Home charger installation – how to choose and fit the right EV charger

Our advice on how to fit an EV home charger, including the costs, what’s involved and how to pick the right charger for your needs

One of the biggest benefits of owning an EV is the potentially huge savings in running costs.

Charged at home, an EV can cost as little as 2p per mile to ‘fuel’, compared with around 15p per mile for a petrol car.

So if you have bought or are considering buying an EV and you have off-street parking, a home charger is an obvious choice. But it can also seem like a confusing process.

In this feature we’ll explain everything you need to know about having a home charger installed, from how much it costs to how to choose the right wallbox for you, plus provide first-hand insight into the installation process of an Ohme Home Pro.

Can I have a home charger installed?

If you own your property and have off-street parking, you almost definitely can have a charger installed. For tenants, you need to seek permission from your landlord. People living in flats may also be able to have a charger fitted as long as they have an off-street parking area. There are grants to help landlords and flat owners reduced costs.

All new EV chargers need to connect to the internet, so you also need a reliable 4G signal at the location of the charger.

What speed of charger do I need?

For the vast majority of people, a 7.2kW charger is the best option, as well as the most common. You can charge an EV using a 3.6kW charger which is cheaper to buy and install, but will take nearly 18 hours to fill a 64kWh battery. A 7.2kW device halves this without requiring any major upgrade.

There are some 22kW AC chargers available, but these are much more expensive and require a three-phase electricity supply, which most domestic properties don’t have.

How much does fitting a home charger cost?

EVs will save you money in the long run, but there is an initial outlay and the price of a home charger can vary significantly. As a rough guide, budget around £1,000 to buy and install a new 7.2kW charger.

That’s for a ‘standard’ installation incorporating the charger into a modern circuit board and energy supply. That will be the case for the majority of drivers, but if you live in an older house there can be additional costs involved in upgrading your fuse board and possibly even the main power supply.

The location of your charger can also add costs. If it needs to be a long way from the main feed, you will need extra cabling, as well as potentially a standalone mounting point.

Choosing the right wallbox

For most of us, cost is a key factor in choosing a wallbox. Basic models start at around £500 for something like a WaEV, while high-end designer models like the Andersen A2 can set you back more than £1,500 (and that’s before the Porsche paint-matching service).

The Ohme Home Pro, which I had installed, supports solar panel integration, home batteries and multicar charging and cost £999 including installation.

When deciding on the right charger there are various elements to consider:

Tethered or untethered

Tethered chargers are usually a little more expensive since you get a charging cable as part of the bundle. Some chargers come with a choice of lengths, with longer cables inevitably costing more. So think about how close to the charger you are able to park. For me, the extra cost of an 8m cable was worth it to reduce car shuffling in our mutli-EV household.

Since most cars come with a Type 2 cable you could save money by going untethered. This also means you don’t have to keep a tethered cable tidy and protected but does mean you have to unpack and repack your cable every time you charge.

Home energy integration

Do you want to use solar panels or battery storage to charge your car? Not all chargers work with home energy generation and storage so bear that in mind when choosing your wallbox.

Smart apps

All chargers are now ‘smart’, meaning they can communicate with your vehicle and can be controlled via an app. But some apps are smarter than others and offer more control and information, plus features such as multi-car support.

Location

Most people have their charger fitted to the wall of their house or garage. If this isn’t possible, you’ll need a charger that can be mounted on a post, such as the Myenergi Zappi or Rolec WallPod.

What does a home charger installation involve?

I opted for an Ohme Home Pro and the entire installation was handled by Ohme and its installer ProEV. While the finer details may vary from company to company, it’s largely a similar process.

Before fitting anything, the charger maker and installer will want to know about your property, its layout and current electrical systems. From this they should be able to advise on charger locations and any potential complications or additional costs.

With Ohme, this was as simple as filling in two quick online questionnaires. The first asked about the type of property and where I wanted the charger installed. The trickiest question was probably about the location of the fuse box and how far it is from there to the proposed charger location.

Then it was a matter of choosing the right wallbox and cable length.

That done, an even shorter survey asked again the type of house, if it is owned or rented and if it is listed. It also asked for a picture of the house and parking area, and one of the main fuseboard. Probably the most complicated bit for me was digging out my electricity supply number (it’ll be on your electricity bill).

Everything was managed via a simple, idiot-proof web portal with easy step-by-step guidance.

Regardless of charger brand, once that’s all done it’s a matter of your installer notifying your Distribution Network Operator, and fitting the unit.

Installation is like having any household appliance such as a boiler fitted. There’s a bit of dust and noise, and you’ll probably end up with a couple of new holes in walls as they route cables from fuse board to charger. You’ll also be without power briefly, but my power was out for less than half an hour in total.

Companies like Ohme have a list of approved fitters who understand the process and can work around any complications, so it’s best to stick with one of them. If you’re organising things yourself, make sure you select a fully qualified installer with the correct qualifications. You can find qualified companies via the Office for Zero Emissions approved installer list here. It’s also worth seeking out either personal recommendations or a fitter with plenty of positive customer feedback.

Since every new home charger is a “smart” device, the last step of the installation process is signing up for the app then setting your own vehicle, schedule and tariff preferences.

Choosing an EV tariff

Which brings us to one of the biggest benefits of having a home charger – cheap electricity.

Even on a standard domestic rate an EV is cheaper to “fuel” than a petrol car, but many energy companies offer special EV tariffs, which can help slash the cost of charging further.

A lot of these are simple time-of-day rates, which lower your energy costs during a specific period – usually between midnight and around 5am – and work with any smart charger.

There are other tariffs, however, such as Octopus Intelligent Go, which uses a more complicated system to balance high- and low-demand periods. These require a specific charger, such as the Ohme Home Pro, or models from Hypervolt and Myengergi but make the most of the cheapest energy while also helping to balance the grid.

Even on a standard variable rate, an EV is cheaper to “fuel” than a petrol car, but choosing the right tariff to go with your home charger can make a huge difference and is well worth factoring in to the whole process.