Which home charging point?

Author
Discussion

ODRALLAG

Original Poster:

397 posts

158 months

Monday 2nd September 2019
quotequote all
Looking to get a charging point and there seems to be a variation in prices between charging points available

I narrowed it down to the 3 below, anyone have experience of using any of these? or any others to consider?

All 7kwh,
Podpoint £359 after grant
EO mini pro £495 after grant
BP chargemaster £449 after grant

Also seen Rolec have one for £295?

Edited by ODRALLAG on Monday 2nd September 16:55

Knock_knock

573 posts

176 months

Tuesday 3rd September 2019
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Used a 7kW non-tethered Rolec for the last three years to charge two EV's. Had no problems. Since a charging point is basically a big plug socket I'm not really sure what the extra money gets you; maybe a prettier box?

Chris-S

282 posts

88 months

Tuesday 3rd September 2019
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That, a contactor and a tiny communications module to talk to the car and tell it what current it can supply. Must be all of £50 in costs on a typical charger. It's pretty galling how they manage the price to soak up all the generous grant as well as a chunk of ones own cash. Unless it's a difficult install, for which they typically charge extra anyway, the costs are excessive I reckon.

Have a tethered 7kW Rolec. Only charges the hybrid so doesn't have to work that hard. Zero issues in just under 3 years.

kambites

67,547 posts

221 months

Tuesday 3rd September 2019
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Do they all support scheduled charging? I know most cars can do it themselves, but enough cannot that I think I'd want it in any charger i had installed.

Frimley111R

15,623 posts

234 months

Tuesday 3rd September 2019
quotequote all
We install the EO Mini chargers. I won't knock our competitors but the big difference is that the EO MINI is much smaller than the other ones and people don't tend to want big plastic chargers on the front of their homes these days. Tech has moved on. They all work well and all should have data connectivity/wi-fi with apps/without apps. Our experience is virtually no-one asks for app controls on chargers.

Frimley111R

15,623 posts

234 months

Tuesday 3rd September 2019
quotequote all
Chris-S said:
That, a contractor and a tiny communications module to talk to the car and tell it what current it can supply. Must be all of £50 in costs on a typical charger. It's pretty galling how they manage the price to soak up all the generous grant as well as a chunk of ones own cash. Unless it's a difficult install, for which they typically charge extra anyway, the costs are excessive I reckon.
I am sure it seems like that but domestic jobs are often a PITA. Every home is different, old consumer units are obsolete, we do 16 pages of OLEV paperwork for each charger and it can take 1-2 months to be paid. Additionally all chargers have to have data connections now (+cost), we have to fit earth spikes to most installs now (+cost). And of course VAT adds £100 to a £500 install of course. Oh and we need to be insured and members of an recognised electrical association. Plus a ton of other things...

Dave Hedgehog

14,549 posts

204 months

Tuesday 3rd September 2019
quotequote all
Frimley111R said:
We install the EO Mini chargers. I won't knock our competitors but the big difference is that the EO MINI is much smaller than the other ones and people don't tend to want big plastic chargers on the front of their homes these days. Tech has moved on. They all work well and all should have data connectivity/wi-fi with apps/without apps. Our experience is virtually no-one asks for app controls on chargers.
ironically i was sold a rolec because i need to be able to turn on/off the charger via an app

only to find out that the rolec app does not support this ....



Frimley111R

15,623 posts

234 months

Tuesday 3rd September 2019
quotequote all
Dave Hedgehog said:
Frimley111R said:
We install the EO Mini chargers. I won't knock our competitors but the big difference is that the EO MINI is much smaller than the other ones and people don't tend to want big plastic chargers on the front of their homes these days. Tech has moved on. They all work well and all should have data connectivity/wi-fi with apps/without apps. Our experience is virtually no-one asks for app controls on chargers.
ironically i was sold a rolec because i need to be able to turn on/off the charger via an app

only to find out that the rolec app does not support this ....
Bizarre. I'd have thought that was the most fundamental requirement of the App.

kambites

67,547 posts

221 months

Tuesday 3rd September 2019
quotequote all
Frimley111R said:
Our experience is virtually no-one asks for app controls on chargers.
I wonder if that will change if budget EVs (like the MG ZS) start to come onto the market without their own support for scheduled charging?

