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How to charge your electric car

  • Updated

It's easy to charge your electric car at home, work or on the go. 

You can enjoy watching our short video about charging and read more helpful information below. 

Charging at home 

About 80 to 90% of all electric car charging takes place at home. Just note that off-street parking is advised, to avoid the hazard of people tripping over the wiring.

  • All our electric cars come with a standard three-pin domestic charger, which is portable and easy to use. 
  • Simply plug the three-pin to a standard socket inside your house and the Type 2 plug into your car.
  • We recommend you don’t use extension cables when charging your car. This is because they can cause surges that could lead to battery damage or cable/home electrics damage.

For faster home charging, you might want to install a home charging station (also known as Electric Vehicle Service Equipment or EVSE). You can find out more in our blog about How to charge an electric car. 

Charging on the go

You can also charge your car for free at more than 20,000 public charging points*.

  • We offer a membership card for the Shell Recharge Network, giving you free access to thousands of chargers in the UK and Europe. 
  • Plus if you’re driving a Tesla with us, you’ll also enjoy free access to the Tesla Supercharger Network.
  • You can also charge your car at any station that’s not in our partner network, but there will be a cost involved. 
  • All our cars come with a Type-2 charger for fast public charging.

Rapid charging on the go

Rapid public chargers are the quickest way to charge an electric car, and are often found at service stations or locations near to main routes. 

  • If the rapid charger is provided by Shell Recharged (or Tesla Supercharger, if you have a Tesla), you’ll enjoy free charging*.
  • You can also charge your car at any station that’s not in our partner network, but there may be a cost involved. 
  • The Combined Charging System (CCS) cable that you require will already be attached to the charging station.

How to find a public charger

Click on the following links to find a free station* that’s convenient for you:

You can also charge your car at any station that’s not in our partner network, but there will be a cost involved. We recommend using Zap Map to locate a station that’s convenient for you.

Public charging process and etiquette

Before visiting a charging station, you should check the opening times, whether you need to pay for on-street/multi-story parking, and whether you need to register your car first. It’s important to follow the right process, otherwise you could get fined. Find out more in our blog about Useful tips for public charging.

When it comes to charging, we recommend you avoid charging over 80% at public stations for several reasons:

  1. Charging tends to slow down significantly over this amount.
  2. You won’t waste unnecessary time and can continue with your journey quicker.
  3. You will free up the charger for other people who really need it.
  4. This will help prevent battery degradation over a period of time.

How long does it take to charge your electric car?

Charge times depend on various things including the car model and charge point speed.

  • The speed of the charge point does not guarantee that your car will charge that fast. 
  • There are factors that will affect the speed, such as the weather, the time of day and if there are multiple chargers at the same location. 
  • Some models will only charge at the higher rates for the first 40%, then gradually drop-off afterwards. 

The best thing is to check out your car’s page on our website to discover its specific charging times.

Workplace charging

Why not charge your car at work? Workplace charging has become much more common, as business owners see the benefits of installing electric car charging points for employees and visitors. So it’s worth looking into government grants that your business could apply for. 

Don’t link your charge cards to apps

We request that you don’t link your charge card to any of our partners’ apps, because this can cause issues for the next subscriber of your car.

Can't find what you need?

Send us an email at info@on.to or call us on 0121 387 3502. We'll be happy to help!

 

*If you select a no-charging subscription, this won't apply.

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