Charging advice - home and parents

[subsy]

Hi all

Patiently awaiting delivery of my X which is supposedly set for June.

As I used a referral code ill be getting a Tesla wall charger which I plan to install at home.

I'd also like to get a charger installed at my parents house - they are having some major electrical work done in April so will get the contractors to install a charger at the same time.

My question is about charger options for my parents. I believe that I can get a government grant to contribute to the cost .
Can anyone help me understand how that works? Are there any limitations or restrictions around eligibility? I know that the Tesla charger isn't included so would be looking at other options. What would be the best charger option?

Thanks in advance!

 

[arg]

Perversely, the economic thing to do is to get the Tesla WC installed at your parents and an OLEV-sponsored chargepoint at home.

Unfortunately, the grant scheme requires you to show proof of ownership of an EV, so unless you are going to register the car at your parents' address or otherwise bend the rules, you won't be able to have a grant-funded install there.

Grant rules here:

Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme guidance for customers: version 2.1 - GOV.UK

You could of course forget the grant and get two Tesla WCs; the grant isn't as good as it seems since the costs of applying for it tend to inflate the cost of the job, but it is still usually cheaper than doing it independently.

 

[Fellsteruk]

Hi

I’m currently looking at similar options and honestly the Grant seems pointless in the long run and a few installers don’t seem to want the hassle. You have to have an approved charger with the grant and these appear much more expensive than a TWC. Also TWC comes with 3 or 4 years warentee.

It also seem that you don’t get anywhere near £500 like they say and a TWC vs other with grant is about £300 more expensive for the TWC route but worth it in my mind also your referral credit won’t be able to spend until after you take delivery of car and obvs you’d need it before you take delivery.

 

[subsy]

Thanks arg.

That makes sense. Are there any issues with TWCs being installed by standard electrical contractors vs the ones recommended on the Tesla site?

Do you know what a fair install price is?

Thanks again

 

[tonyj01]

There are some leccies who will do the paperwork for you and fit the wall charger for almost zero pounds, if you accept a cheap terminal.

Another possibility for reasonable cost is an IP67 blue commando 32A, and use the Tesla UMC with the blue attachment, at your parent's home.

An example of the latter Gewiss GW66215N Blue 230V 32A 2P+E IP67 Vertical Interlocked Switched Socket Outlet only £37 plus.

I am not an expert but a Tesla approved contractor would advise you more.

Let us know what was most economic

Regards,

Tony

 

[subsy]

Hi

I’m currently looking at similar options and honestly the Grant seems pointless in the long run and a few installers don’t seem to want the hassle. You have to have an approved charger with the grant and these appear much more expensive than a TWC. Also TWC comes with 3 or 4 years warentee.

It also seem that you don’t get anywhere near £500 like they say and a TWC vs other with grant is about £300 more expensive for the TWC route but worth it in my mind also your referral credit won’t be able to spend until after you take delivery of car and obvs you’d need it before you take delivery.

Thanks fellster, appreciated. I'm hoping that Tesla will allow me to purchase a TWC in advance and credit me when I collect the car but will call then to check

 

[subsy]

There are some leccies who will do the paperwork for you and fit the wall charger for almost zero pounds, if you accept a cheap terminal.

Another possibility for reasonable cost is an IP67 blue commando 32A, and use the Tesla UMC with the blue attachment, at your parent's home.

An example of the latter Gewiss GW66215N Blue 230V 32A 2P+E IP67 Vertical Interlocked Switched Socket Outlet only £37 plus.

Thanks Tony. Good advice. Using the UMC with a blue plug at the parents might be a great option

Forgive me for being dim, what do you mean by 'if you accept a cheap terminal' ?

 

[Fellsteruk]

Thanks fellster, appreciated. I'm hoping that Tesla will allow me to purchase a TWC in advance and credit me when I collect the car but will call then to check

I asked, they said no ;(

 

[Couscous19]

As another poster said, get your free Tesla charger at your parents if you’ll be there often. Get a cheap one that is OLEV grant compatible at your residence.

This is only £200 although there’s another manufacturer that, after the grant, only charges £99 for a 7 kWh point. Couldn’t find the company from a quick google but they have a green and white colour scheme.

EO eOLEV Charger | ecostore

Only addendum to that is if you’ll really rarely use it at your parents, since the Tesla one looks nicer and is more convenient.

 

[Couscous19]

Here’s the super cheap one:

EV Charging Points For The Home | EV Charging | Rolecserv

 

[subsy]

Here’s the super cheap one:

EV Charging Points For The Home | EV Charging | Rolecserv

What's the difference between something like this (untethered) and a standard blue socket?

