Is it realistic / feasible to own an EV without home charging in the UK?
Posted by Alicia2022_1@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 58 comments
Hi all,
Does anyone here run an electric car without home charging? How feasible is it to rely on public chargers day-to-day, and what’s your experience been like?
I live in a flat in outer London with no private parking, and I’m considering getting an EV through my company’s salary sacrifice scheme. Just trying to work out if it’s a sensible move or more hassle than it’s worth.
Cheers!
Limp_Mix5958@reddit
Yes, loads of people do.
Whether it is right for you depends on what kind of mileage you do.
sleepyprojectionist@reddit
I ran the maths for me and in terms of charging vs petrol I can save a few quid by going electric by virtue of being able to charge at work for 26p/kWh, which is about half the cost of some public chargers.
Eventually the plan is to cover our entire factory roof in solar panels and make the charging free. At that point I might be more tempted.
As it stands right now the slight saving on fuel wouldn’t make up for the increased insurance or lease payments compared to the thirteen year old shit box that I drive currently.
Amazing-Visual-2919@reddit
Some people have paid less for a new EV insurance because of all of the new safety kit on them.
My insurance stayed the same when I went from a Yeti to a Leaf a while back.
sleepyprojectionist@reddit
I was looking at going from a VW Up! to a Renault 5 and my insurance jumped from £300 a year to £960 a year.
truckosaurus_UK@reddit
I run an EV without home charging. I usually stop for about half an hour early on a Monday morning to get the cheap off-peak Tesla rates at the local motorway services on the way to work, whilst picking up a coffee.
Then just top off at the supermarket or retail park during the week while I do the shopping I would be doing anyway.
If you are a regular user of public charging then its worth having a couple of subscriptions (I have Tesla and Ionity) to get cheaper prices, rather than pay the full whack that infrequent chargers have to pay.
I've accepted I have to put in some effort to find (cheaper/faster) chargers rather than just popping into the nearest petrol station, and that I sometimes have to wait around for a few minutes to get some more power into the car.
But as a second hand car buyer I could get a much newer EV car for my budget compared to an ICE.
New_Line4049@reddit
My Dad does it. He has charging available at reasonable price at his place of work. I suspect most wont have access to charging at such a reasonable price though. And in that case, its probably not such a great idea.
nocloser-toheaven@reddit
Have owned an EV for near two months without home charging whilst we await the driveway being done (got the car as the previous was about to go bang any minute) fortunate enough to have a Connected Kerb charger a few mins away from home where I can leave on charge overnight during the off peak charging hours which are 44p kw and it’s working out a good chunk cheaper charging once a week with that than getting a tank of diesel every two weeks
Telematic-aardvark@reddit
Depends how much you drive it. I have a colleague who charges once every 2 weeks at a public charger and he doesn't mind. I'd be charging every week, and would hate it since I'd have to go out of my way to do so. Life is busy is as, without trying to schedule my life around a charging run
Worth looking into the local charges, how often you'd need to use them and the costs. That'll give you an idea what any cost savings look like, in line with your salary sacrifice
But honestly, some salary sacrifice schemes aren't even that good value. So for you, the answer might be to just go buy a cheaper petrol car and not focus on trying to make use of the salary sacrifice
Old_Housing3989@reddit
This. We live in a flat in London and rely on public street charging. Don’t do many miles and so only actually need to charge every couple of weeks. It’s fine. (Apart from the costs!)
alltorque1982@reddit
Agreed, I'm on my second car via salary sacrifice and it's jumped in price so much that at the end of this one I'm ending it and buying a hybrid. I'm on my second EV and also have a home charger but it's still not worth the stress ive had with public charging.
Pukit@reddit
I had a LR MY and no home charging. I charge it at work on a fairly cheap slow charger once a week. I got the LR as wanted to not have to charge it often. If I go on journeys I just use superchargers. Done nearly 18k and never charged it at home and never had an issue.
strormpilot@reddit
Yes ofc
Redditreallyannoysme@reddit
It's much more expensive but honestly, most importantly, way way way less fun. The best part of owning an EV is how much more it feels like your phone than it does a traditional car.
How much would you like it if you had to go out and plug in your phone to charge it?
getoutmywayatonce@reddit
The only person I know in London who has one without a private charger has a guaranteed charge at work. I’d consider one if that was available to me. Is that something that would be an option for you? Or would you be 100% dependent on the public network?
