Home charging point

Mark Irwin

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Grant is unlikely to cover it all and I think it has been reduced since I put my first one in 3 years ago. All depends on the type of charger you buy which will dictate the price; also useful to negotiate as there were mainland companies who could (and would) do it for me cheaper than some local suppliers. Also make sure you are getting what you are paying for; I was told I was getting a 7kw charger but found out later that it was only 3.6kwh.
Don't want to name names but my Ampera only charged at 3.6 kwh so I never noticed it until it was sold. I had asked for a 7 kw charger as I wanted to future proof. The guy I sold it to was an engineer and took it apart to check everything was ok and showed me the plate saying 3.6 kw - ended up having to give him a refund.
The most recent one a friend fitted, the unit itself was around £500. Although by sounds of things it was not very easy to use. Customer bought it from a local supplier. Project EV was the brand.
From what he showed me of it....it looked kinda cheap, although does seem to comply with most of the regs easy enough.

The Zappi V2 does seem to be one of the better ones from a lot of the youtube videos.

Certainly the Tesla charger is a bit crap




I have a Zappi 2 and whilst it is expensive it is a really good smart charger. Lots of different settings and can be controlled via your phone with wireless updates; they also have a forum if there are any problems. I found the back up from myenergi really good too as VW's can be a bit funny about delayed charging and they sorted it out.
 

gcon45

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If I get a charging point installed using the grant in my current house and build a new house in a couple of years can it be removed and relocated?
Being a new build would it just be a matter of getting the electrician to route the necessary wiring to the consumer unit or would it have to be reinstalled by an approved installer?
 

gcon45

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Was talking to John Baird (Baird electrical) and he was recommending the Project EV EVA-07S-S Pro Earth.

Its £600 on top of the grant though.
Is it worth it?
 

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Coog

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What's it offer beyond the standard pod point? A lot of the settings it promotes are available in the actual car.
 

stevieturbo

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Was talking to John Baird (Baird electrical) and he was recommending the Project EV EVA-07S-S Pro Earth.

Its £600 on top of the grant though.
Is it worth it?

Worth it compared to what ?

What does the grant actually offer ?

A friend in work did fit one of them a few weeks ago, although he wasn't overly impressed and the customer who supplied it took a while to figure out how to use it. It didn't seem too straightforward. Fortunately the customer supplied it though, so he wasn't liable for any operation issues although after chatting with the supplier they seemed to get through it ok.

The Pro-Earth aspect just means it has the regs covered in terms of earthing and disconnection, which has already been covered in the thread.

From all the info about them, I wouldn't even consider a unit that doesn't have earthing arrangements sorted, as trying to use an earth spike with cheaper units seems futile, and no doubt many that have been fitted....are nowhere near as safe as they should be.
 

Coog

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That’s what I want to know.
I’m completely green on the subject.



Worth it compared to the cheaper charging points.

Why did the electrician tell you to go for it? The only thing I'm missing and would like is the ability to remotely disable the charger when away for extended periods just in case someone decided to use it to charge their own car every night for a fortnight. It's not a big deal though I can just flick the trip switch instead.

Everything else you've listed in the functions can be managed from inside the car, or even via the app for the car. Well my car anyway. Suppose if you get a basic one like the electric MGZ then there might be a need for fancy options?
 

hutchy_belfast

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Why did the electrician tell you to go for it? The only thing I'm missing and would like is the ability to remotely disable the charger when away for extended periods just in case someone decided to use it to charge their own car every night for a fortnight. It's not a big deal though I can just flick the trip switch instead.

Everything else you've listed in the functions can be managed from inside the car, or even via the app for the car. Well my car anyway. Suppose if you get a basic one like the electric MGZ then there might be a need for fancy options?
Imagine someone brass necked enough to charge their car at someone else's house haha. You need a decent set of gates if such thing is a legitimate concern! I've been meaning to get mine sorted for over a year now though so shouldn't talk.
 

Coog

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Imagine someone brass necked enough to charge their car at someone else's house haha. You need a decent set of gates if such thing is a legitimate concern! I've been meaning to get mine sorted for over a year now though so shouldn't talk.

The neighbours lead would stretch over from their box to our car 😂

You've the likes of Just Park starting to make an appearance, which will allow you to rent out your parking space and charger. We're close to the city and a few large offices and have had the occasional worker park in the lane at the house and in one case in the flipping driveway itself, so it might not be long before we either get a knock on the door asking to rent it out, or some cheeky scamp plugging in while we're out for any length of time lol
 

Mark Irwin

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Which cheaper charging points ?

