Over the past five years, electricians have noticed a trend of demand for jobs involving installing EV wallboxes and charging stations, which has shaped the priorities for many training courses.
However, over the past few months, what has been a fairly up-and-down trend has become a massive surge, with demand spiking for EVs and charging stations that either come with the cars or are a necessary part of using them as a daily driver.
According to Autocar, French manufacturer Renault has seen their EV enquiries increase by nearly half (42 per cent) compared to just a month ago, with EV sales accounting for almost the same.
To understand how to install the right EV charger, it is important to understand why homeowners want them installed in the first place, and whilst there is one particular dominating reason, it is only the tipping point for pent-up demand that has been building for years.
Why Are Homeowners Demanding EV Chargers Now?
The first and most immediate problem is perhaps the most obvious; petrol and diesel prices have spiked dramatically over the past few months, according to data from the RAC.
EVs have, for decades, been cheaper to run than petrol cars; as early as the release of the Nissan Leaf in 2009, the running costs were self-evidently less than they would be for a Nissan Juke, Qashqai or even the Micra at the time.
However, it was thought for the longest that savings were not large enough to offset the upfront costs of EVs.
With petrol prices so much higher and increasingly vulnerable to global events outside the control of the United Kingdom, let alone the typical homeowner, this has eroded entirely.
EV charging stations with a low-cost overnight tariff are by far the cheapest way to travel per mile, making them perfect for city commuters, as well as being more convenient for many people than the current public charging infrastructure.
Homeowners want EVs, and they want peace of mind, which makes an EV charger essential.
Are EVs More Expensive Than Petrol Cars?
Historically, EVs were perceived as statement purchases, with far more in common with high-end smartphones and gadgetry than a typical car.
Tesla infamously leaned into this luxury tech enthusiast market in a way that has cost it precious market share as customer needs switched.
This is far less true now than it used to be, especially when you consider new cars.
Many equivalent models have reached pricing parity, and some of the most desirable and critically acclaimed EVs, such as the Renault 5, are within the price range of people looking for a new or nearly new car.
Gone are the days when EV drivers who wanted something larger than a shopping trolley needed to pay close to £40,000, replaced with a wide range of EVs which cost half this price with lower running costs.
Will This Demand For EVs Increase?
If EVs become even more accessible, with prices decreasing thanks to an increasingly fertile used car market and affordable financing options, EVs will only increase in demand, meaning that more and more homes will require wallboxes.