Mavericks7@reddit
One of the lads I know does the same. Charging at work is free. So he just does that. His fuel bill has gone from £120 a month to £0
steadvex@reddit
For low mileage I think it's entirely feasible and know a few who do.
If your doing a 100 miles a day though it would have to be a tesla for the cheap superchargers for me, charging out of peak pricing can sometimes be cheap than your home rate.
The way I look at it with costs, is some people buy a car because they enjoy it, if you enjoy driving an eV and it isn't cheaper than the equivalent petrol or diesel for fuel so what, if you like it go for it. Many people have big v8's that barely go further than most ev's to a tank and cost isane amount to run and maintain but it puts a smile on their face and they can afford it so they have one!
Although I guess with the eV it's location dependant, I'd imagine London would be fine, no sure in the lake District or along the south or east coast from my own experiences with public charging
firthy@reddit
I had to wait 2 months after delivery of my EV for my home charger to be installed and it was a bloody nuisance. It was middle of the winter so I had to sit in the dark with the heat on at charging points bored and chilly. Since I got it installed, I’ve never used a public charger as I found it such a nuisance.
ButterflyRoyal3292@reddit
This is an undisscussed problem amongst the political class.
These cars have their place and work well for people who have the luxury of charging at home.
FlatCapNorthumbrian@reddit
We use purely council chargers. It’s slightly cheaper than petrol/diesel, but not by much. Where we’re really saving quite a bit of money with EV compared to ICE is maintenance and wear and tear.
So it can still be worth having an EV without a home charger.
nikhkin@reddit
Not really, no. I recently looked into the feasibility of it.
While it is entirely possible, albeit inconvenient, to rely on public chargers, it wouldn't be cost effective if you do any serious miles and use the faster chargers.
Public chargers cost well above 50p per kWh if you want a decent charing rate. Using a Nissan Leaf as an example, they claim 4.5 miles per kWh with a 75kW battery. We all know that's not true, but I'll take them at their word.
That would be £37.50 to charge it from empty and get you 337.5 miles.
If you fill up with petrol at £1.50 per litre, that would be 25 litres. 337.5 miles would be the equivalent of 61 mpg, which is great.
However, if you use any of the more pricey chargers, they end up around 80p per kWh. That would cost £60 to charge from empty. If you filled up for £1.50 per litre, that's getting you 40 litres. 337.5 miles on 40 litres would be 38 mpg, which would be pretty poor for a modern hybrid of that size.
On top of this, there's the upcoming changes to VED. 3p per mile, on top of the cost of the public charger, would be very expensive. 10,000 miles per year would cost you £300.
This is the best case scenario, if you actually hit the claimed range from Nissan and don't have any battery degradation.
Broccoli--Enthusiast@reddit
Only if you have somewhere else you can charge it cheap/free
If you are only using public chargers, petrol would be similar if not cheaper and far more convenient
_Hoping_For_Better_@reddit
Yes, I've friends in London that do, they've had the car over a year now and it doesn't seem to be a problem for them. If you are forgetful I wouldn't, but if you are a good planner or organised it's doable.
Fluffy-Astronomer604@reddit
Old work colleague didn’t have home charger, he used to charge at local Toby Carvey on a Sunday and have Sunday lunch.
ramakitty@reddit
Not an answer to OPs question but this really highlights how the government needs to provide some incentive for freeholders of leasehold properties to permit by default charger installation, particularly in big cities where the impact on pollution will be most significant.
I don’t have an electric car, or even drive, but I can see how valuable this would be to better air quality, and also increases the value of my property in the long run.
Geezer-McGeezer@reddit
Yes, but then I can charge at work.
AdministrativeShip2@reddit
My work has free charging, but the facilities manager is always requesting people to move once they've charged.
Some days people are almost fighting if its the end of the day and they haven't been able to fill up.
Cultural-Meaning5172@reddit
Yes! Got an urban arrow and never looked back. The ev has a battery pack that I just take inside and charge of the office or home
BertieBus@reddit
My parents bought electric (live rural) and charged every weekend when they went to the next village on a weekend, if they went to the supermarket they would also charge their.
If they went out for the day etc they would either stop at services and use the quick charge or charge at whatever town they visited.
Working_Area_7351@reddit
WHY !!!
Lassitude1001@reddit
I don't have a home charger - planning on it when I can afford it & the dropped kerb. My situation is an odd one though that won't really be realistic for most.
