Viewing 34 posts - 1 through 34 (of 34 total)
  • What car (EV) home charger?
  • woody74
    Full Member

    So we have just ordered a Nissan Leaf and need to get a home charger installed on our driveway. Seems like there is a plethora of options at varying prices.

    Any recommendations?

    As it will be on the front of the house, we want something that look ok and will only charge in the middle of the night when the cheap tariff kicks in.

    Also any recommendations on cheap EV tariffs? Been looking at the Octopus and Tonik ones.

    TheOtherJamie
    Free Member

    Zappi, Podpoint and EO (and Anderson but they are £££)

    It then depends on if you can claim the OLEV grant and if you need any of the features the additional cost brings.

    chestrockwell
    Full Member

    I was directed to this site:

    https://www.smarthomecharge.co.uk/vehicles/bmw/i3/

    Think I’m going for the Ohme one as you can use it with Octopus Energy tarrifs I believe.

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    simon_g
    Full Member

    Leaf has good charge timers built into the car so you don’t really need it on the charger.

    The OLEV grant was reduced again earlier this year, that and the requirement for it to be “smart” means it’s got quite pricey (cheapest options I can find now are over £500). I think for many people it’s at the tipping point of being cheaper to get a basic unit fitted outside OLEV.

    One of these and the services of a local electrician will be about the same https://evonestop.co.uk/products/qubev-ev-charging-unit-type-2-socket-32-amp-7-2-kw-ip65

    robbo1234biking
    Full Member

    I have one of these, but they are all very similar. The car handles the charge times anyway so the smart features are pretty redundant!

    https://newmotion.com/en_GB/charging-solutions/home-charging-solutions-uk/

    Think I paid £499 with grant in Feb this year but looks like the price has gone up.

    couchy
    Free Member

    We install EV chargers but mainly commercial, tbh find the cheapest one you like the look of. As above the grant has been reduced so the total cost is now higher than it used to be. Bearing in mind units can’t be directly connected to a domestic earth supply without additional measures. All that is taken care of by the installer if they are familiar with EV charge point regulations but I can tell you the majority of electricians aren’t. We install 300+ a year and when interviewing for electricians it amazes me how many haven’t got a clue on EV. I only mention this as you could buy a cheap non OLEV charge point and have a local spark install it but the cost for the unit, plus RCD plus Earth rod or open neutral device would prob be more than an OLEV unit with the grant

    jonnyboi
    Full Member

    We have a pod point at home, it works fine and the web app gives me info on charges and cost. I think it will come down to the local electrician who fits it rather than the charges point itself

    woody74
    Full Member

    Thanks all, I was looking just at the ones with the grant as I didn’t think about buying a box and then getting a sparky to install it. Also wasn’t aware that the car controls the charging times etc.

    Its seems it the classic thing, where there are lots of features on all of them but nothing that explains what’s good or better.

    FunkyDunc
    Free Member

    It’s been a few years since I had one fitted under the grant and they were only £150 then!

    Get a non tethered one, and the buy a 10m cable, means you can charge at National Trust etc for free

    robbo1234biking
    Full Member

    My car came with the cable (well 2 actually) so check what you are getting.

    Drac
    Full Member

    Mine is coming from Podpoint I could get a free one from Audi but it’s not a very good one.

    Get a non tethered one, and the buy a 10m cable, means you can charge at National Trust etc for free

    I’m not understanding this?

    gruffj
    Free Member

    I have a Podpoint. It ticks all the boxes, and looks ok. I’d strongly recommend you get an untethered charger. This allows you to keep the charger if you change cars in the future.

    I have owned a Leaf for almost 12 months. It is easily the best car I have ever owned, I absolutely love it.

    Drac
    Full Member

    This allows you to keep the charger if you change cars in the future.

    They’re a standard fit now.

    phiiiiil
    Full Member

    A few energy suppliers like Ovo used to do tariffs or deals that included a “free” or subsidised charger; do any still do?

    garlando
    Full Member

    Got a leaf and a podpoint here too. No complaints.

    phil5556
    Full Member

    I’ve just had an EO mini installed through octopus. Cost me £100 but I’m in Scotland so get an extra £300.

