Home Charger UK

[Greenstar]

I have ordered M3 LR and I am looking at home charging options. Its a shame 3 phase is too expensive to install at home for faster charging. But with single phase I was looking at tesla wall connector installed with 7.5m cable - tethered. I know other chargers come with OLEV grant and I could same £500 in overall cost including installation and charger as compared to Tesla Wall Charger. I think I would like to stick to Tesla charger. Otherwise are Tesla wall connector any good? How is the speed to charger the car overnight on single phase? Does the charging speed depends on the mains fuse? If getting Tesla Wall connector with tethered cable any suggestions how to keep the cable secure on the wall both during the night and during the day, with any kind of lock? Links to lock where to buy, will be handy.
Thanks in advance.

 

[CMc1]

Sorry, I don’t mean to discourage you but this question is asked once a week in the UK thread. Please use the search function.

There is many threads that cover these questions.

Any other please fire away.

 

[AnthonyLR]

My Tesla wall connector is being installed on Monday. I am fortunate to have three phase at home. It’s expensive to install - £820 (in addition to £460 unit) - and I realise I could have had a different one with OLEV grant for single phase for around £400. But I wanted the long cable, the button to open the charge port, and the possibility to add a second Tesla wall connector with load sharing when the model Y comes to the U.K.

 

[Greenstar]

My Tesla wall connector is being installed on Monday. I am fortunate to have three phase at home. It’s expensive to install - £820 (in addition to £460 unit) - and I realise I could have had a different one with OLEV grant for single phase for around £400. But I wanted the long cable, the button to open the charge port, and the possibility to add a second Tesla wall connector with load sharing when the model Y comes to the U.K.

Good to know, congrats. How much does the 3 phase cost to get installed and how much is the recurring cost means - per unit of electricity price, meter or rent, any standing charges? Do you have 3 phase for another reason or particularly for the ev charging?

 

[MrBadger]

How much does the 3 phase cost to get installed

If you have to ask, you can't afford it! Seriously, take a deep breadth...

 

[Greenstar]

My Tesla wall connector is being installed on Monday. I am fortunate to have three phase at home. It’s expensive to install - £820 (in addition to £460 unit) - and I realise I could have had a different one with OLEV grant for single phase for around £400. But I wanted the long cable, the button to open the charge port, and the possibility to add a second Tesla wall connector with load sharing when the model Y comes to the U.K.

This company is installing Tesla Wall Connector for £450 incl vat
Tesla Home Wall Chargers UK Wall Connectors Installed

 

[AnthonyLR]

Good to know, congrats. How much does the 3 phase cost to get installed and how much is the recurring cost means - per unit of electricity price, meter or rent, any standing charges? Do you have 3 phase for another reason or particularly for the ev charging?

I had it installed when we refurbished our house in 1998. My electrician thought it might come in useful, but it definitely wasn’t in anticipation of electric vehicles. No idea what it cost. Nowadays I hear it can be around £5k. Doesn’t affect any other costs (I don’t think!)

 

[shuhockey]

£349 single phase install cost in Sheffield. Brought a new wall connector off of eBay saving £100. Getting fitted in a couple of weeks.

 

[Greenstar]

£349 single phase install cost in Sheffield. Brought a new wall connector off of eBay saving £100. Getting fitted in a couple of weeks.

That's a bargain

 

[MrBadger]

£349 seems too cheap to me. Even the £450 might be a little on the light side - expect it to be minimal cable run - I'm going to approach them for my install though.

Make sure you get the correct electrical fittings - TWC is not a standard install - it needs additional kit to protect against >6mA DC leakage that other charge points seem to integrate within the units - ie Type B RCD (or Type A-EV >6mA DC protection) and ground rod. A Type B RCD alone is around £100 or more and is not the necessarily the same as a Type B RCBO - latter 'B' designation will normally be for the MCB side of things. A regular Type A or AC will not cut it either as it does not offer the >6mA DC protection without additional kit.

 

[shuhockey]

Yes very short cable run. They are OLEV approved installers, so have the training, so hopefully they know what they are doing.

