Choosing the Best Location

Youe wall charger can be located either insided or outside wherever is most convenient within a range of 5 to 10m depending on the length of the EV charger cables. For safety reasons it you cannot use an extension lead or to run cables across pathways or the street.

Provided you have good access to a designated private off-street parking in a garage, driveway or carport this should be fine and will meet the requirement of the the Office of Low Emission Vehicles.

Safety First

Charging an EV adds to the demand for electricity in your home. So it’s very important to be sure that your existing electric cabling, sockets and the main household supply fuse will be able to carry the additional current drawn by the vehicle, and that there are adequate safety cut‐outs. This is particularly important if you are planning to charge more than one EV as overloading the electrical installation at a property could result in a fire.

Benchmark EV Charging are highly experience domestic electricians and will assess whether your electricity supply is adequate to deal with charging an EV on top of your existing electricity and will identify any “load balancing” modifications  are required to comply with safety regulations.

Benchmark will also inform the the District Network Operator of the installation and if you are applying for a second chargepoint at a single residence because of the additional load.

Planning Permission

Normally, you do not need planning permission to install an EV chargepoint unless you are near a highway or listed building but if unsure its best to check with your local authority planning officer and so seek permission from your landlord if you have one.

‘Intelligent’ and ‘Smart’ charging

Benchmark recommends the Rolec’s  Homesmart EV which has allows for  ‘intelligent’ charge scheduling,  allowing your EV to be preset to charge overnight to take advantage of off‐peak electricity tariffs.  Using the mobile phone “App” charging can  be managed and monitored remotely so that you change settings or to switch charging on or off from anywhere without needing to be home. Homesmart EV can also understand and respond to signals from energy system operators etc indicating the best times to charge.

Generating Income from EV Charging

Looking to the future,  Ofgem the energy regulator has said ‘market based approaches will enable chargepoint owners to charge a competitively priced fee, and recover their installation costs faster.’ This implies that in future you will be able to generate an income by ‘renting out’ your charge point to other EV drivers using “peer to peer” platforms like : JustPark ,Bookmycharge  and Zap-Home 

Charging from Solar PV (photovoltaic)

If you have Solar PV installed, it makes sense to use the electricity it generates to charge your EV – either directly by charging during daylight hours or via storing the renewable energy in a battery during the day and using the stored energy to charge the EV in the evening. You also have the option to sell any surplus on the “peer to peer” platforms (see earlier).

If you are planning to use solar PV to charge your car be sure to select a car chargepoint solution like the Wallpod EV: Solarcharge that enables effective solar charging. It needs to be able to charge at a lower power rate to suit solar PV production levels when that’s available and at a faster rate at other times.