An installer mounts a charger beside the consumer unit because it is the shortest cable run and the neatest job. The customer reverses onto the drive as she always has, and the charging socket is on the far front wing, six feet beyond the cable.
The installation is perfect. The car cannot be charged without parking backwards every night.
The checklist
Ask these and the charger goes in the right place.
1. Where the car parks
The actual position, not the driveway generally. Nose in, reversed, at an angle, or wherever there happens to be room that evening.
2. Which side the charging socket is on
Front nearside, front offside, rear or centre. It varies by manufacturer and it is the detail that decides everything about the mounting position.
3. Whether they will always park the same way
Some households swap cars, some reverse onto the drive in winter, some park differently when there are visitors. A little slack in the position is worth having.
4. Whether a second car is involved
Now or later. A household with two electric cars needs a position that works for both, or a plan for a second unit.
5. The cable length needed
Measured from the proposed position to the socket in the parked position, plus slack. It is a measurement rather than an estimate.
6. Whether a tethered or untethered unit suits
A tethered cable is convenient and fixed in length. An untethered unit is tidier and needs a cable carried in the car, which is the ground in charger compatibility and cable questions before install.
7. Where the cable will sit when charging
Across a path, a doorway, a shared access or where somebody walks. A route that creates a trip hazard every night is not an installation anybody should accept.
8. Where the cable is stored
When not in use. A cable left on the ground gets damaged, and a holster or a tidy position should be part of the plan.
9. The wall and mounting surface
Brick, render, timber, a garage wall or a post. It affects the fixing and occasionally the position, and a post is a real option nobody offers.
10. Whether it is exposed to weather
Units are made for outdoors and a position under a gutter or in a wind funnel is still a poor choice. A small amount of thought here lasts a decade.
11. The distance from the consumer unit
Because that is the cost, and the customer should understand the trade off between the ideal position and the cheaper one.
12. Whether there is lighting
Charging happens in the dark for half the year. Mentioning it, and offering to add a light, is a small upsell customers appreciate.
13. The on street and shared access case
Where there is no off street parking, this needs a different conversation entirely, as in landlord and flat charging enquiries without driveways.
14. Capture photographs of the parking position
With the car where it normally sits. One photograph answers most of this list, which is the wider capture in EV charger installation questions homeowners ask.
Getting started
Publish what you need to position a charger and ask for a photograph of the parked car, capturing it at any hour and pushing it into your systems through integrations. Ask suppliers the questions in AI chatbot security questions to ask a vendor. SpideyChat for electricians answers from your published pages. Try SpideyChat on your own site, or read about capture on the features page.