Charging your EV

You can fully charge or top up your EV at home or at the growing network of public chargers around the country.  The number of public chargers is growing all the time, and the government aims to have charging ‘hubs’ every 150-200kms on New Zealand’s main highways by 2028.  So, there should be options in your hometown or any other town you might like to visit in your travels around New Zealand.

Charging your EV at home

The bulk of EV charging (90% +) though is expected to be done at people’s homes. For many of us a simple three-point plug can be sufficient to charge our EV at home. But with the growing size and range of batteries available in new EV’s, some owners are looking to install one of the many home chargers available in New Zealand (link to website), especially if you have more than one EV at your property. These chargers are normally mounted on a wall in your garage or house and can recharge you EV much faster than a conventional house plug set up would.

In deciding what sort of charging, you need at home you’ll need to consider the size and range of your EV, and the typical daily mileage you use it for. Will you just need to top your EV up every couple of days, or will it need a full re-charge frequently? Bigger battery vehicles may take many hours to charge from empty on a basic three-point home plug, so you may need to consider a faster wall mounted charger.

If you find you do need a home wall charger, then you may need to think about the impact this has on the rest of your household energy needs and use. These chargers can use up to two to three times the electricity load of the rest of your house. If you’re not careful, using them can impact the other things you do with electricity for at home, like cooking, cleaning, or keeping your house warm. That’s why it’s best to look at charger models that are ‘smart’ and can be programmed to charge at times that you’re not using other appliances in the house, and when demand on the whole electricity network is low or “off-peak”.