Get an electric vehicle. It may just be your best decision EVer.

I worked for the past few years in the nascent electric vehicle (EV) charging industry, specifically in the "blue sky" early stage offer development area. This meant I got the chance to interact with early adopters as well as regular folks who are interested in getting an EV but haven't switched as yet. It used to be the biggest barriers to switching to an EV were high vehicle cost and lack of battery range. With many mass market EVs already on the market, the biggest concern for most would-be switchers is now "where would I charge the EV?". This seems to be driven mainly by the "invisibility" of EV charging stations versus "gas stations" along the usual transit routes. Once folks understand that, with an EV, the gas station can - for many - come home, any last resistance is squeezed out of the sinews.

Owning an EV means that - for many - the "gas station" can come home. However, it takes a bit to prepare the home....like you would before a baby or pet arrives.

What is "home charging" and how can I get it?

Charging an EV is somewhat like charging a mobile phone i.e. plug in overnight and top up if you can during the day. However, to safely charge your EV at home, you should get a dedicated home charging unit. A standard 3 pin plug with an electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) cable should only be used as a last resort. Given the complexities of setting up a home charger, it may be worth your while to get a professional home charging company like bp pulse or pod point to help you with a few things prior to installing a home charger, in particular -

Checking your home's incoming electricity supply has a 80A or 100A fuse installed. Charging an EV at home is like charging a number of electric ovens or dishwashers all at once so you need to ensure your electricity supply can handle the extra load. The power distribution network operator or DNO (the company that owns and operates the power lines and infrastructure that connect the network to homes) may have labelled your mains fuse box with the max incoming Amps but, if in doubt, email your local DNO to confirm the fuse type they installed at your property.

Checking your home has a "smart meter" installed. There have been 16 million smart meters already installed in UK homes so check with your energy supplier if yours is one. If not, ask them to do it for free. Having a smart meter will help a lot with selecting EV-friendly lower cost electricity tariffs which you will undoubtedly want to switch to after your power-hungry EV is "refueling" overnight via your home charger.

Checking if you need planning permission. For the vast majority of home charger installations, you won't need it. However, if you live in a listed building or don't have off-street parking, you may need it. For more info, check this helpful planning portal Link.

Get a professional to install it. A typical EV home charger installation (including the purchase of the charger) can cost upwards of ￡1,000. Getting a professional installer will make "preparing the nursery" for the EV to come home that much easier.

The benefits of home charging far outweigh the effort needed to enable it

The benefits of home charging - access to cheaper recharging cost, scheduling the charge while you sleep, connecting it to other home energy generation or management devices that help lower further your home's CO2 footprint - far far outweigh the effort required to get one and, as mentioned above, getting a professional installer will make "preparing the nursery" for the EV to come home that much easier.

"I don't have off-street parking. How will I charge my EV if I get one?"

The vast majority of early EV adopters in the UK, elsewhere in Europe and the US have home chargers. It becomes more of a challenge to convince folks who live in homes without off-street parking that they won't suffer from regular "charging anxiety" if they switched from an ICE car to an EV. Its true that - even if many are not in visible locations - there are already more than 36,000 public charge points (PCPs) up and down the UK which works out to a ratio of ~10 EVs to 1 PCP (far fewer than the 3,400 ICE cars per gas station ratio - Link). Of course you're not comparing apples with oranges given average "refueling" speeds etc. but EV charging infrastructure is ramping up quickly. Already, there are many new product & service offerings from EV charging companies in the market that help to make it easy to charge regardless of where you and your EV "sleep" at night. For example:

• Charge while at work. Many folks can already charge their car during working hours and government's workplace charging scheme (WCS) provides support towards the up-front costs of the purchase and installation of electric vehicle charge-points, for eligible businesses, charities and public sector organisations across the UK. If your workplace has parking, I'd suggest lobbying them to apply for a voucher (as it takes time to get installed even if you're lucky enough to be able to work from home right now).
• "Free" charging miles and/or flexible out-of-home EV charging subscriptions. Some EV companies offer you free charging miles or access to public charging stations for a limited time. Existing Tesla owners can offer prospective buyers 1,000 miles of free Supercharging if you use his/her "referral link" to buy a new Tesla car (you can use my unique referral link when ordering one). BMW i's ChargeNow service from BMW offers new owners 3 months' free public charging after you buy one of their EVs. As well, if you choose to lease an EV instead of buying one outright, some companies now offer "free" charging as part of a monthly lease (the Elmo Drive startup offers it as an optional upgrade). Further, a few EV charging companies like bp pulse offer Netflix or Amazon Prime style subscriptions that enable you to charge your EV for one low monthly cost at thousands of public charge points located at gas stations, in parking lots and on high streets across the country. OVO Energy offers the same bp pulse plus subscription for free if you are on their "EV Everywhere" home energy plan.
• Neighborhood "rent-a-charge-point". Some of the thousands of folks in the UK with home chargers already installed have signed up to "rent" out their chargers to neighbors with EVs in an effort to recoup their installation costs faster (the first ￡1,000 earned are tax free). Check if you may be able to access a charger on your street via ‘peer to peer’ platforms such as Zap-Map‘s Zap-Home and Zap-Work, Just Park, Co-Charger and BookmyCharge. I haven't signed up my home charger to one of these P2P platforms as yet but am thinking about it once pandemic restrictions ease.
• EV charging points on street lamp posts. Government and the private sector have committed ￡millions to increasing the number of EV charging points available across the country in the next few years, especially ones that let you top up your EV with 100 miles or more in 15-20 mins. We shouldn't however forget the humble residential street upon which millions of EVs will rest every night. This is why I love UK startups like Char.gy which has developed a low power charger that fits neatly onto street lampposts. They can help you lobby for your local council to provide residents with on-street electric vehicle charging near your home too. Other companies that are helping to increase on-street charger numbers include a new one I've also signed up to i.e. UK energy disruptor Octopus Energy's joint program with Ubitricity aptly called "Electric Juice Network" (its a bit London-centric but a brilliant initiative still).

So its possible folks to own an EV without feeling any charging angst - even if you can't get a home charger installed. If you want to know why you shouldn't be waiting any longer to ask Santa for an EV, please read this post (Link). Finally, if you want to know why I think owning an EV is a gift that keeps on giving, please read this post (Link).

All views my own and no gifts were offered/accepted in exchange for mentions in this article of some of the useful sources of EV charging info available. (Disclaimer: I work for bp pulse's parent co, bp). Let me know if you have questions about anything discussed in this post as - to paraphrase Tesco - "every little helps" to accelerate the transition to sustainable transportation.