV charger has to be connected to, or near to, your main fuse box. To allow this to happen it needs to have space inside it to do so. If you look at your fuse box it should look like the picture shown here and some of the ‘switches’ will be simply blanked off (these are called ‘ways’). If you do not have these your installer can fit a new, smaller fuse box.

Do I have enough power?

Your EV charger will use up to 32 amps. Most homes have a 100 amp supply but some have 80 amps or even 60 amps (usually older or smaller properties). If you are not sure, speak to your electricity supplier. If you do have 60 or 80 amps your energy supplier should be able to upgrade this free of charge and before your new EV charger is installed.