    It was the smallest, neatest one I could find. I don’t use its smart features (they don’t seem very smart) and just set my off peak hours on the car app.

    jonnyboi
    Full Member

    I went for a tethered one as I had read that the untethered can give bother and it’s easy enough to change/adapt the lead if your new car uses a different connection

    FunkyDunc
    Free Member

    I’m not understanding this?

    its 4 years since I bought a charge point but then you could buy with the cable tethered (Directly connected) to the charge point, or just the pod and then buy your own cable the plugged in to the pod and car. Slightly more expensive way to do it but much more flexible in allowing you to charge

    read that the untethered can give bother

    I’ve never had any issues in 3 yrs.

    Only problem I had was moving house, I should have taken the charge unit off the wall and taken it with me.

    maxtorque
    Full Member

    I “installed” my own charger just over 4 years ago, using the open source OpenEVSE unit. I just plug it into an outside socket mounted on the wall of my garage. There is no addiotional earth rod, but this doesn’t matter in my case because my EV is pretty much entire made out of plastic, and hence has no metal surfaces to earth!

    https://www.openevse.com/

    Max charging is limited by my garage wiring to 3kW (charger is 32A 7kW capable), but my EV only has a dinky battery (22kWh) so that’s actually plenty to fully charge from flat during cheap rate over night ‘lecy.

    Zero problems in 4 years, total cost was around £100.

    Duane…
    Free Member

    I’d recommend Pod Point.

    (I may or may not work for Pod Point)

    B.A.Nana
    Free Member

    Mine is an untethered Rolec and I bought an Ohme cable discounted from Octopus. In the last 12 months ohme cable /charger seems to be the go to option linked to Octopus Agile or Octopus Go leccy tariff.

    However, in West Yorkshire there are currently so many free rapid public chargers that a home charger, whatever the tariff, is just pointless, unless you are a long distance rep or just don’t have any time to sit and charge for free. There are 5 free rapid public chargers on my commute to work, and more nearby, why would I bother paying to use my home charger? (I have plenty of free time, no kids, no work overload. other peoples work / life balance may differ)

    Drac
    Full Member

    Slightly more expensive way to do it but much more flexible in allowing you to charge

    How is it more flexible EV’s come with a charging cable anyway, my hybrid did.

    B.A.Nana
    Free Member

    Slightly more expensive way to do it but much more flexible in allowing you to charge

    How is it more flexible EV’s come with a charging cable anyway, my hybrid did.

    If anything I’d say the untethered is more flexible a) doesn’t matter what connection standard your cars have, you just use the appropriate cable with appropriate connector end (that’s not likely to be an issue anymore). b) you can use a standard cable or a smart cable like wot I got^. c) you could easily swap between 3metre cable, 5m or a 10m.

    It turned out to be a bonus for me when I decided to go onto Octopus Agile tariff, as I could just buy the smart cable that worked with the tariff, rather than having a whole new charger unit installed.

    The benefit of a tethered charger is mostly convenience and, if you’re going to leave your cables lying around, security of the cable.

    B.A.Nana
    Free Member

    @woody74 I’m no expert I’ve generally followed others who seem to know, but I’d recommend the Ohme charger. It’s one of the cheaper ones and specifically designed to work with the most complicated tariff which is Octopus Agile, it’ll also work with the more straightforward time of day tariffs like all the others I expect.

    The untethered alternative would be a charger box of your choice and buy the ohme cable from Octopus. Buy the cable here (you only need this cable for Octopus Agile, other more conventional tariffs ie Octopus Go etc can usually be set up from your in car timer)

    Personally I’d probably go with the tethered unit for convenience, the only downside is they’re just a simple black box and cable, not winning any design awards.

