Home Charge Points Discussion and Suggestions [megathread]

[mesh1o1]

i'm so confused with these EV chargers - do i go podpoint, wallbox, powerhubb, EN? so many to choose from

any thoughts on powerhubb/en - i'm not sure what the difference is between podpoint solo and podpoint solo 3 - there are very few articles please help me!!

https://chargepointev.co.uk/product/powerhubb/

 

[dunkdafunk]

Evening.

I'm just looking for recommendations on which home charger to get installed? I've got a Model 3 due for delivery soon and need to get this sorted.

I'd like to be able to use the current grant so the charger needs to be smart (I think the Tesla one is not covered?).

I'd also ideally like a tethered charger and have been looked at pod-point and wallbox which end up being around £600 installed.

Please let me know your options.

Cheers

 

[Simonpat]

I went for Hypervolt. Really smart looking unit with good app, great customer service, and over the air updates. Was £750 after the £350 grant.

 

[Adopado]

Do some web searches and you'll come up with this kind of selection:The 5 Best home EV chargers on the market 2021

To be honest they all end up doing a very similar job for most people unless you have some very particular requirements e.g. integrating solar. You'll soon narrow it down to a few and then perhaps ask here for people here who have had direct experience of that model. We as individuals only tend to be able to comment on our own charge points because we haven't tried them all.

 

[CluelessOwner]

Moderation comment - moved to existing thread

Hi all,

First time buying a Tesla (model 3 - Long range) which arrives next month.

I am looking for a home charger (wall connector) and whilst I am aware of the Tesla Gen 3, I've also been told by another Tesla owner that they recommend the EO systems.

Any advice on which route to go down would be appreciated.

Thank you

 

[Adopado]

Hi all,

First time buying a Tesla (model 3 - Long range) which arrives next month.

I am looking for a home charger (wall connector) and whilst I am aware of the Tesla Gen 3, I've also been told by another Tesla owner that they recommend the EO systems.

Any advice on which route to go down would be appreciated.

Thank you

Home Charge Points Discussion and Suggestions [megathread]

Moderator comment - please use this thread to post charge point Q/A, comments and suggestions regarding charge points thread merged from "Home Charger Decisions" and "Charge Point / Charger Suggestions [megathread]" to keep info together Hi all, I understand this topic has been covered on...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[kelvin 660]

If you don't have solar and you don't want your charging switched off by the government and you want to easily open/close the charger point go for a Tesla Wall Charger. Had mine fitted with PEN fault, etc for ~£800. Also comes with 4 year warranty...

 

[CluelessOwner]

If you don't have solar and you don't want your charging switched off by the government and you want to easily open/close the charger point go for a Tesla Wall Charger. Had mine fitted with PEN fault, etc for ~£800. Also comes with 4 year warranty...

Thanks for the above.

Did you look in to the charger speed of the Tesla Wall connector against other versions like OA?

 

[JonB]

They will all be ~7Kw.

 

[Forty_Two]

i'm so confused with these EV chargers - do i go podpoint, wallbox, powerhubb, EN? so many to choose from

Moderation comment - posts moved o the thread you are looking for

Me too - for some reason we have this thread recommending electrician to install - I want to read a thread discussing 'which' charger and why and then I am sure I can easily find the best deal getting it installed

 

[Adopado]

If you don't have solar and you don't want your charging switched off by the government and you want to easily open/close the charger point go for a Tesla Wall Charger. Had mine fitted with PEN fault, etc for ~£800. Also comes with 4 year warranty...

Sorry for giving you a disagree on that one but I really had to! This "switched off by the government" is something someone might expect to read in the Daily Mail. Smart charging points can operate as dumb chargers just like the Tesla charge point (and therefore with no external control if necessary). Smart chargers provide the opportunity for potentially following variable cheap rate periods and for coordinating with solar in/out/battery etc etc. The government has no control of your smart charger. The the only usual disadvantage of a smart charge point is that it will be generally more expensive than a non smart charge point ... but not when compared to the Tesla charge point because that costs as much as a smart one ... and the clincher is that at least you get £350 grant to offset a smart charge point but not the Tesla. I have no downer on the Tesla charger at all, particularly for people who may not be eligible for the grant, but you are potentially throwing away £350 by not considering a smart charge point. I would certainly recommend considering a non smart charge point if it was great value and therefore didn't leave you financially worse off but that doesn't appear to be the case with Tesla's model.

