Home EV charger

[KAgantua]

Hi guys, Im having some building works coming up and thought I would add an EV charger at the same time.

I have heard that Level 3 is the best - but not suitable for doestic, are there any Level 3 chargers avialble for home?

My sparks has recommended two products - EVBox or Podpoint,

Has anyone had these installed?

[No ideas for a name]

KAgantua said:

Hi guys, Im having some building works coming up and thought I would add an EV charger at the same time.

I have heard that Level 3 is the best - but not suitable for doestic, are there any Level 3 chargers avialble for home?

My sparks has recommended two products - EVBox or Podpoint,

Has anyone had these installed?

Maybe best to ask for this to be moved over to the EV subsection...

Level 3 as in DC at 50kW plus?
It going to need a serious supply from your DNO.
Unless you are basing a taxi firm from there I wouldn't have thought it was needed.
Surely, the lowest rate you can get away with is best for the batteries.

[Scrump]

Thread moved to EV section where I suspect you will get some good advice.

[LooneyTunes]

Look at an Andersen. By far the neatest on the market when we looked (1 year ago) and also 3-phase ready (but can run single phase too).

[Gareth79]

Agree with above - you'd need 3 phase for that surely, £££. What might be the most sensible forward planning is to ensure that you have wiring in place for 2x 32A chargers. I think this is possible on a normal 100A supply?

[Frimley111R]

KAgantua said:

Hi guys, Im having some building works coming up and thought I would add an EV charger at the same time.

I have heard that Level 3 is the best - but not suitable for doestic, are there any Level 3 chargers avialble for home?

My sparks has recommended two products - EVBox or Podpoint,

Has anyone had these installed?

I assume you mean 3 Phase?

If so, you don't need it for a home. You will charge up mostly overnight and 7kW is still plenty of charging power. Plus adding 3 Phase will be very expensive.

[Frimley111R]

Gareth79 said:

Agree with above - you'd need 3 phase for that surely, £££. What might be the most sensible forward planning is to ensure that you have wiring in place for 2x 32A chargers. I think this is possible on a normal 100A supply?

You would need one, at least, with load management but you won't need 2 chargers. You won't charge both cars up at the same time just like you don't fill your cars up with fuel at the same time.

[LooneyTunes]

Frimley111R said:

You would need one, at least, with load management but you won't need 2 chargers. You won't charge both cars up at the same time just like you don't fill your cars up with fuel at the same time.

If you want to charge two, at night using cheaper electricity, two chargers has to be more convenient than going out at 2am to swap the cable over…

[No ideas for a name]

KAgantua said:

...
I have heard that Level 3 is the best - but not suitable for doestic, are there any Level 3 chargers avialble for home?

My sparks has recommended two products - EVBox or Podpoint,

OP asked about level 3, and gave examples of two level 3 chargers, then every one has gone off about mode 3, level 2 EVSE and charging more than one vehicle at once.

[Evanivitch]

No ideas for a name said:

Level 3 as in DC at 50kW plus?

No. Level 3 is 7kW charging.

OP, thread already here on chargers.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

I suggest you do some simple specs.
Aesthetics, priority?
App control?
Is there phone signal, WiFi or ethernet available.
What car are you getting? Probably needs a Type 2 connector, but if second hand might take a type 1.
Probably want a tethered charger, but usually suggest an untethered with a an appropriate length cable.

[Cranked]

Evanivitch said:

No ideas for a name said:

Level 3 as in DC at 50kW plus?

No. Level 3 is 7kW charging.

Level 3 charging stations are the fastest on the market today, able to deliver between 50 kW and 350 kW of power.

[Evanivitch]

Cranked said:

Evanivitch said:

No ideas for a name said:

Level 3 as in DC at 50kW plus?

No. Level 3 is 7kW charging.

Level 3 charging stations are the fastest on the market today, able to deliver between 50 kW and 350 kW of power.

Yep, my mistake. I find the "level" system somewhat useless, but though it was Level 1 110V, Level 2 (Granny), Level 3 (7kW). But that isn't the case :tup:

[Cranked]

Evanivitch said:

Cranked said:

Evanivitch said:

No ideas for a name said:

Level 3 as in DC at 50kW plus?

No. Level 3 is 7kW charging.

Level 3 charging stations are the fastest on the market today, able to deliver between 50 kW and 350 kW of power.

