Home chargers
Most EV drivers who charge at home do so with a dedicated home charger or wallbox, generally installed on the front of their house for easy connection to a car on their driveway. The alternative is to run a cable to a standard domestic plug socket, which will charge your car slower, entail much higher electrical risk, and make you ineligible for the best home charging tariffs.
Home charging is difficult for those who don't have driveways or garages. This situation is called the driveway divide and is a key issue in the transition to EVs.
Installing a charger
Planning permission
If you have a driveway, then installing a home charger will not require planning permission in general. There are exceptions if you live in a listed building or scheduled monument, or you want to install a giant home charger.
If you do not have a driveway, then you will require planning permission, and are only likely to get this if your highway authority permits pavement channels. Most home charger installers will advise you that they will not install chargers where there are no driveways, although in the past rogue installers have been happy to go ahead, in breach of planning law.
Landowner permission
If you are a tenant or a leaseholder, then you will need landlord or freeholder permission to install a home charger at the property. This could include a property management company or housing association.Communal parking
If you can run a cable to your car from your home without crossing any land outside your ownership, tenancy or lease, then you can charge at home. However, if you are a group of houses or flats which share parking spaces, then you might need to persuade your management company or housing association to install public chargers near you. It is unfortunately not possible to get home charging tariffs on these chargepoints, as they won't be directly connected to your electricity supply.
Some local authorities have specific policies in place to ensure some of their funding goes towards chargepoints near social housing. For example, Hackney Council say, "All housing estates in the borough will have at least one EV charge point, with a minimum of 10% of all new EV charge points placed on estates."
Other authorities may overlook social housing, particularly if legal complications arise between the authority providing funding and the housing association. You may wish to contact your local authority to ask them to put chargepoints near you.
Installers
The government has a list of approved chargepoint installers. Home charger manufacturers such as Pod and Ohme can install their own chargers directly, or you might choose a more local installer who will buy the charger from the manufacturer in turn. Your car manufacturer or dealership may have a partnership or recommendation of chargepoint manufacturer and installer. Installation is often included in the advertised cost of the home charger whether you are looking at a manufacturer installing their own chargepoint or a local tradesperson.Deals
Chargepoint installation, new cars, and energy for home charging often come bundled with one another. For example, Ford and Audi offer free chargers with new electric cars. See the tariffs page for deals involving energy tariffs.Grant-eligible chargers
The government has a list of chargepoint models which are eligible for grants. This page will give a drop-down version of the gov.uk directory of chargepoints eligible for home grants, so you can find your way around the wide world of home chargers. The following section looks at differences between some home chargers and others.