The potential of home – and smart – charging
According to the RAC Foundation, a typical UK car spends 96% of its time parked up, with 73% of that time spent parked at home. Equally, 68% of those quizzed in the EV Driver Survey Report 2022, said they had a dedicated charge point at home.
This means that home charging – which can often be done overnight at cheaper off-peak rates, typically using more low-impact renewable energy sources – is often the optimum solution. It also ensures that your car can potentially start every journey from home, full of charge and offering its maximum range each morning.
These are just some of the reasons why home charging is also a critical component for Shell Recharge Solutions’ holistic approach to making charging easier and more cost-effective, with lower impact on the environment.
“If you charge at home overnight, when your car isn’t being used, you can probably get enough range to cover most journeys,” says Euan. “Plus, journeys from home are often shorter than we think. Doing more charging at home means you’re less reliant on on-the-go charging, with a top-up at a public charger potentially being much shorter in length.”
Around 59% of the EV drivers in Shell Recharge Solutions’ survey said smart chargers would be a good way of encouraging more people to drive EVs, just like the range of Shell Recharge home charge points. Smart chargers enable services thanks to a data connection. Examples for these services are remote balancing of the grid, dynamic charging speeds, insights into usage history, remote control and optimisation of the charge point efficiency. Additional solutions can be that the vehicle is only charged at certain times of the day to reduce strain on the grid and make use of cheaper electricity rates to help you cut your running costs.
As with on-the-go charge points, the app shows the availability of public charge points in the area, the speed of the charger, and the tariff for charging. Furthermore, the app shows an overview of past charging sessions, and estimates how much it will cost to charge your specific vehicle helping drivers control their charging costs.