I'm leaning toward the latter for my parents place since it needs to be done in April before I get the X and so before I'm eligible for the grant. I could have them install the wiring and leave it disconnected until June for a charger install then, but if there's no real benefit over a blue socket then what's the point?

 

[tonyj01]

Forgive me for being dim, what do you mean by 'if you accept a cheap terminal' ?

Tethered charger points tend to cost more. A £37 blue commando is a cheap external power socket in comparison.

As it is for occasional use, untethered seems sensible.

Regards,

Tony

 

[tonyj01]

What's the difference between something like this (untethered) and a standard blue socket?

The Rolec one you would use a type 2- type 2 cable, which is more waterproof. The Tesla UMC you would have to use with the blue commando is not as waterproof, it contains some complex electronics.

However, the Rolecs have had faulty electrics, but they must have sorted that issue.

Regards,

Tony

 

[WannabeOwner]

Another possibility for reasonable cost is an IP67 blue commando 32A, and use the Tesla UMC with the blue attachment, at your parent's home.

I fitted Blue Commando here, alongside OLEV (Tesla was not available in UK way back then) as a backup and in case of visiting EV. I have used it on occasion when problem with the OLEV (Loaner wouldn't work with OLEV for some reason, presumably a fault on the car).

I used a referral code ill be getting a Tesla wall charger which I plan to install at home.

Presumably the Referrer is going to give you the charger?

Get a cheap one that is OLEV grant compatible at your residence.

the Rolecs have had faulty electrics, but they must have sorted that issue.

I have an OLEV charger at home, and same make at work. Pretty sure its Rolec (and maybe that's solved now as @tonyj01 says ...). Both have failed more than once (sparky visit, dunno what he did). They have also tripped (water maybe?). That is REALLY annoying when it happens in the middle of overnight charge and you don't have enough Juice in the morning as a consequence ...

I would get best-quality for Home, and I would only ever use a Tethered one at home ... don't want to wear out my UMC (they aint cheap to replace) nor be coiling it up wet to put in the car ... Blue Commando is fine for occasional use IMHO.

 

[sidmini]

Take a look at the pod point OLEV grant covering £500 off the charger installation cost. Mine has been super reliable: OLEV Grant

 

[arg]

What's the difference between something like this (untethered) and a standard blue socket?

A chargepoint, whether tethered or socketed, contains electronics to tell the car how much power it can safely draw, and several safety features - ensuring that the cable is not live until after it's confirmed to be locked into the car, verifying earth continuity etc.

If you take a Tesla UMC (the 'mobile connector' currently supplied with the car), plug it into a blue commando socket, and never unplug it again, you have got a setup exactly equivalent to installing a Tesla WC in the same place - but more expensive (the UMC costs more than the WC), less weatherproof, and less expandable (a key feature of the WC is the ability to chain them together to share a limited supply if you have a second EV).

So the commando socket is only cheaper if you have a UMC "for free". It's a very poor option for your main home charging, as you really want to carry the UMC in the car at least on long trips, so either you unplug it and roll it up to take with you every morning, or take it "only when you need it" and end up forgetting it. Also, it's good not to rely on your UMC for daily charging, since if it breaks (more likely under daily wear & tear) you are then stuck, whereas if your home chargepoint breaks you've still got the UMC to plug in to a 13A socket for emergency use.

However, it is an acceptable second best (and better than just using a 13A socket) for places you visit infrequently and can't justify the cost of a proper chargepoint. Note that a commando socket installed for EV charging is required to follow the same regulations as a chargepoint (section 722 of the wiring regulations): it doesn't cost much extra to do this stuff properly, and does mean that you can later swap the socket easily for a chargepoint at a later date (eg. if the relations also buy an EV).

 

[Fellsteruk]

The rolec one seems to be popular with installers... i've got a sparc coming out this afternoon to give me some options and prices I like the idea of the TWC

 

[sidmini]

The rolec one seems to be popular with installers... i've got a sparc coming out this afternoon to give me some options and prices I like the idea of the TWC

Don't go ROLEC, they have been really unreliable on the forums, the fuse board ends up melting on some! I would say the pod point and the tesla wall connector are the most robust options

 

[anonymouse]

The Rolec one, at least according to their brochure, seems to have been designed by an electrician. We decided that the lovely front wall of our house did NOT need to have a plastic window through which we can see all the writing on the circuit breaker

 

[sidmini]

The Rolec one, at least according to their brochure, seems to have been designed by an electrician. We decided that the lovely front wall of our house did NOT need to have a plastic window through which we can see all the writing on the circuit breaker

Also the Rolec's are probably the cheapest units out there and the electrician can pocket the rest left from the OLEV £500 grant! so no wonder they recommend them!