While electric cars may seem like a very 21st-century invention, a contemporary four-wheeled innovation in answer to the desperate need to save the planet, in reality, the first electric car was created way back in 1830s Scotland.
It was then reinvented in England in 1884, then again in Germany in 1888, then in the US in 1890, 1899, 1902 and 1907. In fact, there have been loads of loads of electric cars over the years, but they all had the same problem: big ole battery, low ole mileage.
Of course, battery technology has come on leaps and bounds in the last few decades, so today’s electric cars can now go further, faster, and with less faff trying to recharge. Three significant things have helped to grow the popularity of the e-car to the point that, in November of this year, one in four cars sold in the UK was an EV (electric vehicle) – and that’s the 11th consecutive month of sales growth, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
Elastic-trickery
Tesla, founded by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning in 2003 and far from the creation of glory sponge Elon Musk, is likely the most known name in the EV business, but it's far from on its own as Fiat, Hyundai, Lotus, Renault, Maserati, Kia, Volvo, BMW, VW, Jeep, Polestar, MG, Porsche Rolls-Royce and even Dacia have all thrown their car keys in the bowl at the EV party. Because the world is a very different place from when those aforementioned first e-cars rolled onto the road and today, thanks to the National Grid, pretty much every home in the UK has access to electricity.
By happy extrapolation, this means that pretty much every home in the UK has the ability to charge an EV too. Or at least it does if said home is also in possession of a suitable EV charge – this being an absolute game-changer in the viability of owning an electric car and, of course, key to the massive increase in sales.
Leading the charge
So, you’ve decided to ditch the dead dinosaur juice and go electric. Good for you. But when it comes to charging your car at home, what do you need to know? Well, home EV chargers come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, some being wall-mounted, some pole-mounted, and some capable of both. They also sport varying cable lengths, so you’ll need to work out where you can mount yours so that you can actually reach where you park your car. You’ll also want to look at things like power output – usually 74kW, charging time – at that power, generally 25 miles/hr, the connector type – normally Type 2 in the UK) and how the charger communicates with you – app, Wi-Fi etc., not to mention any installation costs.
Once all that is in the e-bag, you’re well on your way to never (well, rarely) having to pay extortionate petrol station prices again; unless you forgot an important anniversary and need to buy half-dead flowers when everywhere else is closed, of course.
So, see below, choose your charger and live your electric life…
Best domestic electric car chargers at a glance:
Humax Home Charger
Best for: Leccy loading ease
Putting out the power at 7kW via a Type 2 connector, the Home Charger comes tethered (cable attached), wall-mounted, suitably protected from the elements by an IP65 rating and connects to an app on your phone over Bluetooth and/or Wi-Fi to let you monitor charging status, set charging parameters, bind equipment, get user access authorisation and upgrade software when required.
With settings for scheduled charging or manual plug and pump, the Humax can be cost-efficient, and solar-compatible too. If we lived in a country that has never seen the sun, the opportunity to provide your own open-air power source would also offset costs.
Costing from £599 for the 4-metre cable or £649 for the 7-metre option, install charges from a Humax partner cost an additional £350 upwards depending on the distance from your electric meter, up to £700 for a 20m run, so you’ll want to keep that firmly in mind.
However, with Humax products approved by the Office for Zero Emissions Vehicles, you may be eligible for a grant, shaving some £350 off the overall price, making the Home Charger an even more “attractive” proposition… AC pun utterly intended.
Buy now £649.00, Amazon
Ohme ePod
Best for: Compact charging
If you’re looking for something a little less obvious than the Humax, yet still loaded with all the innovation and convenience, then turn your attention now to the ePod from Ohme, a decidedly daintier wall-mount design that offers an output of 7.4kW, which offers cables at 5m or 8m as untethered (not connected) optional extras, with connectors for Type 2 or older Type 1 car.
With installation included in the price, there are no extra costs to incur on that front, but what you do get is energy tariff integration to keep the bills down, dynamic smart charging, solar compatibility in case summer turns up next year, home power balancing, and a comprehensive smartphone app that lets you monitor and control the lot, with over-the-air updates keeping everything “current” – this pun also very much intended.
