Which home charging point?

[LordGrover]

Martyn76 said:

Had a look and it doesn't look like a loop (only one cable in), the "tails" look pretty chunky too.

Still best to get it checked though - you may be the last in the chain so still looped to previous dwelling but not onwards IYSWIM.

[annodomini2]

Generally looped goes through the wall, rather than the floor.

E.g.

[LordGrover]

In my street, 90's build, houses are looped in pairs. I have one cable into my meter box and one out which goes to my neighbour who has just the one in (from my meter box).

[Pulse00]

My local fitter installs Rolec. They any good?

[Toaster Pilot]

Pulse00 said:

My local fitter installs Rolec. They any good?

Far from the best. They’re (a, used to be the) cheap option and can have reliability/longevity issues.

[Pulse00]

Toaster Pilot said:

Far from the best. They’re (a, used to be the) cheap option and can have reliability/longevity issues.

Oh right well that's not ideal then

[Jock Strap]

New to all this EV charging stuff, as have just put my order in for my first EV (Polestar 2).

I'll need to get a charger installed at home and as we have Solar panels, I only see 2 options:
1. Zappi
2. Hypervolt

Does anyone have experience with either or can advise which I should go for? Or if I'm missing any alternatives?

[gmaz]

Phunk said:

I have the same charger yet only have one cable going to it, any idea why there are two cables going to yours?

My Zappi has two cables, one for power and one for the cable to the CT on the main feed, so it can tell when I am exporting solar. I would have preferred that the installer used this stuff with includes data cables in the one sheath

https://www.toolstation.com/cut-to-length-ev-ultra...

https://www.toolstation.com/cut-to-length-ev-ultra...

[Frimley111R]

Toaster Pilot said:

Pulse00 said:

My local fitter installs Rolec. They any good?

Far from the best. They’re (a, used to be the) cheap option and can have reliability/longevity issues.

They are fine these days but I'd recommend a smaller charger. The Rolec, like the Chargemaster and PodPoint, were the first mainstream chargers and they assumed people would like big chargers on their homes for the next 20 years but these days there are chargers about the size of a house brick that do the same and are much more discrete.

[Phunk]

gmaz said:

Phunk said:

I have the same charger yet only have one cable going to it, any idea why there are two cables going to yours?

My Zappi has two cables, one for power and one for the cable to the CT on the main feed, so it can tell when I am exporting solar. I would have preferred that the installer used this stuff with includes data cables in the one sheath

https://www.toolstation.com/cut-to-length-ev-ultra...

https://www.toolstation.com/cut-to-length-ev-ultra...

Mine had a CT clamp too, so I imagine he probably used a similar cable to the above.

[Pulse00]

Frimley111R said:

They are fine these days but I'd recommend a smaller charger. The Rolec, like the Chargemaster and PodPoint, were the first mainstream chargers and they assumed people would like big chargers on their homes for the next 20 years but these days there are chargers about the size of a house brick that do the same and are much more discrete.

I'm after a tethered cable so surely the cable itself takes up most of the bulk and dwarfs the actual charger?

What tethered charger would you recommend? Don't need to many gimmicks just timed charging

[Frimley111R]

Pulse00 said:

Frimley111R said:

They are fine these days but I'd recommend a smaller charger. The Rolec, like the Chargemaster and PodPoint, were the first mainstream chargers and they assumed people would like big chargers on their homes for the next 20 years but these days there are chargers about the size of a house brick that do the same and are much more discrete.

I'm after a tethered cable so surely the cable itself takes up most of the bulk and dwarfs the actual charger?

What tethered charger would you recommend? Don't need to many gimmicks just timed charging

Yes it does.

We recommend Wallbox Pulsar Plus as it doesn't need an earth spike, looks nice and is made by a very large manufacturer. As with non tethered chargers, there aren't any bad ones out there.

I'd ignore the charger Apps/gimmicks. All you use those for is scheduled charging and you car can do this (plus there is a technical reason why it is better to schedule via your car).

