Can You Charge an Electric Car at Home with Normal Plug?

Electric cars are becoming increasingly important all over the world. Not least because they are more environmentally friendly and, in the long term, cheaper than combustion engines. One question that new electric car owners often ask themselves is whether they can charge their electric car at a conventional socket.

In this article, we address this question, explain the advantages and disadvantages of charging at a household socket and point out alternatives.

Yes, you can charge your electric car at a normal socket. But charging at the socket can be dangerous in some cases. You can charge in either Mode 1 or Mode 2 at a household socket.

We advise against charging at a socket in mode 1 (= charging with an emergency charging cable), as this type of charging has significant disadvantages and harbours risks (e.g. fire hazard).

Charging at a socket in mode 2 is the better and safer alternative. In Mode 2, you charge either with an emergency charging cable with ICCB (In-Cable-Control-Box) or a wallbox.

As just mentioned, you can charge your electric car in Mode 2 with an emergency charging cable with ICCB (In-Cable-Control-Box) or with a wallbox.

The emergency charging cable with ICCB has a small control box that ensures safe charging. However, the charging power is only 2.3 kW. It will therefore take a long time to charge your electric car.

We therefore recommend charging with a smart wallbox. This is much faster. We'll come to that in a moment. But before that, we want to explain the advantages and disadvantages of charging at a normal socket in more detail.

Charging your electric car at a normal socket can make sense if:

• you have a lot of time and drive little: If you only use your electric car for short journeys and have time to wait 17, 24 or 30 hours for your car to recharge, charging at a normal socket can make sense.

• you have to charge somewhere if necessary: If no other charging option is available (e.g. when you visit your friends and stay at their place overnight), charging at a normal socket can be practical.

Can you charge electric car from a regular socket? Definitely yes. However, this does not mean that this is the ideal solution. Let's look at the light and dark sides of such a decision. 

Advantage:

• Easiest and most accessible method: As every home has a socket, this is probably the easiest way to charge your electric car. You don't need anything except an ICCB-cable or a wallbox with a suitable adapter and you're ready to go.

Disadvantage:

• Very long charging times: As a conventional household socket offers a very low charging capacity, it can take up to 24 hours or longer to fully charge your electric car. This is unimaginable for everyday use and a major drawback.

On average, an electric car charges with a 230-volt socket at around 2.3 kW. Charging from a normal socket can take up to 30 hours. If you have an electric car with a 40 kWh battery, you can charge from 0 to 100% in around 24 hours.

So if you had to choose between spending 4 hours or 24 hours charging your electric car, it's pretty obvious which you would choose. Faster charging with a wallbox, of course.

In the following table you will find some approximate values of how long it takes to charge a Renault Zoe ZE40 (0-100%) with the respective connection and wallbox. 

The calculated charging times are based on the following characteristics of the Renault ZOE ZE40:

• Battery size: 41 kWh

• Max. AC charging power basic version: 22 kW

• Phases: 3

• Max. charging current at AC charging stations: 32 A

Can you charge an electric car at home with a normal plug? Yes. Is charging at a household socket a suitable solution for everyday use? No. Here are some alternatives for charging your electric car more efficiently:

• Public charging stations

You can charge your electric car at public DC or AC charging stations, which you can find in cities and along motorways. This will normally charge your electric car from 10 to 80% in around 15-30 minutes. However, charging at public charging stations is often more expensive than charging at home.

• Wallbox

A wallbox is a small, compact charging station for the home. With up to 11 or 22 kW, it offers a significantly higher charging capacity than a conventional socket. This means you can charge your electric car in 2-6 hours. So if you charge your electric car at night, you can start the day with a full charge in the morning. A wallbox also offers you additional safety functions and if you have a smart wallbox, such as the go-e Charger, there are also lots of intelligent features that help you to save costs and charge sustainably.

We recommend charging with a wallbox, as it is significantly faster and, above all, safer. Wallboxes on the market are priced between EUR 300 (for charging stations without additional functions) and EUR 1600+. There is a widespread opinion that high quality is expensive. But it doesn't have to be! We have managed to break this myth.

Our smart wallbox, the go-e Charger Gemini flex 2.0 11 kW, costs EUR 819 and, with the use of the go-e Charger app, has many convenient functions that most electric car owners would not want to do without.