Charging at home

As an electric vehicle owner, home charging quickly becomes a habit - like charging your mobile at night. It's the simplest and most cost effective way of getting a 100% charge.

Charging your electric vehicle at home is just like charging your mobile phone. You’ll find you do most of your charging at home overnight or in the evening when you’ve finished driving for the day. Just plug in overnight and the vehicle will stop charging and using electricity once it reaches full charge.

 You can charge your electric vehicle at home using a standard three-pin plug socket. But the quickest way is with a home charging wallbox. All you’ll need is private off-street parking so that the wallbox can be installed close to where you park your vehicle and within range of your home’s main electricity supply.

 There are different power ratings for home wallbox units - the most common being 3.4kW or 7.4kW. A 7.4kW home charging wallbox will charge a Corsa Electric in around 7 and a half hours.

Charging in public

When you’re charging at home, you’ll get the same charging speed every time. But in public, different charging points will have different speeds. You’ll find two types of chargers in public charge-points: fast chargers, and rapid chargers.

Fast chargers, which tend to be 22kW, will give an 80% charge on a Corsa Electric in 3 hrs 20 min. Rapid chargers, (most commonly found on motorways or major A roads) can be anything from 100kW and will give you 80% in 30 minutes. You can use our charging time simulator to see how different power outlets will affect your charging speed.

 When you’re out-and-about, tools like the Octopus Electroverse map are really useful. They’ll help you quickly find your nearest charge-point, the speed of the charge-point, and reviews from electric vehicle owners who have charged there recently.

Range

The two factors that affect your range the most are your speed and your acceleration. To become an electric pro, follow this advice and get some serious range. 

• Avoid harsh braking
• Turn off Sport Mode when you don’t need it
• Drive at a moderate speed and avoid sudden acceleration
• When motorway driving, follow a vehicle that drives consistently, like a lorry, at a safe distance
• When planning your route, try to avoid large, steep hills

Costs

Driving Experience

Most first-timers find driving an electric vehicle a really pleasant surprise. They often talk about the simple controls, powerful acceleration, better traction, and how quiet it is.

Most of the controls are familiar too, which makes things easy. There’s no clutch pedal or gearstick because all electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids are automatic. So just press the start button, select ‘D’ for drive, release the parking brake and you’re off.

As a new electric driver, you’ll probably notice how fast it can accelerate. An electric motor delivers all of its power as soon as you press the accelerator pedal. So it feels faster than many sports cars up to 30mph. Corsa Electric, for example, glides from 0-60 mph in just 7.6 seconds and achieves an instant 260Nm of torque. It feels effortless.

A pure electric vehicle has no gears, so acceleration is seamless and there’s no engine noise. Finally, you’ll love how the vehicle holds the road. The heaviest part of the car (the battery pack) is under the floor, giving you far more control and stability on corners. Gripping stuff.

Watch our video with Ellie, a professional rally driver, to see how Corsa Electric moves around the track.

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