Car charging point - Government grant

[oblio]

Hi

We had a chap come to the door this pm telling us all about a new Gov grant that is available for all houses with off road parking whereby an electric car charging point could be installed for free. From doing a bit of Googling I couldnt find the name of the company on his jumper (B E Installations) but did find that there is a grant scheme available.

The chap stated it would be absolutely free...but the grant info I found says something along the lines of a grant is available for £1000 towards 75% of the cost. I guess they charge me at 'free' and then claim the full cost (up to £1000) from the Gov on my behalf!

My questions are - if anyone has experienced similar:

- Is it free, really?

- Is there a standard pattern of socket I should ask for? I am not gen'd up on electrical cars but I would wager/guess the worldwide car industry hasnt settled on one pattern/type of plug.

- Is there any other use for this charge point - other than for cars - making it worthwhile for me to have?

Or should I run a mile

I dont have an electric car nor any plans to acquire one in the forseeable tbh...

Cheers

[Spare tyre]

no idea, but think of the powerful lawn mower you could have

[Simpo Two]

oblio said:

We had a chap come to the door this pm telling us all about a new Gov grant that is available for all houses with off road parking whereby an electric car charging point could be installed for free.

Oh god. This is the next bottle of snake oil after solar panels.

[oblio]

Spare tyre said:

no idea, but think of the powerful lawn mower you could have

I'm surprised that I am the only one...anybody else?

[hairyben]

oblio said:

- Is it free, really?

No. It comes out of our taxes.

Goes something like:

Lazy inept government need a % of "investing in green" hogwash but both national and local level administration are either a) too indolent to really care what happens to our money so fritter it away on bullst schemes or b) corrupt scumbags whose corrupt mates firms install £150worth of commando socket and charge it back to the government at £1000 who by the time they've employed enough ethnic diversity co-ordinators to avoid institutional gingerism and make sure no dung beetles got hurt will end up costing each socket at £5-10k each.

But hey if you want a socket you have no need for don't let me stop you.

[Phunk]

More info here:

http://www.britishgas.co.uk/products-and-services/...

A lot of them also have a normal 3 pin UK socket, so can be handy.

[Dog Star]

Handy for welders I bet.

[catfood12]

Type A units (<16A) are totally free, type B units (<32A) get 75% up to £1000. You'll get an A type fitted.

The charging units also have a SIM card in them to allow stats to be sent back to HQ. You could take the SIM card out and use it in your IPad.....

[Little Lofty]

A BMW salesman told me they supply and fit a free charger with the i3 but its very slow (16 amp I think)If you want the fast charger its about £300.So these free chargers are probably not what most people would want if they had an electric car.

[oblio]

hairyben said:

oblio said:

- Is it free, really?

...But hey if you want a socket you have no need for don't let me stop you.

Trust me: you won't!


Thanks folks

We'll see what comes of it...

[normalbloke]

Dog Star said:

Handy for welders I bet.

You beat me to it, plus plasma cutter,4 post lift, hooooge compressor and the biggest mofo kettle...

[RossP]

Yes they are free for a 3kW unit or around £95 for a 7kW unit.

You can get them from chargemaster, podpoint, british gas etc.

You don't even need an electric car. Get one as they are only free till next March!

I have a chargemaster 7kW unit.

They are only suitable for charging a car.

[Craikeybaby]

Interesting, it might be worth getting one of those in my garage while I'm getting it built.