Which home charging point?

[DeanR32]

Morning all.

I’m looking for a home charger at a reasonable price point, which I can set to charge at a certain time (during the night of course). Do they all do this, or only specific units? Would like to keep it reasonably priced, as I’m in a rental property for a while.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

[ajap1979]

DeanR32 said:

Morning all.

I’m looking for a home charger at a reasonable price point, which I can set to charge at a certain time (during the night of course). Do they all do this, or only specific units? Would like to keep it reasonably priced, as I’m in a rental property for a while.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Depending on the car, you could also use the in-car scheduled charging.

[moonigan]

We had a PodPoint installed last week by E-Verve Energy https://e-verveenergy.co.uk/. I needed a 20M+ cable run and also had an additional consumer unit fitted into the garage along with some lighting and I was very impressed with the work.

I chose the PodPoint as I wanted a tethered unit as the boot of the car is always full of other things so wanted to reduce the faff involved when charging. The car hasn't arrived yet so can't comment on the functionality.

[Frimley111R]

DeanR32 said:

Morning all.

I’m looking for a home charger at a reasonable price point, which I can set to charge at a certain time (during the night of course). Do they all do this, or only specific units? Would like to keep it reasonably priced, as I’m in a rental property for a while.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

They will all do this but, as said above, your car may be able to do this too and it is better to schedule via your car than the charger. Chargers generally seem to be about the same price with one or two exceptions (Zappi and Andersen). Just google the cheapest charger and go with that. If you're renting you'll get the OZEV grant too.

[DeanR32]

Thanks for the replies so far.

The vehicle in question is a Renault Zoe van. I’ve not looked too deep into the functionality of the car and what it’s capable of, so maybe I’ll need to have a poke around it and see.

So I take it they’re much of a muchness Zehra it comes to chargers, and I suppose the biggest factors would be price and tethered/untethered?

[Frimley111R]

DeanR32 said:

Thanks for the replies so far.

The vehicle in question is a Renault Zoe van. I’ve not looked too deep into the functionality of the car and what it’s capable of, so maybe I’ll need to have a poke around it and see.

So I take it they’re much of a muchness Zehra it comes to chargers, and I suppose the biggest factors would be price and tethered/untethered?

Yes and size/design.

[mikeiow]

ajap1979 said:

mikeiow said:

Much rather that than wasting more valuable time getting a cable out of the car...

Valuable time? How long do you think it actually takes to grab a cable out of the boot, and plug it in at two ends?

As ZesPak said after you….tethered is simply way more convenient.
Hard to argue that, I would suggest, unless you particularly enjoy a faff with the boot or frunk every day or two…
My cables are tidily under the boot floor out of sight, rarely used.

DeanR32 said:

Thanks for the replies so far.

The vehicle in question is a Renault Zoe van. I’ve not looked too deep into the functionality of the car and what it’s capable of, so maybe I’ll need to have a poke around it and see.

So I take it they’re much of a muchness Zehra it comes to chargers, and I suppose the biggest factors would be price and tethered/untethered?

Unless you have solar, when something like a Zappi has some smarts built in to just funnel excess solar to the car. Not sure whether others have leapt onto that technology, but MyEnergi are a decent British business who have been doing it a few years now. No connection other than a happy user of the kit!

Irrelevant if you have no solar (or plans to tall), & only useful of the car is plugged in

[ajap1979]

mikeiow said:

ajap1979 said:

mikeiow said:

Much rather that than wasting more valuable time getting a cable out of the car...

Valuable time? How long do you think it actually takes to grab a cable out of the boot, and plug it in at two ends?

As ZesPak said after you….tethered is simply way more convenient.
Hard to argue that, I would suggest, unless you particularly enjoy a faff with the boot or frunk every day or two…
My cables are tidily under the boot floor out of sight, rarely used.

Haha, we’ll agree to disagree I think. My cables sit (tidily) in the frunk, so not under any cover and are very easy to access. I’m not sure how getting said cable out and plugging it in at both ends could be considered a faff, or certainly any more so than unravelling the cable from the wall unit and plugging it into the car. You really are splitting hairs.

