If you have recently made the switch to an electric vehicle, you may be wondering – is it worth buying a home EV charger?
The answer, in its simplest form, is yes – home EV chargers are worth the investment; from cheaper EV charging sessions to safer, more convenient home charging, home electric vehicle chargers provide benefits that three-pin plug charging and public charging can’t compete with.
Keep reading to find out our top reasons why you should have a home EV charger installed at your property.
Although you may consider an EV home charger an expensive option in comparison to three-pin plug charging, it’s a worthwhile investment in the long term. In fact, Riverdale Leasing found that 76% of homes with an electric car charger installed showed an increase in property value. And with the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035, electric cars will soon become the norm. So, getting a home EV charge point is a great way to future-proof your property while simultaneously reaping cost benefits if you decide to sell.
An EV home charger is by far the most convenient way to charge your electric vehicle. There is no need to hang around a public charging point for hours or, even worse, queue to use an electric car charger. With a home EV charger, you can charge your vehicle whenever suits you, no waiting, no stress. Think of everything you could do whilst you’re charging your electric car at home – cook, clean, relax – home electric car charging guarantees maximum convenience. You couldn’t do that with a petrol or diesel vehicle, could you?
What’s more, all home electric vehicle chargers allow you to schedule your charging at specific times by using a smartphone app. For ultimate convenience, set your EV to charge at home overnight, and your home charger will do the work for you – you’ll save on charging costs too.
Installing a home EV charger means you won’t have to pay a premium to use public EV charging points – and that’s not all. Charging an electric car with your smart home EV charger is significantly cheaper than using public chargers, with potential savings of up to £1000 a year during off-peak hours, according to the UK government.
Popular home EV chargers also offer added smart features that can help save you money on your electricity bills, such as tariff integration and solar integration that allow you to benefit from further cost savings. For example, the Ohme Home Pro and Ohme ePod are compatible with all energy tariffs, including Intelligent Octopus. With Ohme’s intelligent tech, your charger will automatically sync with your chosen tariff to allow you to charge at the cheapest rates.
Getting a dedicated home electric vehicle charger installed at home allows you to benefit from far faster charging speeds when compared to three-pin plug EV charging. A 7kW home charger will charge an EV three times faster than a standard 3-pin plug charger, and a 22kW home charger will charge six times faster than 3-pin EV charging.
The safest way to charge an electric car at home is through a dedicated home charge point. A home EV charger needs to be installed by an accredited, experienced electrician who has to follow specific rules and regulations, therefore ensuring maximum safety.
Although you can charge your car with a standard 3-pin plug, this is not recommended for daily use, as household sockets are not designed for this high level of constant usage. Instead, these granny chargers should only be used in emergency situations.
When compared to slow, messy three-pin plug charging and expensive public charging, home EV chargers definitely come out on top. Home electric vehicle chargers provide many benefits, such as increasing your property value, faster charging speed, added convenience, and the significant cost savings that can be made from smart home EV chargers.
In our professional opinion, having a home EV charger is always worth the investment as you future-proof your property, guaranteeing cheaper, safer and more convenient EV charging sessions in the future.
Find out when you should order your home EV charger.
With more and more electric vehicles coming through our test fleet -- including our long-term 2022 Mini Cooper SE -- I decided it was time to install a home charger. It's crucial for me because I live in a small desert town and the only public chargers are Level 2 units that deliver electricity at a super-slow speed of 8.3 kilowatts. The last thing I want to do is sit in the parking lot of the California Welcome Center for hours on end.
My first step was to look at my home's electrical panel and see if it could accommodate a Level 2 charger. I have a 100-amp panel and I want to charge at 50 amps, which should let me put 37 miles worth of juice back into the long-term Mini in about an hour. But I didn't want to have to upgrade my house to a 200-amp panel, which I thought I might need to do since I'd want to run things like the air conditioner at the same time.
The $699 ChargePoint Home Flex charger I bought can be set to a variety of amps, from 16 all the way up to 50. A good middle-ground charging speed is 40 amps, which puts about 30 miles of range back into the Mini each hour. Plus, by keeping the charging speed below 48 amps, I didn't need to have the charger hardwired to the house, which saved a few dollars during installation, and I didn't have to upgrade to the 200-amp panel. It's good to know that, if I'm hit with a heat wave, I can set the charger's amps lower and still crank the air conditioning.
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With our long-term Mini Cooper SE's small battery, home charging is a must.
What I like best about my ChargePoint charger is the app. I can use it to find public charging stations when I'm out and about, but I can also use it to schedule my home charging schedule, set reminders, check on charging activity and adjust the amperage remotely.
My local electrician installed the ChargePoint L2 charger for right around $2,000. That included running conduit from the panel in the back of the house under the eave of my home and into the garage, pulling wire through said conduit and then installing a junction box and wiring up the charger. My electrician also added a 240-volt box for a future welder I want to purchase, so I probably could've saved some money if I hadn't asked for that extra work.
Just as there are incentives for buying an electric vehicle, there are also incentives for installing a home charger. The ChargePoint website has a handy search function so you can find rebates in your state. Unfortunately, my utility company and my county in California don't participate. Maybe you'll have better luck.
Not everyone can install a charger at home; renters definitely don't all have this luxury. But having the home charger has improved my time with the Mini, especially since it has a tiny 32.6-kilowatt-hour battery pack that gets an EPA-estimated 114 miles of range. In our testing, we've been seeing anywhere between 110 and 115 miles, but for me, that's one trip into Los Angeles. Having a charger at home -- especially one with an app like ChargePoint's -- means I can plug in and charge when it's most convenient. No more waiting around in the parking lot.
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