A Guide to EV charging

If you’re venturing into the world of electric cars, knowledge is power. And when it comes to charging, understanding the ins and outs can make your life with an EV much easier.

To help you understand the world of EV charging, we’ve put together this handy guide.

In this guide, we chat through:

• Finding the right EV charger
• How to navigate public charging
• The low down on EV charging speeds
• EV charging etiquette
• The cost of charging your EV
• What’s the future of EV charging?

To find the right EV charger, you’ll want to do some research and consider things like:

• Whether you can charge from home
• Whether your home charger is compatible with smart EV charging and/or EV-specific tariffs.
• What the costs of charger installation are

If you can’t get one fitted or you don’t have a driveway to charge your EV, don’t worry. There’s plenty of other options from lamppost chargers, to long-stay charging during your weekly shop.

Public charging might seem daunting, but it becomes your lifeline on trips away from home. Apps like the Electroverse can make it much easier to navigate, as they can help you route plan, find your nearest charger, and even add the cost of the charge to your energy bill (if you have your Electroverse account attached to your Octopus Energy account).

To help you navigate all things public charging, we’ve put together a guide to using EV charging stations.

When learning about charging, you’re going to hear all sorts of speeds. The quickest and easiest way to explain it is:

• Slow charging, when your car would be stopped anyway - this is charging that is done through AC charging, using your Type 2 cable. You’ll often find these chargers at home, supermarkets, long-stay car parks, and lampposts.
• Fast charging - this charging is also done through your Type 2 cable. It usually refers to chargers that are between 7-22 kW.
• Rapid charging, when you are going somewhere further than your range - these are the chargers you’ll find mostly at service stations, and these use DC charging, using your CCS cable.

You’ll only really need to consider charging speeds when using public EV charging stations, as most home chargers charge at similar speeds.

Want to know how long it takes to charge your EV? Take a look at our blog: how long does it take to charge an electric car?

As the EV community grows, charger etiquette becomes increasingly important. Be considerate of other drivers by moving your car when you’ve finished charging. Also, try and avoid using charging stations when other options (like charging at home) are available.

And if you’re up to it, help each other out. A lot of new EV owners can get stuck when charging in public for the first time, it’s always helpful to have a friendly face with a bit more experience to give them a helping hand.

This is probably one of the most important questions when it comes to charging. And honestly, there’s no quick answer.

The cost of charging can depend on where you’re charging and when you’re charging. And if we wrote about all the ins and outs in this guide, it would be a little longer than we’d like.

So, instead, we’ve put together a separate blog - how much does it cost to charge an electric car?

The world of EV charging continues to evolve and every day there are new innovations improving convenience and accessibility.

One of the things top of the list for manufacturers is the research into the speed of charging - they want to be able to charge EVs as quickly (and as efficiently) as they can.

There’s even rumours of wireless charging technology and removable batteries. And then you also have the advancement of bidirectional charging capabilities (i.e. V2G), which enable EVs to serve as power sources for homes and grids.

Want to discover more about EV charging? Head over to our EV Charging Hub.