24 June 2026

Charging at home or public charging: what suits you?

Your own charger, a public one or both? The trade-off comes down to three things: your parking spot, your electricity rate and your daily rhythm.

The first question is not what a charger costs, but where your car sits at night. With your own driveway, carport or assigned parking spot, a home charger is the logical route: the car charges while you sleep and is full every morning. If you park on the street, a private charger is usually not an option — the pavement is municipal domain — and you request a public charge point nearby from your municipality. If you live in an apartment with shared parking, you are in between: then the route runs via the HOA.

Then the money. At home you pay your own electricity rate — the rate of your energy contract, and with solar panels you charge (partly) on your own generation. At public chargers and fast chargers you pay the operator's rate, often with a session fee or subscription on top; what the difference amounts to therefore depends on your energy contract and the chargers in your area. For the payback trade-off, set the extra cost of your own installation (see the price index) against that per-kWh difference times your yearly kilometres — one sum shows whether the charger pays off for you.

Don't forget the rhythm argument, because in practice it weighs heavier than the arithmetic. Charging at home means never detouring, never waiting at an occupied charger and always leaving with a full battery; public charging means planning. Many drivers end up with a mix: home as the base, public and fast charging for the road. And if you drive few kilometres, a public charger around the corner can be perfectly fine — a home charger is comfort, not an obligation.

If in doubt, simply request a quote and calculate both routes. An installation quote is free and without obligation, and the installer sees immediately whether your fuse box and parking spot make for a standard job or extra work.