Taycan charging installation

[DJPetrolHead]

Hi All - just bought a Taycan Turbo and planning on having the Porsche Mobile Charger installed to be able to charge at 22kwh at home. To do this I am told I need to have a phase 3 electrical installation and therefore replace the power cable on my Mobile Charger to a 5 pin plug that will connect to the electrical output. This then plugs into the charging box and the cable otherside plugs into the car...... still with me? I wasn't as I missed my degree in electrical engineering required for this discussion with the engineer who visited my home.

He told me to speak to Porsche who would likely recommend a suitable cable...... still waiting on that...

So my question is ... has anyone installed the mobile charger with a phase 3, to get 22kwh charging?

Thanks in advance (DJ ... no PhD in electrical engineering!!)

[Philvrs]

Sorry I've not had it done, I plan on buying petrol for as long as I can, but some info here:

https://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/electricity/upgr...

I think option 1 is what you're looking for.

[DJPetrolHead]

haha I still have the petrol car to remind me of times gone by (Defender 90 and 993 C2S!)

Think my OPC and I worked it out.... https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/3-phase-...
this is the cable needed to adapt the mobile charger to a 22kwh charger!

[Cabsi]

So your home has a 3 phase electricity supply?

As far as I was aware residential homes are usually served by a single phase power supply, while commercial and industrial facilities usually use a three phase supply.

[MB140]

I’d be very surprised if you had a 3 phase to your house. Normally each individual phase is balanced out over multiple houses on an estate. Helps balance the load on the grid.

3 phase is usually reserved for commercial places that require large amounts of power.

Of course if all 3 phases are local they may be able to tap in to it an connect you up.

Edited by MB140 on Saturday 10th April 13:32

[Cheib]

Electric cars will mean people start installing three phase supplies at home....if you have a air or ground source heat pump I was told you can’t charge a car, run your heating and use an oven at the same time without it.

[Geoffscars]

I’ve looked into it and it’s awfully expensive
No 3 phase in my street so new cable from the main road 200 metres or so at a few thousand a metre
Sounds a lot but to dig up the road with all associated traffic management etc connect to the main road supply and reinstate you can see where the cost comes from
I thought of an extension lead out of the kitchen window but gave up on electric cars
Completely impractical with the current ( get it ) infrastructure

[DMC2]

And don’t waste your money on a Porsche charger, get something like an EO. I put one in for my Taycan and it’s a great little box.

[ChrisW.]

Dual tariff is available for most which offers lower cost electricity between around 12.30am and 7.30 pm ... my supplier has yet to change to BST.

Kia suggest that battery life is extended by charging only to around 75% ... and at 7kWh, 49kWh overnight charge is cheap, ... so I am suggesting that charging fully over a few nights is a good way of doing it so long as your mileage is not too high for this.

Some expect only 2.5 miles per kWh ... I get around 4 in the Kia which is almost as good as the i3 I owned for 7 years prior to the Kia.

As has been said, manufacturers offer charge rates requiring a 3 phase supply, but don't tell you what it will cost.

For me it's at a pole only 100 yards away, but still too expensive ...

[Grantstown]

Before I collected my Taycan I fitted a 7.4Kw Wallbox in readiness.

I didn’t spec the Porsche Charger Connect (£700 quid option if I remember). Low and behold the car arrived with one anyway and all I really needed was a 32amp industrial plug.

Oh well, if I end getting a PHEV SUV at some point I’ll be able to charge both at the same time, or have one inside and one outside the garage.

[LooneyTunes]

Frustratingly for us, there is 3p to the pole-mounted transformer next to our house but all the capacity is “used” by our neighbour’s supply that he didn’t realise was 3p (he only uses a single phase!) but the capacity can’t be released to me unless neighbour says he doesn’t want/need 3p any more. Sadly he’s not an idiot and sees the benefit of 3p in the future so isn’t going to let the capacity get released knowing that he’d then have to pay out himself in the event that he actually wanted to use 3p!

Anway, guesstimate from power company = £10-15k contribution to upgrade the transformer + whatever it costs to cable to my property.

We will end up with 3p at some point but, for the time being, we’ve gone with the Andersen charger. These allow single and three phase operation so when we eventually get 3p it’ll be a case of changing the wiring to the charger. https://andersen-ev.com/charging-academy/how-can-i... . The Andersen is also by far the neatest out there, with choice of finishes and all the cable stored out of sight when not in use. Really don’t notice it’s there.

I’ll probably make sure that other electrical supplies going in to garages are going to have sufficient cores to allow transition from single to three phase to take place in the future without major rewiring.

[anonymous-user]

I would get a cheap 7K charger fitted now and see how you get on. I think you will be surprised how well it does the job.
You can always upgrade but it will take weeks / months and cost. fortune anyway - unless you already have three phase.

[LooneyTunes]

Discombobulate said:

I would get a cheap 7K charger fitted now and see how you get on. I think you will be surprised how well it does the job.
You can always upgrade but it will take weeks / months and cost. fortune anyway - unless you already have three phase.

Why mess around with a cheap charger that may be thrown away? If the OP gets an Andersen it can be run on single phase and easily migrated to three phase at his convenience. We’re not bothering going 3p for the charging whilst it’s a single EV in the house (it’s not proven necessary) but will upgrade the charger when we do eventually get it installed as part of some broader work we’re having done.