I work in retail, so have the ability to use the 22kw charger in the car park over the duration of my shift due to no parking time limit. Most people would only be able to charge for ~2h. I can leave mine on as long as it needs to charge.
Background-Drama-386@reddit
I do 12k miles a year and 99% of charging is at home. On cheap rate. For me there is no way I’d consider an EV if paying public charging rates. More expensive than petrol at least it was before Iran started.
Depends on your motivation but if it’s to save money do your sums very carefully.
PigletAlert@reddit
Depends on how many miles you do and what the charging infrastructure is like near you. If you’d only need to put a bit in once a week you could do it when you go to the supermarket. You might have on street charging close to home, that makes it very feasible. The other thing I’d check is where your nearest rapid charger is and how costly/popular it is.
thegamebws@reddit
I had an EV without charge for couple years when the Tesco chargers were free was doable but for longer distances range the public charging is more expensive than fuel it's ridiculous. If public chargers were reasonable could work but the maths don't add up ended up getting rid of it for diesel golf 65mpg 2.0 best decision fill up and drive non stop where ever you want and no charging for 30 mins.
Nutshell doable if you don't care about cost of public charging. Without home charging for me unless your rich forget it.
andyone100@reddit
If there’s a fast charger near you it’s doable, but you’re exchanging ease of fill for a nicer ride-a nicer ride that, with the cost of public fast charging is likely to cost you more than petrol/diesel. Do you have free charging at work? If not, why bother?
I wouldn’t.
thetrivialstuff@reddit
I'm currently renting one, and the place we're staying has street parking only and no nearby chargers.
If I were living here full time I would definitely buy one. It's been fine, and we have never needed to make a dedicated "time to refuel the car" trip, because there are enough public chargers at all the places we were going anyway. We just take a few seconds to plug in on arrival, and after shopping or whatever, the car has always acquired more charge than it took to get there.
The big caveat to this is that energy prices in the UK are a bit insane, especially public fast chargers - back in Canada the most expensive fast DC charger in my area costs about 17p per kWh, so seeing prices as high as 90p/kWh here was a rude shock. The most I've actually paid is 69p, and usually I find chargers priced around 44p to 60p.
I'm not actually saving money over having an economical petrol car - but with current petrol prices I am breaking even, even with the horrible charger prices. I would still buy an EV because:
ijs_1985@reddit
When I had my first EV I had to wait a few months for the charger to be installed and it was a nightmare
Ended up borrowing a 3 pin trickle charger from a colleague at work; would take 2 days to charge it!
tom_bull@reddit
I do it. Works fine. Very expensive.
Dreadpirateflappy@reddit
My brother in law manages with his Skoda Enyaq, and says it's no bother at all.
but there is no way I could have coped.
I had a granny charger for the first 2 months of owning an EV before I got a proper charger, and that was just about doable, doing a round trip to a charger every week would have done my head in.
Smart_Addendum@reddit
Your savings are gone and you need to check your own parking situation if you will get a spot easily.
Automatic-Use-6714@reddit
If you can find a used tesla with SC01 status they qualify for lifetime free supercharging as long as it wasnt bought back and sold again by Tesla (easy to check). Then you can charge at any tesla charger for free.
Literally takes 20 mins to get to 80% charge.
jake_burger@reddit
I tried it for a week and it was incredibly inconvenient and actually a lot more expensive than petrol is.
In my opinion toy need a charger at home or work or or doesn’t make sense
epicmindwarp@reddit
The one person I know that owned one lived in a flat and would have to charge it at the public chargers. Ended up selling the electric car because it was too expensive to charge on the street and too much hassle to find a three-point.
Did_OJ_Simpson_do_it@reddit
This is funny because I'm picking up an EV in a few days and I don't have a home charger. Luckily, there is a public charger about a 1 min walk away. I think it's pretty feasible especially since I work from home so I don't need to worry about commuting.
Armodeen@reddit
Can you do it? Yes. Is it really advisable? No. I am on my 4th EV and the first one we had no charger for 6 months. Is annoying having to go sit on a public charger for 30 mins ish a couple of times a week. I tried to see it as ‘me time’ and read or watch a show I liked, but it was still annoying and I was glad to be able to stop.
It also costs a lot more now than it did then. You aren’t really saving that much compared to ICE.
