Why charging an electric car could stop you boiling kettle

CHARGING your electric car at home could trip out the household electrics if you try to make a cup of tea, cook dinner or even heat the water at the same time, warn experts.

National Grid said most homes do not have large enough fuses to support the demands of electric cars – dealing a blow to hopes that every motorist will be driving them by 2050.

With few public charging stations available and a charging time of up to several hours on current technology, the ability to charge at home will be key to the uptake of electric cars.

An 11kw power charger, which takes six hours to fully charge a Tesla Model S electric car, would require 48amps – but the average household fuse is 60amp to 80amps, leaving little room for extra demand, experts from National Grid said in a discussion paper on the issue.

An average 3.5kw device, by comparison, would not overload the household fuse – but would take 19 hours to charge the car.

The National Grid team added: ‘When using such a [11kw] charger it would mean that you could not use other high-demand electric items (such as kettles, oven and immersion heaters) without tripping the house’s main fuse.

‘If your house had fitted the maximum 100amp main fuse, then a more powerful 22kW charger could be used. It would take only three hours to charge the battery, but all other electrical equipment in the house would have to be turned off as the charger requires 96 amps.’ National Grid says it expects that up to half of today’s 32 million cars could be electric by 2033. Ministers have announced plans to ban the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040.

It is estimated that by the mid-2030s electric cars will be able to travel about 400miles on a single charge. Huge efforts are underway to increase their range and how quickly they can be charged.

Tory MPs have urged the Chancellor to increase investment in charging points so electric car drivers no longer fear ‘running out of juice’ at the side of the road.

In a letter to Philip Hammond and Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, MPs Julian Knight and Charlie Elphicke said: ‘It is clear a step change is required in investment and the infrastructure required to deliver a fully electric motoring future.’

An electric version of the iconic VW Campervan is to be launched by 2022. Dubbed the ID buzz, it will have more than ten times the power of the original and will be capable of almost 300 miles between charges.

‘Running out of juice’