    BTW you can easily swap between Octopus Go and Octopus Agile tariffs to see which works best for you

    Sparky77
    Free Member

    We’ve recently had a Ohme tethered charger installed to charge our new leaf, with Octopus on the Go tariff and seems to work very well. As we’re not using the car too much at the moment it’s been charging perfectly well overnight on the cheap rate. When I start commuting as normal (50miles each way) I will look as to whether it may be worth considering switching onto the agile tariff (although we are charging a Mk1 leaf as well, so this might not work for us).

    unovolo
    Free Member

    We have a 7Kw Podpoint, the app and car has all the Smarts so just went with something simple thats pretty well regarded.

    We opted for the tethered lead, no chance of your lead getting nicked and less connections means less chances of faults developing, car(Hyundai Ioniq) came with various charging leads in the boot so covered for mobile charging to.

    Neighbour has just got himself a top spec Audi e-tron and has gone for a tethered pod point too.

    Bonus some Pod point chargers at supermarkets and what not are free to use too.

    edd
    Full Member

    Can anyone explain the benefit of an EV specific charger over a 32A socket? A 32A socket can deliver 7kVA, so the same as most EV specific chargers, but a 32A socket is much less expensive (obviously it would still need to be installed by a proper electrician).

    B.A.Nana
    Free Member

    Can anyone explain the benefit of an EV specific charger over a 32A socket?

    You’d need a charger cable with an end for the commando socket. You’re unlikely to have that supplied with a car so factor that in. Ohme do a commando socket cable option that gives you all the smart / app functions for tariffs like octopus agile (in my link above^ you just select a cable with a commando socket end).
    You won’t get the olev grant, but it wouldn’t surprise me if a lot of people who don’t qualify for the olev grant, for whatever reason, will take this option.
    There may be some arguements around safety and reliability for long-term daily users, but if the likes of ohme and others are providing a commando socket option, it’s maybe only people with a vested interest that would scare monger you off commando sockets.
    I’m not an expert

    couchy
    Free Member

    Tbh if a 32A socket is installed with the correct dc leakage rcd protection and is on an open neutral detection device or it’s own TT earthing system with no chance of simultaneous contact as per the EV risk assessment in BS7671 then it will work just fine. However with a dedicated charge point the car can turn the unit on an off in the event of a fault whereas it can’t with a simple socket.
    But that’s a minor consideration as the real risk is with it being installed wrong and plenty of them are but installed correctly no problem.

    TheOtherJamie
    Free Member

    It’s not just as simple as a LNE from the commando to the car there are also signal pins and a handshake process and by the time you’ve bought a lead that can do this the cost isn’t much difference to a wall unit. The Ohme smart one mentioned above is £400!

    Also to comply with BS7671 722 if your installing a dedicated commando for EV use it should be RCD protected and earthed as such, again bumping up costs. Whether you tell your electrician it’s for general purpose use is up to you?

    IME a more expensive unit is easier to install and requires less additional ancillary devices so the total cost actually ends up similar/less than a cheaper unit.

    phil5556
    Full Member

    why would I bother paying to use my home charger?

    It costs me £1.10 to charge for my 60 mile round trip for work. That’s money well spent vs spending an hour plus sitting about on the way home.

    Kuco
    Full Member

    I’m getting a Podpoint fitted next week. Didn’t choose them by choice, just seems the company the lease car company uses.

    nixie
    Full Member

    Just today had and eo mini fitted. Very neat little box. Not cheap as we needed an extra consumer unit etc. Electrician (from supplying company) did a nice job and Also tidied up the wiring by the meter at the same time. Not tried a charge yet but connecting up the ap to the charger was easy.

    B.A.Nana
    Free Member

    It costs me £1.10 to charge for my 60 mile round trip for work. That’s money well spent vs spending an hour plus sitting about on the way home

    Yes, I have the time and inclination to SIT ABOUT ON THE WAY HOME to use the free chargers rather than my home charger. I might save £200 per annum no idea tbh but I’m a tight arse for sure.

Viewing 34 posts - 1 through 34 (of 34 total)

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