Home charging basics

If you have a driveway, garage or another safe private parking space, home charging is usually the cheapest and least stressful way to run an electric car. Public chargers still matter for longer journeys and homes without off-street parking, but most EV drivers who can charge at home will want their everyday miles to come from a domestic tariff.

Quick answer

For most homes, the sensible setup is a 7kW smart wallbox on a dedicated circuit. Pairing it with Octopus Go or Intelligent Octopus Go can make regular overnight charging much cheaper than using a standard unit rate, especially if you drive enough miles to shift a meaningful amount of electricity into the cheap window.

That does not mean every household needs the most expensive charger. If your car can schedule charging reliably, a simpler compatible charger may be enough. If you want Intelligent Octopus Go to schedule charging automatically, check whether Octopus can integrate with your car or charger before you buy.

The three plug options

Three-pin plug, sometimes called a granny charger: This can work for occasional top-ups, but it is slow. You might get around 5 to 8 miles of range per hour and it places a long continuous load on a domestic socket. Treat it as a backup or short-term option unless a qualified electrician has confirmed the socket and wiring are suitable.

7kW wallbox, the usual home choice: This is what most people install. A dedicated charging unit is wired into your consumer unit, usually adding roughly 25 to 30 miles of range per hour depending on the car. A normal overnight session is enough for most weekly driving patterns, even if you do not charge from empty to full.

22kW wallbox, only for three-phase homes: Some homes have a three-phase supply, but most do not. A 22kW charger can be useful where the supply and vehicle both support it, although many cars still accept a lower AC charging rate. It is not the default residential choice.

The useful current points are:

• Octopus sells home charging as a package of charger, standard installation, tariff fit and ongoing support, but the live flow still asks for your postcode and property details before showing what is available.
• Octopus’s current charger family is built around 7.4kW units and says its listed chargers work with Octopus Go and Intelligent Octopus Go. Still check the exact model, tethered or untethered cable, signal strength, solar or battery behaviour and support route before you buy.
• Intelligent Octopus Go needs a compatible smart meter and either a compatible car or charger connection. If Octopus schedules a smart charge, the app schedule can explain what happened, but the bill still depends on half-hourly meter readings and the smart-tariff terms.
• GOV.UK’s home chargepoint grant support is targeted. The 2026 £500 grant is mainly for renters, flat owners, landlords, workplaces and approved on-street parking solutions, with conditions and approval steps. It is not a blanket discount for every owner-occupier with a driveway.
• A home charger needs safe private parking or an approved cable route. If a cable would cross public land, check the council, landlord, freeholder and installer position before ordering hardware.

What a wallbox costs

A standard home charger installation often lands somewhere around £900 to £1,400, depending on the charger, cable route, consumer unit, earthing requirements and whether extra electrical work is needed. A long cable run, older consumer unit or awkward parking position can push the quote higher.

The OZEV grant changed from 1 April 2026. The main home grants for renters, flat owners, residential landlords and households with eligible on-street parking now run until 31 March 2027 with a maximum grant of £500 per socket. They are not a general discount for every driveway-owning homeowner, and you should normally wait for approval before the charger is installed.

Octopus’s current charger comparison includes Octopus Charge, Ohme and Hypervolt options, while the wider market still includes brands such as Zappi, Indra, Wallbox and Andersen. If you are considering Intelligent Octopus Go, use the live Octopus eligibility check as well as our compatible chargers guide. Compatibility can depend on the exact car, charger, account setup, smart-meter status and whether the charger has the mobile or WiFi signal it needs.

What it costs to charge

This is where your electricity tariff makes a big difference. The Ofgem cap for Q3 2026 is 26.1p/kWh, and Octopus Flexible typically sits close to that. On Intelligent Go’s overnight rate, you pay 8.0p/kWh.

