Home charger installations

Your organisation’s agreed to install an electric vehicle (EV) charging unit at your home. We hope you’re looking forward to either changing to an EV – or the convenience of charging at home if you’ve already made the switch.

Home charging offers benefits to you and your organisation:

• A full charge each morning
• No need to charge at your office before starting work
• No need to head back to your office to leave your EV on charge after finishing work
• Less chance you’ll need to find a place to recharge during your working day
• Availability for personal use
• Lower charging rates (particularly when charging overnight) for personal mileage

Pre-install preparations

At Drax Electric Vehicles, our aim is to make your organisation’s transition to EVs as smooth as possible. We also want to make sure your home charger installation is straightforward and doesn’t inconvenience you. That’s why we need you to complete our installation form – so we know how to tailor your installation to your home, its layout and your preferences.

If you haven't already received it by email, you can download the installation form here.

As well as filling in the form, please attach the requested photos and permissions. If you have any queries about the form, your installation – or anything else – do get in touch with us at esprojects@drax.com.

Once we’ve gone through your responses and photos, there’s a chance we might need to contact you to ask some additional questions. Otherwise, we’ll be in touch soon afterwards to arrange a suitable date for the installation to take place.

The installation process

We aim to agree your installation date with you at least 2-3 weeks in advance. It’s worth having an idea of what to expect on the installation day itself, though. Every installation is different and depends on the model of charger we’ll install and the layout of your property – but be aware of the following points.

• You – or someone you live with – will need to be home on installation day.
• Installations usually take approximately 3-4 hours. If your installation is likely to take longer, we’ll let you know in advance. (Reasons for this might include post-mounting rather than wall-mounting the charging unit, or the need to ‘unloop’ your supply – see FAQ below.)
• We’ll need access to your consumer unit so please make it easy to get to and clear some space around it.
• Clear the preferred connection route (which you’ll have marked on your installation form) of any obstructions.
• It’s likely that we’ll also need to install an earthing, shock-protection device near to your consumer unit. As per the form, please provide a photo of the nearby area (and a preference for installation location, if you wish).

If you need to know anything else, check our FAQs below or use the contact details to get in touch.

Using your home charging unit

Your home charging unit will be simple to use, whether you have to use an access card to activate it or it’s ‘plug and play’.

Your unit will be one of two models. How you use these models differs slightly – so refer to the manual you’ll get during installation for instructions.

Home charger – personal use

Contact your Fleet Manager to understand how you can use your home charger for personal EV-charging use.

Who to contact about any post-installation issues

Check our FAQs below for quick answers to commonly asked questions. If you still need an answer, contact us at energyservices@drax.com and we’ll be happy to help.

FAQs – pre-installation

I haven’t got an installation form – where can I get one?

You can download the installation form here.

I don’t own my property – what should I do?

Before we can install your home charger, we’ll need written consent from the property owner. Please get in touch with them and ask them to provide you with consent, then forward it to us. You can equally ask them to send the consent directly to us at esprojects@drax.com.

What do you actually install?

We’ll install the home charger itself in an accessible external or garage location. It’s likely that we’ll also need to install a wall-mounted earthing, shock-protection box near to your consumer unit on an internal wall.

What does ‘unlooping’ my supply mean?

Occasionally, two properties share a single electricity service cable from the main network. If this is the case for you, we’ll let you know and talk you through what’s involved and the likely timescales.

In a looped supply situation, the electricity cable enters the first property from the mains and then runs directly from that property’s meter to the neighbouring property’s meter. In order to install your home charger, we’ll need to ask the Distribution Network Operator (DNO) to ‘unloop’ the supply, so that each property has its own mains feed. This service is free but may take some time.

Do I need to let you know if I've got solar, battery storage or a heat pump?

If you do have one of or a combination of these, please do let us know in advance of the installation.

FAQs – post-installation

Will my charger use electricity even when it’s not charging an EV?

Your charger is likely to use a very small amount of electricity even when it’s not charging an EV. This should only make a tiny difference to your bills, but feel free to turn the charger off when you’re not using it.

Can anyone use my home charger?

If your charger is ‘plug and play’, and doesn’t require access-card activation, anyone will be able to use it to charge their EV. Speak to your manager about charging personal EVs and visitors’ EVs. You may prefer to turn your charger off when you’re not using it to prevent uninvited charging!

Should I always charge my EV to 100%?

Repeatedly charging your EV to 100% can damage the vehicle’s battery. Aim to keep your EV within the ‘sweetspot’ of 20%-80% charged. You can set a maximum charge percentage on your charger – follow the instructions in the unit’s manual.

How long will my charger take to charge my EV?

The length of time it takes for your charger to charge your vehicle will depend on the vehicle itself. Speak to the installation crew or manager for a duration estimate. If possible, allow at least four hours for your vehicle to charge if you’re likely to need it for a full day’s driving.

My O-PEN earthing device makes an audible humming sound – can I do anything about this?

Feel free to turn your earthing device off if you’re not charging your EV.