Thinking about switching to an Electric Vehicle?

More people than ever before are thinking about swapping their petrol or diesel vehicles for electric alternatives.

The speed of the transition is set to accelerate as the 2030 ban on purchase of new petrol and diesel vehicles approaches. For those making the switch in the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire, it’s likely you’ll be charging your vehicle using our electricity network and so we wanted to offer some advice for anyone thinking of making the switch and try to answer some of the questions you may have.

WHERE CAN I CHARGE MY VEHICLE?
There are a few different options for charging your EV including:  

• at home if you have a charger installed at your property or access to off-street parking;
• on-street parking near your home or place of work;
• destination charging at your workplace or popular destinations such as supermarkets or retail parks, and;
• charging hubs on major roads and motorways for rapid EV charging.  

Your charging experience will vary depending on the type of charger that you use. Slow, fast and rapid charging have different characteristics, our EV charging webpage has more information.

HOW DO I GET AN EV CHARGER INSTALLED?
If you have access to off-street parking, installing an EV charge point at your home may be the easiest way to charge your vehicle.

To install a home charge point, you will need a specialist installer to carry out the work. We strongly recommend using an accredited installer.

WHAT STEPS DOES MY INSTALLER NEED TO TAKE BEFORE INSTALLING MY EV CHARGER?
Once you have appointed an installer, they should carry out an assessment of your proposed installation and existing power supply, before submitting the appropriate applications to your network operator.

Most properties will likely have a power supply that can accommodate a slow EV charger, meaning your installer can just connect and notify us about your EV charge point installation. 

However, in some cases your installer may need to make an application to increase your electricity supply to accommodate your new EV charger. Your installer should discuss this with you as part of the initial assessment.

If your electricity supply does need increasing, or you need to make any other changes to your power supply, only Northern Powergrid can complete this work. This work cannot be done by your installer or electrician.

We need to make the power supply changes to ensure that our network and yours, and your neighbours, power supply remains safe and secure.

Under no circumstances should your installer remove or replace Northern Powergrid fuses. If you have any concerns about compliance of your installation, you can contact us on 0800 011 3332.

WHAT WILL MY INSTALLER NEED TO DO TO COMPLETE MY INSTALLATION?
Your installer can complete your EV charger installation once your application has been processed and all required upgrade works are completed. You will then be given the green light to charge your EV and hit the open road