Wallbox outdoors or in the garage? What to consider for each

The short answer

A wallbox can go in the garage or outdoors — common models are built for outdoor mounting. The location is decided mainly by where the car actually parks, which side its charging port is on, and how the cable gets there from the consumer unit.

In the garage

• The wallbox and cable are protected from rain, sun and strangers.
• The garage is often close to the consumer unit, so the cable is short and installation cheaper.
• Watch the Wi-Fi signal — a smart wallbox can't be controlled from the app without it.
• No extra ventilation is needed for charging an EV.

Outdoors on a wall or a pedestal

• Protection: for outdoor mounting look for at least IP54. By a driveway where it might get bumped, higher impact resistance (the IK rating) helps.
• Locking: outdoors it's wise to start charging only with a card, PIN or the app. Otherwise anyone can charge from it.
• Cable: a tethered cable is convenient but visible. A socket version means carrying your own cable in the car. A cable holder keeps the connector off the ground, out of snow and puddles.
• Frost: the cable stiffens in winter. A good cable copes, but expect it to be harder to coil.
• Pedestal: if there's no wall by the parking spot, the wallbox goes on a separate post. That needs a trench for the cable — usually the most expensive part of the job.

What matters either way

Cable length to the car. Cables of about 5 and 7.5 metres are common. The wallbox should be on the side of the car's charging port — and bear in mind your next car may have it elsewhere.

Protection devices. A wallbox gets its own circuit breaker and residual current device. Most current wallboxes have built-in DC leakage detection, in which case a standard type A RCD is enough. Wallboxes without it need a more expensive type B. We check this against the specific model at the survey.

How we do it

At the survey we go through where the car parks, how the cable will run, and what that does to the price. Quite often a spot one metre away saves drilling or digging. Indicative prices are in how much does installation cost.