Kia EV3 Home Charging UK: Cost per Charge, Time & Best Chargers
Vehicle guide
A 78 kWh EV3 fills in about 10½ hours on a 7 kW wallbox and costs under £6 on an off-peak tariff. The Intelligent Go catch, the 7 kW throttling quirk, and which charger to fit.
Battery
78 kWh
20–80% at home
~6h 50m
AC limit
11 kW
20–80% at 7.6p
£3.56
Range
~280 mi
Charging time estimates
Approximate AC charging times
| Charge window | 3-pin (~2.3kW) | 7kW | 11kW max |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20–80% | 22h 0m | 7h 15m | 4h 35m |
| 0–100% | 36h 40m | 12h 0m | 7h 40m |
Assumes 8% charging losses and rounded 5-minute estimates. 3-pin assumes about 2.3kW; 7kW uses up to 7kW; three-phase only appears when the vehicle can accept more than 7.4kW AC.
Vehicle-specific tariff cost
Kia EV3 Long Range charging cost at 10,000 miles.
EV electricity only, using 3.6 miles per kWh and assuming every charging kWh reaches the listed lower rate. Household electricity and the postcode-dependent standing charge sit outside these figures.
Compare the full household bill, eligibility and achievable off-peak share in the EV tariff decision guide.
Charger picks
Kia EV3 Long Range: 3 chargers we’d pick
Picked for the trade-offs that matter most when you’re buying for Kia EV3 Long Range specifically.
Best fit for Kia EV3 Long Range
Ohme Ohme Home ProKia has no Intelligent Octopus Go integration, so the Ohme's own Octopus, OVO and E.ON links are what put the 78 kWh pack on the cheap rate without manual timers.
- Price
- £559
- Power
- 7.4kW
The same supplier links plus solar diversion; a 78 kWh battery absorbs a summer day's surplus, and the 6.5 m cable reaches the EV3's front-right socket parked either way.
- Price
- £684
- Power
- 7kW / 22kW
Octopus, OVO and E.ON links, a 7.5 m cable option for nose-out parking and IP66 for an exposed wall.
- Price
- £624
- Power
- 7.4kW
The hardware
The Kia EV3 charges through a standard Type 2 inlet on the front right wing, which puts the socket at the nose of the car. Park nose-in and a 5 m tethered cable reaches from most garage or driveway walls; park nose-out and you will want 7.5 m. The on-board AC charger is rated at 11 kW on every trim, so on a UK single-phase supply it draws the full 7.4 kW a wallbox can give, and on a three-phase supply it takes 11 kW.
DC charging peaks at 101 kW on the Standard Range and 128 kW on the Long Range. That matters for motorway stops and not at all at home, where everything is AC.
Variants (2026)
| Variant | Battery (usable) | Max AC | Max DC | WLTP range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EV3 Standard Range (Air) | 55 kWh | 11 kW | 101 kW | 270 miles |
| EV3 Long Range (Air, GT-Line, GT-Line S) | 78 kWh | 11 kW | 128 kW | 362–367 miles |
Usable capacities; gross packs are 58.3 and 81.4 kWh. Real-world range is nearer 200 and 280 miles. A GT all-wheel-drive version has been announced for late 2026.
How long it takes to charge the EV3
The figures below are for the Long Range, the version most people buy, with its 78kWh usable battery.
20% to 80%, the everyday window
| Supply | Charge time (20–80%) | Range added |
|---|---|---|
| 3-pin socket (~2.3 kW) | ~20 hours | ~168 miles |
| 7 kW wallbox | ~6½ hours | ~168 miles |
| 11 kW three-phase | ~4.3 hours | ~168 miles |
On single-phase, a 20–80% top-up is an evening's charging and a full charge is an overnight one. The three-phase figure only applies if the house has a three-phase supply, which most UK homes do not; see our single-phase vs three-phase explainer before paying for one.
0% to 100%
| Supply | Charge time (0–100%) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 3-pin socket (~2.3 kW) | ~34 hours | Emergency use only |
| 7 kW wallbox (single-phase) | ~10½ hours | The standard overnight charge |
| 11 kW wallbox (three-phase) | ~7 hours | Only if the house has a three-phase supply |
Costs
The tariff does most of the work. The EV3 returns about 3.6 mi/kWh in real-world UK driving.
