EV charging without a home charger: what your options actually are

Roughly nine million households in the UK have no driveway, garage or off-street parking, which means no easy way to install a home wallbox. If that is you, an electric car is still entirely workable, but the way you charge, and what it costs, looks quite different from the driveway owner's experience.

Why this matters

Most EV cost comparisons assume home charging on a cheap overnight tariff, often 7 to 8p per kWh. Without that option, you are relying on public infrastructure priced at 40 to 90p per kWh. Understanding your options properly is the difference between an EV that is genuinely cheaper to run and one that costs more than the petrol car it replaced. For the full cost breakdown, see the cost to charge an EV at a public charger in 2026.

Your realistic charging options

1. Workplace charging

If your employer has chargepoints, this is usually the cheapest and most convenient option after home charging. Many workplace chargers are free or low cost, and charging while you work removes the need for a special trip. Ask your employer, or your HR team, whether workplace charging is on the roadmap; it is one of the easiest wins for HR teams supporting EV adoption.

2. On-street and lamppost charging

Many councils now retrofit street lighting columns as slow chargers, and dedicated kerbside units are appearing in more residential areas. These are typically cheaper than rapid chargers, though still more expensive than home electricity, and charging speeds are slow, so they suit overnight parking outside your home rather than a quick top-up.

3. Destination charging

Supermarkets, gyms, retail parks and car parks increasingly offer charging while you shop or park, often at fast (7 to 22kW) speeds. Costs vary widely, and some are still free as a way to attract footfall.

4. Public rapid and ultra-rapid charging

Motorway services and dedicated charging hubs offer the fastest top-ups, usually in 20 to 40 minutes, but at the highest per-kWh cost. Best used for longer journeys rather than routine charging.

5. Charging apps and cards

Instead of juggling five different network apps and RFID cards, a single app and card that works across multiple networks, like the one built into The Charge Scheme via Plugsurfing, saves time and lets you compare pricing before you plug in.

What it costs without home charging

Charging entirely in public, a driver doing 10,000 miles a year can expect to pay somewhere in the region of £1,200 to £1,800 annually, depending on the mix of charger speeds used. That is broadly comparable to, or more than, running a petrol car, which erodes one of the main financial arguments for going electric.

How salary sacrifice changes this

This is exactly the gap The Charge Scheme was built to close. Whether you charge at home, at work, or exclusively through public infrastructure, the cost is paid from gross salary rather than take-home pay, cutting the real cost by 20 to 50% depending on your tax band. For drivers with no home charging access, this is often the single biggest lever available to make an EV genuinely affordable, because it targets the exact cost that public-only chargers pay the most for.

It also means one app and one charge card for every charger you use, rather than a wallet full of RFID tags. Full detail on eligibility and setup is on our how it works page, and employees can see what is available to them on the employees page.

A quick checklist if you cannot charge at home

• Check whether your workplace offers charging, and if not, ask HR to look into it
• Map your regular routes against destination and on-street chargers near home
• Sign up to a multi-network app rather than several single-network ones
• Ask your employer whether they offer EV charging salary sacrifice
• Model your real annual cost with our savings calculator

Next steps

If you are an employer with drivers who cannot charge at home, book a demo to see how The Charge Scheme levels the playing field between driveway and non-driveway employees.