Do you need a home charger?
You don't strictly need one. You can technically charge from a three-pin socket. But a dedicated 7 kW home charger charges most cars fully overnight and, critically, unlocks the cheap off-peak EV tariffs that make electric driving genuinely cheap. Without one, you lose the biggest financial advantage of owning an EV.
See do you need a home charger installed? for the full picture.
Home EV charger requirements: what you need before installation
Before you book an installer, there are a few things your property needs. Most homes tick every box, but it's worth checking upfront so there are no surprises on installation day.
Off-street parking. You need a driveway, garage, or allocated parking bay where the charger can be wall-mounted within cable reach of the car. A charging cable trailing across a public pavement is not permitted under the Highways Act.
Adequate electrical supply. A 7 kW charger draws about 32 amps. Most UK homes have a 60 A or 80 A main fuse. If your home is on an older 60 A supply, the installer may need to request an upgrade from your distribution network operator (DNO) — this is free but can take a few weeks.
Consumer unit with space for a dedicated circuit. The charger needs its own MCB (miniature circuit breaker) in your consumer unit. If the board is full, the installer can add a small secondary board. Older fuse boxes may need replacing entirely, which adds to the cost.
Wi-Fi signal at the charger location. All new home chargers sold in the UK must be “smart” under the Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations 2021. They need a Wi-Fi connection to schedule charging for off-peak hours and to comply with the regulations. If your Wi-Fi doesn't reach the driveway, a plug-in range extender usually solves it.
Certified installer. Home charger installation is notifiable electrical work under Part P of the Building Regulations. Your installer must be registered with a competent person scheme such as NICEIC, NAPIT, or ELECSA. They'll handle the DNO notification and issue you an electrical installation certificate.
For a detailed breakdown of what each of these costs, see our EV charger installation cost guide.
Installation: what it costs and what's involved
A typical 7 kW home charger installation costs between £800 and £1,200 fully fitted. The EV chargepoint grant can knock up to £350 off that if you qualify. The main variable is cable routing: a simple run from your consumer unit to a driveway wall is the cheapest. If the charger needs to go further or the supply needs upgrading, costs rise.
Most installations take half a day. You'll need off-street parking: a driveway, garage or allocated bay. The installer will check your electrical supply is adequate and register the charger with your distribution network operator.
The right tariff: where the savings actually come from
The cheapest EV miles come from a dedicated overnight tariff, sometimes called an “EV tariff” or an off-peak rate. See our EV tariffs comparison for a full side-by-side of the main UK options. These give you several hours of electricity at a significantly lower rate than the standard price cap, timed to charge the car while you sleep.
The difference is large. On a cheap EV tariff, charging a 60 kWh car from empty costs a few pounds. On the standard rate it costs several times more. And on public rapid chargers it costs more again. This is the single biggest variable in EV running cost, bigger than which car you buy, and it's why we built the tariff comparison into every car page.
7 kW vs 22 kW: which speed do you need?
Almost every UK home has a single-phase supply, which limits a home charger to 7 kW. That's plenty. It adds roughly 25 to 30 miles of range per hour, meaning a full charge overnight is easy for any car up to about 80 kWh. For help choosing hardware, see our best EV chargers guide.
Three-phase 22 kW chargers exist but require a three-phase supply (rare in UK homes) and a car that can accept three-phase AC (also uncommon in the used market). For the vast majority of buyers, 7 kW is the right choice.
How to charge an EV without a driveway
Without off-street parking, a home wallbox is not an option. But you can still run an EV — plenty of people do. Your main alternatives are workplace charging, on-street lamppost chargers (councils across the UK are rolling these out), supermarket destination chargers, and community charging hubs. Some local authorities also offer grants for on-street residential charging points.
The running cost depends heavily on which of these you can access regularly. Workplace and destination AC chargers are the next best thing to home charging. Relying solely on public rapid chargers changes the cost equation significantly and may erode the financial advantage of an EV.
We cover this honestly in can I charge without a driveway? and should I buy an EV if I can only charge in public?
Overnight charging and battery health
Charging slowly at 7 kW overnight is the gentlest thing you can do for an EV battery. It generates less heat than rapid charging and keeps the pack in the moderate state-of-charge range that maximises long-term health. Cars with active liquid cooling handle all charging well; air-cooled cars like the early Nissan Leaf benefit most from slow, overnight sessions.
For more on how charging affects battery life, see how much degradation is normal after 5 years.