With electric vehicles now making up over 20% of new car sales in the UK, home EV charging has moved from early adopter territory to mainstream necessity. Charging from a standard 3-pin socket is not only painfully slow — delivering just 8-10 miles of range per hour — but it is also potentially dangerous for sustained overnight use.

A dedicated home EV charger, typically rated at 7kW, delivers approximately 25-30 miles of range per hour. This means a typical commute of 40 miles can be replenished in under two hours. Most owners simply plug in overnight and wake up to a full battery every morning.

The electrical requirements for an EV charger are significant. A 7kW charger draws 32 amps continuously, which requires a dedicated circuit from your consumer unit with the correct cable size — typically 6mm² twin and earth for shorter runs, or 10mm² for longer cable routes. The circuit must have RCD protection, and since 2022, new EV charger installations also require earth fault protection to prevent dangerous voltages appearing on the vehicle chassis.

Not every home can accommodate an EV charger without electrical upgrades. If your consumer unit has no spare ways, or if your main fuse is only 60 amps, you may need a consumer unit upgrade or a service head upgrade from your distribution network operator. We assess all of this during our free site survey.

The cost of a standard domestic EV charger installation in Leeds typically ranges from £800 to £1,200, including a quality charger unit such as Ohme, Hypervolt, or Andersen, the dedicated circuit, all testing, and certification. If your consumer unit needs upgrading or the cable run is unusually long, costs will be higher.

Smart chargers are increasingly popular. These connect to your Wi-Fi and allow you to schedule charging at off-peak electricity rates, integrate with solar panels to charge from surplus generation, and provide detailed energy monitoring. We install and configure smart chargers as standard, ensuring you get the full benefit of the technology.