Whether you’re about to purchase your first fully electric vehicle (EV), or it’s just been delivered, our EV owners beginner’s guide is here to help you get the most from your new car, away from the world of petrol pumps and internal combustion.
From charging etiquette to tips for hot and cold temperature driving, we’ve collated our experiences of EV ownership along with advice from experts in the industry to get you started.
From EV to BEV, and everything in between
There’s a multitude of abbreviations linked to electric cars, and it’s important to understand each one, as this will help you when researching and talking to dealers, ensuring you’re getting the level of electrification you want.
The term ‘EV’ is used to refer to all, or some of the below hybrid/fully electric vehicle types, but sometimes it’s also used to refer to electric-only cars (BEVs).
The most basic form of electrification, MHEVs have a tiny battery alongside a fuel-guzzling internal combustion engine. They don’t allow for electric-only driving and only provide small efficiencies in acceleration, fuel economy and CO2 emissions.
Popularised by the Toyota Prius, hybrid electric vehicles come with a small battery alongside a fuel-powered engine, providing short bursts of low speed, electric-only driving. You may see this type of vehicle referred to as a ‘self-charging hybrid’, as you can’t plug an EV charger in to top up the battery.
These vehicles have an internal combustion engine and a larger battery (versus a HEV) which can be charged independently with an EV charger. With this larger battery, PHEVs can travel further on battery power (typically between 20 and 40 miles, but it varies by vehicle and battery size), while providing hundreds of miles with the petrol/diesel engine.
These vehicles are 100% battery powered, with no internal combustion engine. You’re totally reliant on the range from the battery, and an EV charger is required to recharge. These are commonly also referred to as EVs, but the term is also used to cover all hybrid and fully electric vehicles.
Charging your EV at home
For this article, we’ll use EV to refer to BEVs. With the nomenclature chat out of the way, let’s dive into your new vehicle (or if you still can't decide, check out our guide to the best electric cars). One of your thoughts upon arriving home for the first time may be related to charging.
If you’re fortunate enough to have a driveway, garage, or parking spot right next to your home, installing an EV charger is your best option.
However, it’s not essential as EVs can be charged from a traditional 3-pin plug socket in your home. You’ll need a dedicated 3-pin to AC charging cable, which will likely be an additional cost for you to purchase from the manufacturer. It seems the days when this cable was included with your EV purchase are now behind us.
While charging from a 3-pin socket does work, it’s incredibly slow and can take 18 or more hours to fully charge your car. A dedicated 7kW wallbox EV charger like Pod Point's Solo 3S is up to three times faster, with a full charge tending to take between four and eight hours.
Things can get confusing when people start talking kW and kWh. Your EV’s battery size is measured in kWh, while chargers deliver electricity to your EV’s battery in kW.
Jat Bansal, CPO (and EV owner) at destination charging solutions firm Roam, has a simple explainer for each. “First up we have kW (Kilowatt). This measures a charger’s speed. For example, a 50kW charger is faster than a 7kW charger. Then we have kWh (Kilowatt-hour). Think of this as your EV’s ‘fuel’, similar to gallons for petrol cars.” If you want to know more, just out our guide to electric car efficiency.
If a wallbox charger isn’t a cost you want to incur, or you live somewhere where a charger installation isn’t possible (such as a block of flats), you’ll need to utilise the public charging network.
Getting a home EV charger installed
Dealers may offer a free or discounted wallbox charger installation promotion when you buy your electric car. If they don’t, you're looking at between £800 and £2,000 for the charger and professional installation. The final price depends on the type of charger you opt for, the location you have it, and the work required to connect it to your home’s electricity supply.
We’d recommend getting your EV charger installed ahead of receiving your new electric car, ensuring you’re setup and ready to charge as soon as the vehicle arrives.
Speaking from experience of multiple wallbox installations over the years, as long as your electricity meter box is easily accessible and the charger is being installed in a sensible location, the process (for a trained installer) is relatively pain free and takes a few hours.
It’s worth having your Wi-Fi information and smartphone to hand, as you’ll likely need to connect the wallbox to your Wi-Fi network and/or install an app on your phone.
