Home charging basics
Single phase, three phase and what your house can actually supply.
You'll learn
- Explain home charging basics clearly and accurately
- Read the numbers that define the behaviour
- Apply the idea to a real charging session
Overview
Home charging is where 80–90% of all EV energy is delivered. It is also the cheapest and gentlest way to fill a pack.
In depth
| Supply | Current | Power | Typical overnight range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic socket | 10 A | 2.3 kW | ~80 km |
| Single-phase wallbox | 32 A | 7.4 kW | ~250 km |
| Two-phase (some markets) | 32 A | 11 kW | ~380 km |
| Three-phase wallbox | 32 A | 22 kW | Limited by the car |
Calculator
Charging Time Calculator
How long a session takes between two states of charge, including charger efficiency.
kWh
%
%
kW
%
Energy required
36.0kWh
Time
0.78h
Time
47min
Formula
t (h) = capacity × (target − start) ÷ 100 ÷ (power × efficiency)Only the energy between the two states of charge has to be delivered. Losses in the cable, on-board charger and cells mean the wall power is higher than the power reaching the cells, so we divide by the efficiency.
Example: A 60 kWh pack charged from 20% to 80% needs 36 kWh. At 50 kW and 92% efficiency: 36 ÷ (50 × 0.92) ≈ 0.78 h ≈ 47 minutes.
- Real DC sessions taper above ~60% SOC, so the result is optimistic for target values above 80%.
- AC charging is limited by the car's on-board charger, not by the wallbox.
- Cold packs accept far less power until preconditioning has warmed them.
Key takeaways
Remember this
- Most energy is delivered at home, overnight.
- 7.4 kW covers the vast majority of drivers.
- The car's on-board charger caps AC power.
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