EV: Charging

UK map of electric car charging points

Find electric car charging points near you with this map of all the public EV charging stations in the UK. There are now more than 42,000 charge point connectors across the UK in over 15,500 locations - that's more public places to charge than petrol stations!

Map of the UK with charge point locations

Free electric car charging points

There are thousands of free electric car charge points in the UK, often located in supermarkets, shopping centres, public car parks, hotels and sometimes service stations. Be aware there could be restrictions such as a set period of time or a requiring a purchase in-store, so it's best to check.

How long does it take to charge an electric car?

Charging an EV can be anything between 30-60 minutes and 8-10 hours. How long it takes to charge your electric car depends on the car's battery size, how many miles you do between charges, your charging behaviour and the power rating of the charger you're using. There are three main types of chargers:

How long to charge EV. Slow 8-10 hours, fast 3-4 hours, rapid 30-60 minutes.

Slow - usually rated up to 3kW is mainly used to charge overnight at home or workplace. Takes 8-10 hours to fully charge.
Fast - rated at either 7kW or 22kW and can usually be found in car parks, supermarkets, leisure centres. Takes 3-4 hours to fully charge.
Rapid - typically rated from 43kW and found at motorway service stations, petrol stations, supermarkets. Takes 30-60 minutes to fully charge but is only compatible with rapid-charging function EVs.

Find out more about how EVs work

Pod Point Solo 3 on grey wall being plugged in

Looking for a smart EV home charger?

Get the Pod Point Solo 3 electric car home charger from us.

Fast, safe and reliable, the Solo 3 is available as a tethered unit or with a universal socket and in a choice of power ratings.

Get home EV charger

Renewable electricity tariffs for EV drivers

Power your electric car and home with our choice of GoElectric EV tariffs.

Sign up to the single-rate version with one fixed price all-day. Then once you have a compatible smart meter, you can choose to move to one of our two-rate versions and benefit from cheaper prices during the off-peak times.

Get EV tariff

Electric car charging cables

Charging cables have connectors you plug into the electric car and/or the charge point. What type of charging connector you use depends on your car and the power rating of the charge point. Here are five charging plugs used in the UK.

UK three pin plug

Power rating of 2.3-3kW AC, Single Phase (Standard Charge):

Approx 5 miles range per 30 mins of charging
Standard UK domestic electricity outlet
Not designed for prolonged use needed to fully charge an electric car
Very slow charging with a maximum power output of 3 kW

Type 1 plug

Power rating of 3-7kW AC, Single Phase (Slow/Fast Charge):

Approx 12 miles range per 30 mins of charging
Only available in single phase
Less common in modern electric cars
Has no locking mechanism when the car is connected to supply

Type 2 plug

Power rating of 3-42kW AC, Single Phase/Three Phase (Fast Charge):

Approx 75 miles range per 30 mins of charging
Becoming the standard European charging cable connector type
Compatible with both single and three-phase electricity supply
In-built locking mechanism when connected to the power supply
Tesla has a 120 kW DC version of type 2

CHAdeMO plug

Power rating of 50kW DC, Three Phase (Rapid Charge):

Approx 85 miles range per 30 mins of charging
Older type of charging cable connector for rapid charging
Compatible with Japanese vehicle manufacturers
Most common rapid connector type due to the popularity of the Nissan Leaf

Combined Charging System (CCS) connector type

Combined Charging System (CCS) plug

Power rating of 50-350kW DC, Rapid Charge:

Approx 85-200 miles range per 30 mins of charging
The most versatile rapid charging connector
Likely to become the most popular DC connector standard
Enables a higher power rating to support larger ultra rapids chargers

Workplace EV charging

Businesses, charities and local authorities can take advantage of the Workplace Charging Scheme, which comes with incentives to reduce carbon emissions.

There are customised options that use battery storage, solar, Vehicle to Grid (V2G) and Demand Side Response (DSR) which can be potential revenue streams.

Find out how we can help your business.