Electric Car Charger for Home: Picking an EV Home Charger for How You Drive
Not every household needs the same charger. Here is how to match one to your kilometres, your car and your house, with Christchurch prices.
The Burnwood Couple Who Asked If They Needed One at All
A retired couple in Burnwood rang before their first EV arrived with a fair question: do we even need a charger? They drive about 25km a day, mostly to the supermarket and the grandkids in Parklands. The portable cable that came with the car adds roughly 10km of range an hour on a normal power point, so on paper it would keep up.
We still fitted a wall charger, for two reasons that had nothing to do with speed. Their garage socket shared a circuit with the washing machine, and a portable cable running at full current for hours every night is hard on a domestic socket. And they wanted the car on a night rate, which the charger app handles and the cable does not. Some people genuinely can get by without one. Most find out why they wanted one in their first winter.
Which Electric Car Charger Suits Your Home
A rough guide by daily distance, assuming the car charges overnight at home.
| Daily driving | What works | Our pick, installed |
|---|---|---|
| Under 30km | A 7kW wall charger on a night-rate schedule | EV Power SlimLine Smart, $1,422 |
| 30 to 80km | A 7kW smart charger with load management and app scheduling | Evnex E2 Core, $1,972 |
| 80km or more, or a long Selwyn commute | 7kW is still enough overnight; a longer tethered cable helps if the car parks outside | Evnex E2 Plus, $2,272 |
| Solar panels on the roof | A solar-aware charger that soaks up spare panel output | myenergi Zappi, $2,418 |
| You drive a Tesla | The Tesla Wall Connector, or any Type 2 charger | Wall Connector Gen 3, $1,673 |
Supplied-and-installed prices include GST and up to 10m of cable.
Features That Earn Their Keep at Home
- App scheduling, so the car charges in the cheapest night hours
- Load management, so a busy kitchen never trips the mains
- A tethered cable long enough to reach the charge port without stretching
- A warranty backed by someone with a New Zealand phone number
Features Most Homes Do Not Need
- 22kW three-phase, when most cars accept 7kW or 11kW on AC anyway
- A touchscreen on the charger itself, when the phone app does the same job
- Paying more for a brand name that has no local support
Already Bought One Online?
Plenty of people buy the car and the charger in the same week. If yours is certified for New Zealand, we fit it for $873 labour, the same standard of install as a charger we supply. Send a photo of the box with your other photos so we can check the model before we book you in.
To see every charger side by side, with kW, cable length, solar and warranty, use the comparison table.
Get a Price on an Electric Car Charger for Home
Four photos are all we need: your switchboard with the door open, the spot where the charger will go, the path between them and your meter board. One written number comes back, usually the same day.
Wall Chargers, 7kW and Cable Choices
Why a 7kW Home Charger Is the Standard
A 7kW home charger is the standard for a reason. It is close to the most a normal single-phase house can give an EV, and it adds 30 to 40km of range an hour. Eight hours overnight is enough for well over 200km, which covers almost any Canterbury commute.
What a 7kW Car Charger Needs Behind It
A 7kW car charger draws about 32A, so it needs its own circuit and a 32A breaker or RCBO at the board. That is why it cannot simply plug into a power point, and why a registered electrician wires it in.
EV Wall Charger or the Cable in the Boot
An EV wall charger is the hardwired box on the wall, as opposed to the portable cable that lives in the boot. The wall charger is faster, safer for nightly use and smarter, because it can follow a night-rate schedule and share power with the house.
Choosing a Wall Charger for an Electric Car
Choosing a wall charger for electric car charging at home mostly comes down to cable type, the app and load management. A premium unit costs a few hundred dollars more than a value one, and the value choice is fine when the switchboard has room.
Where the Electric Car Wall Charger Goes
An electric car wall charger should be mounted where the cable reaches the charge port without stretching, at a height that keeps the plug off the ground. We usually fit it about a metre up, which suits most cars and keeps it clear of the lawnmower.
Tethered or Untethered
An untethered EV charger has a socket instead of a fixed cable, so you plug in your own lead each time. It looks tidier and lets you take the cable inside, which suits outdoor walls. The catch is carrying the cable in and out, which is why most people with a garage choose tethered.
What an EV Car Charger for Home Costs
An EV car charger for home costs from $1,422 supplied and installed, or $873 to fit one you already own, both including GST, the dedicated circuit and the Certificate of Compliance.