The charge port might be on the nearside rear, the offside front, or the nose. The wallbox has to suit the way the car fits on your drive, not the way it sat in the showroom. Park in the real spot, in the direction you will use every night, and see where the socket is. A lead that only works if you reverse in, and reversing in blocks the pavement, is the wrong mount.
Do the test before the surveyor arrives
Park as you mean to leave the car at midnight. Open the charge flap. Look at the wall you hoped to use. If the port is on the far corner, the lead has to travel around the bumper without crossing the bonnet in a way you will hate, and without lying where you walk to the front door.
Measure that path with a bit of string if you do not yet have a lead. Five metres of tidy brochure cable is often shorter once it drops from the holder and goes around a towbar. Eight or ten metres of tether can fix a far port and become a coil to trip over on a narrow drive. There is no universal length.
Reversing in is a habit, not a design
Some households will reverse every night to put the port next to the box. Some will not, especially if the drive meets a busy road or the car then blocks a gate. If the useful mount only works in one direction, write that into the decision while you can still put the box on the other pier.
A socketed charger plus a lead you uncoil only when you need the long way round can beat a tether that is always the wrong length. You then need a hook that keeps the spare lead off the ground and out of the rain.
Two cars and one obvious wall
If both cars charge on the same drive, stand them in the positions that still let people out. Ports on opposite corners mean one wall box serves one car cleanly and the other with a lead across the bay. A second tether, or a post between the bays, is a layout drawing, not a second full supply, unless the load says otherwise.
Do not assume the next car will match this port. If you change vehicles every three years, a socket and your own lead is easier to re-aim than a tether cut for one bumper.
- Night-time park, not the estate-agent angle
- Port side and which way the nose points
- The walking route from door to bin to car
- Whether a second car must use the same box
Short frontages and the pavement
On a short drive the car may sit close to the footway. A lead draped behind it can still cross the public pavement if the port faces the road. That is the same highways problem as a terrace, even though you own a crossover.
A wall on the house side of the bay keeps the lead on your land. A post at the kerb edge often does the opposite. Photograph the flap open with the car in its tightest honest position.
Frequently asked questions
My port is on the wrong side for the only wall. What now?
Use a longer lead or a socketed charger if the path stays on your property, or accept reversing in if you really will. Do not run the lead across the public footway.
Does a left-hand-drive import change the plan?
Yes if the port moved with the conversion or the market it was built for. Look at the car in the bay. Do not trust a UK review of a different variant.
Will a ceiling-mounted reel help in a garage?
Sometimes, if the car is fully inside and the reel reaches the flap without the lead lying in the door seal. It does not help a car that lives outside.
Should the installer choose the length?
They should confirm it on site with your car, or with the measurements you took. A default five metre tether is a guess.
Core buying guides
Start with these high-intent guides, then dig into the rest of the library.
Related guides
Sources and further reading
How this guide was prepared
This guide was written by the Local EV Installers Editorial Team. We compare official guidance, legislation and established consumer information, separate general information from project-specific advice, and show publication dates and sources. We do not accept installer accreditation claims at face value.