POWERING UP WITH OHME - HYUNDAI'S CHARGING COMPANY OF CHOICE

Although the amount of public EV chargers across the UK is increasing, charging your electric car (EV) at home remains the most convenient and affordable option. With reduced running costs being the main incentive behind choosing an EV as opposed to a petrol or diesel vehicle, the interest in installing a home charger has peaked. Ohme is a trusted, home electric car charging company which offers dynamic smart charging, energy tariff integration, home power balancing and over-the-air updates. Hyundai, amongst other leading car manufacturers, chose to partner with Ohme as their recommended smart EV charger provider.

Ohme takes into consideration the smartest, greenest, and most affordable times to charge your EV or plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) battery. They track live data which stops and starts charging depending on when the energy use is the lowest. By doing this, your electric car can reach the desired charge level at the cheapest cost for you and the environment.

There are two electric car home chargers available, the Home Pro and the ePod. The Home Pro has a built in LED screen and is controllable by the screen as well as by the app. It comes with a tethered 5m type 2 cable as standard which you can upgrade to an 8m cable, if this is something you desire.

The ePro is an untethered at home EV charger and the more affordable of the two. This home charger works by using the buttons on the front or by the app. It is compatible with type 1 and type 2 electric cars and as an optional extra, a 5m and 8m cables is available if needed. Both EV charging units come with a 3-year warranty as standard.

The Hyundai-approved Chargers come with free standard installation which most UK homes qualify for but in case your home has some quirks, they also offers custom installations for an extra cost. They will just need to ask some questions before providing you with a quote. After installation, you can relax knowing your electric car battery will be charged at the best rate possible and ready for a time that works for you.

This is not to say that public electric car charging points in locations such as motorway service stations or car parks are redundant, it simply means that charging your car overnight during off peak hours will dramatically lower the running costs of your car. Rapid chargers are great for EV drivers to use on occasion.

Hyundai evaluated just how much money you could save by choosing an Ohme smart charger: “Running a Hyundai IONIQ 6 Single Motor RWD with its 77.4kWh battery (WLTP range: 338mls) and an Ohme smart charger on Intelligent Octopus Go*, for example, could cost £116.80 for a year for an average UK driver doing 6,800 miles. By comparison, charging on the Standard Variable Tariff would cost £451.62 for the same distance and an equivalent petrol car would be more than £1,200.”

If you own or rent a flat, you could be eligible for the electric car charge point grant which offers a discount or money off the cost of buying and installing an electric charging socket. Click here to find out more.

*Intelligent Octopus Go at 7.5p/kWh for 23.30-05.30am, Standard Variable Tariff – 29p/kWh

Ohme is the only UK electric car charging provider to work with any energy tariff, including Intelligent Octopus and OVO Charge Anytime. Linking your account can be done via the app and takes only a matter of minutes.

Electric cars have come a long way in a short amount of time. Hyundai have been a huge part of the EV revolution with their Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) which the IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6 are built on. The electric-only platform enables more interior space, better handling, and fewer moving parts, as an impressive 77kWh battery, supplying up to 800 volts - perfect for a long journey. The all-new KONA Electric is built on a separate 400-volt electric architecture as the vehicle was adapted from the original petrol model.

Hyundai has a large range of competitively priced electric and hybrid cars with talks of a new EV coming to the market soon.

Many electric vehicles have ranges lower than conventional cars, however, the Hyundai IONIQ 5 boasts a driving range of up to 298 miles on a single charge.