Andersen A2

[Bootneckshuffl]

Hi all

Would like to hear from any A2 owners about their experiences with the units and also their customer support.

Torn between A2 and Zappi, researched both units heavily, A2 little more expensive etc but has the aesthetic advantage.

Love to hear info on the above, anything about wither unit to be honest, hopefully help me to make the decision here today.

Thanks.

 

[Morriscoombes]

Yeah I went through the same thought process, the A2 looks so much better but since mine was installed round the back and out of sight I just went zappi

 

[MadScientist]

Andersen carried out a pretty straight forward installation of mine and the communication was good. I’ve had zero issues with my A2, so I can’t comment on post installation customer service. The unit is well made and looks great.

 

[BushtrimmmerJr]

Same as @MadScientist, no problems with the A2 and the communication from Andersen was great. Our A2 is at the front/side of the house and blends in well next to the gas/electric meters.

 

[Zakalwe]

Ditto.

 

[Dilly]

Went with Zappi. One in the garage, second on outside wall. Good install, great after sales support

 

[Durzel]

No problems with my A2.

Andersen pulled the web interface you used to be able to use to view stats etc, now it’s all done by the app. The app is better than it used to be, but not particularly good. It doesn’t have any real intelligence - e.g. handling Agile rates, doing the stuff the myEnergi app does, etc.

I also got mugged on the installation.

No complaints about the unit itself though.

 

[Jibjab]

Anderson for me. If it had been at the side of the house I probably wouldn’t have bothered, but as it’s on the front I didn’t really want the hosepipe/petrol pump look

Installed directly by an employee of Andersen, did a fantastic and neat job routing the cable to the fuse box and incoming connection buried pretty much in the middle of the house, behind panelling at the back of a cupboard!

Not actually used it as yet, but the app seems to be self explanatory and I like the fact I can disable it when not in use.

PS
The boss (wife) chose the wood finish, which of course was even more expensive!

 

[Durzel]

Anderson for me. If it had been at the side of the house I probably wouldn’t have bothered, but as it’s on the front I didn’t really want the hosepipe/petrol pump look

Installed directly by an employee of Andersen, did a fantastic and neat job routing the cable to the fuse box and incoming connection buried pretty much in the middle of the house, behind panelling at the back of a cupboard!

Not actually used it as yet, but the app seems to be self explanatory and I like the fact I can disable it when not in use.

PS
The boss (wife) chose the wood finish, which of course was even more expensive!

Very nice.

It is still a mystery to me why other chargepoint manufacturers seem to be competing with eachother to make the most gaudy and incongruous looking products imaginable. Andersen seem to have the "aesthetic beauty" end of the market totally stitched up.

 

[RoadMap]

Andersen for me.

Installed by Andersen within 3 weeks of order, Good installer, very neat and tidy, even took all the packaging away with him. My garage is seperate from the house so we had the cable run last year from house to garage whilst having other work done so they only needed to make a connection at either end and drill one hole. Andersen treated as a standard installation and ensured a 'floating' connection was made to the box. I had no idea what this meant until the installation guy explained that no cable would be visible hence the box looks like it floats!

Not used it yet as M3 does not get delivered until next Wednesday (oh the anticipation.... ) but the app looks great, love the fact it has an internal light when you lift the cable flap, which helps in my situation as it's very dark at the side of the garage and has saved me installing a light. I also went for the 8m lead for flexibility and to future proof any future car changes.

When I was deciding which to get I asked myself do I want an in ya face car charging point on the front of your house with cable on full view - something that equates to a 'boil' stuck on your front wall or a square box that looks pretty good and can be customised to fit in with your house which contains everything in a neat package. No brainer if you can square the cost away.

 

[JupiterMan]

I went for Anderson A2 - primarily for the aesthetics. installation went well for me, was not rushed and installed with no external wiring to the unit, making it look very neat and tidy.
I'm on Octopus Go, so don't need much from the app to be honest and have had not needed to use their customer service.

Was not the cheapest option, but am happy customer.

Andersen

• JupiterMan
• Aug 5, 2020

 

[Zakalwe]

Very nice.

