How much does an EV charger cost to install?

A home EV charger costs from £850 + VAT (£1,020 inc VAT) supplied and fitted, for a 7kW untethered unit on a standard install. A tethered charger, with the cable fixed to it, is £950 + VAT (£1,140 inc VAT). A solar-diverting charger, which fills the car from your panels, is £1,050 + VAT (£1,260 inc VAT).

That covers the unit, its own circuit back to the board and up to ten metres of cable. The estimator above asks the seven questions that move it past that and sends the lot to Ryan.

Most driveways fit the standard install. When yours does not, the estimator above prices each extra separately, so you can see exactly why your figure is what it is.

What a standard install includes

• The charger, mounted on the wall where the car sits
• Up to 10 metres of cable from your fuse board
• Its own circuit and protection at the board
• The app set up and working before we leave
• Testing, the certificate, and building control notified

Why every home charger is 7kW

Because that is what a normal house supply gives. UK homes are almost all single phase, and a single-phase supply tops out at about 7.4kW once the charger has its own circuit. A 7kW charger adds roughly 25 to 30 miles of range an hour, so a car left on the drive overnight is full by morning whatever the badge on the box says.

Faster chargers exist, but they need a three-phase supply: 11kW and 22kW units are three-phase, and three phase is rare in houses. It turns up in converted farm buildings, some newer builds and properties that have had the supply upgraded for a workshop or a heat pump. Getting three phase brought in where there is none is a job for the network operator and runs into thousands, which is almost never worth it just to charge a car faster.

The estimator asks which you have, and “no idea” is the usual answer. If the house does turn out to be three phase, Ryan will tell you whether a bigger unit is worth it for the car you drive.

Untethered, tethered or solar

Charger	Fitted price	Best for
Untethered 7kW	£850 + VAT (£1,020 inc VAT)	A tidy wall. You plug your own cable in each time
Tethered 7kW	£950 + VAT (£1,140 inc VAT)	Plug in and walk away. Nothing to get out of the boot
Solar-diverting 7kW	£1,050 + VAT (£1,260 inc VAT)	Homes with solar panels that would rather fill the car than export

Untethered units have a socket on the front and you use the cable that came with the car. They look neater and there is nothing hanging off the wall, but you are taking a wet cable in and out of the boot every night.

Tethered units have the cable permanently attached and hung on the charger. Most people who have lived with an untethered charger switch to tethered next time.

Solar-diverting chargers watch what your panels are making and send the spare into the car instead of back to the grid. Ryan fits the Zappi, which does this. It is only worth the extra if you have panels, and he will tell you straight if you do not. For a closer look at two of the popular smart chargers, see Zappi vs Ohme.

What adds to the price

Extra	Guide price
Cable run of 10 to 15 metres	A little
Cable run over 15 metres	More again
Charger on the other side of the house from the board	Adds half a day
Out to a detached garage (armoured cable, buried)	The biggest of these, mostly digging
Old fuse box replaced first	A job in its own right

The fuse board is the one that catches people out. A charger needs modern protection behind it. If your board is old, with wire fuses, it has to be replaced before the charger can go on. If you are not sure what yours is, that is fine. It is checked on the survey and you are told before anything is booked.

A heat pump, electric heating or an electric shower does not usually add to the price. The charger is set up to back off when the house needs the power, which is called load balancing, and it is included.

Do you need planning permission in Wales?

Usually not. In Wales, a wall-mounted charger in an area used for off-street parking is permitted development, so no planning application is needed. The exceptions are a charger that faces onto a road and sits within two metres of it, a unit bigger than 0.2 cubic metres, or a scheduled monument. Listed buildings and conservation areas can have their own rules, so it is worth checking if that is you.

That rule comes from the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Amendment) (Wales) Order 2019.

EV charger grants in 2026

There are two government grants for home chargers from 1 April 2026, each worth up to £500 and open until 31 March 2027:

• Renters and flat owners with private off-street parking.
• Households with only on-street parking who are also fitting a cross-pavement solution, such as a cable channel.

If you own a house with a driveway, you are not eligible for either. Both grants have to be applied for through an installer approved by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles before the charger is fitted, and they cannot be claimed afterwards. Ask before you book if you think you qualify.

Parking on the street is its own subject, covered in EV charging on a terraced street in Wales.

Grant details checked against GOV.UK on 22 September 2026.

Questions people ask

How long does an EV charger install take?

A standard install is half a day. A long cable run, a detached garage or a board change can make it a full day.

Can I fit a charger if my fuse board is old?

Not safely. An old board with wire fuses has to be replaced first. It is priced as its own line so you can see it, and it is often a good upgrade for the rest of the house anyway. See consumer unit replacement cost.

Do I need to tell my energy supplier or the network?

The network operator has to be notified when a charger is fitted, and that is done for you as part of the install.