Your first public charge usually comes with a very specific moment.
You park up. Look at the charger. Look at the cable. Look back at the charger.
Right. Which one of us is meant to do something first?
Cable? App? QR code? Payment?
If you are trying to work out how to use public EV chargers, the process itself is much less dramatic than that first charger stare-down. Once you know what to look for, most public charges follow the same broad pattern: check the charger, follow its instructions, connect your car, start the session, make sure it is actually charging, then stop and disconnect when you are ready to leave.
The slightly annoying part is that every network does things a little differently. There is no single button, app or payment method that works everywhere.
So rather than trying to memorise one perfect charging routine, it helps to know what to check and what to expect.
That is what this guide is for. No electrical engineering degree required.
Before you set off, check the practical bits:
A minute spent checking the charger before you leave can save ten minutes of standing beside it wondering whether you have missed something obvious.
If the information is available, have a quick look at:
Is the charger available?
What charging speed does it offer?
Do you need to bring your own cable?
What does charging cost and how can you pay?
Are there parking restrictions or time limits?
This matters because public chargers are not all set up in the same way.
Some have a cable permanently attached. Others give you a socket and expect you to bring your own compatible cable. Payment can be different from one network to the next too.
It is much nicer discovering that from your sofa than from a parking bay with three percent battery.
So, how do public EV chargers actually work?
If you have searched how do electric vehicle chargers work, the useful version of the answer is actually pretty simple.
The charge point supplies electricity to your car through the charging cable. Your car and the charger communicate with each other during the session, while you use the charger, app, website or payment system to tell it that you want to start charging.
That is really all you need to understand for your first go.
You do not need to know every connector specification or become fluent in electrical terminology before using a public charger. You mainly need to know:
the charger works with your car
you have the right cable if one is needed
you know how to start and pay for the session
you check that charging has actually begun before walking away
The charger can handle the clever electrical bits.
How to charge an electric car in public: the basic steps
1. Park up and check the bay
Before reaching for cables or phones, have a look around.
Being connected to a charger does not automatically make normal parking rules disappear. Depending on the location, there may still be parking charges, maximum stays, EV-only restrictions or other conditions.
At char.gy locations, we recommend checking the signs where you are parked rather than relying only on information online, because local restrictions can change.
Check char.gy parking guidance
It takes a few seconds and is considerably better than discovering a parking rule afterwards.
2. Let the charger tell you what it wants
This is probably the best first-charge habit you can learn: read the instructions in front of you.
Different networks use different ways to start a session. You might be asked to use:
an app
a QR code or web page
contactless payment
an RFID or roaming service
another on-screen process
UK rules require contactless payment on certain public charge points, but that does not mean every public charger uses the same payment setup.
GOV.UK guidance on public charge point regulations
So if Charger A worked one way yesterday, Charger B is allowed to have its own ideas today.
Take ten seconds, read what is on the screen or charge point, and follow that process.
3. Connect your car and start the session
Follow the order shown by the charger, app or charging page.
Some networks may ask you to connect the cable first. Others guide you through part of the digital process before telling you to plug in.
Once connected, make sure the cable is properly inserted at both ends.
This is why any guide to how to use EV charging stations can give you the broad process, but the live instructions at the charger should always win.
Think of this guide as knowing the rules of the road. The charger is still giving you the directions.
4. Wait for the bit that says you are actually charging
This is the step that is very easy to rush.
Cable connected does not always mean charging has started.
Before walking away, look for confirmation on the charger, app, web page or your car's display that the session is active and energy is being delivered.
Give it those extra few seconds.
It is far better to check while you are standing next to the car than to come back later and discover you have successfully charged absolutely nothing.
5. Now you can leave it alone
Once the session is active, your work is mostly done.
How much charge you add will depend on the charger, your car, the battery level when you arrived and how long you stay connected.
And no, every public charge does not have to end with a battery sitting proudly at 100%.
Sometimes you are topping up enough for tomorrow. Sometimes you only need enough for the next part of the journey. The useful amount of charge is the amount that works for what you are doing.
Just keep any parking or bay time limits in mind while the car charges.
6. Finish the session before pulling cables out
When you are ready to leave, use the method shown by the charging network or your vehicle to stop the session.
Wait until you can see that charging has finished and the cable has been released before unplugging.
If you brought your own cable, put it back in the car. It sounds painfully obvious until the day you nearly drive home without it.
Then clear the bay so it is ready for the next driver.
The cable question: do you need to bring your own?
Possibly.
Public charge points generally fall into two camps:
Tethered chargers already have a cable attached.
Untethered chargers have a socket, so you bring the cable that connects the charge point to your car.
If you are heading somewhere unfamiliar, checking this before travelling is worth doing.
char.gy charge points are untethered, so you will need your own compatible cable. Our current guidance specifies a Type 2 connector at both ends.
Once you know what your own car needs, this quickly becomes one of those things you stop thinking about.
How do you pay for public EV charging?
This is another area where public charging likes to keep things interesting.
There is no single payment method used by every network.
Depending on the charger, you might pay using:
a contactless bank card
an app
a QR code or browser
an account with the charging network
an RFID card
a third-party roaming service
Before starting the session, check three things:
What is the price per kWh?
How are you going to pay?
Is there another fee or temporary pre-authorisation?
That last one is worth knowing about because a temporary card authorisation can look alarming if you were not expecting it.
Under the Public Charge Point Regulations, the maximum charging price must be displayed clearly in pence per kilowatt hour before the session starts.
Read the GOV.UK pricing and payment guidance
The main thing is not to assume payment will work exactly the same way every time. Check first, then start the session knowing what you are agreeing to.
What if you plug in and... nothing happens?
First: do not immediately assume you have broken the charger.
Most first-start problems are worth checking from the simple end first.
Have a look at:
Are you on the correct charge point page or charger ID?
Is the cable properly connected at both ends?
Has your payment or authorisation gone through?
Does the charger actually say the session has started?
Is the charge point showing as available?
Sometimes the fix really is as glamorous as pushing the cable in properly.
If you have checked the basics and the session still will not start, use the support details provided by the charge point operator.
If you are charging with char.gy, our Help Centre has a dedicated troubleshooting guide:
And again, this is why we keep coming back to that one habit: make sure the session is active before you walk away.
Using char.gy for the first time
If your first public charge happens to be with char.gy, you can use the char.gy app or a web browser.
The live charging page shows the charge point details and takes you through the steps for that particular session.
Rather than memorising screenshots from an old guide, use the current Help Centre instructions when you need them:
Starting and finishing a charge using your web browser
Starting and finishing a charge using the char.gy app
That way you are always following the current process rather than instructions that may have changed since somebody took a screenshot.
The second charge feels much less dramatic
Your first public charge is the one where you notice everything.
Where does the cable go? Has the payment worked? Is that light supposed to be flashing? Can I walk away now?
By the second or third time, most of that disappears into the background.
You arrive, check the charger, follow the instructions, confirm the session is running and get on with whatever you were doing while the car charges.
You do not need to know everything about public charging before you use it for the first time. You just need enough information to know what to check.
And once you have done it once, you are no longer figuring out how to use a public EV charger.
You are just charging your car.
Ready to see what charging looks like near you?