Charging is still one of the big challenges of electric car ownership. It’s ideal if you can have a charger installed at home but that’s not always possible, which is where community charging networks come in. The car industry has already cottoned on to them – Vauxhall is working with JustCharge, one such network. They’re great for people who can have a home EV charger, as well, because community networks open up an income stream that could earn you as much as £3,000 per year.
Here, we’re going to explain everything you need to know about community charging and how it could work for you.
Community charging, or peer-to-peer charging, isn’t new. Early electric car adopters had to rely on each other in many ways, which included sharing their home chargers if they lived in areas where no public chargers were available. While the public charging network is growing all the time, most EV owners still largely charge their cars at home. That’s all well and good if you have a driveway, but over 50% of British drivers don’t.
For these EV drivers, joining a community charging network could be the ideal solution, connecting them with other local EV drivers to use their chargers. It’s not just chargerless EV drivers who benefit. The fees they pay could offset the cost of having one installed in pretty short order and could ultimately prove to be a nice little earner.
How does community charging work?
There are many community charging networks in operation. Some are nationwide, some are confined to smaller areas in towns and cities. You can find them in the Apple and Android app stores on your phone. The main national players are BookmyCharge, Co Charger, PlugShare and JustCharge.
If you have an EV charger at home that you want to make available, sign up as a ‘host’ on a network, or several. It’s not dissimilar to being an Airbnb host – you list your charger’s location and when it’s available, set your prices, then wait for the bookings to come in. Being a host could be quite lucrative: JustCharge estimates an annual income of £3,000 is achievable in high-demand areas.
As an EV driver in need of a charger, you can search for one by location and time. Book the one that works best for you and pay via app. Again, you may want to sign up to several networks to make sure you can find the most convenient charger.
What’s the best peer-to-peer EV charging network?
Each peer-to-peer charging network is set-up to cater for a particular set of circumstances. BookmyCharge and PlugShare are aimed at long-distance travellers who want the security of knowing there will be a charger available at their destination. Charging points in car parks and other public locations work on a first-come, first-served basis, so you can never be sure you’ll find an unoccupied charger.
Co Charger and JustCharge are focussed more on neighbourhoods, allowing people who live in flats or rent to find a charger within a convenient distance of home.
You don’t actually need to own an electric car to have a charger installed at your home. Whether you can’t afford an EV, prefer not to get one, or don’t own a car at all, having charger installed could provide useful extra income through a community charging network.
Can businesses participate in community charging?
As businesses increasingly prioritise EVs on their company car schemes, more and more of them are installing chargers in their car parks. Some community charging networks allow businesses to list their chargers.
Government funding is available to businesses for EV charger installation. A grant covering up to 75% of the cost – £350 maximum – of each socket can be provided, for up to 40 sockets. Businesses only need to pledge that they will encourage workers to switch to an EV and prove they have suitable off-street parking to qualify.
Won’t I need my charge point every day?
Probably not. According to JustCharge, home EV chargers go unused 88% of the time. That’s because the vast majority of electric cars available in the UK have enough range to cover the average weekly mileage of around 140 miles. If you have an EV that can cover 300 miles on a single charge, you may only need to plug it in once every two weeks.
When it does come time to plug in, your car won’t be juicing up all day. Most EVs will fully recharge overnight, leaving your charger free during the day. It’s actually best to recharge an EV 20-80% to preserve the life of the battery, so you’ll only need access to your charger for a few hours at a time, anyway.
Won’t it be impractical to charge on someone else’s driveway?
With any luck, your chosen community charging network will throw up a charger that’s available just a short walk from home, or the end of your journey. That’s hardly a hassle. Even if you have to hop on public transport to complete the last few miles, that will probably be bearable. Remember, if you have an electric car with a range of 250 miles or more, you may only need to recharge once a week or two.
What about the costs of community charging?
One of the key benefits of owning an electric car is the potential savings on running costs. Despite the cost of household electricity hitting 30p per kilowatt hour, recharging an EV’s battery at home is still considerably cheaper than filling up with fuel. Using public chargers is much more expensive – more so than fuel in some cases – so using a community charging network could save you a big chunk of money while you’re out and about.
Hosts can set their own rates taking into account the cost of installing their charger, the cost of the electricity and a small profit margin. Most networks charge by the hour, rather than per kilowatt hour.
Let’s say you have a Kia EV6 and you recharge its 77kWh battery by 50% each week. Using a 7.4kW charger, the car will be on charge for about five hours. At a rate of £3 per hour, you’ll pay £15 for around 150 miles of range. That’s a perfectly reasonable cost-per-mile. A petrol car that does 40mpg would use about £25 of fuel to cover the same distance at £1.45 per litre.
Note that community charging rates can vary widely and might be quite expensive in areas where few chargers are available.
Are there other benefits to using a community charging network?
Community charging networks offer great value for money and time savings for EV drivers, and hosts can claw back some of the money they’ve invested in their charger.
Housing developers are now obliged by law to install a domestic EV charger at each home they build. If you’ve bought a new-build house but don’t have an EV yourself, you’ve a ready income stream right there, if you join a charging network. Getting an EV charger installed at an existing house could well make it easier to sell on and may even increase its value.
So what are the next steps?
If you want to get a domestic EV charger installed, check out our guide to home charging. If you go to Rightcharge.co.uk you’ll find a comparison tool for EV charging hardware costs and energy tariffs.
If you’re thinking about getting an EV, we’ve rounded up the most affordable electric cars on the market today. As we’ve established, there’s no real reason to worry about where you’re going to charge your car. But, if you find yourself in a real bind, you can always consider getting a portable EV charger.
