The world of electric vehicles (EVs) is constantly changing, and choosing the right charging solution is an important step towards sustainable transportation. “How to Choose the Best EV Charger” is a comprehensive guide that will help you navigate the many options available in the market.
Things to consider when buying an EV charger
There are a few things to consider when buying an EV charger for your home such as charging speed whether you want to be tethered or untethered and if you want to connect it to solar and of course your budget
Having an EV charger installed at your home or business is a great way to conveniently charge your car.
Click the image below to see one of our EV charger installations
The different types of EV chargers
When choosing an EV charger, it isn’t always best to go for the biggest, instead you need to think about your needs, are you only going to be charging overnight to commute 20 minutes to work or do you need a quicker charge?
You can also use a domestic socket if you don’t need to charge that often as the charge it provides is much slower.
3.6kW charger
This is commonly known as the “Slow” charger in the EV world, just because it is slow doesn’t mean it isn’t useful if you make short commutes a 3.6kW is ideal as you won’t be using that many miles each day, also if you have a hybrid car a 3.6kW EV charger is perfect as you don’t require as much electric to run your car.
A typical 3.6kW charger will cost anywhere between £300 to £600 to purchase. Installation will be an additional cost, grants maybe applicable in some cases.
7kW charger
This is the standard size of an EV charger, primarily due to the balance between charging rate, initial cost and the extra load it adds to the electrical infrastructure. A 7kW EV charger will charge your car at a rate of 25-30 miles of range per hour which allows you to fully charge your electric car overnight. This charger is perfect for most electric vehicles.
A typical 7kW charger will cost anywhere between £500 to £1000. Again, the installation will be an additional cost, grants maybe applicable in some cases.
22kW charger
A 22kW EV charger is the fastest charger that could reasonably be installed in a home, however, most households don’t need it and a lot can’t accommodate it, typically a 3-phase electricity supply is needed. The 22kW EV charger is very useful is you have multiple electric cars that need to be charged at once, or require quicker charging.
A typical 22kW EV charger will cost anywhere between £1,200 to £1,500 plus installation costs.
How EV chargers work with solar
If you have an electric car there is a good chance that you have solar, if that’s the case your EV charging experience potentially becomes a whole lot cheaper. With the correct charger and tariff combination, the growing range of intelligent chargers can work smartly to deliver power to your EV in the most economical way.
Tethered VS Untethered EV chargers
As you research into EV chargers you will come across the term Tethered and Untethered, Tethered simply means that the EV charger has the charging cable permanently attached to the charging unit, whereas Untethered means that the charging cable can be removed from the wall box.
Government Grants
If the price of an EV charger is putting you off getting a charger then the government supplies grants as long as you meet certain criteria. To see details about these grants visit the Gov.uk site.
Contact Us
Considering having an EV charger installed or just have a few questions feel free to get in touch with our Swindon based team who are happy to help.