[5s Alive]

ajap1979 said:

Haha, we’ll agree to disagree I think. My cables sit (tidily) in the frunk, so not under any cover and are very easy to access. I’m not sure how getting said cable out and plugging it in at both ends could be considered a faff, or certainly any more so than unravelling the cable from the wall unit and plugging it into the car. You really are splitting hairs.

Some require less effort to uncoil than others but I agree there's probably not much difference between tethered/untethered especially if the charge point is under cover.

If on an external wall I'd probably have gone untethered for the aesthetics or for a Podpoint/Zappi type where the cable can be coiled unobtrusively.

[andburg]

its horse for courses surely.

we have an MG ZS, there is no under bonnet storage and the charge point is at the front which means opening the boot and moving anything in there to get the cable. It's minimal nuisance but having a tethered connection is easier, drive in, open the flap and plug in. If if was raining heavily I'd be glad of the shorter process.

[5s Alive]

andburg said:

its horse for courses surely.

we have an MG ZS, there is no under bonnet storage and the charge point is at the front which means opening the boot and moving anything in there to get the cable. It's minimal nuisance but having a tethered connection is easier, drive in, open the flap and plug in. If if was raining heavily I'd be glad of the shorter process.

Yep, entirely depends on circumstances and location. As always it's what works for you.

[essayer]

Browsing idly I saw this.. rent an EVSE for £30/month fully installed

https://crackingenergy.com/charging

What’s to stop you cancelling after a month, buying your own second hand Rolec and just connecting it to the cable they’ve installed?

[5s Alive]

essayer said:

Browsing idly I saw this.. rent an EVSE for £30/month fully installed

https://crackingenergy.com/charging

What’s to stop you cancelling after a month, buying your own second hand Rolec and just connecting it to the cable they’ve installed?

Eggcellent idea! Sorry couldn't resist.

No minimum term but surely there must be something in the t&c to prevent this. It does say based on standard installation and custom at extra cost. Standard based on coming directly from an existing garage consumer unit? Some 6mm² t&e doesn't cost much.

[Frimley111R]

essayer said:

Browsing idly I saw this.. rent an EVSE for £30/month fully installed

https://crackingenergy.com/charging

What’s to stop you cancelling after a month, buying your own second hand Rolec and just connecting it to the cable they’ve installed?

Probably nothing but the chances of anyone actually doing this are miniscule. The business model is essentially like Sky, you get the box and use/pay for the service. Interesting move, not sure it'll catch on or maybe it will be a game changer.

As usual with anything fixed price online, it is always 'From...'

[Lord Flashheart]

Mr Ignorant here. I came home with a new iPace yesterday with very little knowledge on how these things work...car and chargers!
I know a sparks who is happy to fit a charger for me and I'm happy to run the cable. Paying someone to run the cable will be double dear and I'm not even going to bother getting quotes for it. My consumer unit is central to my house and the route to the drive is via a kitchen with solid floor, then through another room with a floating wooden floor, to outside via a 2ft thick stone wall, a 6ft run along an outside wall, under 3ft wide flagstone path, through 3 small outbuilding rooms, then under a gravel drive for about 12 ft to a charger. I just can't see that being cheap!
My sparks will make sure I use the correct cable/clips/route etc. so I'm happy with that, and he will fit a new consumer unit and charger.
Is there anything about my plan that is unacceptable as far as any rules go specific to EV charging? I also like how discreet the EO mini is, but as I know virtually nothing about the car at this stage, would that charger be controllable via the car without the need for an app? I have a Bulb account where my tariff is a flat rate 24/7, so I can't imagine I need do anything but plug in. I assume charging simply stops when full and automatically tops up if the car has been unused for a few weeks but power has dropped through whatever aan EV does when sat around.
Any pointers?

[LordGrover]

I don't know how iPace handles scheduled charging, but it will be useful to have the facility - either in the car or EVSE.
You may be on a fixed tariff now, but hopefully you'll be able to switch to a more advantageous tariff at some point - both for cost-saving and to be more usage friendly (i.e. charging when general usage is low).

ETA I have Hypervolt which is okay, but I suspect there are similar/better options that may cost less.

[blank]

EO Mini lets you schedule charging via an app but it's usually better to do it via the car if possible, otherwise the car may go to sleep and then not charge when the "charger" is ready.