It is still a mystery to me why other chargepoint manufacturers seem to be competing with eachother to make the most gaudy and incongruous looking products imaginable. Andersen seem to have the "aesthetic beauty" end of the market totally stitched up.

All of this. Who wants a bit of brightly coloured plastic with cables draped all over it on their house?
If I had a bigger house with a back yard where I could park then looks would be of lesser importance.
No hassle with the process....I made a slight error on the docs and they corrected it without asking. Installation was quick, painless me efficient.
The grant effectively got it installed for the cost of the (expensive) unit.

 

[j1mgg]

Same as above, our charger is at the front of the house on the garage, and is one of the things you see first. We don't plan on moving anytime soon, so the extra £400 or so, wasn't a major factor.

Anderson install was straight forward, the installer was on time, very tidy, took away all the stuff. Gave me a run through of the app, and how to reset the box and other stuff, never had my car at the time.

Has any in Scotland got one installed, and then claimed the grant back?

 

[Glan gluaisne]

I wonder why no one else has thought of making a storage cabinet for a charge point, in the way Andersen have done?

In essence, the Andersen is just a fairly standard charge point fitted inside a cabinet that has a neat hidden cable and connector stowage facility. It would seem pretty easy to make a cabinet that would house a range of charge points and provide the same neat stowage. Such a cabinet could have a pretty big market, it it could be used with several different makes of charge point, just needs to be priced sensibly. The latter isn't that challenging, given the high price of Andersen products.

 

[M3-Mark]

Had mine installed last week via Andersen and really happy with it. Haven't yet used it on my new M3P (being delivered in 2 weeks time) but did try it out on my Mum's Golf E. I also ordered the 8m long cable to make it more future proof and matched the case with the color of the garage. I was also in the same camp as not wanting an ugly set of cables hanging off the side of the wall - but I guess money is a factor.

My only issue is that you have to wind the cable very tightly / specifically so that the charging head fits back into it's home. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it, but it's been a bit of a frustration for something that cost that much!

 

[JupiterMan]

My only issue is that you have to wind the cable very tightly / specifically so that the charging head fits back into it's home.

That has never been an issue for me - perhaps this is because the longer cable you have (I have the standard length one).

 

[Durzel]

That has never been an issue for me - perhaps this is because the longer cable you have (I have the standard length one).

I've experienced the same problem as him.

Sometimes you will reel it back on and the charging "head" doesn't end up going back in properly, or the reeled cable pokes out past the brushes, etc. I think it probably is an extended cable problem.

 

[ShaunJ]

I have been using mine since September without any issues. It was installed by Andersen. I am on Octopus go and if you put the tariff the app it works out how much each charge costs. It can accommodate different prices at different times. I schedule the charging to start at half past midnight as soon as the cheap rate starts, this is on the Andersen charger. Just plug the car in and the magic happens overnight. The only thing I set on the car is the percentage limit to put in the battery. It’s all pretty easy. As others has said the extra long cables you have be careful to wind the cable with the correct tension, you do get the knack after a while. I just hate seeing loose cabling dangling from a hook and wanted the convenience of a tethered cable.

 

[nufan]

+1 upvote for them. My A2 has been in since the start of the year. I don’t use the app. It works well employed as a simple charge point. Looks great/not a tangled mess for the facing neighbours to see.

I went for the longer cable and it occasionally snags a little on unlooping as a little crammed-in - but I was hedging the day we have two EVs and need the reach. Would do it again.

Looping the cable so the plug hits the holder takes a few goes to master I found, but now I don’t think about it.

Buy it and you won’t regret!

 

[Abhishek9]

Hi all

Would like to hear from any A2 owners about their experiences with the units and also their customer support.

Torn between A2 and Zappi, researched both units heavily, A2 little more expensive etc but has the aesthetic advantage.

Love to hear info on the above, anything about wither unit to be honest, hopefully help me to make the decision here today.

Thanks.

I love my Andersen unit. I’ve recommended at least three friends to get it. I had an issue about 4 weeks after install with slow charging(could have been a model 3 issue) but they came and changed the whole box.