Phev wall charger - worth it?
Discussion
I never thought I'd be posting in this section, but wanting a Range Rover for a while, a 6 mile commute and the recent P400e lease deals mean I've FTK'd on a Phev.
I was hoping for some advice and suggestions on home chargers. I've had a search round here but can't find definitive answers for the following. My garage is detached from my house and has its own fuseboard and internal lighting/power, which I believe is on a separate supply to the house (tbc by someone who knows what they're doing!). I don't currently have an external socket on it, however I'm assuming an electrician can put an IP rated one on the external wall and run it back to one of the spare slots on my garage board.
As it's only a Phev and not Bev, is it worth investing in a proper charger? I do intend to charge every night as I'm hoping to do my daily commute in EV mode. I believe it takes around 7 hours using the 3 pin plug, whereas a proper charger could do it in a couple. I have an economy 7 meter so it would be good if I could restrict charging to the reduced rate hours.
I've checked and the P400e is eligible for the government grant for a home charger. If this is going to run out in the near future it may be worth taking advantage of it? If nothing else, at least then my house will be prepared for future EV's. I can't seem to find a simple answer to what is the best charger option, how much does it cost (installed), and are there any that can be done completely within the government grant cost? or is it worth paying more on top to get a really good one to future proof the investment - and if so which is the best one to go for?
Cheers
I was hoping for some advice and suggestions on home chargers. I've had a search round here but can't find definitive answers for the following. My garage is detached from my house and has its own fuseboard and internal lighting/power, which I believe is on a separate supply to the house (tbc by someone who knows what they're doing!). I don't currently have an external socket on it, however I'm assuming an electrician can put an IP rated one on the external wall and run it back to one of the spare slots on my garage board.
As it's only a Phev and not Bev, is it worth investing in a proper charger? I do intend to charge every night as I'm hoping to do my daily commute in EV mode. I believe it takes around 7 hours using the 3 pin plug, whereas a proper charger could do it in a couple. I have an economy 7 meter so it would be good if I could restrict charging to the reduced rate hours.
I've checked and the P400e is eligible for the government grant for a home charger. If this is going to run out in the near future it may be worth taking advantage of it? If nothing else, at least then my house will be prepared for future EV's. I can't seem to find a simple answer to what is the best charger option, how much does it cost (installed), and are there any that can be done completely within the government grant cost? or is it worth paying more on top to get a really good one to future proof the investment - and if so which is the best one to go for?
Cheers
I would say its more important to have a proper charger for a PHEV than a BEV due to their small batteries needing charging more often, so yes I would be getting a 7kw charge point installed.
The Range Rover P400e should be able to get a full charge in 2 hours on the normal 7kw home charger, which would easily work with Octopus Go's 12:30 to 4:30 5p/kWh rate for example. (If you want a referral code for £50 off let me know
)
You should be eligible for the £500 off grant, but expect to pay £3-400 on top of this still, more if you want something a but fancier.
I have an untethered EO Home Mini and like the small and discreet look of it, I would definitely recommend one of these. I'm not a fan of the looks of the other larger charge points to be honest. The only other option was considering was the Andersen which is a nice looking box, and as you'll more than likely be charging every night due to short EV range, their tethered cable storage solution is nice and neat - less messing about with the cable when its tethered and you're using it so often.
The Range Rover P400e should be able to get a full charge in 2 hours on the normal 7kw home charger, which would easily work with Octopus Go's 12:30 to 4:30 5p/kWh rate for example. (If you want a referral code for £50 off let me know
)You should be eligible for the £500 off grant, but expect to pay £3-400 on top of this still, more if you want something a but fancier.
I have an untethered EO Home Mini and like the small and discreet look of it, I would definitely recommend one of these. I'm not a fan of the looks of the other larger charge points to be honest. The only other option was considering was the Andersen which is a nice looking box, and as you'll more than likely be charging every night due to short EV range, their tethered cable storage solution is nice and neat - less messing about with the cable when its tethered and you're using it so often.
Having the faster charging I find really helps with a the p400e means you can recharge during the day as well.
So if you go out in the morning use all the your electric you can get a good amount when you go out again in the afternoon. Just my usage but I have found I barely use petrol day to day since putting a wall charger in.
Personally I just got a Rolec put in my garage run the wire under the door. So nothing ugly on the outside.
So if you go out in the morning use all the your electric you can get a good amount when you go out again in the afternoon. Just my usage but I have found I barely use petrol day to day since putting a wall charger in.
Personally I just got a Rolec put in my garage run the wire under the door. So nothing ugly on the outside.
As per what Daaaveee said, you'll be charging it a lot so arguably a proper charger is more important.