Cost per full charge (78kWh)
| Tariff | Rate | 0–100% | 20–80% |
|---|---|---|---|
| EDF GoElectric | 6.66p/kWh | £5.19 | £3.12 |
| Octopus Intelligent Go | 7.6p/kWh | £5.93 | £3.56 |
| Octopus Go | 9.5p/kWh | £7.41 | £4.45 |
| British Gas EV Power | 9.5p/kWh | £7.41 | £4.45 |
| Standard variable (Ofgem cap) | 26.32p/kWh | £20.53 | £12.32 |
| Public rapid charger | 79p/kWh | £61.62 | £36.97 |
Annual charging cost at 10,000 miles
| Tariff | Cost per mile | Annual cost |
|---|---|---|
| Octopus Intelligent Go | 2.1p/mile | £211 |
| Octopus Go | 2.6p/mile | £264 |
| Standard variable | 7.3p/mile | £731 |
| Public rapid only | 21.9p/mile | £2,194 |
| Petrol equivalent | ~19p | ~£1,900 |
Petrol assumes 40 mpg at £1.45 a litre. The electricity figures are charging only: no standing charge, and no allowance for the 5–10% lost between the wall and the battery.
The gap between the standard rate and a good EV tariff is several hundred pounds a year on typical mileage, and it costs nothing to close. The interactive savings calculator runs the numbers for your mileage; the UK EV Charging Cost Index compares every tariff per mile.
NMC battery: set 80% for daily use
The EV3 uses an NMC (nickel manganese cobalt) pack, the chemistry most European and Korean EVs run. Kia's guidance is the standard one for NMC: set the daily charge limit to 80% in the car or the Kia Connect app, and go to 100% before a long trip. Sitting at 100% for days accelerates the slow capacity loss every lithium battery suffers, and 80% of a 78 kWh pack is still 220-odd real miles, which covers most weeks without thinking about it.
The 7 kW throttling quirk. A number of owners report the EV3's AC charge rate falling from 7 kW to around 1.4 kW an hour or two into a session on a single-phase wallbox, which turns an overnight charge into an unfinished one. The reports point at the car's integrated charging control unit rather than the wallbox, and the workaround that owners have settled on is a 90% charge limit rather than 100% (Kia EV Forums thread). If your EV3 is slow to fill, check the charge limit and the dealer's software level before blaming the charger.
Smart tariffs and the EV3
Intelligent Octopus Go has no integration with the car, so the scheduling has to come from the charger. That rules in the Ohme Home Pro, Ohme ePod, myenergi zappi, Hypervolt Home 3 Pro, Indra, Andersen and Octopus's own Octopus Charge, and rules out a basic wallbox if you want the 7.6p rate with no manual timers. Kia Connect's own schedule works with fixed-window tariffs such as Octopus Go or EDF GoElectric, with one caveat owners raise: the app's schedule can be silently cleared after a public charging session, so check it after a trip (Kia Owners Club). OVO Charge Anytime lists Kia as a beta integration that OVO's own staff describe as unreliable; treat it as charger-side too.
Choosing a charger
Every home charger on this site works with the EV3: Type 2 is universal for UK AC charging. Because Intelligent Go cannot see the EV3, the charger choice matters more than it does for a Tesla or a VW.
- Ohme Home Pro at £559: the straightforward answer. Octopus, OVO and E.ON all schedule through it, so the car's own quirks stay out of the way. Tethered, so the cable is always where the nose is.
- myenergi zappi at £684: the same supplier links plus solar diversion. The EV3's 78 kWh pack is big enough that a summer day's surplus makes a real dent.
- Hypervolt Home 3 Pro at £624: Octopus, OVO and E.ON links, 7.5 m cable option for nose-out parking, IP66.
A plain wallbox such as the Tesla Wall Connector or Easee One works perfectly as a socket, but you would be setting timers in Kia Connect instead of letting the supplier do it.
Full head-to-heads are on the charger comparison page, and the smart-tariff chargers guide covers which units talk to which supplier.
Common questions
Can I charge an EV3 from a 3-pin plug?
Yes, with a portable charger; Kia does not include one in the UK, only the Type 2 cable. Expect 2.3 kW, about 8 miles of range an hour, and well over a day for a full 78 kWh charge. Fine as a fallback, not a plan. The 3-pin guide applies to any EV.
Does the EV3 have Vehicle-to-Load?
Yes on the GT-Line S (and the GT when it arrives): a 3.6 kW V2L outlet via an adapter, enough for a kettle or a campsite. There is no vehicle-to-grid.
Is 7 kW enough for a 78 kWh battery?
Yes. A full charge takes about 10½ hours, which fits a 9pm-to-7am plug-in, and most nights you are topping up 30–50 miles, which is two hours. Three-phase only shortens the rare empty-to-full.
Why is my EV3 charging slowly on my home charger?
See the battery section above: owners report the car itself throttling to 1.4 kW after an hour or so, with a 90% charge limit as the workaround. Check that before calling the installer.
Getting set up
- Switch to an EV tariff before anything else; the saving starts the day it goes live.
- Choose a charger, or compare them all.
- Get installation quotes: up to three local installers, no obligation.
- Read the installation guide so the day itself holds no surprises.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
Your next useful step: compare the recommended home chargers.