And as already said a few times...electrical safety is a key consideration, and has been covered a lot already.
The EO ones are relatively cheap and reliable and safe but just charge or don't charge so you would have to plug it in. As Coog says being albe to remotely charge/stop charging from your phone is handy and I use it all the time even if I am in the house. Vehicle to grid will be a big thing in years to come and think only some of the smart chargers will be able to do this. As I have solar the Zappi makes sense but not everyone will need it.
 

stevieturbo

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The EO ones are relatively cheap and reliable and safe but just charge or don't charge so you would have to plug it in. As Coog says being albe to remotely charge/stop charging from your phone is handy and I use it all the time even if I am in the house. Vehicle to grid will be a big thing in years to come and think only some of the smart chargers will be able to do this. As I have solar the Zappi makes sense but not everyone will need it.

As the earlier posts state....I doubt any charger that relies on an earth spike would ever be properly safe and compliant, simply because earth spikes are never very good. Plus all the other factors to be considered with spikes as the videos show.

The newer more expensive ones that have proper earth disconnection and need no spike would be the only ones I'd consider.
 

Mark Irwin

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As the earlier posts state....I doubt any charger that relies on an earth spike would ever be properly safe and compliant, simply because earth spikes are never very good. Plus all the other factors to be considered with spikes as the videos show.

The newer more expensive ones that have proper earth disconnection and need no spike would be the only ones I'd consider.
The EO did not have a spike (does this go direct into the ground?) and wired straight into my meter board the same as the Zappi. I know the Tesla ones are rubbish and quite dangerous without even RCD protection.
 

stevieturbo

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The EO did not have a spike (does this go direct into the ground?) and wired straight into my meter board the same as the Zappi. I know the Tesla ones are rubbish and quite dangerous without even RCD protection.
As said, earthing arrangements etc have been well covered.


An earth spike does go direct into the ground, but there are multiple considerations that go along with this and you will almost never get an actual good earth with a low enough reading to actually comply with the regs. Even with multiple spikes you may not get it low enough. But one single spike, there is pretty much no chance.

And it isn't regular RCD protection which would only apply to the supply L/N side of things. It really seems to be a pretty complicated thing to make safe, and there's just no way the cheaper units will be.

Ultimately as long as they fully comply with the regs, and if spikes are used it is all fully tested and earth values are sub 200 ohms as needed etc....the cheaper ones might do.
 

GT_MAXER

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bigpupcooper

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Dumb ass question, neighbour tells me there is some card you get to use public charge points, quick google isn't pointing me to a card. Plan to pick up an EV in a few weeks, and get a podpoint tethered fitted at the house. Guess I should have researched more before signing on the line :grinning:
 

KevM

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PXL_20210526_142618662~2.jpg
 

KevM

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I'd still be if the opinion that the infrastructure isnt there to support the increasing number of EV. & That's based on my experiences 3-4 years back, when numbers were tiny....

It wasn't for me at all
 

davyk31

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I wouldn’t want to be relying on public chargers but as my journeys are short and I have sole use of a charger at work it seems perfect for my needs. If I do charge on a public device it will really only be for the luxury of a bit of free electricity when out and about.
 

Graham

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Dumb ass question, neighbour tells me there is some card you get to use public charge points, quick google isn't pointing me to a card. Plan to pick up an EV in a few weeks, and get a podpoint tethered fitted at the house. Guess I should have researched more before signing on the line :grinning:
Unless you have full control over charging, ie. home charging is the almost sole source of power, you shouldn't have an EV.

Not my words, but those of a manufacturers press office, who then told me I shouldn't be accepting EV loans for evaluation unless I have a suitable socket on the side of the house for full charging overnight.

I've spent three weeks with three different EV's and charge anxiety is massive. Range anxiety still a thing for more of the affordable ones, too.

They don't get my vote at all, yet.
 

gcon45

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Ours is only ever charged at home, if we need to go further than the range (which is almost never) then I take the other car.
Same. If your daily mileage is under 180 (or whatever the car’s respective range is) then it’s a no brainier.
the Ioniq we have will easily do Belfast to Derry and back on one full charge easily.
 

KevM

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I have to agree with @Graham

I have driven the demo at work many many times and have arrived at a charge point with a queue of 4 at it and a car on charge with the owner no-where to be seen!

I have set off to a destination that has a rapid charger, arrived with virtually no range and found the charger to be out of order (that was a fun night).

My driving is still far too sporadic to consider electric. Yes, we have other cars at home, but I'm not sure how that lends itself to a 100% electric target in the future. Seems a very expensive solution to the every-day commute and not one I can be arsed with to be honest.

If it was truly making an environmental difference, that would be different, but between battery production and electric production, they are just shifting the issue.

'The environment' is a great earner for the govt though! 😁
 
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