The honest picture, in one minute
In Leicester, two things decide home charging and neither is your car: whether you have somewhere off-street to park, and what your main fuse can take. Here is the straight version, including where the grant does and does not apply.
- Can you charge at home? With a driveway or garage, yes, straightforwardly. On a terraced street with only on-street parking you need a cross-pavement solution, not a cable trailed over the footpath.
- Cost: around £800 to £1,200 for a straightforward install, unit and fitting included. Extra work on older homes pushes it up.
- Charger: a 7kW wall charger with a Type 2 connector suits almost every modern car. Tethered (cable attached) or untethered (socket only) is the main choice.
- Grant: the £500 chargepoint grant is now for renters and homes without a driveway, not homeowners with off-street parking, and ends 31 March 2027.
- The network: a 7kW charger is usually a notify-only job, but an older Leicester supply can mean the network operator has to approve it first.
- Who fits it: a qualified electrician competent with EV installs, not a DIY job. The supply and fuse board get checked first.
Can you actually charge at home? In Leicester, that is the first question
The first question is not which charger to buy, it is whether you can charge where you park. In Leicester that matters more than most guides admit, because a large share of the city is Victorian and Edwardian terraced housing with no off-street parking.
- With a driveway, garage or hardstanding, home charging is straightforward: the charger goes on the wall nearest where you park.
- If you park on the street outside a terrace, you cannot legally trail a cable across a public pavement. You need a proper cross-pavement channel or gully solution and the council's permission, not a lead over the footpath.
This is also where the £500 grant has quietly flipped. It used to be for everyone; now it is aimed at renters and homes without a private driveway, including households using a cross-pavement solution, and it runs until 31 March 2027. So in Leicester the people it actually helps are largely the terraced streets, not the semis with a drive. If you have off-street parking you almost certainly will not qualify, and the price below is simply the price.
What decides your install: your main fuse and the network, not your car
Whether your charger is a straightforward fit or a job that has to wait on the electricity network comes down to your supply, not the charger you choose.
A standard 7kW home charger is usually a connect-and-notify job under the G98 process: a competent installer can fit it and then notify the local network operator within 28 days, as long as your whole home's demand stays under 60 amps. For Leicester and Leicestershire that operator is National Grid Electricity Distribution, the East Midlands network (formerly Western Power Distribution).
The catch is older housing. Plenty of Leicester's older terraces and pre-war semis have a lower-rated main fuse, or a shared "looped" service feeding two homes off one cable. Add a 7kW charger to that and the total can push past what the supply is rated for, which turns a simple notification into a G99 application the network has to approve before any work starts, and sometimes a fuse or supply upgrade first. It is the most common reason an EV quote in older Leicester housing comes in higher, or takes longer, than the headline figure.
A proper installer checks your main fuse and consumer unit before quoting, tells you which side of that line you fall on, and handles the network paperwork for you. We sort the DNO approval as part of every install, so you are not left chasing it. If you want it done once and done right, see our EV charger installation in Leicester.
What a home charger actually is
A home charger is a dedicated, high-current circuit run from your fuse board to a weatherproof unit on an outside wall, not a glorified plug socket. That dedicated circuit is what lets it charge safely and far faster than a three-pin plug, and it is why the install has to be done and certified properly.
Almost every electric and plug-in hybrid sold in the UK uses a Type 2 connector, so a Type 2 home charger is the obvious match. Type 1 only appears on a few older or imported cars. The choice most people actually make is tethered versus untethered: a tethered charger has the cable permanently attached and always ready, while an untethered one has just a socket so you plug in your own lead, which keeps it tidy and future-proofs you if you change cars.
We confirm exactly what your car takes before fitting anything, so you are never left with the wrong connector or a cable that does not suit your vehicle.
The price, and what pushes it up
For a standard job, where the charger goes on an outside wall reasonably close to the fuse board and the supply can take it, most homes land in the range below. The cost climbs when there is extra work to do, and none of that is unusual in older Leicester housing. We flag it up front rather than spring it on you mid-job.
| Scenario | Typical effect on price |
|---|---|
| Straightforward install (charger near the board, supply fine) | £800 to £1,200 fitted |
| A higher-spec or smart charger | Top of that range |
| Long cable run to where the car parks | Adds to it |
| Older consumer unit needs upgrading to take the circuit safely | Adds to it |
| Earthing or supply work, or groundworks to a detached drive | Adds to it |
UK market figures for 2026, not an Apex quote. Your real figure comes from a free assessment.
The £500 grant: who can actually claim it
The government's EV chargepoint grant gives up to £500 towards a charger, but the picture is narrower than it used to be. It is now aimed at renters and flat owners with private off-street parking (and households using an on-street cross-pavement solution), and it runs until 31 March 2027. Homeowners with their own driveway are no longer eligible, so for most houses the price above is the price. Grant-funded installs also have to be done by an authorised installer, which is worth confirming before you commit to anyone.
