Home charge installers taking the proverbial?

[hovis5818]

I've asked more than five suppliers to provide a quote for install in Scotland.

Each and every one of them has come back at over 1,000 before EST. One at over 1,000 even after the EST grant for a Podpoint!

Also, every single one of them is quoting higher than their "fully installed standard installation" price on their site.

My install would certainly be covered by the standard install guide...

Feels like they are taking the proverbial to be honest.

Looking at the

Zappi
Podpoint and
Wallbox Pulsar

What did everyone else pay?

[rdj001]

Hi,

thought about buying a unit and having it fitted yourself?

We initially bought a Tesla wall charger and had a local sparky fit it. Wall charger was about £400 and about £300 to fit. Standard Type 2 charger so can charge anything, not just Tesla.

[page3]

Zero.

Government grant and Nissan paid the rest. That was three years ago though.

[hovis5818]

rdj001 said:

Hi,

thought about buying a unit and having it fitted yourself?

We initially bought a Tesla wall charger and had a local sparky fit it. Wall charger was about £400 and about £300 to fit. Standard Type 2 charger so can charge anything, not just Tesla.

There is certainly a temptation to look into purchase then install, because at these prices I honestly can't see where I'm saving money by getting the grants.

[sjg]

Not sure how different it is in Scotland, but in England the OLEV funding has dropped a couple of times, plus the requirement for chargers to be "smart" has pushed prices up too.

I suspect as well that chargepoint installers are rushed off their feet with the thousands of new cars being delivered, so they're not bothering to compete on price any more.

[hovis5818]

sjg said:

Not sure how different it is in Scotland, but in England the OLEV funding has dropped a couple of times, plus the requirement for chargers to be "smart" has pushed prices up too.

I suspect as well that chargepoint installers are rushed off their feet with the thousands of new cars being delivered, so they're not bothering to compete on price any more.

Essentially in Scotland we get to claim an additional 300 from the Energy Saving Trust. Different from OLEV in that I pay out and claim back later.

Maybe I was naive, but I thought maybe 300 would be the upper end to cover it after 650 off... not the going rate.

Edited by hovis5818 on Monday 28th September 17:42

[SWoll]

Do you need a dedicated charger would be the next question? We've run 2 EV's over the past 2 years covering 25k+ miles charging off a 3 pin plug between midnight and 7am with the odd public fast charge on longer trips.

[hovis5818]

SWoll said:

Do you need a dedicated charger would be the next question? We've run 2 EV's over the past 2 years covering 25k+ miles charging off a 3 pin plug between midnight and 7am with the odd public fast charge on longer trips.

Do you know what - probably not.

I am lucky in that I have two free (at the moment) Charge Place Scotland rapid chargers within 15 minutes drive from my house.

I had planned to charge for there in the interim with overnight charging once up and running.

Perhaps I can run off that meantime.

[Toaster Pilot]

Cheaper option is to have a 32A commando socket fitted and buy an Ohme commando to type 2 charge cable. Does all the smart stuff and can be had for £199 if you’re an Octopus Energy customer

[andy43]

We’ve charged a leaf and then a soul from a 13a plug for the last 4-5 years.
Overnight you’ll pretty much fill them up. Don’t discount it, it’s cheap and it works fine for anything with maybe up to a 150-200 mile range. They only take 10 amps but you do need a decent quality socket with no crappy extension leads.
Just got a Tesla which would take all week to fully charge so all I’ve done is fit a 32a commando socket in the garage - the Tesla brick charger is quite clever and comes with a commando adapter so it’s charging quite happily right now at 7kw. If that wasn’t an option and/or I couldn’t diy I’d be finding a local electrician and a secondhand charger. £1000 is ridiculous.

[granada203028]

Calling them chargers is unfortunate, as they are quite simple and just tell the car how much it can draw. The charger in the more traditional sense, where it converts and isolates the full power, is integrated into the car.

So get a 32A socket installed and buy an inexpensive after market "charger."

[dgswk]

Our new Zoe has rocked up today with 160 miles in the battery. Bought a 3 pin to Type 2 off Amazon for £170 quid. Plugged it in, 5 hours later, 100%.

Chucked an old upturned dustbin over the extension lead with a bag of sand on top to keep it dry while we consider options.

