You've been eyeing up an EV for a while now. Maybe it's the fuel prices finally tipping you over the edge, or it's just that there's now a decent range of affordable models on the market these days. Either way, you're getting close to signing on the dotted line.

But before you do, there's a job worth ticking off first, and it has nothing to do with the dealership: getting a charger installed at home.

It's easy to assume you'll just plug in and go, the same way you'd charge a phone. In reality, a proper home charger install is its own project, with its own set of decisions. And it pays to have it sorted before the car turns up on your driveway, not the week after.

Save time and money in the long run

New Zealand has around 340 public chargers. That sounds like plenty until you're the fifth car in the queue at a service station charger on a Friday night. Public charging can also cost several dollars an hour depending on the provider, whereas charging at home overnight typically adds only a few dollars to your power bill.

This is quickly becoming as much a selling point as a convenience. Ask any real estate agent what buyers and renters are looking for now, and a home EV charger comes up almost as often as heat pumps and insulation. If you're weighing up whether it's worth the spend, you should know thatit adds to your property, not just your driveway.

What a proper install involves

This is where No Shock comes in, and where a decent electrician earns their fee. It isn't a case of running a cable to the garage and calling it done.

• It starts with an assessment of your home's electrical system: the main panel, the existing circuits, and how much spare capacity you've got. This is the step that decides everything else, and it's the reason a good electrician won't just turn up and start drilling.
• From there, you get to pick the charger itself, and there's more choice now than there was a couple of years ago. This means you get to choose the output speed, colour, and smart features like app control. Depending on your existing switchboard, you may also need an upgrade, which can mean fitting an RCBO (a Residual Current Circuit Breaker with overcurrent protection), expanding the board, or installing a dedicated sub-board just for the charger. Older switchboards were rarely built with EV chargers in mind.
• Once that's sorted, it's on to the wiring and mounting, followed by testing and safety checks to confirm everything is working as it should before you rely on it every night.
• Finally, there comes commissioning: setting up the app, logging in, adjusting your preferences, and, if the household needs it, separate profiles, scheduled lock-out times and notifications. This is so you understand the unit, rather than just plugging it in and hoping for the best.

A ‘good energy’ loan helps you out with the costs

Cost is often what makes people hesitate, but a home EV charger doesn't have to come out of a personal loan. Several banks now offer 'good energy loans' at rates as low as one per cent, usually over three years, specifically for upgrades like this alongside solar panels, batteries and heat pumps. It's worth asking your bank before assuming it's out of reach, because the whole point of these loans is to make this kind of upgrade affordable.

Don't leave it to the last minute

EV uptake in New Zealand has picked up sharply since fuel prices jumped following the conflict in the Middle East, and the electrical industry is already flagging that there aren't enough qualified electricians to keep pace with demand. That means booking a Sparky is only going to get harder from here, not easier. The last thing you want is your new car sitting in the driveway while you wait for someone to come and fit the charger.

The smarter move is to get your home assessed before the car arrives, not after. No Shock can look at your existing switchboard, tell you exactly what it can handle, and get your charger installed properly and on time.

Get in touch and we'll get you booked in, well ahead of delivery day.