ETA:

Grantstown said:

Before I collected my Taycan I fitted a 7.4Kw Wallbox in readiness.

I didn’t spec the Porsche Charger Connect (£700 quid option if I remember). Low and behold the car arrived with one anyway and all I really needed was a 32amp industrial plug.

Oh well, if I end getting a PHEV SUV at some point I’ll be able to charge both at the same time, or have one inside and one outside the garage.

We ended up with one of those too (now sat unused in the attic) having already had the Andersen fitted. Apparently there was a shortage of the standard (£150?) charging adapters so some Taycans ended up being supplied with the more expensive one. Was purely the luck of the draw which one you got. They’re not as neat as the Andersen but will eventually end up wired in to a 32A commando in the garage when charging needs/number of EVs increase.

Edited by LooneyTunes on Sunday 11th April 09:02

[ReformedPistonhead]

LooneyTunes said:

Frustratingly for us, there is 3p to the pole-mounted transformer next to our house but all the capacity is “used” by our neighbour’s supply that he didn’t realise was 3p (he only uses a single phase!) but the capacity can’t be released to me unless neighbour says he doesn’t want/need 3p any more. Sadly he’s not an idiot and sees the benefit of 3p in the future so isn’t going to let the capacity get released knowing that he’d then have to pay out himself in the event that he actually wanted to use 3p!

Anway, guesstimate from power company = £10-15k contribution to upgrade the transformer + whatever it costs to cable to my property.

We will end up with 3p at some point but, for the time being, we’ve gone with the Andersen charger. These allow single and three phase operation so when we eventually get 3p it’ll be a case of changing the wiring to the charger. https://andersen-ev.com/charging-academy/how-can-i... . The Andersen is also by far the neatest out there, with choice of finishes and all the cable stored out of sight when not in use. Really don’t notice it’s there.

I’ll probably make sure that other electrical supplies going in to garages are going to have sufficient cores to allow transition from single to three phase to take place in the future without major rewiring.

I have three phase installed to my house (1907 house which had been converted to flats before I converted it back) but only 1 phase is connected to a meter. I think my cost estimate was around £3k to get all 3-phases installed.

I have the Andersen charger which is great and right now only 7kw. But we now have 2 EVs (well one Tesla and one Disco PHEV) and so it would be handy to be able to charge both without having to go out and change cables so I may get another Andersen installed.

My active single phase is also now dripping bitumen on the cellar floor where it enters the house, a sign of it getting rather excited. But it hangs off a 100Amp fuse so in theory should be fine, except the last sparky to look at it was tempted to condemn it before giving it some more thought and deciding to just ask me to watch it.

I hear you can now get a 3-phase smart meter also which would make the tariffs more palatable.

[LooneyTunes]

Same situation as my neighbour... 3p in but only one wired up to a meter.

At £3k I definitely would have had it done, even if we only slow charged most of the time. We’re getting an increasing number of visitors with EVs and having the option to do 22kw topups would be handy but main benefit would be the ability to have a couple charging simultaneously in the future and, as you say, not have the hassle of swapping cables/parking in the right place/managing who gets the power if both need charge.

[ReformedPistonhead]

LooneyTunes said:

Same situation as my neighbour... 3p in but only one wired up to a meter.

At £3k I definitely would have had it done, even if we only slow charged most of the time. We’re getting an increasing number of visitors with EVs and having the option to do 22kw topups would be handy but main benefit would be the ability to have a couple charging simultaneously in the future and, as you say, not have the hassle of swapping cables/parking in the right place/managing who gets the power if both need charge.

If I can get the Smart Meter installed and remain on the Octopus Agile tariff across all three phases (there was talk of 3 meters and 3 contracts, bonkers) then I will go ahead as I fully agree with you.

I have never had a situation where I was inconvenienced by “only” having 7kw at home, but the multiple charging argument is a strong one. I do have free supercharging from Tesla but the nearest supercharger is 325miles away so not really a “just pop across for some fuel” closeness especially given a half-tank (50 kWh) only costs £7-ish.

[DJPetrolHead]

Thanks all for messages
Agree that having a 7kwh point is fine for overnight charging but I seem to be lucky to have the ability to have a 3 phase ie 22kwh charger installed. We have 3 cars at home (only one is electric but sure that may change) and family who visit have their own EV’s so I think future proofing is way forward.

[Electronicpants]

DJPetrolHead said:

Thanks all for messages
Agree that having a 7kwh point is fine for overnight charging but I seem to be lucky to have the ability to have a 3 phase ie 22kwh charger installed. We have 3 cars at home (only one is electric but sure that may change) and family who visit have their own EV’s so I think future proofing is way forward.

Make sure the car is ticked with the additional 22kw AC option (about £1200) or all this will be for nothing!

[troc]

We have 3 phase here and I simply had a 5 pin industrial socket fitted to the outside of the house. Our cayenne hybrid came with the Porsche mobile charger connect on a 7m long cable with a normal household plug and a red industrial plug for the other end. The thing operates just like a wall box or similar charger. We’ve only got 16A to it at the moment which is enough for overnight charging the cayenne buy I could easily switch to 32 if we got an electric car in the future.