Yep, my mistake. I find the "level" system somewhat useless, but though it was Level 1 110V, Level 2 (Granny), Level 3 (7kW). But that isn't the case :tup:

Just starting out on the EV adventure myself - there is a lot of info to digest

[No ideas for a name]

Evanivitch said:

Yep, my mistake. I find the "level" system somewhat useless, but though it was Level 1 110V, Level 2 (Granny), Level 3 (7kW). But that isn't the case :tup:

Easy to confuse mode 1, 2 and 3 with level 1, 2 and 3!
Mode 1 is just a mains lead (which never happens now)
Mode 2 a so called 'granny' charger - which in theory can be up to 32A and can be 3-phase
Mode 3 a 'proper' EVSE - usually upto 32A, but the specs do allow for up to 80A
All those have the actual charger in the EV.

Mode 4 is DC

[Gareth79]

Frimley111R said:

Gareth79 said:

Agree with above - you'd need 3 phase for that surely, £££. What might be the most sensible forward planning is to ensure that you have wiring in place for 2x 32A chargers. I think this is possible on a normal 100A supply?

You would need one, at least, with load management but you won't need 2 chargers. You won't charge both cars up at the same time just like you don't fill your cars up with fuel at the same time.

As mentioned, if you have 2x EVs you'll often be wanting to charge them up at exactly the same time, probably midnight to 6am or whenever. If they have chunky batteries they may take all of that time to charge too. You could charge one as soon as you get home and then swap before bed, so long as you don't the first charge costing triple the price.

[Evanivitch]

No ideas for a name said:

Evanivitch said:

Yep, my mistake. I find the "level" system somewhat useless, but though it was Level 1 110V, Level 2 (Granny), Level 3 (7kW). But that isn't the case :tup:

Easy to confuse mode 1, 2 and 3 with level 1, 2 and 3!
Mode 1 is just a mains lead (which never happens now)
Mode 2 a so called 'granny' charger - which in theory can be up to 32A and can be 3-phase
Mode 3 a 'proper' EVSE - usually upto 32A, but the specs do allow for up to 80A
All those have the actual charger in the EV.

Mode 4 is DC

Thank you for that, I thought I hadn't completely lost it

[Hobo]

I’ve had an EVBox for around 2 years now and no real issue with it aside from the time the charging card expired and needed a new one which seemed to cause issues with the charging process. To be honest I only yawning as a plug and charge unit, I don’t use any of the timer settings, etc.

For what I actually use it for I could have probably just installed a commando socket as no one else is ever going to pull up and charge their car without asking.

[Frimley111R]

Gareth79 said:

Frimley111R said:

Gareth79 said:

Agree with above - you'd need 3 phase for that surely, £££. What might be the most sensible forward planning is to ensure that you have wiring in place for 2x 32A chargers. I think this is possible on a normal 100A supply?

You would need one, at least, with load management but you won't need 2 chargers. You won't charge both cars up at the same time just like you don't fill your cars up with fuel at the same time.

As mentioned, if you have 2x EVs you'll often be wanting to charge them up at exactly the same time, probably midnight to 6am or whenever. If they have chunky batteries they may take all of that time to charge too. You could charge one as soon as you get home and then swap before bed, so long as you don't the first charge costing triple the price.

The only time this is likely is if you have 2 EVs and are using their entire battery supplies up every day. So you'd have to be doing 150-200 miles every day in both cars. How likely is that? I just don't see it (and haven't seen it, as we have a few customers with 2 EVs).

[KAgantua]

Yep, thanks guys, am reading that thread now. I read a webpage talking through the basics of EV home chargers and it said they break down into Levels 1, 2 and 3. Confusingly, none of the manufacturers like to say what level their chargers are!

My leccy comes in overhead, so there may be limited scope to beefing it up.

I havent decided on an EV yet, will probably stay fossil for atleast next three years, but want to future proof the house while im having work done.

[sjg]

The "level" thing seems to be used more in the US, where there's a big difference between plugging in to a normal 110V socket (level 1) vs 220V. As we don't do 110V in normal domestic settings it's irrelevant, and I don't think level 3 is actually defined anywhere, it's just become shorthand for DC rapid charging.

A 7kW home charger will put in around 25 miles of range per hour so plenty for most people. No need for 3-phase to cover that unless you have multiple EVs doing big miles every day.