Want a real figure for your home?
We check your supply and fuse board before quoting, so the number you get is real and nothing gets sprung on you mid-job. The assessment is free.
Book your free assessmentHow fast, and how cheap
Most home chargers are 7kW, which is enough to fully charge a typical car overnight from empty. In practice you rarely arrive empty, so an overnight top-up keeps most drivers ready each morning without ever touching a public charger.
That is where home charging pays off. Charging overnight at home, especially if you move to an off-peak EV electricity tariff, costs far less per mile than public rapid charging. The convenience is the headline; the saving against public chargers is the part that adds up month after month.
Charging from your own solar
If you have solar panels, the right charger setup can use your surplus solar to top up the car for free when the sun is out. It is one of the neatest ways to get more value from a roof you have already paid for.
Be realistic about it, though. A car usually draws more power than a roof produces at any one moment, so unless you also have a battery, most of your charging still happens overnight on grid power. It is a genuine saving on sunny days, not a way to charge entirely for free. Whether a battery changes that maths for your home is its own question, and one we work through with you alongside our battery storage installs.
Who should fit it, and what to check
A home charger has to be installed by a qualified electrician who is competent with EV installs. The earthing arrangement for an outdoor charge point, the protective devices and the testing all have to be right, and an electrician who does not regularly fit chargers can get the earthing or protection wrong in ways that are not obvious until something goes badly wrong.
When you compare quotes, ours included, two things are worth checking: that the installer is a member of a recognised consumer code, and that any workmanship guarantee is genuinely insurance-backed rather than a promise on paper. We are a member of RECC, and our work carries a 6-year workmanship warranty that is insurance-backed through the IWA, so the cover holds for its full term even if anything were to happen to the business.
We check your supply and consumer unit before quoting, tell you straight if anything needs sorting first, and size the job to what your home actually needs, not to a commission. If you want it done once and done right, see our EV charger installation in Leicester.
Common questions about home charging
How much does it cost to install a home EV charger?
A straightforward home EV charger installation typically costs around £800 to £1,200, including the charger unit and the fitting. What pushes it higher is almost always the work around the charger, such as a long cable run, an older consumer unit that needs upgrading, or groundworks to a detached drive, rather than the charger itself.
Is there a grant for a home EV charger?
The government's EV chargepoint grant gives up to £500 towards a charger, but it is now aimed at renters and flat owners with private off-street parking, plus households using an on-street cross-pavement solution. Homeowners with their own driveway are no longer eligible, and it runs until 31 March 2027. Grant-funded installs must be done by an authorised installer.
Can I get a home charger if I do not have a driveway?
Not in the usual way. You cannot legally trail a charging cable across a public pavement, so on a terraced street with only on-street parking you need a proper cross-pavement channel or gully solution and the council's permission, rather than a lead run over the footpath. This is also exactly the situation the £500 chargepoint grant is now aimed at, since it targets homes without private off-street parking.
Does my home need approval from the electricity network for a charger?
Usually a 7kW charger is a connect-and-notify job: the installer fits it and notifies the network operator (National Grid Electricity Distribution in Leicester and Leicestershire) within 28 days, as long as your whole home stays under 60 amps of demand. An older property with a lower-rated or shared supply can need a full application the network approves first, and sometimes a supply upgrade, which is why we check the main fuse and consumer unit before quoting.
Do I need a Type 1 or Type 2 charger?
Almost certainly Type 2. It is the standard connector for new electric and plug-in hybrid cars sold in the UK and Europe, and home chargers are built around it. Type 1 only matters for a small number of older or imported models.
Can any electrician install an EV charger?
It needs a qualified electrician who is competent with EV installs, which is not the same as any electrician, and certainly not a DIY job. A home charger is a dedicated high-current circuit with specific earthing and protection requirements that must be tested and notified under the wiring regulations.
How long does it take to charge an electric car at home?
Most home chargers are 7kW, which is enough to fully charge a typical car overnight from empty. In practice you rarely arrive empty, so an overnight top-up keeps most drivers ready each morning without ever using a public charger.
Can I charge my car from my solar panels?
Yes, with the right setup a charger can use surplus solar to top up the car for free when the sun is out. A car usually draws more than a roof produces at any moment, though, so unless you have a battery most charging still happens overnight on grid power. It is a real saving on sunny days, not a way to charge entirely for free.
About this resource
Written by the Apex Renewables team, who fit EV chargers for homes across Leicester and the Midlands. The figures here are general UK market and government figures, current as of July 2026, and are meant to set your expectations, not to act as a quote. Your real cost depends on your home, and comes from a free assessment with no obligation.
We have tried to give you the honest version rather than the brochure one, and to write it for Leicester's actual housing rather than a generic driveway: the terraced streets where the grant now matters, and the older supplies that decide whether a charger is a quick fit or a job the network has to approve. If something here does not match a quote you have been given, talk it through with us.