Melon_Hands@reddit
I have a company EV with no home charger. I have an IONITY subscription for £105pa that gives me a rate of 43p/kWh. I make a small amount of money on all business mileage (which is 15p per mile). Really not bothered about the profit, but happy I have a modern car instead of a 56 plate Corsa.
buttnuggetmaster@reddit
Does depend how much you drive. Public chargers aside from being inconvenient are generally expensive. If I couldn't even use a granny charger at home, i don't think I'd bother.
InternationalNinja29@reddit
Yes, there's a decent amount of lamp post chargers and street level chargers. I get 340ish miles off a full charge and usually costs about £25-30 when I charge (not from empty). Don't have to charge all the time and when I do a long drive can use the DC rapids that will get me to 80% in 10-15 minutes.
It is definitely cheaper to have your own home charger but it's not an issue in terms of access to charging or anymore than I'd be spending on petrol.
TazTazTAZTazTaz_@reddit
That’s like buying a house but the bathroom is 2 streets away.
MJsThriller@reddit
If you only need to use the bathroom once a week
gggggu-not@reddit
Hassle wise, even with the current infrastructure, it’s pretty easy to find a nearby charger that’s available, especially around London.
Your main issue is cost. Charging at home, with the right tariff is ultra cheap, I can fully charge my EV for less than a £5 and I get 250ish miles from that.
Public charging is a joke sometimes in regard to cost. It’s going to cost you the same if not more than petrol (when prices return to normal) to charge on some of the fast chargers.
Unless you can fit the charging around your lifestyle, you are going to need to locate a fast charger, if you have a reliable fast charger close by that’s reasonable, then yes it’s certainly doable, otherwise unless you have home charging, I wouldn’t bother just yet.
ClydeB3@reddit
It's very doable, but can get expensive and takes a bit more planning.
Public chargers vary dramatically in price, if you haven't already it's worth checking out Zapmap and/or Electroverse to make sure there's plenty near you (and their prices)
I have an electric car without a home charger and just work it into my routine (eg, choosing a gym and supermarket with chargers), and now I'm used to it it's fine. I've never had any major issues.
Serious_Badger_4145@reddit
I think it depends where you live. By me, no chance. But in London? That's a different story. You should look up how close to you charging is. If there's public charging where you park anyway is a no brainer. Second you need to look at the cost of charging using public points and work out how much it'll cost you in an average month. Does your work have charging? All things to consider
PastRecedes@reddit
Lived in Zone 2 flat with no private charger
We use slow lamppost chargers over night, local McDonald's for charging, Tesla (don't have a Tesla but same charger and some Tesla spots let any car charge)
It is definitely feasible. In my borough (Lambeth) there's LOADS of street chargers. Use ZapMap to check if they're in use but we have about 10 within 3-5 mins drive so there's enough. Fri / sat evening into night are busy so we just don't charge then.
Bikeboy1982@reddit
Don't live in London, but another bigish city. I own an EV without a home charger (only have on street parking) and it's 100% fine. We're lucky that our city council provide slow chargers in some of their car parks which are cheaper than the super fast ones but in the 18 months I've had my EV (through my company scheme) I've never had an issue with not being able to home charge. I think range is better than people think, especially for city driving and most people over estimate how far they drive. When I've done longer journeys I've just used the super fast chargers which work out still less than petrol overall.
People will say you need a hone charger. It's likely easier to have one, but it's 100% do able without.
Koda614@reddit
It can be done. I have done it since 2011 starting with a Peugeot iOn with a tiny 14kWh battery pack, and now worked my way up to an Ioniq 5 with an 84kWh battery. I've watched charging infrastructure develop and grow, more chargers everywhere, faster charging, the Electric Highway transformed from a 3-Pin socket on a pole to 350kW etc.
Despite the advancements, my advice would remain the same today as it did 15 years ago. Only do this if you are a die-hard EV enthusiast, retired, or able to get a guaranteed charge at work. Otherwise it will be varying levels of invonvenient and often quite costly too. You'll probably grow to hate EVs if not done right.
space_coyote_86@reddit
I bought an EV a couple of weeks ago and my home charger isn't up and running yet and I wouldn't be happy to have the EV and not charge at home.
It really depends on where you could charge it and how often you'd need to charge it. If you can charge at work then I guess it's no problem, or if you have a quick enough charger (50kw at minimum) where you do your shopping, then maybe you could manage.
TommyDickFingers85@reddit
I don't have a home charger but there is a relatively cheap charger about 2 minute drive away at the local community hospital (30p). Between that and charging at work I get by
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