The iPace does have scheduled charging built in but (according to a colleague who has one) it doesn't work.

[5s Alive]

Lord Flashheart said:

Cable run

Awkward run!
Fine if your sparks is happy to sign off on the installation.

If you have the option it's (usually) more reliable to use the car's scheduling. Controlling via the app can run into problems in the event of brief power cuts, transitory under/overvoltages or wifi/app issues.

Some recent battery chemistries will happily sit at full charge but with most it's not conducive to long term battery health/capacity. 80/85% is generally regarded as a sensible maximum if the car is not in regular use.

The EO mini is a similar size to my SyncEV ^^^^ but is deeper - sticks out slightly further from the wall - 10mm or so iirc.

Edited by 5s Alive on Wednesday 1st June 09:40

[mikeiow]

ajap1979 said:

mikeiow said:

ajap1979 said:

mikeiow said:

Much rather that than wasting more valuable time getting a cable out of the car...

Valuable time? How long do you think it actually takes to grab a cable out of the boot, and plug it in at two ends?

As ZesPak said after you….tethered is simply way more convenient.
Hard to argue that, I would suggest, unless you particularly enjoy a faff with the boot or frunk every day or two…
My cables are tidily under the boot floor out of sight, rarely used.

Haha, we’ll agree to disagree I think. My cables sit (tidily) in the frunk, so not under any cover and are very easy to access. I’m not sure how getting said cable out and plugging it in at both ends could be considered a faff, or certainly any more so than unravelling the cable from the wall unit and plugging it into the car. You really are splitting hairs.

Clearly we will!

The Zappi? Two flicks around to unwrap it, plug in, done. Literally seconds, & never any dirty hands (might be damp if raining!)

In frunk or boot? Open car bonnet/boot, get cable, close bonnet/boot. Plug into chargepoint, then finally plug in. Wash hands from bonnet/boot (unless electric, in which case it opens slower )

Tethered will always be more convenient.
The downside being if the standards change and Type-2 is outdone by something else, but it feels like Type-2 has won that VHS/Betamax battle over ChaDeMo. At least for the next few years.

But you’re right, we can happily disagree!

[mikeiow]

Lord Flashheart said:

Mr Ignorant here. I came home with a new iPace yesterday with very little knowledge on how these things work...car and chargers!
I know a sparks who is happy to fit a charger for me and I'm happy to run the cable. Paying someone to run the cable will be double dear and I'm not even going to bother getting quotes for it. My consumer unit is central to my house and the route to the drive is via a kitchen with solid floor, then through another room with a floating wooden floor, to outside via a 2ft thick stone wall, a 6ft run along an outside wall, under 3ft wide flagstone path, through 3 small outbuilding rooms, then under a gravel drive for about 12 ft to a charger. I just can't see that being cheap!
My sparks will make sure I use the correct cable/clips/route etc. so I'm happy with that, and he will fit a new consumer unit and charger.
Is there anything about my plan that is unacceptable as far as any rules go specific to EV charging? I also like how discreet the EO mini is, but as I know virtually nothing about the car at this stage, would that charger be controllable via the car without the need for an app? I have a Bulb account where my tariff is a flat rate 24/7, so I can't imagine I need do anything but plug in. I assume charging simply stops when full and automatically tops up if the car has been unused for a few weeks but power has dropped through whatever aan EV does when sat around.
Any pointers?

That run sounds horrendous!
You say your sparks will fit the cable and you will do the run….if he is happy to sign off, that should be fine. Some chargepoints need earth rods (more recent ones use something - I think known as PENs) - to avoid that need). Google-foo suggests “ EO recommends that its approved installers include a Garo earthing device (available here) for all home installs, negating the need for an earth rod when fitting your charging point”

Have you asked your sparks his advice on the run - he’s the one saying it is safe!


On schedules…..I guess you can leave it plugged in all the time you’re not driving.
General ‘feeling’ amongst EV aficionados is to let it run down a bit rather than constantly top-up, but if you only plan to keep for 2-3years, maybe that is irrelevant to you!

We tend to plug ours in when we are below around 150range, which for us generally means every 2-3 days. We have 4 hours cheap Octopus Go tariff, so our Zappi chargepoint is configured to only charge during those - we have an app we can boost it if needed outside those hours.