Charging is probably the most talked
about part of electric car ownership, but you know what, it's not as
complicated as you might think. I agree because actually all
you have to do is plug in and wait -
that was a short video. You really struggle with your
attention span at times don't you? What?
Wookie! I think we better hand this
one off to our reporter on the front line of charging - Nikki Shields. Well thank you Ginny and I am glad
that you have come to me because, uh well i like to think of myself as a bit of a
charging ninja within the Electrifying crew so without further ado, let's start with the basics. Let's start with the science part, because there are two ways of charging - AC
and DC. AC stands for alternating current, which effectively means slow, then DC stands
for direct current which means rapids. Now it makes sense because when you're at home
you'll be using AC charging which can take hours, or you'll probably be charging overnight if you're
actually at home, then when you're out and about you'll be using DC charging which is great because
ultimately you want to crack on with your life. Oh now you can use the public DC chargers once or
twice a week to top up if you don't have access to home charging. Also remember you don't have
to hang around with your car while the battery fills up, so you can pop to the gym, do your
grocery shopping, get your life admin done. But how fast you charge depends on a few things.
One, how fast the charger is you're plugged into. At home a wall box comes in two flavours
- generally 3.6 and 7.2 kilowatts and they see a full battery
charged in several hours. Kind of like a slow cooker charger. If you're at a
public charger you'll find that speeds really vary from 3.6 to 350 kilowatts and lots in between.
The higher the number means the faster the charging speed and ideally you'll want
to look for 50 kilowatts and above unless you're planning to be there for
a few hours. One of these 350 kilowatt charges can top a car with up to 100
miles of range in the time it takes you to grab a coffee. They're gonna have to keep
an eye on my caffeine intake at this rate. Anyway, these are the kind of charges that you
want to keep an eye out for, because they're perfect for topping up those extra few miles on
a longer journey to get you home, and the great thing is that it barely takes any more time than
a traditional fuel stop which brings me onto.. How long it takes to charge any kind of car
will mainly depend on how big your battery is. The bigger the battery, the
longer it takes obviously, but you don't need to completely
charge the battery all of the time, as most of the journeys you'll do will be
surprisingly short. If you don't need the full range then just charge up to 80% and that
will help the health of the battery cells. Also it takes a disproportionately
longer time to charge that last 20%. Now it isn't just chargers that come
with different speeds, cars do too. Some cars can charge faster than others.
Take for example a car that has a maximum charge rate of 50 kilowatts. Now you could still
use a rapid charger of 150 kilowatts, however that car will only charge at a maximum rate
of 50 kilowatts, therefore if you're paying for a rapid charger you're not really getting
the benefit, so it doesn't seem like there'd be much point in spending the money. Now
some cars do come with bigger batteries. Bigger batteries do have the option of having faster charging, but once again if that's
not something that you're going to be using on a regular basis, it might
not be worth the investment. Now these days there are about four different
standard cables available. Don't worry you don't need to travel with all four in the boot
of your car because you'll quickly discover which cable you need for your own car. But when
you are out and about using public chargers, there's usually a couple of cables attached plus a
couple of different connectors so you're unlikely to ever arrive at a charging spot that doesn't
have a cable or a connector that you can use. The first and most common is called
a type 2 and that uses this top bit of the socket. Usually to plug into a slower AC charger like the one you have at home or the
ones that are popping up on some lamp posts. You'll need to use your
own cable for these though. The second one is called CCS and that's
for rapid charging and the cable will always be attached to the charging station. You usually have to remove this little extra
rubber cap to get it into the socket and this is the one that we really like
because it means you'll be topping up quickly. If your car doesn't have the extra bit at the
bottom, then you can't use the bigger rapid chargers but that's probably because the battery
in your car is small and probably doesn't need to. The third one is the one that
comes with a three pin plug on the end and generally a little box in the middle.
This is what most people refer to as the granny charger because it's the slowest form of juice.
Great in a pinch but be prepared to wait. It's also worth noting that if your
car has a Nissan or Lexus badge you might also have something called a CHAdeMO
socket - this is basically just another type of plug for fast charging that these manufacturers
use. It looks different, but works in exactly the same way and on older electric cars you'll
find a type 1 charger, but unless you're buying an older second-hand EV they are less common,
but don't worry you can't accidentally plug a car into the wrong charger. The worst that
can happen is that it won't start charging. Now if you're worried about someone pinching
your cable while charging, well don't be, because as soon as you plug in it actually locks
in place and only you with the keys can unlock it. Now with some cars you can actually set it
to release the charging cable once the car is fully charged to allow others to use the
charging point. It's also worth remembering where your charge flap is - some cars have
it where the petrol flap would usually be, some have it on the front wing and
some have it right on the nose. I quite like those because it means you
don't have to reverse into a charging space. Now when you're charging at home the cost will
simply be added to your electricity bill and if you're using a tariff like Octopus Energy GO
it's really simple to see how much it's cost you. You can actually set your car to charge
overnight when electricity is at its cheapest, which is pretty smart, but it's also great for the
environment because it helps to balance the grid by making best use of renewables when demand
for power is low. When you're out and about you generally pay more with an extra cost
for the convenience of really fast charging, so hooking up to a 350 kilowatt charger will
generally cost more than a 50 for example. If you do end up charging at a more expensive
station, EVs can be set to charge to a specific percentage, and then automatically stop
charging. So just set the car to stop at the required amount and then you're good to go.
It's also worth checking the price before you start charging to as some suppliers cost
more than double the price of others. Now much like fuel stations tend to be run
by a whole raft of different companies, the same applies for charging stations. So
there are different brands out there they all do charge slightly differently, but don't
worry, it is still the same electricity. Octopus Energy has a scheme called
Electric Juice Network where it does exactly what it says on the tin.
It's a network of reliable slick charging providers, which gives you
access through one charge card to thousands of chargers on the scheme, but then produces
just one bill which is super handy because if you're an Octopus Energy home electricity user
then you can just get it automatically added onto your home electricity bill.
Nice and convenient. But all new chargers now have to come with easy
contactless charging by law so you just plug your car in, authorise payment, and off you go.
You might pay a little bit more than if you join the club, but it's convenient,
especially if you don't charge that often. There are more and more charges popping up all
over the place which is brilliant news however if you're doing a longer journey just for peace
of mind, it is worth doing a bit of planning. Fail to prepare and prepare to fail couldn't be more
true when it comes to driving an electric vehicle. The good news is there are plenty
of apps to help you with this. They show you stuff like where the charges are
from all different companies, how fast they are and whether they're currently being
used. Some will even plot your route via the most appropriate charger
according to your car and its range. The more general ones that we really like include
Zap Map, A Better Routeplanner, and Wattsup! Now some cars actually come with
their own navigational systems but they tend not to be quite as up-to-date.
Although chargers are getting more reliable, it's worth having a backup plan in case
it's broken or occupied when you get there. You don't want to be rolling in on zero
percent to find the only charger is broken. And that is the basics on how
to charge an electric car. Hopefully you found this little guide useful but
if you do want to know more then please pop over to Electrifying.com where we have lots
more information on everything electric.
