Home charging basics
If you have an electric car, home charging is where you’ll do most of your charging and where you’ll save the most money. Public chargers are convenient for long journeys, but charging at home overnight is significantly cheaper.
The three plug options
Three-pin plug (granny charger): Every EV comes with a cable that plugs into a standard wall socket. It works, but it’s slow. You’ll get about 5-8 miles of range per hour of charging. Fine for topping up, but impractical as your main charging method. It also puts continuous load on a domestic socket, which isn’t ideal long term.
7kW wallbox (most common): This is what most people install. A dedicated charging unit wired into your consumer unit. It charges at about 25-30 miles of range per hour. Overnight (say 11pm to 7am), that’s enough to add 200+ miles. More than enough for most daily driving.
22kW wallbox (three-phase only): If your home has a three-phase electricity supply (most don’t), you can install a faster charger. Three times quicker than a 7kW unit. Rare in residential properties but common in commercial ones.
What a wallbox costs
The unit itself typically costs £300-800 depending on the brand and features. Installation adds another £300-800 depending on how far the charger is from your consumer unit and whether any additional electrical work is needed.
Total installed cost is usually £600-1,400. The OZEV grant can knock £350 off that if you qualify.
Popular brands include Ohme, Zappi, Hypervolt, Indra, Wallbox and Andersen. If you’re going on Intelligent Go, check the compatible chargers list first, as the smart scheduling feature only works with certain models.
What it costs to charge
This is where your electricity tariff makes a huge difference. The average UK household pays about 24.5p per kWh on a standard variable tariff (the Ofgem cap for Q1 2026 is 27.69p/kWh). On Intelligent Go’s overnight rate, you pay around 7p per kWh.
For a typical EV doing 8,000 miles per year:
- Standard rate (~24.5p/kWh): roughly £588 per year
- Intelligent Go overnight (~7p/kWh): roughly £168 per year
- Public rapid charger (~65-85p/kWh): roughly £1,560-2,040 per year
Home charging on a smart tariff is dramatically cheaper than both the standard rate and public chargers. The saving alone often pays for the wallbox within a year or two.
Use the EV calculator to get exact figures for your car and mileage.
Installation process
Choose a charger: Pick a model that suits your needs. If you want Intelligent Go’s smart scheduling, choose a compatible charger (Ohme, Zappi and Hypervolt are among the most popular).
Find an installer: Most charger manufacturers have approved installer networks. Some handle installation directly. Get at least two quotes.
Site survey: The installer visits (or does a virtual survey using photos) to check your electrical supply and plan the cable route. They’ll confirm whether your consumer unit can handle the additional load.
Installation day: Usually takes 2-4 hours. The installer mounts the charger, runs the cable to your consumer unit, installs a dedicated circuit breaker and tests everything.
Registration: The charger gets registered with the manufacturer’s app. You connect it to your WiFi and set up any smart features.
Smart charging vs dumb charging
A “dumb” charger starts charging as soon as you plug in and stops when the car is full. Simple.
A “smart” charger connects to WiFi and can be controlled remotely. You can schedule charging for specific times (like overnight when electricity is cheapest), set charging limits and monitor your energy use. Some smart chargers integrate directly with Octopus’s systems for automatic scheduling.
If you’re on any time-of-use tariff (Go, Intelligent Go, Agile), a smart charger is essential. Without one, you’d need to physically plug and unplug at specific times to hit the cheap windows.
Do I need to upgrade my electrical supply?
Most homes can handle a 7kW charger without any upgrades. The charger draws about 32 amps, which is within the capacity of a standard 100-amp household supply.
If you have particularly high electrical demand (large house, electric heating, multiple high-draw appliances), the installer will check during the site survey. In rare cases, you might need a supply upgrade from your DNO (distribution network operator), which can take several weeks and sometimes has a cost.