How to charge an electric car: the complete beginner's guide

To charge an electric car, plug it into a home wallbox, a public AC charger using your own Type 2 cable, or a rapid charger with its built-in CCS cable, then pay by app, RFID card or contactless. Home charging is the cheapest of the three at 26.32p per kWh under Ofgem’s price cap this quarter, against a UK average of 82p on rapid chargers in October 2026.

Charging is different from filling up: most of it happens while the car is parked anyway, overnight at home or during a few hours at work or the shops, and rapid chargers are for journeys. This guide covers the kinds of charger, what each costs, how to pay, whether a subscription pays, where to find chargers and how to use one, step by step.

What are the ways to charge an electric car?

There are three ways to charge an electric car in the UK: a home charge point, a slower public AC charger, and a rapid or ultra-rapid DC charger. A fourth, the three-pin plug, works in an emergency but is too slow for daily use.

Zapmap now groups public chargers into four bands by power:

Charger	Power	Current and connector	Cable	Typical use
Home wallbox	Up to 7.4 kW on single-phase power	AC, Type 2	Tethered or your own	Overnight
Standard	3 kW to 7 kW	AC, Type 2	Usually your own	Street and lamp-post charging, overnight
Standard Plus	8 kW to 49 kW	AC, Type 2	Usually your own	Car parks, shops, work
Rapid	50 kW to 149 kW	DC, CCS (CHAdeMO on older Leafs)	Tethered	Journeys, quick top-ups
Ultra-rapid	150 kW and above	DC, CCS	Tethered	Motorway hubs
Three-pin plug	About 2.3 kW	AC, portable cable	Your own	Occasional top-ups

The car decides how much power it takes, not just the charger. An MG4 Premium Long Range accepts up to 6.6 kW on AC and 154 kW on DC, so a 22 kW public AC charger will not charge it faster than a 7 kW one. Most new cars use a Type 2 inlet for AC and CCS for DC; our guide to whether any EV works at any public charger covers the exceptions.

How do you charge an electric car at home?

You charge at home by plugging the car into a wallbox fixed to the house or garage, which Zapmap describes as a weatherproof unit with either a tethered cable or a socket for your own. Zapmap puts typical home charging at up to 7.4 kW, because most homes have single-phase power. Our guide to charging an electric car at home covers tariffs and smart charging.

To choose a charger or find an installer, Best Chargers compares home charge points. If you have no driveway, cross-pavement channels are becoming easier to fit: our report on the new cross-pavement planning rules in England explains what changed in October.

Can you charge an electric car from a normal plug?

Yes, with a portable cable that has a three-pin plug at one end, but Zapmap puts the rate at about 2.3 kW and says a large battery can take more than 24 hours to fill. It also warns of overheating from sustained high current, so Zapmap does not recommend it for regular use. Our article on charging from a three-pin plug sets out when it makes sense.

How much does it cost to charge an electric car?

Charging costs 26.32p per kWh at home on Ofgem’s average price cap rate for 1 October to 31 December 2026, 54p on slower public chargers and 82p on rapid and ultra-rapid chargers, on Zapmap’s October 2026 averages. What Car? reported in May 2026 that EV tariffs offer overnight rates as low as 6.6p per kWh.

We costed a 10 to 80% charge for three cars from our spec data. Our method: 70% of each car’s usable battery multiplied by the price per kWh, ignoring charging losses; the full workings are on our methodology page.

Car (usable battery, WLTP range)	Energy added, 10 to 80%	WLTP miles added	Home, 26.32p	EV tariff, 6.6p	Public AC, 54p	Rapid, 82p
MG4 Premium Long Range (61.7 kWh, 280 miles)	43.2 kWh	196	£11.37	£2.85	£23.32	£35.42
Volkswagen ID.3 Neo Life (50 kWh, 258 miles)	35.0 kWh	181	£9.21	£2.31	£18.90	£28.70
BYD Atto 3 EVO Design RWD (74.8 kWh, 316 miles)	52.4 kWh	221	£13.78	£3.46	£28.27	£42.94

Per mile on WLTP figures, the rapid average works out at 18.1p in the MG4, 15.9p in the ID.3 and 19.4p in the Atto 3. At the home price cap rate the same cars cost 5.8p, 5.1p and 6.2p a mile. Real-world range falls in winter and at motorway speeds, so the true cost per mile is higher than these.

How long does it take to charge an electric car?

