How to charge your Electric Car

First thing’s first, to charge an electric car you first need to find a charger.

To a non-EV driver, this may seem daunting, but you may be surprised to know that there are now more places to charge your electric car then there are fuel stations!

Most charging occurs at home, which provides enough range for most people for their daily commutes. But there are now more and more public charging points for when you need that extra top up of electricity.

There are many different types of charger and connector, with different compatibility for each model. However, it’s simple to get your head round once you know the basics.

Electricity systems are either single phase or three-phase – single phase are found in homes whilst 3 phase can be found in commercial buildings and industrial operations.

EV chargers are either slow, fast, rapid, or ultra-rapid – Slow chargers use single phase whilst the rapid chargers are three-phase. Some chargers can be considered ‘fast’ on both single phase AC and three-phase DC.

3 Pin plug

• Single Phase
• The standard UK domestic plug socket provides a max output of 3kW
• A maximum of 8 miles of range per hour of charge

Type 1 plug

• Single Phase
• 5 pins
• 3.7kW or 7kW power output
• Typically used in home or work charging units
• Less common in modern cars which mainly use type 2

Type 2 plug

• Single Phase or three-phase
• 7 pins
• The standard European cable
• Can be a slow charger or fast charger with 3.7Kw, 7kW, 22kW outputs (some models can draw 42kW)
• You’ll see this plug in home charging units, but also in public fast chargers

CHAdeMO plug

• Three-phase rapid charging
• 50kW or 100kW
• Approximately 85 miles of range per 30 minutes of charging
• Mostly found at service & fuel stations

CCS plug

• High power rapid or ultra-rapid
• 50kW, 150kW, or 350kW output
• Approximately 85-200 miles of range per 30 minutes of charging
• The most versatile charger and may become most common type of rapid charger connector
• Mostly found at service & fuel stations

If you have off-street parking, a home charging unit is a fantastic option. This will either be a type 1 or 2 connector, and you may choose to fit a tethered or untethered unit. A tethered unit means the cable is already attached, so plugging in is easy and you can leave the cable attached to the charger.

Alternatively, you can use a domestic plug socket. This provides a slow charge but it can be useful for an overnight charge. It may be more difficult to run the cable unless you have an outside plug socket, but it can be a useful temporary solution before installing a more powerful home unit.

Work charging points will be similar to home units, but many will be free standing rather than the typical wall-box design of home units. Most units at workplaces will be untethered so you’ll need to use your own cable.

Typically, you’ll see 3.7kW or 7kW output with chargers at workplaces, but some may provide 22kW too.

Some workplace chargers are simply ‘plug and play’, whereas some may require you to download an app to activate the charge point and begin charging your vehicle.

You’ll find some free charging points in some public places like supermarkets and shopping centres which will likely be type 1 or type 2 connectors providing slow to fast charging.

But when you’re looking for a quick increase in range, the best places are rapid and ultra-rapid chargers which are found at petrol stations, service stations or designated EV charging centres. With 30 minutes of charging you can get approximately 75-225 miles range with rapid chargers and even more with ultra-rapid chargers.

These are almost always tethered so you can plug in straight away without worrying about bringing your own cable. Unfortunately they almost always require payment too, which is often done via the corresponding app which will be made clear at the point of charging.

Before you begin using public charging points, it’s important to know the typical etiquette for charging to ensure you remain a well-respected member of the growing EV community!

You may see charging bays which indicate that the space is for electric vehicles only. What that means is it is a space for electric vehicles that are intending to charge only! If you have a full battery and are not intending to charge up whilst you’re parked, then it’s important to use a normal parking space if you can. As for vehicles that aren’t electric parking in those spots, don’t even think about it!

Many plug-in hybrids can only use AC charging, which is slow or fast outputs up to 22kW. Whilst some may be able to use a rapid connector, their output will be limited to 22kW, despite the fact that the rapid charger could be providing someone in a BEV with 150kW and a fully recharged battery in under an hour!

Of course, if there is no other charging alternatives and plenty of charge points available, there’s no harm in using a rapid charger even if you can’t draw the full output. But bear this in mind if there is only 1 charger remaining and if you could charge somewhere else!

If you know you’ll only need 30 minutes of charging to be fully topped up, try to move it within reasonable time of finishing. It’s frustrating to see a fully charged car occupying a charging point. However, if you're waiting for a space and you see a car that is fully charged, it doesn’t give you the right to unplug another user.

When it comes to charging your electric car at work, it’s always best to be considerate and understanding. When you’re working and in meetings, it can be difficult to remember to move your car even if it’s fully charged, so the above rule might not apply as much.

If there’s more EV drivers than chargers, then it’s a good idea to have a group chat or booking system to keep things easy and to avoid workplace conflicts!

Overall, once you become an EV owner you’ll become an expert in charging. Luckily, it’s getting even easier for charging in the UK, with infrastructure improving year on year.

Various reports and research has shown that EV drivers are highly satisfied with their purchases and are very unlikely to go back to a petrol or diesel derivative. In fact, it’s somewhere between 1-4% of EV drivers who would consider their next car not being electric in any way.

Why not check out our used electric range at Hartwell-EV today?