Which 'charger' do I want?

[anonymous-user]

I've recently bought a new 40kw leaf which gets delivered late March.

Thanks to much help on here I'd got into a position where I understand the charging standards of my car and what rates I can charge at. I've since obtained a few quotes and we're close to going ahead with the install. The quotes are around £750-£900 from local suppliers and after reading that some suppliers appear to have absorbed the government grant into their profits has me questioning the deal.

However, we've recently moved to Octopus energy and have seen their offer of an Ohme Smart charger at £549 which is considerably cheaper than the quotes we've had.

https://octopus.energy/l/ohme-home-pro-octopus-off...

I cant see any reason to not go for this but I'm not confident of my knowledge and concerned about getting a charger that's not going to work with my leaf or on the Octopus Go tariff. We've also since been offered a commando socket for £249 and again I don't know if this will work with my leaf or take advantage of the cheap Go tariff. Can anyone help explain to me please? I've also noticed that the commando socket looks suspiciously like an electric hookup cable found on campsites, will my camper van plug into one? The socket would be near our camper and having the camper hook up to it would be advantageous, I just don't really understand the difference between the wall box and the commando.

[paradigital]

The commando socket is simply a high-amperage plug socket that you can plug an EVSE into. You’d still need a “charger” (the EVSE) to plug into it, however it would allow you to hook up your camper.

[anonymous-user]

Thanks, that makes sense. I see the appeal of the commando but in reality I’d also then need to buy the cable which makes the wall box a better option.

I like the appeal of connecting up the camper to the commando but even then with the fact it’s plugged in at all times it’d get tiresome to switch between the car and camper.

[essayer]

If you have a commando socket, Octopus sell the compatible Ohme charger at a discount- that’ll work with the Leaf and future EVs
But a wall mounted tethered 7kW is more convenient (no getting cables from the boot, etc) albeit more expensive to have installed.

[Frimley111R]

sebdangerfield said:

The quotes are around £750-£900 from local suppliers and after reading that some suppliers appear to have absorbed the government grant into their profits has me questioning the deal.

Does anyone who has said this actually know this for a fact? (No, they don't). Be careful of internet comments from people with minimal understanding of EV charging.

[AB]

I have a Zappi and it's been absolutely perfect.

[paradigital]

AB said:

I have a Zappi and it's been absolutely perfect.

Same, it’s been great so far (installed in November 2021). I’ve also got an Ohme 3-pin which is good, can imagine the proper tethered 7.2KW unit is good.

[EVLATECOMER]

Frimley111R said:

sebdangerfield said:

The quotes are around £750-£900 from local suppliers and after reading that some suppliers appear to have absorbed the government grant into their profits has me questioning the deal.

Does anyone who has said this actually know this for a fact? (No, they don't). Be careful of internet comments from people with minimal understanding of EV charging.

It's really simple, in that most installers have no capacity to complete the installation before the grant support ends on 31st March. So the higher price will probably be linked to them carrying out the install April 1st onwards.

[anonymous-user]

Frimley111R said:

sebdangerfield said:

The quotes are around £750-£900 from local suppliers and after reading that some suppliers appear to have absorbed the government grant into their profits has me questioning the deal.

Does anyone who has said this actually know this for a fact? (No, they don't). Be careful of internet comments from people with minimal understanding of EV charging.

I agree. Even if someone had stated it as fact then that fact still needs the same level of testing and scrutiny as any other fact on the internet.

However, it's very difficult to see where the value is in the quotes given they all appear to be roughly the government grant higher than the price octopus have given and also the price I had today from a local electrician so I can see where the fact may come from even if it may be incorrect. Which is absolutely fine as with any free market it'll find its level and I'm a firm believer that companies should be able to charge whatever they want, and fair play to them if they can find customers to pay it. If some appear to be able to do the job for £350 less than others then I'm sure the others will work on finding ways to reduce their costs and remain competitive.

[Frimley111R]

EVLATECOMER said:

Frimley111R said:

sebdangerfield said:

The quotes are around £750-£900 from local suppliers and after reading that some suppliers appear to have absorbed the government grant into their profits has me questioning the deal.

Does anyone who has said this actually know this for a fact? (No, they don't). Be careful of internet comments from people with minimal understanding of EV charging.

It's really simple, in that most installers have no capacity to complete the installation before the grant support ends on 31st March. So the higher price will probably be linked to them carrying out the install April 1st onwards.

Thank you for demonstrating exactly what I said.

[EVLATECOMER]

Frimley111R said:

EVLATECOMER said:

Frimley111R said:

sebdangerfield said:

The quotes are around £750-£900 from local suppliers and after reading that some suppliers appear to have absorbed the government grant into their profits has me questioning the deal.

Does anyone who has said this actually know this for a fact? (No, they don't). Be careful of internet comments from people with minimal understanding of EV charging.

It's really simple, in that most installers have no capacity to complete the installation before the grant support ends on 31st March. So the higher price will probably be linked to them carrying out the install April 1st onwards.

Thank you for demonstrating exactly what I said.

Apologies, was intended for the other poster you quoted.....I know you're best placed to know why jobs from 1st April will be priced higher as most of your competitors are displaying, unlike Ohme / Octopus

[anonymous-user]

EVLATECOMER said:

Frimley111R said:

EVLATECOMER said:

Frimley111R said:

sebdangerfield said:

The quotes are around £750-£900 from local suppliers and after reading that some suppliers appear to have absorbed the government grant into their profits has me questioning the deal.

Does anyone who has said this actually know this for a fact? (No, they don't). Be careful of internet comments from people with minimal understanding of EV charging.

It's really simple, in that most installers have no capacity to complete the installation before the grant support ends on 31st March. So the higher price will probably be linked to them carrying out the install April 1st onwards.

Thank you for demonstrating exactly what I said.

Apologies, was intended for the other poster you quoted.....I know you're best placed to know why jobs from 1st April will be priced higher as most of your competitors are displaying, unlike Ohme / Octopus

Sorry, I didn’t realise that was for me either. For clarity all the people quoting had capacity between the end of February and early March. The tight timescale was a prominent point in the request for quotes for obvious reasons.