How to choose a home EV charger: power, phases, smart features and safety

A home charger is the most useful thing you can buy for an electric car. Most EV owners do the bulk of their charging overnight, so a good setup means you wake up to a full battery and rarely need public chargers. Choosing one comes down to five questions: how much power you really need, what your home's supply can take, which plug, which smart features, and how it will be installed safely.

Step 1: work out how much power you actually need

A home charger delivers AC power, and the car's own onboard charger converts it to DC for the battery. That onboard charger sets the ceiling. If your car accepts 7.4 kW AC, an 11 or 22 kW wallbox won't charge it any faster.

A quick way to estimate charging time: energy you need (kWh) ÷ charger power (kW), plus about 10% for losses. Topping up from 20% to 80% on a 60 kWh battery needs about 36 kWh:

• at 2.3 kW (a portable cable in a household socket): about 17 hours;
• at 7.4 kW: about 5.5 hours;
• at 11 kW: about 3.5–4 hours.

If you drive 40–50 km a day, you need only 6–10 kWh a night, and even a slow setup refills that while you sleep.

Step 2: check what your home's supply can handle

The typical power levels differ by region:

Before you buy, look at your main fuse or service capacity and what else draws power at night: an electric oven, a heat pump, a boiler. In the US, a Level 2 charger usually needs a dedicated 240 V circuit rated at 125% of the charger's current, so a 40 A charger sits on a 50 A breaker. In Europe, check whether your home has single- or three-phase supply. Some cars charge on only one or two phases, which caps them at 3.7 or 7.4 kW on a three-phase wallbox.

If the supply is tight, choose a charger with dynamic load balancing. It measures the whole house and turns charging down when the kettle and oven are on, instead of tripping the main fuse.

Step 3: tethered or socket, and which plug

• Connector: Europe uses Type 2 for AC charging. In North America it's J1772 or Tesla's NACS (SAE J3400), which many brands are adopting. Adapters exist, but a matching plug is simpler.
• Tethered (cable attached): just grab and plug in, the most convenient for daily use.
• Untethered (socket): neater, works with any cable and car, but you carry or store a cable.

Cable length matters more than people expect. Measure from the wall to the car's charging port, which may be at the front, side or rear, and add some slack.

Step 4: smart features worth paying for

• Scheduling for cheap night tariffs. The car app often does this too, but a charger that knows your tariff is more reliable.
• Solar surplus charging, if you have panels: the charger follows your spare solar output.
• OCPP support, an open protocol that lets you switch apps or energy suppliers without replacing the hardware.
• A certified energy meter (MID in Europe) if an employer reimburses home charging for a company car.
• Wi-Fi or Ethernet plus an access lock (app, RFID card or PIN) if the charger is outside.

In some countries smart functions are required. In the UK, for example, new home charge points must have them by law. Ask your energy supplier as well: some tariffs only give their cheapest rate to approved chargers.

Step 5: installation and safety

A wallbox should be installed by a qualified electrician. They check the supply, size the cable and breaker, and fit the right earth-leakage protection. EV charging needs residual-current protection that can also detect DC fault current: either a charger with built-in 6 mA DC detection plus a Type A RCD, or a Type B RCD. Many wallboxes already include the DC detection.

Check local paperwork too. In Germany, for instance, wallboxes up to 11 kW must be registered with the grid operator and more powerful units need its approval. Outdoor units should have a suitable IP rating and be mounted where the cable won't lie across a footpath.

To keep the battery healthy once you're charging at home, see our EV battery care guide.