EV Charger Installation London: What an Electrician Looks at First

A 7kW (32A single-phase) charger is the standard domestic option. It will replenish about 25 miles of range per hour. Every London property with a 60A or 80A single-phase service can support one, subject to load assessment.

A 22kW (32A three-phase) charger requires a three-phase supply. The majority of London terraced and flatted housing stock is single-phase. Three-phase is more common in detached/semi-detached properties, modern flats with EV provision, and commercial conversions. Without three-phase, a 22kW charger is physically impossible regardless of what you spend.

The honest middle ground: a 7kW charger is enough for almost all real-world commuter use. Most "I need 22kW" requests resolve back to 7kW once the load and supply are surveyed.

G98 and G99 govern generation — solar, batteries exporting. EV chargers are loads, governed by the ENA EREC P28 process and the local DNO connection rules.

For UKPN (covering most of London), single-phase charge points up to 32A on a property with ≥60A main fuse only require notification, not pre-approval. The installer submits a connection notification within 28 days of commissioning via the UKPN portal. Two or more chargers on a single property, or any installation requiring fuse upgrade, requires pre-approval — which UKPN typically issues in 4–6 weeks.

For SSEN-served parts of west London the process is similar but the portal differs. Either way, this is the installer's job. If you are being asked to handle DNO paperwork yourself, you are not dealing with a competent installer.

The original OZEV EV homecharge scheme closed to private homeowners in March 2022. The current scheme (post-March 2022) covers: renters and flat-owners with off-street parking (£350 toward installation), landlords providing chargers for tenants (up to 200 sockets/year per landlord), and workplaces via the Workplace Charging Scheme.

For 2026 the renter/flat-owner grant is still live but the eligibility evidence has tightened — proof of landlord consent, off-street parking documentation and an OZEV-authorised installer are required. The grant is paid to the installer who deducts it from the invoice.

For owner-occupier private homeowners with a driveway, there is currently no domestic grant. The installation is taxed at standard VAT.

BS 7671 Regulation 722 requires a maximum demand assessment before installing an EV charge point. We use the IET diversity calculation: sum the connected load of major appliances (cooker, shower, immersion, hob, EV charger) with appropriate diversity factors, compare to the rating of the main fuse and meter tails.

Typical London terraced house: 60A main fuse, 25mm² tails, mix of gas/electric appliances. A 32A EV charger usually fits within the maximum demand — but only if a load-managed charger (capping at lower current during peak household demand) is used. For a 7kW charger on an 80A service the calculation is comfortable.

When the calculation does not fit, three options exist: install a load-balancing charger that throttles itself when the house load is high (e.g. Zappi, Ohme, Wallbox Pulsar Plus with CT clamp), apply for a main fuse upgrade via the DNO (60A→100A, typically 6–8 weeks and £400–£600), or downsize to a 16A 3.6kW charger.

BS 7671 Regulation 722.531.3 requires Type A RCD protection minimum for EV charge points — and Type B where DC fault current >6mA is foreseeable. Most modern chargers (Zappi v2.1, Ohme Home Pro, Wallbox Pulsar Plus) include integrated 6mA DC fault current monitoring, allowing use of upstream Type A. Chargers without this monitoring require an upstream Type B RCD, which costs roughly £180 more.

The charger circuit must be dedicated — no shared sockets, no spurs, no shared protective device. Standard install: dedicated RCBO at the consumer unit, 6mm² T+E or SWA cable run to the charger location, Type 2 SPD at origin (if not already fitted).

For supply lengths over about 25m to the parking location, voltage drop and cable size need a proper calculation. SWA buried in the front garden is the common solution.

The Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations 2021 require all domestic and workplace charge points sold in the UK from June 2022 to be "smart" — meaning capable of receiving and responding to time-of-use signals, supporting OCPP 1.6+ for backoffice integration, and having a default off-peak charge window pre-configured (typically 8pm-7am weekdays, all day weekends).

Any installer fitting a non-compliant charger is breaking the regulations. This is the main reason the cheaper white-label imports from 2020-2021 are no longer legal to install — even if you own one already, it cannot be sold or fitted new.

Octopus Intelligent and similar split-tariff schemes (Intelligent Go, EDF GoElectric) require a smart-charge-compatible unit plus separate smart metering. The tariff savings (sub-7p/kWh overnight versus 28p+ peak) typically pay back a smart charger over standard within 18 months for a 10,000-miles-a-year driver.

Installers quoting without a survey. The load assessment cannot be done from a photo. If you have been quoted a final price without anyone visiting, the price will change on the day.

Quotes that exclude DNO notification. A G98-style notification is part of the install. If your installer is not handling it, you will get an angry letter from UKPN 60 days later.

Quotes that exclude Type A or Type B RCD upgrade. If your existing board is Type AC only, your EV install legally requires upstream Type A — that is a board-level intervention, not a circuit add-on. Be wary of "just hook it up" quotes that ignore this.