A rapid charger takes a 10 to 80% charge in about 25 minutes in the MG4 Long Range and BYD Atto 3 EVO on our spec data; at home on a 7 kW wallbox the same charge takes several hours. Our own figures, dividing the energy added by the charging power, put it at 6.5 hours in the MG4 (limited to 6.6 kW on AC), 5.0 hours in the ID.3 and 7.5 hours in the Atto 3. On a three-pin plug at 2.3 kW the same charges take 18.8, 15.2 and 22.8 hours.

Stop at about 80% on a rapid charger. Zapmap notes that charging slows sharply above that point, and 80 to 100% can take as long as 20 to 80%. Cold batteries also charge more slowly, which our explainer on why EVs charge slower in cold weather covers.

How do you pay at a public charger?

You can pay at a public charger by contactless bank card, the network’s own app, an RFID card, or a third-party app or card that works across networks. The Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 have required contactless on existing chargers of 50 kW and above, and on new chargers of 8 kW and above, since 24 November 2024. Since 24 November 2025, every paid public charger has had to accept payment through at least one roaming provider.

• Contactless: no account needed, best for occasional rapid charging.
• Network app: the route to member prices on most networks.
• RFID card: tap to start, useful where mobile signal is weak.
• Roaming app or card: one account for many networks; our comparison of Octopus Electroverse and Bonnet looks at two of them.

The same regulations require the maximum price to be shown in pence per kWh before you start, with any fixed fee folded into it.

Is a charging subscription worth it?

A subscription pays only once your monthly rapid charging on that network saves more than the fee. Our break-even is the monthly fee divided by the saving per kWh, using the prices Fastned and Be.EV published on 10 November 2026, and converted to miles with each car’s WLTP efficiency.

Plan	Fee a month	Pay as you go to member rate	Break-even	MG4 miles	ID.3 miles	Atto 3 miles
Fastned Gold	£4.99 (until early 2027)	79p to 55p	20.8 kWh	94	107	88
Be.EV Flexi Pass	£13.99	59p to 89p, down to 39p	28.0 to 70.0 kWh	127 to 317	144 to 361	118 to 296

Put simply, one 10 to 80% charge a month, between 35 and 52 kWh in these three cars, covers the Fastned Gold fee and clears Be.EV’s break-even where it charges 59p. Two such charges a month on Be.EV clear even its 89p break-even in all three cars. Our BP Pulse guide works through one network in detail.

Where are the chargers?

Zapmap counted 98,899 public charging devices at 48,815 UK locations on 31 October 2026, of which 21,285 devices at 7,202 locations were rapid or ultra-rapid. Slower chargers sit on streets, in car parks, at supermarkets and at workplaces; rapid hubs sit at motorway services, forecourts and retail parks.

A charging map or route planner that filters by connector, speed and network is the quickest way to find one. Zapmap suggests practising on chargers near home, on the networks you plan to use, before your first long trip.

Are public chargers reliable, and are there idle fees?

The law sets a 99% reliability standard for rapid chargers: each operator’s rapid network must be available 99% of the time, averaged over a calendar year, and the operator must publish its record. Every public charger must also display a free, staffed helpline open 24 hours a day. If a charger will not start, ring the number on the unit or move to another charger.

Idle fees are the other cost to know. Our guide to EV charger overstay fees and parking fines lists what networks and car parks charge when you stay plugged in too long.

How do you use a public charger, step by step?

Using a public charger takes a couple of minutes once you have done it once.

1. Check on a map or app that the charger is working and has your connector: CCS for rapid charging on most new cars, Type 2 for AC.
2. Park in the bay with the charging flap nearest the unit.
3. Start the session: tap a contactless card, start it in the app or tap an RFID card. Some chargers ask you to plug in first.
4. Plug in. On AC chargers use your own Type 2 to Type 2 cable; rapid chargers have their own.
5. Check the car or screen shows the session has started.
6. Stop the session at about 80% on a rapid charger, unplug, put the cable away and free the bay.

Our guide to charge point etiquette covers queueing and sharing bays.

What does this mean for choosing a car?

How you will charge matters as much as range. With a driveway, almost any electric car works, because home charging at the price cap costs about a third of the rapid average. Without one, look for an efficient car, since the gap between 15.9p and 19.4p a mile at rapid prices adds up, and a high DC peak if you rely on rapid hubs.

Our verdict, based on published prices and data rather than our own testing: charge at home if you can, use slower public chargers where you already park, and keep rapid charging for journeys. Carry a Type 2 cable and a contactless card, which the law requires every public charger of 50 kW and above to accept, and a roaming app for slower chargers, all of which must now offer roaming through at least one provider.