 

[browellm]

I'm not sorry, for the record.

 

[Adopado]

Thanks for the above.

Did you look in to the charger speed of the Tesla Wall connector against other versions like OA?

There's no speed difference between charge points unless you are in the highly unlikely situation of having an industrial style 3 phase supply ... in which case you could get a 3 phase version that could be quicker.

 

[jon8oy86]

Me too - for some reason we have this thread recommending electrician to install - I want to read a thread discussing 'which' charger and why and then I am sure I can easily find the best deal getting it installed

I also struggled with this. I obviously hit Google and YouTube too, but there is definitely a lack of guides on the specific options and the benefits/drawbacks to each.

I would recommend making a list of what is important to you - for example being able to set times charging using the charger instead of the car, the aesthetics of the box, price of the box, whether it needs/includes earthing, tethered/untethered... Once I did this I chose my installer (BumbleBee) and discussed my priorities. They then had a really good discussion with me and gave good advice on the options, eventually leading me to the Hypervolt. That also gets good feedback on here, so that sealed it!

Good luck!

 

[Adopado]

I would recommend making a list of what is important to you - for example being able to set times charging using the charger instead of the car, the aesthetics of the box, price of the box, whether it needs/includes earthing, tethered/untethered... Once I did this I chose my installer (BumbleBee) and discussed my priorities. They then had a really good discussion with me and gave good advice on the options, eventually leading me to the Hypervolt. That also gets good feedback on here, so that sealed it!

Also people should bear in mind that some installers tend to stick with certain models ... so your chosen installer may not necessarily be able to install your chosen charge point.

 

[Casss]

When I was looking at chargers, one thing that really sealed the deal for me with smart chargers was this:

Will it bother you if you can’t make proper use of a night rate or ev tarrif? I.e are you happy spending ~15p per kWh vs ~5p? If the thought of not being able to tap into that bothers you, don’t even bother looking at dumb chargers. The extra for a smart charger can quite quickly pay for itself unless you rarely charge at home.

 

[MrBadger]

Also people should bear in mind that some installers tend to stick with certain models ... so your chosen installer may not necessarily be able to install your chosen charge point.

And have a biased opinion as to what models are best.

At the end of the day wall connectors are an on/off switch with a bit of comms with the car to tell it what and when it can supply power. The rest comes down to ergonomics, looks, reliability and what additional features they have, if any. The car contains the charger so that does all the important stuff.

 

[MrBadger]

Will it bother you if you can’t make proper use of a night rate or ev tarrif? I.e are you happy spending ~15p per kWh vs ~5p? If the thought of not being able to tap into that bothers you, don’t even bother looking at dumb chargers. The extra for a smart charger can quite quickly pay for itself unless you rarely charge at home.

The car has much of what is needed for that built into. The car can start the charge itself and with a simple bit of mental maths can stop it too. And if you don't want to do the mental maths, or take advantage of complicated tariffs such as Agile that has dropped out of favour, there are apps that can handle this for you. So absolutely no advantage having a smart vs dumb charger if you don't want one.

 

[kelvin 660]

I should have also mentioned, if and when, you have charging issues and you have a Tesla Wall Charger it's all down to one manufacturer (Tesla) to solve the issue...
As far as low cost electricity then the dumb TWC charger is fine at 5p/kW that works out less than £250/year for 12,000 miles. That's cheap enough for me and less than some pay for their road tax!

 

[Casss]

The car has much of what is needed for that built into. The car can start the charge itself and with a simple bit of mental maths can stop it too. And if you don't want to do the mental maths, or take advantage of complicated tariffs such as Agile that has dropped out of favour, there are apps that can handle this for you. So absolutely no advantage having a smart vs dumb charger if you don't want one.

Convenience is king for me on this. I’m a lazy sod! Don’t want to be faffing about with multiple apps, other adapters, unplugging the car in the middle of the night, relying on the car schedule (sometimes you need to add some miles for an hour then set it to charge at night), “mental maths” or any other kind of maths! Set the schedule in the app, plug in, forget about it, car and charger do their thing!