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A Beginners Guide to Charging Electric Vehicles

As electric vehicles are becoming increasingly popular in the UK, do you know what charging options are available?

This guide will debunk some of the new concepts associated with electric car charging, such as the different connectors, slow vs ultra-rapid charging, charging levels and costs, wallboxes and choices of charging locations.

Types of charging

There are four charging speeds you will encounter when charging an electric vehicle:

Slow

3-7kW (2.3kW for three pin plugs)

Usually the cheapest way to charge

Fast

7-22kW

Sometimes free and usually cheaper than rapid

Rapid

50-100kW Tethered

Costs more than home charging

Ultra-Rapid

100kW + Tethered

Significantly more expensive than home charging

Some electric vehicles are restricted to a maximum charging rate so cannot charge at the chargers quoted power

Types of chargers and connectors

There are a number of options to be aware of when connecting to chargers. Just as with mobile phone manufacturers and models, different phones require specific cables and plugs. A cable that is connected to a charging point is called tethered, whereas a cable that you keep in the car and plug into a charging point yourself is untethered.

AC Connectors for slow and fast chargers

Type 1

Often used for home charging or slower charging points, Type 1 can be plugged into a dedicated wallbox. These are often found in older electric cars and some Plug-in Hybrids.

Type 2

This is now the most common connector in the UK for electric cars. Used for both wallboxes at home and slow and fast charging points.

DC Connectors for rapid and ultra-rapid chargers

CCS

These are found at DC charging stations and come with tethered cables, similar to filling up with fuel. If your car is built for these charging speeds, it will have a CCS socket. These are commonly found in European Models and the CCS connector is used for rapid and ultra-rapid charging.

CHAdeMO

These are used exactly the same way as a CCS, and are more common for Asian manufacturers, although many are now changing to CCS.

80% charge

A unique quirk you will find when reading about electric vehicle charging is how manufacturers often quote charging time to 80%, instead of 100%. The reasons for this are twofold.

Firstly, the last 20% takes significantly longer than the previous 20. The reason for this? When a battery is nearly full, it begins to heat up, so to remain cool, the speed of energy flowing for the last bit of charge is reduced.

Secondly, constantly fully charging the car’s battery can reduce the battery’s life. Therefore, it is not recommended to completely charge your car unless you need to do a long journey.

Charging Locations

At home

Three Pin Plug

This is the one of the cheapest options for charging, but also the slowest.

Many manufacturers do not recommend this option, but it’s worth considering the frequency and mileage for which you will use your vehicle. If the main use is for short journeys each day, this will not use up much battery so just top it up each night, just like you would when charging your phone.

If you are intending to take advantage of off-peak charging times, a three-pin plug is unlikely to give an 80% charge within the time window, so in this case, a wallbox would be a good option.

Wallbox

This is a great solution if you intend to use your car every day for substantial distances. A wallbox delivers a faster charge and just mounts to the wall of your garage or house. A wallbox can charge anywhere between 3kWh to 22 kWh, the equivalent of a fast charger. The most common wallbox will charge at 7 kWh, as 22 kWh are usually used by businesses, not at home. If you own or are leasing an electric vehicle, you may be eligible for the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) which offers £350 off the cost of a wallbox at home. To be eligible, it will need to be a smart charger, allowing you to program charging times for lowest energy tariff times, or to limit the charge to 80%.

With a 7kWh wallbox installed, you could expect to charge a Volkswagen ID.3 with a capacity of 62 kWh from 20-80% in five and a half hours.

Energy tariffs

With using home electricity to charge your electric vehicle, you will expect your energy bills to increase. As a result of this, many energy suppliers now provide off-peak rates for overnight charging. Off-peak rates can start from around 5p/kWh and peak averaging around 16p/kWh, so well worth looking into.

In Public

According to Zap-Map, there are currently over 14,000 charging locations across the UK. Charging points can be found on street lampposts, supermarkets, shopping centres, service stations, hotels and many more.

At work

This option is becoming increasingly widespread. Often, businesses will supply free charging spaces for employees so an electric vehicle can be left to charge throughout the working day. This is especially useful if you do not have access to off-street parking.

If your employer does not yet have charging points, it may be worth mentioning the government’s Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS), in which eligible businesses have the cost of charging points partially covered.

Thinking about leasing an electric car?

Pink Car Leasing has a great range of Electric Car Leasing Deals, whether you are looking for a small city car like Renault Zoe, an SUV like the Peugeot 2008 or a hybrid like the Audi A3.

Speak to an expert now on 0116 402 6500

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