 

[MrBadger]

Don't bank on it, even Tesla approved installers get it wrong. The rules changed a year ago.

OLEV does not mean that they understand the additional requirements needed for a TWC.

A black and white comment in the Tesla install guide triggered this. Tesla Wall Connector - Type B / Type A-EV RCD

tl;dr It requires an RCD device providing >6mA DC protection, ie Type B RCD (expensive), Type A-EV (very expensive) or a dedicated >6mA protection device (??? expensive)

If you don't have >6mA DC protection, its not compliant.

Something like this makes a neat install. See note here (RCD available separately but it does not have explanation) Type B RCD + 2 MCB Garage / Mini Metal Consumer unit - EV Charge Point Install

 

[shuhockey]

Well my Ebay Tesla Wall Connector is now in the classifieds (Briefly) as it has a 2.5m cable not a 7.5m cable, if anyone is interested before I return.

 

[AnthonyLR]

£349 seems too cheap to me. Even the £450 might be a little on the light side - expect it to be minimal cable run - I'm going to approach them for my install though.

Make sure you get the correct electrical fittings - TWC is not a standard install - it needs additional kit to protect against >6mA DC leakage that other charge points seem to integrate within the units - ie Type B RCD (or Type A-EV >6mA DC protection) and ground rod. A Type B RCD alone is around £100 or more and is not the necessarily the same as a Type B RCBO - latter 'B' designation will normally be for the MCB side of things. A regular Type A or AC will not cut it either as it does not offer the >6mA DC protection without additional kit.

That's interesting that the TWC needs extra bits of kit. That explains why the cost appears so high. I obtained three quotes for a 3 phase installation. The lowest (around £780) was from the Tesla website recommended installer. I then had the local shop in Barnet give me a quote (£820) which I went with as he is my local supplier, has a shop to pay for, and made good sense when I chatted to him about his plan of attack. I also obtained a quote from a Cambridge firm I saw on Youtube but they wanted £1600! When I challenged the £1600 he said the parts alone were £1000 which is obviously rubbish.

My buddy with a M3 LR has a single phase install done for under £400 including the charger, so it makes sense that Tesla is more expensive becuase it needs extra parts. Shame Tesla does not make them with these parts already

 

[Adopado]

it makes sense that Tesla is more expensive becuase it needs extra parts. Shame Tesla does not make them with these parts already

I think the reason is that these extra parts relate to specific UK safety regulations ... and those regulations can and do change from time to time. Tesla is making chargers that will be used in different countries with different safety requirements beyond the core functionality of the charge point itself.

 

[MrBadger]

I had it installed when we refurbished our house in 1998. My electrician thought it might come in useful, but it definitely wasn’t in anticipation of electric vehicles. No idea what it cost. Nowadays I hear it can be around £5k. Doesn’t affect any other costs (I don’t think!)

Yes, all retrospective quotes that I have seen have been for £5k-10k - all for an additional 3.6kW or so on a Model 3 - 7.6kW vs 11kW - or 30 vs 40mph range on AWD LR, typically less real world driving.

 

[Greenstar]

Above quote from local ev charger installer

Waiting for quote from API Electrical Independent EV charging specialists APi Electrical

 

[MrBadger]

Save yourself £100 and get rid of the potentially problematic (its something else to go wrong unlike a correctly installed passive earth rod see this sorry tale TESLA Charger Install - No earth) Matt-E and get a basic earth rod - I recon earth rod would be £50 (parts only cost a couple of quid) and they have years of reliable operation.

I recon installers are seeing these Matt-e's as an upsell. I cannot see how they can say it is more reliable when it is an active device when an earth rod is basically a passive 2m rod in the ground and a piece of wire bonded to it. Just not as much markup on a couple £ of parts compared with a £££? unit.

 

[Greenstar]

Does anyone know what is the lead time on shipping of Tesla Wall Connector when buying from Tesla?

 

[Roy W.]

Does anyone know what is the lead time on shipping of Tesla Wall Connector when buying from Tesla?

I think they’re normally in stock for next day delivery. I bought mine on a visit to Stockport when I had a test drive.