Which home charging point?
Discussion
cb31 said:
Does anyone know if you can limit access to charging without turning off the circuit that supplies the charger? Imagine I go on holiday and the charger is visible in the drive, what can you do to stop people just plugging the tethered cable into their car and nicking my electricity? I can't imagine this would happen but people never cease to amaze me.
In 7 years I have heard of this happening twice. Once in the USA and once here. Don't worry about it. It's not like a petrol pump where you can fill the car in minutes. They'd have to park on your drive and sit there for a long time, hoping you don't come home. Apart from the two examples above it really isn't the issue people think it could be. If you really want to, use the App to turn it off but avoid powering it off at the mains. This can cause issues when you reboot it. It should be fine but the App does the same job.
Thanks all for the replies on switching it off when not in use, very helpful. I have an electric car coming in Apr/May so just want to get it all straight in my head before then. I've got a new fuse board fitted within a few metres of where the charger will go so hopefully the install will be an easy one. Need to look at posts next as I don't want it fixed to the neighbours fence.
I like the look of the Simpson & Partners charger someone posted above, looks smart and will allow me to use solar if I ever get panels fitted. Would really like some but seems like a bad time to buy at the moment.
I like the look of the Simpson & Partners charger someone posted above, looks smart and will allow me to use solar if I ever get panels fitted. Would really like some but seems like a bad time to buy at the moment.
Michael_B said:
My 11kW 3-phase charge point is on the front of the house in a narrow village street, and there are two spaces for car to park perpendicular to the road. To avoid switching the charge point on/off from the fusebox just inside the front door, I asked the installers to fit a key switch.
This means I can turn it on and plug when I arrive home without having to open the front door, and similarly I can activate the alarm and lock the house when leaving, and turn off the charge point before leaving.
The village restaurant is just 50m up the street and opposite and it wouldn’t surprise me that some cheeky sod might presume it’s a public charger, park and plug in if I left it on!
That's a clever solution without the need for a smart charger.This means I can turn it on and plug when I arrive home without having to open the front door, and similarly I can activate the alarm and lock the house when leaving, and turn off the charge point before leaving.
The village restaurant is just 50m up the street and opposite and it wouldn’t surprise me that some cheeky sod might presume it’s a public charger, park and plug in if I left it on!
To those wanting to stop nefarious usage of their charge-point: you can also go with security by obscurity.....
Our Zappi-2 is not overtly obvious, but we are away for some periods this year, so we got a cover from https://www.devondisabilitycollective.org/product-... - about £30.
Fits a treat, and actually looks more like a hose on the wall with a cover.
With the added bonus of helping an interesting charity too.
Obviously it makes more sense to 'lock' it from us (either disabling charging, or that very interesting keylock above), but this isn't a bad way to hide it as well.
Our Zappi-2 is not overtly obvious, but we are away for some periods this year, so we got a cover from https://www.devondisabilitycollective.org/product-... - about £30.
Fits a treat, and actually looks more like a hose on the wall with a cover.
With the added bonus of helping an interesting charity too.
Obviously it makes more sense to 'lock' it from us (either disabling charging, or that very interesting keylock above), but this isn't a bad way to hide it as well.
Frimley111R said:
Never seen those before but they look bloody awful. The chargers are fully IP rated anyway. Seems like someone trying something new to make money out of the marketplace. Bit like tyre covers on caravan wheels.
Agreed, look naff, however our first EV charger some years back yellowed / corroded / rubber and plastic deteriorated due to sun and rain.cb31 said:
Does anyone know if you can limit access to charging without turning off the circuit that supplies the charger? Imagine I go on holiday and the charger is visible in the drive, what can you do to stop people just plugging the tethered cable into their car and nicking my electricity? I can't imagine this would happen but people never cease to amaze me.
I just got an Easee One installed. I really like that after install, you can use it as tethered or untethered as you wish. Either way, it can be switched off from the app so that people don't grab free charge whilst you are away.
Frimley111R said:
Never seen those before but they look bloody awful. The chargers are fully IP rated anyway. Seems like someone trying something new to make money out of the marketplace. Bit like tyre covers on caravan wheels.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.....it's just a cover, I won't get too upset by your views!Like I say - just makes it less obvious there is an EV chargepoint under it....
CoupeKid said:
Has anyone got experience of the Simpson & Partners charger?
I was all set for a Zappi but went into an EV charger shop today (something I couldn’t have written even 3 years ago) and my head was turned!
I have an Andersen charger that stopped working two months after the twelve-month warranty expired. Given the delays in Andersen’s customer support responding to my query, I bought a Simpson charger while I waited for Andersen to get back to me. It’s early days, but there couldn’t be a greater contrast between the customer support for Andersen and Simpson & Partners. Simpson & Partners have been super responsive and followed up to ensure the installation went smoothly. Additionally, the Simpson charger comes with a three-year warranty.I was all set for a Zappi but went into an EV charger shop today (something I couldn’t have written even 3 years ago) and my head was turned!
When Andersen customer support eventually responded, they advised there is a faulty energy chip meter in my charger, and the internal core needs to be replaced at a cost of £479.26 plus labour. Since the warranty has recently expired, I may have to assert my statutory consumer rights to have the unit repaired. It’s unacceptable for a charger to fail irretrievably after just fourteen months.
Sierra Mike said:
I have an Andersen charger that stopped working two months after the twelve-month warranty expired. Given the delays in Andersen’s customer support responding to my query, I bought a Simpson charger while I waited for Andersen to get back to me. It’s early days, but there couldn’t be a greater contrast between the customer support for Andersen and Simpson & Partners. Simpson & Partners have been super responsive and followed up to ensure the installation went smoothly. Additionally, the Simpson charger comes with a three-year warranty.
When Andersen customer support eventually responded, they advised there is a faulty energy chip meter in my charger, and the internal core needs to be replaced at a cost of £479.26 plus labour. Since the warranty has recently expired, I may have to assert my statutory consumer rights to have the unit repaired. It’s unacceptable for a charger to fail irretrievably after just fourteen months.
Its a shame as they look great ... I had mine installed recently but haven't used it yet. New car due in a couple of weeks. When Andersen customer support eventually responded, they advised there is a faulty energy chip meter in my charger, and the internal core needs to be replaced at a cost of £479.26 plus labour. Since the warranty has recently expired, I may have to assert my statutory consumer rights to have the unit repaired. It’s unacceptable for a charger to fail irretrievably after just fourteen months.
Blue62 said:
A shout out for the Zappi, had mine for six months and experienced a connection loss recently, first and only issue I have had. Their technical support is very good, something many of us fail to consider when making the buying decision, had it up and working within minutes with no hassle at all.
Mine was also very good until it melted down 1 week outside the warranty period. It had spent 3 years charging a PHEV at 3.6kw, the 3rd time it charged my new Tesla it overheated and failed. Now time for a very expensive repair. I now wonder if it's really up to operating at long periods of 7.5kw....Alfredo20 said:
What home chargers should I consider?
Do you have solar power ? If so and you want to switch automatically to solar then your choice is Zappi (most popular but looks like a toilet seat hanging on your wall), Hypervolt (works fine, app gets a lot of flak), Andersen (expensive, did go bust, looks good).There are a couple of 'smart' tariffs (Intelligent Octopus and OVO Charge Anytime) for which you need to have either a compatible car OR a compatible charger. So if you wanted to use one of those tariffs it's worth checking compatibility first, if your car isn't then you would need to pick a charger which is.
(Similar to the above point about home solar, I think it's best to work out what you need it to be compatible with first).
Gassing Station | EV and Alternative Fuels | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff