A Beginner's Guide To Public EV Charging
Interested in finding out more, our team are on hand.
We get it, taking your first step into the world of electric vehicle charging can be a little daunting.
Maybe you’ve got friends who have EVs and are constantly reminding you how easy they are to use or maybe you’re just curious about the green Connected Kerb public charging stations you’ve seen on your street.
Perhaps you’re just thinking of taking the plunge and buying an EV? Or maybe you just know that it makes sense to protect our planet, to protect our children’s future, but have no idea where to start.
This beginner's guide to public EV charging addresses some of the nagging doubts that you may have read in the news recently and demystifies some of the jargon that might be stopping you from charging ahead with changing your transport habits. Whether you want to know ‘how much is the cost of EV charging?’ or ‘how to use an EV charging station?’, we’re confident this 101 guide will have you covered.
Public EV Charging: The Process
AC refers to alternate current and DC means Direct Current.
In basic terms, AC is used for slower, low power chargers that you find at home or in public settings while DC tends to be used by public rapid chargers only.
The majority of Connected Kerb’s chargers are public AC chargers.
This bit can be daunting especially if you start by Googling ‘What EV cable should I buy?’.
Firstly, we’d advise you to buy a long one. There’s nothing worse than parking up and not being able to reach the EV charging point whether it’s on your drive or at a public charging station. Cables of 5 or 10 metres are freely available online.
All Connected Kerb chargers have a type 2 socket (or ‘connector’) which is pretty much the standard across all AC chargers. Make sure the cable has a type 2 connection and this will ensure you can plug in to any charger up to 22kW.
You may also see information about single phase and three-phase cables. Charging on most public chargers should only require a single-phase cable.
And lastly, do you want a 16 Amp or 32 Amp cable? Most chargers today are 32 Amp which charges your car faster than a 16 Amp one. But remember the speed of the charge can be limited by the charger type, and the size of your car’s battery. It’s worth mentioning that you can use a 32 Amp cable on a 16 Amp charger.
Good question! There are a few ways you can find a Connected Kerb public charger.
Firstly, they are all visible on the Connected Kerb app. Simply download it, register and you can see where they are near you and across the UK.
You can also do this on our website using the find a charger facility. Our charger locations are also listed on a handy site called Zap Map.
If you can’t see a public EV charging station where you might expect to see one, go to our request a charger facility.
We believe that our app will provide you with the most seamless, stress-free EV charging experience.
Once you’ve found a public charger using our app or our find a charger facility you can use and pay for a charger and get loads of useful info on charging history, how much energy you’ve used, what you’ve paid and more.
The answer to this common question depends on a few factors, namely the size of your vehicle’s battery and the type of charger you use.
Connected Kerb’s public 7kw chargers will take your car from empty to full in 5-6 hours.
If you’re charging whilst staying at a hotel or simply parking at work, your car will be ready to go the next morning or when it’s time to head home.
For those who want an exact time then keep this equation in your mind:
Size of car battery (kWh)/ maximum speed of charger (kW) = average time taken.
Watch our EV charging guide video on how to use Connected Kerb chargers.
We would recommend good EV charging practice is to plug into the car first then the charger but don’t worry if you forget this.
We recommend that you try and maintain your battery charge between 20% and 80%.
It’s not essential but good practice for the health of your battery – a bit like your smartphone.
We’re here to make things easy. Accessibility is a huge nut that the EV industry is yet to crack, we are pretty honest about that.
We always consider the height of our charging points, making sure there are no obstructions, and have just launched a project in Cardiff with hundreds of wider charging bays.
We’re working to make our bays fully accessible and our aspiration is to make 1 in 5 meet the standards required.We’re working with disability organisations such as Motability to ensure that nobody is left behind in the switch to EV.
Cost of EV Charging
That depends on what type of charger you use and the tariff of the charging point operator.. For public chargers, our current tariff is £0.50 per kwh, which puts us below average for the industry.
Connected Kerb is committed to making charging more affordable for everyone and has even trialled public smart charging, where people can schedule a charge when electricity is cheaper.
To make life easier, here’s a simple equation to work out the cost of charging an EV from empty to full.
Cost of a charge = Size of EV's battery pack × electricity cost of your supplier (in pence per kWh)
Whilst we can’t have an impact on the cost of electricity, we are working on other ways to save money for our customers.
At the end of 2022, we wrapped up the Agile Streets project, the UK’s first ever trial of smart energy tariffs across public chargers, currently an option only available to those with off-street parking and a smart charger.
Our trial found that drivers could collectively save over £4.1bn a year on the cost of public charging by 2030 – equivalent to an average of £604.65 per driver by using our smart public charging technology.Behind the scenes we’re working on a wide-scale deployment of this cost-saving technology across our whole network, enabling drivers to save money when leaving their vehicle plugged in overnight. This is something you can expect to see from Connected Kerb later this year and into 2024.
EV Jargon: What Does It All Mean?
The range of an electric vehicle refers to how far it can travel on a single charge of its battery. So yes, you’ve guessed it. Range anxiety is the fear that people have that they will run out of charge and be unable to find a charging point.
The range of EVs is improving at an impressive rate with the average range of an EV now approaching 300 miles.
The question everyone must ask themselves is: “how often are you likely to travel that far in one journey?” We get it though. It’s down to us to make sure there is enough public charging infrastructure available to alleviate these concerns – we are getting there.
A BEV is a Battery Electric Vehicle that runs solely on an electric battery.
A PHEV is a Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle whose internal electric battery you can charge as well as drive using petrol.
Connected Kerb offers 7kw and 22kw public chargers which are considered fast chargers. Chargers of 50kw and above are considered rapid or ultra-fast chargers – these are the big units that you often see at motorway service stations.
The terminology around charging speed can be misleading when comparing slower chargers to rapids. Although the charge takes longer, the user experience is arguably quicker if you plug in and go and do something else.
That’s why we are keen to put our chargers in long-dwell locations like hotels or workplaces where people park for long periods of time.
Rapid chargers certainly have a place in the UK’s public EV charging network but remember you do have to sit and wait for the charge to finish.
A kilowatt is a measurement of power. A kilowatt-hour (kwh) is a measurement of the power of one kilowatt maintained for one hour.
It is the usual method for determining the total power potential of any given battery and also the amount of energy delivered to a car during a charging session.
A tethered charger includes a cable that is attached to the main charging unit. An untethered charger does not include the cable.
All Connected Kerb chargers are untethered.
ICE refers to internal combustion engine, your regular petrol and diesel vehicles. If an EV bay has been ICE’d it means that an ICE vehicle is parked in a space for electric vehicles. At Connected Kerb, we work with councils to report instances of ICE’ing.
You can report a blocked bay here.
Other Common EV questions.
Not strictly true. Yes, 2035 is the date that you will no longer be able to buy a new petrol or diesel vehicle but they are not all being removed from Britain’s roads so you can still buy a second-hand petrol or diesel vehicle or drive one you already have. Hybrids will also be phased out.
It is – although it depends on the model of your car. Some vehicle ranges drop by as little as 3% while others can lose more but by charging at the right times during your day, you can minimise any inconvenience and always have enough charge.
Heat can have an impact on range but not as significantly as cold temperatures. It’s certainly not something to get worried about.
Yes, it’s perfectly safe to use and charge an EV in the rain. We do advise keeping an umbrella in your car though!
Yes it can! There are no more perils from water than a traditional petrol or diesel vehicle –you still need to make sure you close the windows though!
Have you got a burning question about EV? Is there something that we haven’t answered here?
Let us know by emailing support@connectedkerb.co.uk