Granny charger options?

[Avendit]

Tongue in cheek 'not for me' question...

Sis has just picked up a Corsa-e, which I look forward to seeing eventually. However it doesn't come with a granny charger of any kind! When they are eventually allowed to visit the other parts of the family, they will absolutely need one if they take the Corsa.

What are the options for them? I had a search, but obviously most of our recommendations come back to the UMC. Having looked around it actually looks like probably the 'best' option, but it quite expensive on top of what is meant to be the wee second run-around. The best alternative I've found seems to be this, along with a comado to 13A adaptor from toughleads or similar? But I've never heard of the web store or the device brand before.

Would a UMC off ebay be better, or anything else to look at?

 

[kelvin 660]

Check out Screwfix for EV charges. £140

 

[quentinsf]

Back when ranges were much smaller and chargers were much scarcer, I looked at options for my first EV. But my main interest was being able to go to 16 or 32A if, on my travels, I found a commando connector that could do it, and that meant that I was looking at rather more expensive ones.

But in case it's any use, good options back then seemed to be those made by Juice Booster and by NRGKick.

I did get a basic one with my car, and in the end I didn't buy another, so I don't have personal experience with either. But think of it as an investment: type 2 connectors aren't going away any time soon and you'd then have a better charger to use with future vehicles too

 

[26ct2143]

Back when ranges were much smaller and chargers were much scarcer, I looked at options for my first EV. But my main interest was being able to go to 16 or 32A if, on my travels, I found a commando connector that could do it, and that meant that I was looking at rather more expensive ones.

But in case it's any use, good options back then seemed to be those made by Juice Booster and by NRGKick.

I did get a basic one with my car, and in the end I didn't buy another, so I don't have personal experience with either. But think of it as an investment: type 2 connectors aren't going away any time soon and you'd then have a better charger to use with future vehicles too

Yeah I bought a juice booster about 2 or so years ago for use with our leaf. On the leaf you can't change the amp draw from the mains.
So you can alter it on the juice booster. Being a farmer, I often visit other farms, farmers often have various commando sockets on the wall So I plug in using juice booster to get power. You can get all kinds of connectors and I even made some of my own.
Also have used it on camp sites where you need to reduce the amps to stop the trip blowing.

Handy piece of kit, but I do think it's rather expensive.
I have now setup it on the wall down the yard for use with the tesla instead of buying another charge point, so I suppose it'll get more use now. For me a portable charger that can do anything upto 22kw is handy to take with me sometimes.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

The Juice Booster is a good choice, as it's one of the only portable charge points I know of that has DC tolerant earth leakage protection. It does not have open PEN fault detection, though, so that needs to be provided by the installation before the outlet. Pretty much all outdoor commercial/industrial commando outlets will have open PEN fault protection, though, as it's been normal practice to provide this for those applications for decades. The risk is the DIY commando outlet that's not been provided with the required level of protection when connected to a domestic PME installation. There are a fair few of these about, often fitted by people who haven't read and understood the regs when it comes to outlets fitted outdoors where the protective earth provided at the connector may be connected to exposed conductive parts (caravans, metal sheds and greenhouses, cars, etc), so creating a potential shock risk.

 

[Avendit]

Cheers all!

The Juice booster and NRGKick both look amazing if you want the gold plated one or will be using it lots, but is heading for a significant % cost of a heavily discounted Corsa-e. I think my recommendation will be an ebay UMC from someone that doesn't need it, then you have an easy route to alternative connectors etc, or if they are really cost sensitive, solving the immediate problem for the least outlay possible via screwfix.

 

[Alan J]

Tongue in cheek 'not for me' question...

Sis has just picked up a Corsa-e, which I look forward to seeing eventually. However it doesn't come with a granny charger of any kind! When they are eventually allowed to visit the other parts of the family, they will absolutely need one if they take the Corsa.

What are the options for them? I had a search, but obviously most of our recommendations come back to the UMC. Having looked around it actually looks like probably the 'best' option, but it quite expensive on top of what is meant to be the wee second run-around. The best alternative I've found seems to be this, along with a comado to 13A adaptor from toughleads or similar? But I've never heard of the web store or the device brand before.

Would a UMC off ebay be better, or anything else to look at?

A little off subject I agree that the Corsa e looks interesting but expensive but my local Vauxhall Dealer actually has a Pre Reg with 50 miles on it on forecourt for £10K off List (whatever that means) making it around £24K. I'd be interested in your Sis's experience with it.

 

[Avendit]

She is Lenzie, so probably the same deal. And they were still open to further negotiation! Sis managed to get a bit more off to cover a wall charger and so on. She seems well chuffed so far, will be interesting to hear how it copes with some longer trips and if it matches the betterrouteplanner.com performance.

I think it looks the best smaller EV just now. I love the mini, but its range is just too short - it would need charged to 100% too much of the time, and still can't make it from Edinburgh to Lenzie and back on a single charge, which is my criteria for range. We don't do that particular trip all that often, but it feels like something you should be able to do without thinking about a top up. Similarly most of the other have a single big compromise that puts me off (like a fast charge option is £1000's extra and so on).

 

[26ct2143]

Cheers all!

The Juice booster and NRGKick both look amazing if you want the gold plated one or will be using it lots, but is heading for a significant % cost of a heavily discounted Corsa-e. I think my recommendation will be an ebay UMC from someone that doesn't need it, then you have an easy route to alternative connectors etc, or if they are really cost sensitive, solving the immediate problem for the least outlay possible via screwfix.

I have used my nissan leaf charger on the tesla, works fine. New one on ebay at the moment:
Nissan Ev Charger Charging Cable Type2 | eBay

 

[Alan J]

Yes same area and at that kind of price point it is a very compelling option, they still seem to have a couple more on forecourt if anyone on here is considering this option. I like your GERJ (Glasgow Edinburgh Return Journey) Benchmark, I think it will gets likes / copy cats.

 

[Avendit]

If I'm talking to a potential convert, I usually just point them at abetterrouteplanner.com, tell them to test with a few common trips they need to do and vary the weather a bit. With a bit of support you can usually alleviate any range doubts they have.

Its all about what do you -need- to do and how inconvenient vs how often you go beyond that capability. Then balance these things with how often you need to do it. For the wee cars, its the possibility of a long trip that matters to me, if it adds a bit of time that's fine, but not if it doubles your travel time (looking at you Honda e :/. Another nice car ruined by a combination of poor range -and- poor charging).

Each usage pattern will have a cut off beyond which its not really viable for a particular car. I've seen people in the US asking about doing a 300 mile daily commute in an LR M3, and TBH, they probably aren't ready to convert! I certinally would not want that level of stress on a daily basis, and that kind of duty cycle would definitely want a lease car cause the battery is going to be ruined in short order!

Anyway, gone waaay off topic now!