July 2021


The number of electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrids (PHEV) is growing rapidly in the UK, with currently over half a million on the roads as of May 2021.

What was once a rare sight around Thame, EVs and PHEVs no longer cause pedestrians to stop and stare, wondering when the future arrived.

Thame Cars have been tracking and responding to this rise in popularity with our own offering of electric vehicles. We sell and hire a range of EVs and PHEVs, and our team of expert technicians are trained to service them.

But what do customers need to know before making the switch to electric? there has been a huge improvement in recent years in the infrastructure. More charge points at motorway services and elsewhere making owning a vehicle more convenient for long journeys, but the other major considering is home charging points.

How do you charge an Electric Vehicle (EV) at home?

It is possible to simple plug your car into the mains with a standard 3 pin plug, but this isn’t recommended as it could take you up to 2 days to reach a full charge!

Instead, most manufacturers recommend installing a permanent wall box near to where you’ll have the car parked, that will make charging easier and faster (no more cables trailing through open windows as you plug into the kitchen socket!)

These range in price and also power, but as the government are keen to encourage more of us to ‘go green’, grants of £350 are available to cover a portion of the costs as long as you have already purchased the vehicle.

As mentioned, government grants of £350 are available under certain conditions (for example you must already have bought your EV and have off street parking available)

The most popular wall box has a power rating of around 7kW, which would take around 14 hours for a full charge for a decent sized battery.

The bigger the battery the longer it takes to charge, but also keep in mind that most driving doesn’t completely drain a battery so a typical charge can be comfortably completed overnight.

Expect to pay £500-£650 (after the grant is taken off) for one of these, though installation by a qualified electrician can incur additional costs.

You’ll pay a little less for a smaller 3.7kW charger, but instead of 14 hours for a charge you may be looking closer to 26.

Beefier chargers are also available, but as you get up to the 22kW end keep in mind that most houses in the UK don’t support this with our standard wiring.

Pioneers in the electric vehicle space - Tesla - have their own dedicated charging box and although these are not covered by the government grant they still come in at only £460 plus installation.

At Thame Cars we have noticed an increase in requests for both customers purchasing and hiring electric vehicles, and we anticipate that this popularity will continue to rise. With the ban on new diesel cars coming into force in the UK in 2030, most major manufactures are investing in electric.

If you’d like to find out more about our range of hire cars or are considering making the switch for your next car, get in touch and we will happily answer your questions.