Electric charging point

[Big_D]

The family and I were talking about the merits of electric vehicles in the future, and a point was raised about how cars will be charged at home. Not being owners of electric vehicles we are a bit ignorant about how they are charged.

As many children tend to leave home after they learn to drive many households, ours included, have multiple vehicles. So, with three or even four electric vehicles all needing to be charged every night, how do things work?

Do multiple chargers need to be fitted, and who pays for them?

How long does it take to charge an EV at home?

[AJones]

If you get a full EV then most people will get a 7kW charge point installed, this is normally owned by the home owner who has to pay for it, just like any equipment you want installing to your home. There were grants towards the cost but these are ending.

For a full EV, how often you need to charge up will depend on the size of the Battery and how many miles you do each day, with even the basic EVs having ranges of 100+ miles now and many now 200+miles, charging every EV, every night is unlikely to be necessary. It's more of a challenge with PHEVs, where the shorter electric range means you are more likely to empty the Battery each day.

At the moment most charge points have a single tethered cable, or socket, so can only charge one EV at a time, so to use with multiple EVs, you'd either need to rotate them around over the course of an evening or during the day, or charge on alternate nights. But depending on usage that may not be too much of a problem.

There are some EV charge points models now with twin sockets, using some smart controls to charge two cars from a single supply and there are products that can do this with several units, but this is getting into the area of commercial/business type installations which can be pricy. Though I expect these capabilities will become more common as homes with 2+ EVs become more commonplace.

[Big_D]

Thanks for the info.

This is what worried us. We would need at least three chargers, or a commercial unit. I really wouldn't be happy having to swap cars on the charger during the night. I need my beauty sleep 😁

I think for now it's going to have to be Hybrids for us until either the charger/battery situation improves. There are still a few years to go before 2030 when they stop selling ICE cars. I hope they increase the Battery ranges and / or chargers.