Only do 70-80 miles a day, and it charges (apparently) at about 10 miles per hour, so 7-8 hours overnight is just fine for 99.5% of the time. The downside, we want to move to Octopus to get the 5p kwh tariff, but you only get it 00:30 to 04:30, so need something faster than 13A.

Will probably go non-smart Type 2, I'll run the 10m of 10mm cable neatly and get a local sparky to connect it up. Should be sub £500.


Edited to add: Apparently Renault 'Retail' customers are supposed to get a free BP Chargemaster installed; ours is leased, and nobody could really tell me if we are entitled to one our not. Applied on the Chargemaster website with Car Reg etc. See what happens. Thats why we are considering options for a bit.

Edited by dgswk on Monday 28th September 20:38

[PKLD]

hovis5818 said:

I've asked more than five suppliers to provide a quote for install in Scotland.

Each and every one of them has come back at over 1,000 before EST. One at over 1,000 even after the EST grant for a Podpoint!

Also, every single one of them is quoting higher than their "fully installed standard installation" price on their site.

My install would certainly be covered by the standard install guide...

Feels like they are taking the proverbial to be honest.

Looking at the

Zappi
Podpoint and
Wallbox Pulsar

What did everyone else pay?

As an installer in Scotland I’d be happy to help and we offer a discount to those referred by dealers, and I’ll apply the same for PHers so PM if you want an second opinion (at least discount on our quote if we’re 1 of the 5)

There’s a big difference in hardware cost but not so much for the actual installation. The difference between our cheapest OLEV 7kW charger and most expensive is over £600ex VAT!

As some have mentioned the grants have dropped over the years (used to be £500 OLEV and £500 EST) but some charge points have also gone up in price. The regs state that standard 3 pin sockets can’t be used for EV charging (not that they won’t work just they are not designed for full continuous load) but things like the OHME are interesting.

We don’t fit Pod-Point anymore and as some suppliers are offering Wallbox at odd prices we don’t offer them either, but we are approved for 9 other brands including Zappi so should give you some choice

[ZesPak]

SWoll said:

Do you need a dedicated charger would be the next question? We've run 2 EV's over the past 2 years covering 25k+ miles charging off a 3 pin plug between midnight and 7am with the odd public fast charge on longer trips.

I'm doing that now that we're retiling the garage floor, and with corona I can make it work.
But it's still nice to have to be able to fill it right back up after a long trip.

As per the above, fitted 3 Tesla chargers now with friends and family, and they are impressively priced for what they are. Only thing they ain't is smart.
But if you're looking for a tidy, no frills charger that takes 3 phase up to 32 amps, it's unbeatable in price. Especially if you take the longer 7m lead, which is a no-cost option for some absurd reason.

Edited by ZesPak on Monday 28th September 20:55

[CaterBram]

Have you tried Scottish Power ? might give you an indication if there is something you are not picking up on with the other installers ?

https://quote.scottishpower.co.uk/electric-vehicle...

alternatively quite often different car manufacturers often have a deal with a specific installer.

[hovis5818]

CaterBram said:

Have you tried Scottish Power ? might give you an indication if there is something you are not picking up on with the other installers ?

https://quote.scottishpower.co.uk/electric-vehicle...

alternatively quite often different car manufacturers often have a deal with a specific installer.

That seems more in line with my expectations. Thanks for the heads up.

[ben5575]

dgswk said:

Edited to add: Apparently Renault 'Retail' customers are supposed to get a free BP Chargemaster installed; ours is leased, and nobody could really tell me if we are entitled to one our not. Applied on the Chargemaster website with Car Reg etc. See what happens. Thats why we are considering options for a bit.

Edited by dgswk on Monday 28th September 20:38

Same here but with a Smart ForTwo EQ via a lease. Smart had to notify Chargemaster (rather than me supply the info), but sorted after that. The fact it's a lease makes no difference, other than that there's a few more people involved to go through so a bit more of a ballache.

I found Chargemaster very helpful to deal with. I'd give them a call if you haven't already.

[The Road Crew]

PKLD said:

As an installer in Scotland I’d be happy to help and we offer a discount to those referred by dealers....

As an aside I'll need one in the new year so will be in touch then - Always good to find someone who will travel north!

[dmsims]

Commando socket (normal electrician)
Ohme cable (£200)
Octopus Agile

[FeelingLucky]

Can somebody educate me on "Commando Socket", I've looked at them on RS, and they all appear to be 3 phase. 415v