It’s IP54-rated to stop rain from putting the ultimate dampeners on your domestic energy eking, which makes the Ohme ePod a neat, smart solution to keeping your EV on the road every day.
Buy now £537.00, Travis Perkins
Pod Point Solo 3S Tethered
Best for: Lower power, lower price
A tidy unit with quite a bit of heft about it, the Pod Point Solos S3 comes in two distinct flavours: untethered and tethered. In the case of the former, it’ll cost you less, but you’ll have to provide your own charging cable, and in the case of the latter you get a 5m Type2 cable for only £50 more, so you do the maths.
Now, with an output power of just 3.6kW, you’re not going to get the performance of the other models I’ve included here, and I should point out that if you up your initial outlay from £899 (installed) to £1049 you can boost that to 7kW, but if your motoring needs are not that power-hungry, then the lower spec is a gentle, energy-efficient way to energise your EV.
IP54-rated against weather and wall-mounted, there is, of course, an accompanying Pod Point app which allows you to schedule charging, monitor progress, track energy usage and run updates over the air, so all functions fall nicely at your fingertips.
Compatible with any solar power panel installations you have now or, indeed, add in the future, too, on the rare occasion our local star puts in an appearance in the sky, you can clean up on clean energy as well.
Buy now £899.00, Pod Point
myenergi zappi
Best for: User-friendly flexibility
While the majority of EV chargers available for domestic duties in the UK are wall-mount designs, for reasons relatively obvious given the architecture of most British houses, the zappi from myenergi comes with the option to attach to the brickwork… or pop on a pole!
Yep, if you can’t park particularly near a wall, this tidy-looking unit – available tethered or untethered (tethered use for the sake of review) can sit neatly on a pole conveniently where you can park your car, filling it with 7kW of delicious electricity via its Type 2 connector.
Capable of extracting power from the grid, your solar provisions, or both, this smart, user-friendly charger pairs with the myenergi app, so you can set timers to utilise economy tariffs, access the boost function, monitor charging progress and, should you somehow see so much sun that you almost live on Mercury, you can direct the zappi to use only energy drawn from your solar panels.
Rated IP65 to keep out the worst of the elements and connecting over Bluetooth and/or Wi-Fi, the zappi is available in black or white, and with installation managed by myenergi’s own network of handpicked handymen/women, you’ll have everything you need to get up and running, ready for you to hit the highway in your e-powered chariot, in next to no time.
Buy now £999.00, myenergi
Hypervolt Home Pro 3
Best for: Smarthouse, smart charging
How many EV chargers have a stylised lightning bolt on the faceplate that actually glows with backlit LEDs? Just the Home Pro 3 from Hypervolt. And, what’s more, not only is that a bit cool, but it’s also not just a shiny gimmick, as this tells you what the charger is doing with just a cursory glance.
It’s a wall-mount option with a tethered 5m, 7.5m or 10m cable complete with a Type 2 connector for current EVs and/or a Type 1 for older models. Outputting 7.4kW at a decent rate of clops, the Home Pro 3 comes app-controlled and monitored, connecting over Wi-Fi, ethernet and Bluetooth for local hook-up, and also incorporates the ability for smart home integration, connecting to the home ecosystem and capable of being controlled via vocal command with Amazon Alexa.
Available in matt Ultra Black, Ultra White and Space Grey finishes and IP66-rated to keep it working well, the Home Pro 3 is clearly the coolest-looking EV charger to grace any wall, and while the price stated obviously doesn’t include installation, thanks to its pre-configured circuitry, all your sparky of choice has to do is wire it up and test it out – simple.
Buy now £690.00, Wickes
Verdict
Is an EV the answer to all the Earth’s eco woes? Well, no. As most e-cars in the UK will have to draw upon power from the National Grid rather than solar panels, and that electricity is generated from both renewable but largely non-renewable sources, EV cars are just a stomp on the accelerator along the right road away from filthy fossil fuels forever.
With battery tech constantly improving, EVs are coming into their own when it comes to competing with conventional gas-guzzling planet-polluters, so if you must own a car, these are the best way to ensure that future generations don’t end up living on a desert planet, fighting for “guz” and eking out some kind of Mad Max style existence.
All of the EV chargers I’ve included here will excel at fuelling your car and eco-credentials in equal measure, so it’s impossible to choose between them.
