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EV charger installation in Birmingham takes a morning or so on most homes, and it changes how you run the car. A dedicated charger is faster than a three-pin plug and can be scheduled from an app, so the car charges when electricity is cheapest. If you have solar panels, it can also be set to use your own spare generation.
What it costs
Checkatrade lists Birmingham EV charger installs at £547 to £922, with an average of £704. The main things that move the price are the charger itself, the length of the cable run from the consumer unit to the parking spot, and whether the consumer unit needs work to take the extra circuit.
If you rent your home or own a flat, the government chargepoint grant gives 75% off the cost of buying and installing a charger, up to £500. We check whether you qualify at the quote stage and handle the paperwork where you do.
Charging from your solar panels
Solar and an electric car suit each other because the car can soak up daytime generation that would otherwise be exported. Some chargers can be set to charge only from surplus solar, or to top up from the grid at a set time if the car needs to be full by morning.
How much of your driving that covers depends on the season and when the car is at home. PVGIS puts a 4 kWp south-facing system in Birmingham at about 476 kWh in July but only 136 kWh in December. A car at home on sunny afternoons gets far more solar than one that is out at work all day. Can you charge an electric car with solar panels? works through it.
Chargers, batteries and panels together
If you are planning more than one of these, plan them together. A battery and a charger can share the same spare generation, and fitting them in one visit saves time and cabling. Solar battery storage covers batteries, and the home page covers panels for Birmingham roofs.
For businesses, workplace chargers follow the same process, with the supply checked for the number of chargers you need. Commercial solar panels covers generation for business premises.
What's included
- Your supply, main fuse and consumer unit checked
- Charger position agreed, with the cable route
- Tethered or socket charger options explained
- Solar-aware charging set up if you have panels
- Installation and wiring to the consumer unit
- App and charging schedule set up
- Grant paperwork handled where you qualify
- Charger tested with your car where possible
How the options compare
Charging speed
- Three-pin plug
- Slowest
- Charger on its own
- Faster home charging
- Charger with solar
- Faster home charging
Where the power comes from
- Three-pin plug
- The grid
- Charger on its own
- The grid, ideally on a cheap overnight rate
- Charger with solar
- Your panels first, then a cheap overnight rate
Scheduling
- Three-pin plug
- None
- Charger on its own
- Timed charging from the app
- Charger with solar
- Timed charging plus surplus solar
Best for
- Three-pin plug
- Occasional top-ups
- Charger on its own
- Homes without panels
- Charger with solar
- Homes with panels, or planning them