Evanivitch

20,037 posts

122 months

Tuesday 3rd September 2019
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IMO go untethered. I wish I had. Partly because the Ampera is Type 1 and obviously that's now obsolete, but also because the cable is just that little bit too short for my liking.

Daaaveee

909 posts

223 months

Tuesday 3rd September 2019
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I have an EO Mini untethered in black. I like how small and discreet it is, like Frimley says, not everyone wants a huge box on the wall.

One thing to note about the Mini which I wish I had known before though, the standard install procedure is for bottom cable entry which doesn't looking quite as clean as the rear entry that they show on their website. Maybe your installer would do rear entry if you ask nicely, however I didn't query it and wish I had... not to worry as it will need to be moved in 6 months when we do an extension.

Frimley111R

15,623 posts

234 months

Tuesday 3rd September 2019
quotequote all
Daaaveee said:
Maybe your installer would do rear entry if you ask nicely,
hehe

Yes, you can do either with the MINI.

Frimley111R

15,623 posts

234 months

Tuesday 3rd September 2019
quotequote all
Evanivitch said:
IMO go untethered. I wish I had. Partly because the Ampera is Type 1 and obviously that's now obsolete, but also because the cable is just that little bit too short for my liking.
In the 3 years we've been installing only 2 people have gone tethered. The issue really is that once it is removed from your car you have to wrap it around the charger which looks untidy or have a hook next to it to hook it onto like a hosepipe. It can also pull the charger off the wall over time. it is personal choice though. When we started I thought everyone would have tethers.

Frimley111R

15,623 posts

234 months

Tuesday 3rd September 2019
quotequote all
kambites said:
I wonder if that will change if budget EVs (like the MG eZS) start to come onto the market without their own support for scheduled charging?
Possibly but many of our customers have the Zoe or Leaf and they haven't asked. It's nice to have the App but almost everyone just wants a nice neat charger and nothing more.

Evanivitch

20,037 posts

122 months

Tuesday 3rd September 2019
quotequote all
Frimley111R said:
Evanivitch said:
IMO go untethered. I wish I had. Partly because the Ampera is Type 1 and obviously that's now obsolete, but also because the cable is just that little bit too short for my liking.
In the 3 years we've been installing only 2 people have gone tethered. The issue really is that once it is removed from your car you have to wrap it around the charger which looks untidy or have a hook next to it to hook it onto like a hosepipe. It can also pull the charger off the wall over time. it is personal choice though. When we started I thought everyone would have tethers.
I would still have a cable permanently connected to the charge point, I certainly wouldn't use the hassle or removing it from my boot everyday to plug in at home.

Most users on EV forums seem to go tethered.

JackReacher

2,126 posts

215 months

Tuesday 3rd September 2019
quotequote all
Related question, does anyone have experience of a New Motion home charger? Think they are owned by Shell and relatively common in the Netherlands but not here in the UK.

Its whatbim being offered through work when my i3 arrives, but still have to pay for it so want to make sure it's a good option.

Daaaveee

909 posts

223 months

Tuesday 3rd September 2019
quotequote all
I think tethered vs untethered choice varies because of a few factors such as how often you need to plug in, where your charger is located and your preference on looks. Anything tethered compared to an untethered EO Mini is going to need more space and look worse. For us we only need to charge ~2 times a week so the extra 20s getting the cable out is no big deal, and the charge point is in direct view from the road on the front of the garage so untethered seemed like the way to go, no regrets.

SWoll

18,341 posts

258 months

Tuesday 3rd September 2019
quotequote all
Tethered is the lazy option IMHO.

It also means if you ever damage the cable or connector you'll need an engineer visit and have to pay the inflated the cost of a new cable from the manufacturer. With un-tethered you can just buy another cable and away you go.

Evanivitch

20,037 posts

122 months

Tuesday 3rd September 2019
quotequote all
SWoll said:
Tethered is the lazy option IMHO.

It also means if you ever damage the cable or connector you'll need an engineer visit and have to pay the inflated the cost of a new cable from the manufacturer. With un-tethered you can just buy another cable and away you go.
It's really not that difficult to change them.

skilly1

2,702 posts

195 months

Tuesday 3rd September 2019
quotequote all
I went tethered 5 years ago and it still works fine ! You probably have more chance of damaging your cable in the car, than on the wall mount. You can't drive off with the cable plugged in.

I charge every night and don't want the hassle of taking a cable out of the boot each time.