Charging Electric Vehicles

This section is intended to be used as a beginner’s guide to charging electric vehicles. Outlined here are some of the charger types available along with some jargon-busting.

For local authorities, the key message here is that networks need to be reliable and accessible. LA-owned chargepoints need to be regularly maintained and any privately owned and operated ones should be monitored as much as possible to ensure they are working and available for use.

CHARGEPOINT TYPES

To learn more about different types of power and connectors visit the Energy Saving Trust chargepoint guide for businesses.

Wall Mounted Chargepoint

Generally home chargers are used in workplace locations, and usually between 3kW and 7kW which equates to around 15-30 miles of charge per hour. Home chargers can be tethered (i.e. cable attached to the unit), although if you change your vehicle in the future you may need to replace the chargepoint if the connector on the vehicle is different.

Floor Mounted (‘Post’) Chargepoint

Can be 3kW, 7kW and increasingly 22kW, the latter charging at up to 80 miles of charge per hour for those vehicles that can accept that much power. These can be located on private property, for example at workplaces, or on public land for example at shopping centres or council car parks. Most will require either an app, smart card or RFID tag to access them.

Rapid Chargepoint

Generally found at motorway service areas, but increasingly being installed at urban rapid charging hubs and some supermarkets, 50kW chargers offer 70-80 miles of charge in 30 minutes. Rapid chargers offering between 120kW and 350kW of power are increasingly being installed, and more electric vehicles vehicles can charge at these rates. All rapid chargepoints are tethered so have the cables connected to the chargepoint. The driver just needs to pick the correct cable, and follow the instructions on the unit to start a charge.

The Back-Up Charger: A 3 Pin Plug

This method is suited to ‘emergency’ or short-term charging. In order to charge an EV using this method the charging cable will be required to deliver close to the maximum amount of KWh a 3-pin plug can handle for anything up to 11 hours for a full charge, so there is a risk that with excessive use they can melt and potentially cause a fire hazard. A 3-pin plug will give between 8-10 miles of charge per hour plugged in.

USEFUL INFORMATION/JARGON BUSTING

• Kilowatt (kW) – A unit of electric power that is equal to 1000 watts. Chargepoints are generally rated by power; the lower the rating the slower the charge. In your comms activities, note that the ‘k’ is lowercase and the ‘W’ in uppercase. It is also important to note that it is the vehicle and not the chargepoint that determines charging time.

• Home, Workplace and Destination Charging Trends – At present, the majority of EVs are charged at home and owned by people with off-street parking. As EV take-up expands it is likely that more charging activity will be at destination charging, for example at a place of work, especially for users where they cannot charge at home (e.g. no off-street parking).

• Smart Charging – Charging data shows that there are significant peaks of demand for charging at the end of the working day, and with increased uptake this may cause electricity networks to reach or exceed capacity. As the take-up of EVs increases there will be a need to ensure that we do not put excessive pressure on the network and smart changing is one solution. Smart-enabled chargepoints are able to ensure that EV charging activity takes place at times of low demand (e.g. overnight) and help to ensure the stability of power networks.

• Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) – This technology goes one step further and enables the bi-directional charging and discharging of electricity from EV batteries. This means that EVs can be used as ‘portable batteries’, providing energy storage facilities to help balance the grid during peaks in energy demand. For example, excess capacity from a stationary vehicle parked overnight could ‘sell’ energy back into the grid during the evening peak, and then ‘buy’ electricity back from the grid in the off-peak hours early in the morning when demand is low. This is likely to be well-suited to pool car fleets which are often unused at times of peak demand in the evenings but V2G is also viable for home charging solutions too.

• Know Your Network – Currently, most public chargepoints are owned and operated by particular network providers and traditionally have not been fully interoperable, so drivers have needed a smart card, RFID tag or app to access them. Most rapid chargers (50kW and above) should now accept contactless payment. Different operators have different business models and some will require you to enter into a monthly agreement to obtain the best rates. Do your homework to understand which operator(s) run the network in your area. Zap-Map is a useful tool to help you identify your local network and plan for any longer journeys.

• EV Anxieties – As well as range anxiety, there is also charging and experience anxiety.
  • Charging anxiety is the concern over whether, on arriving at a public chargepoint, you will actually be able use the unit or if it is in use by another vehicle, or worse ‘ICE’d’ (blocked by a non-EV).
  • Experience anxiety is the concern over whether your charging requirements will be met on route. It differs from charging anxiety as this is more about whether the unit will be functioning when you arrive, whether or not you will be able to access the unit and whether your charging needs will be fully met.

GRANTS FOR EV CHARGING

EV Chargepoint Grant

This grant is available to anyone who rents a residential property or owns a flat in the UK. The grant offers £350 towards or 75% off the cost to buy and install a chargepoint socket. You can apply for this grant if your home has a private off-street parking space and you own an eligible vehicle.

The EV Chargepoint Grant is also available to landlords and property management companies. The grant can be used to install chargepoints for flats and houses, apartment blocks and commercial properties. Landlords are eligible to receive the grant for up to 200 residential properties or 100 commercial properties per financial year. Parking spaces must be off-street and owned by the landlord and accessible to the tenant to be eligible for the grant.

EV Infrastructure Grant

Landlords are also eligible to receive the EV Infrastructure Grant. This grant provides financial support for wider building and installation work that is required to install multiple chargepoints. The infrastructure grant offers £30,000 or 75% off the cost of EV-related building and installation work. The grant must be used on properties which contain multiple homes (e.g. an apartment block) and should improve a minimum of five parking spaces. Landlords can apply for up to 30 infrastructure grants each financial year, provided that they are used for different properties.

Small to medium businesses with no more than 249 employees are also eligible to apply for the EV Infrastructure Grant. The grant offers 75% off EV infrastructure work and chargepoint installation up to a total of £15,000 per grant. Eligible businesses can apply for up to five grants to support a minimum of five car parking spaces at different businesssites.

Full details of the EV Chargepoint and Infrastructure Grants is available here: Grant schemes for electric vehicle charging infrastructure – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Workplace charging scheme

The Workplace Charging Scheme is available to eligible businesses, charities and public sector organisations who wish to improve charging facilities at the workplace. The grant offers 75% (up to £350 per socket) of costs towards the purchase and installation of chargepoints to enable employees to charge while at work. Applicants are eligible to claim for a maximum of 40 sockets across all workplace sites. Full details are available here: Workplace Charging Scheme – GOV-UK Find a grant (find-government-grants.service.gov.uk)

On-Street Residential Chargepoint scheme

Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Funding

More in the toolkit…