The cost of charging your EV at home
The cost of charging at home varies with the unit price of electricity. If we take the July-September 2024 electricity rate of 22.36p per kWh, the MINI Electric with a 32.6kWh battery costs roughly £8 to fully recharge. Charging cost calculation: ([unit rate] x [battery size])/100.
The MG4 EV Long Range with a 64kWh battery is around £15, while the Mercedes EQE with a 89kWh power pack is around £20.
Most of the time however, you won’t be charging from 0% to 100%, which will reduce the cost of each at-home session.
Some energy companies offer discounted EV charging rates at off-peak hours, and some offer free or discounted wallbox charger installation, so it’s worth investigating if you could save money by switching suppliers.
Charging your EV on the go
There are more than 72,000 public EV chargers available across the UK (as of November 2024), and that figure continues to grow as new sites are installed.
While that’s a sizable number of chargers, many offer slow speeds with a high proportion being lamppost and other on-street chargers. These installations have charging speeds of less than 50kW, which means you'll need several hours to replenish a decent amount of mileage for any significant onward travel.
Adrian Fielden-Gray, COO of EV charging network Be.EV says “The average lamppost charger is installed with a ‘slow’ unit (3kW-7kW), which can take well over 15 hours to fully charge your EV. This certainly won’t do the job if you don’t have much time.”
If you don’t have multiple hours to spare, you’ll want to seek out rapid (50-149kW) and ultra-rapid (150kW-300kW) chargers, which can give you a significant mileage boost in as little as 20 minutes.
When you do stop for a charge don’t wait for the battery to reach 100%, as Fielden-Gray notes “EV charging is different to filling up a petrol or diesel vehicle. Little and often is usually quicker than one long charge because of the ‘charge curve’ of an EV.”
“Typically, EV charging is quickest from 10%-50%, and really tails off beyond 80%. It’s best to maximise your time charging in the lower half of the curve where the highest speeds are. This may mean two 10%-50% charges versus one 10%-90% charge. Drivers trying to charge to 100% end up extending their charge time unnecessarily”
We’ve also had fascinating conversations with fellow EV drivers during charging stops, as we compare vehicles, swap tips for driving efficiency, and share our favourite electrified experiences. You don’t get that camaraderie at the petrol pump.
Fielden-Gray’s advice feeds nicely into the unique EV ownership quirk of charging etiquette. Some charging stations are busier than others, which can lead to wait times for a charger to open up.
You can help fellow EV drivers by ensuring you charge only for the distance you require, and moving your car to a non-charging spot if you’ve finished charging but aren’t ready to set off yet. Once you’ve charged, ensure you promptly move on to free up the bay for another driver.
You can easily keep an eye on your vehicle’s charge level by using the smartphone app - perfect if you want to visit a service station for lunch.
There’s a plethora of smartphone applications which provide charging station information, from locations plotted on a map and the type of charges available at each location, to the cost of charging and the ability to pay for your session.
Some apps require a monthly fee to access their streamlined payment services, but they’ll soften the blow by offering discounted charging rates (usually saving 5% to 15%) compared to arriving at a charger and tapping your bank card.
A couple of our favourite apps for finding (and paying for) EV charging stations are Octopus Electroverse (iPhone | Android) and Zapmap (iPhone | Android), but there are plenty of options out there. It’s worth researching options before opting for a service.
Yes! Tesla is opening up its Supercharger network to non-Tesla owners, giving EV drivers even more rapid-charging options across not only the UK, but Europe as well. Download the Tesla app on your smartphone, and you’ll be able to view the Superchargers open to non-Tesla owners.
Downloading and syncing your EV’s app
As well as a fully electrified drivetrain, EVs come with advanced technology rarely seen in ICE vehicles. As an EV owner, one of the first things you should do is download the manufacturer’s app on your phone.
You may need to enter your vehicle’s VIN number to link the app to your car, but the setup process is generally straightforward with easy step-by-step instructions.
The app will provide you with driving information and controls for your car. Exact functionality varies by brand and model, but most show the current charge level, estimated range, and charging progress if your EV is plugged into a charger.
Many allow you to lock and unlock doors, and send navigation information (such as your upcoming destination) to the vehicle before you get inside. It means you can plan your route the night before and send it to the car. Come the morning, the sat nav will be set and you can start driving right away.
