Charging
How to charge your vehicle
Charging an electric car is different from filling up a petrol/diesel vehicle with fuel; electric car drivers plug-in whenever they park and return to a vehicle with a fuller battery than when they left it.
It’s best to think “where do I park most regularly?” and look to use chargepoints installed in these locations. For most people that means home, then work, then your other destinations.
Charing at home
As long as you have off-street parking, you can charge your electric car at home by having a dedicated home charger installed. This is usually the most convenient place to charge, particularly when you can plug-in overnight.
This will give you the fastest possible charging speeds, typically between 10 and 30 miles of range per hour plugged in.
Charging on the go
You can charge your car when parked in public locations, where a charge point is available.
It’s not usually necessary to fully charge your battery at your destination, but frequent top-ups mean that you don’t run low or have to wait while your battery recharges from empty.
Destination charging stations usually offer 7kW charging, giving 20-30 miles of range per hour plugged in for full battery electric vehicles (BEVs).
You’ll need to bring your own charging cable and often need to download a smartphone app to start your charge (although in some cases it’s as simple as just plugging in).
Charging on a long journey
On long distance journeys you will find that there are times when the remaining range in your battery won’t get you to your destination.
In this scenario you can make use of the network of high power rapid chargers (43-350kW) found in motorway service stations and other locations across the UK. This is known as en-route charging.
Because they are expensive, and dispense a lot of electricity in a short period, rapid chargers are usually offered on a paid for basis.
The cables are always tethered to the 43kW+ units, so you do not need to bring your own cable to them.
