Charging an electric car at home

22 September 2026 · 6 minute read

Home is where most electric cars do most of their charging, and it is the cheapest and easiest way to run one. Plug in when you get home, wake up full. This guide covers what to install, how fast it is, what it costs and what to do if you have nowhere to plug in.

A socket or a wall box

Every electric car comes with, or can be bought with, a cable that plugs into a normal household socket. It gives about 2 kW, adds 10 to 15 km of range an hour, and is fine for a daily drive of 50 km or so. It is slow, and the socket and its wiring should be in good condition because it runs at full load for hours.

A wall box is a dedicated charger on its own circuit, installed by an electrician. It gives 7 kW on a single phase supply or 11 kW on three phase, charges a car from empty overnight, and can be told to charge only at off peak times or only from solar. If you drive an electric car every day, it is the thing to buy.

Pick one with a tethered cable if you use one car, or a socket if you have two with different plugs.
A box that can schedule charging, or talk to your tariff or solar, pays for itself in a year or two.
Ask the electrician about your supply: an older house may need a bigger fuse or a load management setting.

How fast home charging is

Slow, and it does not matter. A 7 kW box adds 35 to 45 km an hour; a car that did 60 km today is full again in an hour and a half. A 70 kWh battery from empty takes about ten hours at 7 kW or seven at 11. The car's onboard charger sets the limit: most take 7 or 11 kW on AC, a few take 22, and a box bigger than the car can use adds nothing. See how long charging takes.

What it costs

A typical car uses 15 to 20 kWh per 100 km. At a household electricity price that is a fraction of what the same distance costs in petrol, usually a quarter to a third, and on an off peak or EV tariff it can be a tenth. Charging at home for a year costs about what a petrol car costs in two or three months. The cost guide works through the sums, and public charging, which is dearer.

Off peak tariffs and solar

Most electricity retailers offer a tariff with cheap power overnight, and some offer an EV tariff with a few hours at very low prices. Set the car or the wall box to charge in that window and the car costs almost nothing to run. If you have solar panels, a box that follows the panels charges the car from the roof during the day, which is cheaper than exporting the power and buying it back at night.

A car parked at home all day with a 60 kWh battery is a bigger battery than most home batteries. Some cars can send power back to the house (vehicle to home) or run appliances from a socket (vehicle to load).

No driveway

Plenty of people run an electric car with nowhere to plug in at home. It takes a little more thought.

Charge at work if there are chargers there. A few hours on AC twice a week covers most commutes.
Find the AC posts near home on ChargeAlong: on street posts, car parks and shopping centres. Charging while you shop or overnight in a public car park is the pattern.
One fast charge a week is the other pattern: 25 minutes at an ultra fast site near home on a Saturday morning, the way a petrol car is filled. It costs more per kWh than home, still usually less than petrol.
Ask your council or landlord. Many cities have schemes for on street chargers where residents ask, and apartment buildings are increasingly wiring car parks.

Before you buy, look at the chargers within a ten minute walk of home and work on ChargeAlong. If there are several, a car that charges quickly will suit you; if there are none yet, a car with a bigger battery buys more days between charges.