[Dave Hedgehog]

Pulse00 said:

Toaster Pilot said:

Far from the best. They’re (a, used to be the) cheap option and can have reliability/longevity issues.

Oh right well that's not ideal then

mines 2 years old and has been fine so far, i like the funky green and black

[Martyn76]

LordGrover said:

Martyn76 said:

Had a look and it doesn't look like a loop (only one cable in), the "tails" look pretty chunky too.

Still best to get it checked though - you may be the last in the chain so still looped to previous dwelling but not onwards IYSWIM.

Yes 100%, if\when we get to there I'll have it all checked.

[wobert]

wobert said:

An update on my Wallbox install with No Fuel Needed.

Planned for 12/7, which allowed the statutory 14 days for the DNO to come through from Scottish Power.

Nothing received back as of yet, so appointment rescheduled to 17/7 on the basis the agreement will come through in the interim.

Likewise, have moved supply to EDF to enable use of the overnight tariff, supply switched but awaiting an appointment to fit a smart meter to enable the lower tariff usage. They reckon 2 weeks lead time.

By my reckoning it’ll be end of August before we are done with the charge point install and tariff switchover…

An update from me…

No Fuel Needed have pulled the plug on my installation and allegedly others too, as they weren’t receiving the grant kick back, which presumably covers their installation costs and margin?

So now I’m back to square one, so have made an application with Pod Point instead.

All the paperwork is complete and credit card details supplied, so second time lucky hopefully…

[Toaster Pilot]

wobert said:

An update from me…

No Fuel Needed have pulled the plug on my installation and allegedly others too, as they weren’t receiving the grant kick back, which presumably covers their installation costs and margin?

So now I’m back to square one, so have made an application with Pod Point instead.

All the paperwork is complete and credit card details supplied, so second time lucky hopefully…

Their install prices were pretty low - did they not realise how long it takes for the OLEV money to come through or what?

[48k]

Is there a dummy's guide to what the home charging options are and the pros and cons of each model? This thread is now 8 pages and 2 years old, would be nice if the up to date knowledge was in a sticky or wiki.

[wobert]

Toaster Pilot said:

wobert said:

An update from me…

No Fuel Needed have pulled the plug on my installation and allegedly others too, as they weren’t receiving the grant kick back, which presumably covers their installation costs and margin?

So now I’m back to square one, so have made an application with Pod Point instead.

All the paperwork is complete and credit card details supplied, so second time lucky hopefully…

Their install prices were pretty low - did they not realise how long it takes for the OLEV money to come through or what?

Well it makes you wonder.

They also cocked up on the application form, by putting the wrong house name which wouldn’t have speeded the permission through, as the meter reference l wouldn’t tie up to the property.

Pod Point seem better, you complete the form yourself, payment details etc up front. I’ll feedback how their process goes, but it seems better from where I am now and only £75 more the NFN.

[Pulse00]

Frimley111R said:

Yes it does.

We recommend Wallbox Pulsar Plus as it doesn't need an earth spike, looks nice and is made by a very large manufacturer. As with non tethered chargers, there aren't any bad ones out there.

I'd ignore the charger Apps/gimmicks. All you use those for is scheduled charging and you car can do this (plus there is a technical reason why it is better to schedule via your car).

£677 so quite pricey (on the main wall box website) plus £100 for power boost. Not sure if power boost is worth it

Edit: Also so bad review of wall box online

Edited by Pulse00 on Friday 16th July 19:12

[Ken Figenus]

Frimley111R said:

Yes it does.

We recommend Wallbox Pulsar Plus as it doesn't need an earth spike, looks nice and is made by a very large manufacturer. As with non tethered chargers, there aren't any bad ones out there.

I'd ignore the charger Apps/gimmicks. All you use those for is scheduled charging and you car can do this (plus there is a technical reason why it is better to schedule via your car).

So why do we need this fallible rebootable piece of expensive kit then? If a cable connection from the car to a solid always on 32a socket will suffice why aren't more people just doing this?