Other functionality commonly offered in the apps included the ability to start the climate control remotely, including in some cases turning on the heated screens, heated/cooled seats and heated steering wheel. It means your car can be de-iced and the cabin toasty in the depths of winter, while in the summer the A/C can kick in before you step out the front door, for a sublimely cool cabin.
Do I have to download my EV’s app?
No, the car will still function without the associated smartphone app. The apps are there to provide convenience and some handy features, and they tend to be free - which is nice. We’d recommend downloading your vehicle’s app, even if it’s just to keep an eye on the charging state when you’ve plugged in at a service station and popped in for some food.
Planning a long journey
There are fewer EV charging stations (despite the growing numbers) than fuel stations. Add to that the fact EVs need to be plugged in for at least 20 minutes to achieve a desired recharge to continue a longer journey, and it’s no surprise you may worry about range.
The good news is, with a small amount of planning, long journeys in your electric car needn’t be difficult. There are plenty of tools available to help you plan your route, with your EV’s built-in sat nav likely able to factor in charging stops along your route. Plus, many of the charging apps we’ve previously mentioned also feature route planning with charging stops.
Even Google Maps has charging station information built-in, allowing you to find charges close by or on your route. As Fielden-Gray says, “just a few minutes of planning ahead can save you a bunch of worry on a longer trip.”
Extending Range
As a new EV owner, you may find yourself becoming obsessed with getting the most mileage from each and every charge.
Be it a gentler, more controlled foot on the accelerator, compromising on a lower speed during motorway driving, or limiting climate options - there are lots of small habits you can get into to improve efficiency.
Fielden-Gray recommends that “dropping your speed a few miles an hour can really increase your EV’s efficiency. Every mph slower you drive makes it easier to get down the road, leaving you with more miles from each charge.”
Meanwhile, Nicholas Shaw, Director of Operations at Dayinsure says “most EVs come with an eco-mode that reduces energy consumption by limiting acceleration and top speed”, which again can help eke out more miles from a charge.
And the more efficiently you’re able to drive not only means you’ll get more miles per charge, it also results in fewer - or shorter - trips to charging points, freeing them up for other EV drivers.
EVs are more than capable of running in winter. You may notice a small dip in range as the mercury drops, but it’s not significant and there are ways to ensure you’re getting the most from your car during cold weather.
Shaw explains that “cold weather can lower tyre pressure, increasing rolling resistance and reducing range. Regularly check and maintain your tyre pressure at the manufacturer’s recommended levels to boost efficiency and safety.”
Parking indoors or under cover can also help reduce freezing around your EV, and preconditioning the cabin while still plugged into a charger (i.e. remotely engaging the climate control to warm up the car) will reduce strain on the battery.
As well as engaging your EV’s eco driving mode, your vehicle may have specific modes for cold temperatures. It’s worth checking the manual, as these additional modes can help further protect range.
Shaw adds “Cold weather can affect charging times, so plan your journeys to include necessary charging stops, and use rapid chargers whenever possible to minimise downtime.”
Ian Johnston, Osprey Charging CEO highlights that “the battery will also rapid charge quicker if warmer, so driving a while before you re-charge will save you time overall.
“It’s best to re-charge rather than go below 10% battery in the cold weather, so taking five minutes to note the rapid charging stations on your route makes the journey smoother.”
Activating Eco Mode is always the first step when it comes to preserving range in extreme temperatures, while keeping the battery cool can help with efficiency when the mercury sores.
“In hot weather, it’s best to park your EV in the shade to keep the battery cool,” says Victor Zhang, UK Chief of Chinese EV manufacturer OMODA JAECOO.
Bansal adds “use pre-conditioning to cool the cabin and battery before hitting the road. This saves energy and helps extend your range” while flagging you should check “tyres are inflated to the recommended PSI. Properly inflated tyres reduce energy loss and improve overall range.”
Like with cold weather, preconditioning the car while it’s still plugged (in this case by switching on the A/C) can also save battery power.
It’s worth keeping an eye on your A/C when on the move too. Do you really need an arctic wind blowing through the vehicle at all times, or does a steady 19 to 20 degrees provide a comfortable cabin when the temperature outside is pushing 30?
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