Personally, I'd recommend a tethered unit, the Anderson EV ones being amongst the best looking (if that's a consideration), other, much cheaper options are available (avoid Rolec). A tethered unit will avoid the need to pull a manky coiled cable out of the boot every day, just grab the plug from the wall and connect it up.
If it's quiet and secure at your garage you could consider a socket version and just leave the cable plugged into it when not in use, but liable to theft if it's visible to passers by.
Personally, I'd recommend a tethered unit, the Anderson EV ones being amongst the best looking (if that's a consideration), other, much cheaper options are available (avoid Rolec). A tethered unit will avoid the need to pull a manky coiled cable out of the boot every day, just grab the plug from the wall and connect it up.
If it's quiet and secure at your garage you could consider a socket version and just leave the cable plugged into it when not in use, but liable to theft if it's visible to passers by.
If you have a spare 20 minutes, this is a good run through of some of the UK chargers available.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyFqMCjvsAk
I don't own an EV but have used several for long periods and I'd agree that using a loose cable or 3-pin charger every day would quickly become tiresome. Get a charger and get a tethered one if you can.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyFqMCjvsAk
I don't own an EV but have used several for long periods and I'd agree that using a loose cable or 3-pin charger every day would quickly become tiresome. Get a charger and get a tethered one if you can.
Many thanks for the advice, certainly a friendly welcome!
I live down a private driveway off a cul-de-sac which is out of sight of everyone so could possible leave an untethered cable in a charger, however I'd be miffed if it went missing having seen the cost of them. I guess the advantage to this would be that the cable I would buy separately to the charger would also allow me to plug into the national network of chargers, e.g for longer trips if I wanted to stop at a services and plug in for a bit?
I had seen the Rolec chargers and thought they looked a good buy for the price, although perhaps not judging by the above. My new car is on a 3 year lease, so I'm currently unsure whether this will be a temporary thing, or if I'll now stick with EV's indefinitely. If it was going to be the latter, investing in the best charger I can find seems like a good plan, although I'm not really going to know that until I've lived with the car for a bit.
I live down a private driveway off a cul-de-sac which is out of sight of everyone so could possible leave an untethered cable in a charger, however I'd be miffed if it went missing having seen the cost of them. I guess the advantage to this would be that the cable I would buy separately to the charger would also allow me to plug into the national network of chargers, e.g for longer trips if I wanted to stop at a services and plug in for a bit?
I had seen the Rolec chargers and thought they looked a good buy for the price, although perhaps not judging by the above. My new car is on a 3 year lease, so I'm currently unsure whether this will be a temporary thing, or if I'll now stick with EV's indefinitely. If it was going to be the latter, investing in the best charger I can find seems like a good plan, although I'm not really going to know that until I've lived with the car for a bit.
ntiz said:
Having the faster charging I find really helps with a the p400e means you can recharge during the day as well.
So if you go out in the morning use all the your electric you can get a good amount when you go out again in the afternoon. Just my usage but I have found I barely use petrol day to day since putting a wall charger in.
Personally I just got a Rolec put in my garage run the wire under the door. So nothing ugly on the outside.
How are you getting on with the P400e? What's your real world mpg if you don't mind me asking? So if you go out in the morning use all the your electric you can get a good amount when you go out again in the afternoon. Just my usage but I have found I barely use petrol day to day since putting a wall charger in.
Personally I just got a Rolec put in my garage run the wire under the door. So nothing ugly on the outside.
I've been told that for my commute and general usage I should expect to get by on mostly electric, however I'm not really an economy minded driver and only ever get mid 20's in Dad's Vogue TDV8 so it'll be interesting to see if the hybrid helps much!
My 330e came with a wall charger included in the lease, but to be honest charging from a wall socket overnight would have been equally fine. If it would have been a wall charger with included battery THAT would have been nice (so the car can charge back to the wall unit or integrate solar panels into it).
Shrimpvende said:
ntiz said:
Having the faster charging I find really helps with a the p400e means you can recharge during the day as well.
So if you go out in the morning use all the your electric you can get a good amount when you go out again in the afternoon. Just my usage but I have found I barely use petrol day to day since putting a wall charger in.
Personally I just got a Rolec put in my garage run the wire under the door. So nothing ugly on the outside.
How are you getting on with the P400e? What's your real world mpg if you don't mind me asking? So if you go out in the morning use all the your electric you can get a good amount when you go out again in the afternoon. Just my usage but I have found I barely use petrol day to day since putting a wall charger in.
Personally I just got a Rolec put in my garage run the wire under the door. So nothing ugly on the outside.
I've been told that for my commute and general usage I should expect to get by on mostly electric, however I'm not really an economy minded driver and only ever get mid 20's in Dad's Vogue TDV8 so it'll be interesting to see if the hybrid helps much!
Main reason I changed was I do around 30k a year in a full EV that was a lot of charging. Not Tesla fault just my requirements are fairly extreme.
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