For a typical EV doing 8,000 miles per year:

• Standard rate (25.1p–27.7p/kWh): roughly £602–£664 per year
• Intelligent Go overnight (8.0p/kWh): roughly £192 per year
• Public rapid charger, often around 65p to 85p/kWh: roughly £1,560 to £2,040 per year

Those are broad comparisons, not promises. Your real cost depends on your car’s efficiency, how many miles you drive, how often you can charge at home and whether you use the cheap window consistently. Use the EV calculator to put in your own mileage and tariff.

Installation process

1. Check your parking first: A wallbox only works neatly if you have a safe place to park and a practical cable route. If you rely on on-street parking, check local authority rules before assuming a cable channel or pavement solution is allowed.

2. Choose a charger: Pick a model that suits your car, parking and tariff plans. If Intelligent Octopus Go matters to you, do the compatibility check before ordering, not after installation.

3. Get quotes: Most charger manufacturers have approved installer networks and some handle installation directly. Two quotes can be useful, especially if the cable run or consumer unit looks complicated.

4. Site survey: The installer checks your supply, consumer unit, earthing, parking position and cable route. They should also explain whether load management, a DNO notification, a fuse check, looped-supply work or a trench to a garage or outbuilding is needed before installation day.

5. Installation day: A straightforward install often takes a few hours. The installer mounts the charger, runs the cable, adds the dedicated protection, tests the setup and shows you how to use the app or controls.

6. Tariff setup: Connect the charger or car app, test a small charge and make sure your Octopus account shows the right tariff before relying on it for regular overnight charging.

Smart charging vs timed charging

A basic charger starts when power is available and stops when the car or charger tells it to. That can still work with Octopus Go if you set a simple timer for the fixed cheap window.

A smart charger can connect to WiFi, support app control, monitor charging and sometimes let Octopus schedule the car automatically. Intelligent Octopus Go is different from a simple timer because Octopus can create a charging plan and may place some smart-charged slots outside the normal overnight window. Those smart-scheduled slots should still be billed at the cheap rate, provided the setup is working correctly and Octopus receives the half-hourly meter data it needs for billing.

Do not let every app schedule the same charge. Pick one control route, usually the Octopus app through either the car or charger integration, then turn off clashing timers in the car, charger and solar or battery system. The car or charger app can help explain a session, but Octopus smart-tariff terms say third-party app data is not the final billing record.

If your car or charger is not compatible with Intelligent Octopus Go, standard Octopus Go may feel simpler. You still get a predictable overnight window, but you do the scheduling yourself.

Do I need to upgrade my electrical supply?

Most homes can handle a 7kW charger, especially when the installer uses proper load management. The charger draws about 32 amps at full power, so the survey matters. The installer needs to look at the incoming supply, main fuse, consumer unit and other high-demand appliances.

If you have electric heating, a heat pump, a large battery, another EV or a smaller supply, the charger may need to reduce its output at busy times. A second charger, looped supply, long cable run or three-phase upgrade can bring the distribution network operator into the process and add weeks, so it is worth finding out before booking a car delivery around the charger date.

When home charging may not be the answer

Home charging is not equally easy for everyone. If you rent, live in a flat, park on the street or cannot run a cable safely, start with the grant and permission questions rather than the tariff question. A cheap night rate is only useful if you can physically use it.

If you cannot install a charger yet, look at workplace charging, council-backed on-street charging, lamppost charging and public charging networks. Octopus may still suit you as an energy supplier, but the EV tariff saving will be smaller unless most of your charging happens at home.

Where to go next

• Compare Octopus Go and Intelligent Go if you are choosing between the two EV tariffs.
• Check compatible chargers before buying hardware for Intelligent Octopus Go.
• Read the OZEV grant guide if you rent, own a flat, manage a rental property or need an on-street charging solution.
• Use the EV calculator to compare your own mileage against standard, smart-tariff and public-charging costs.

If you decide Octopus is the right supplier after comparing the options, you can use the referral link on the way through. The important bit is choosing a tariff and charging setup that actually fit how and where you charge.