Home Charging Stations

[Tuxs]

New to the world of EV’s so just getting opinions on which home charging point to go for?

A local installer and friend of mine is telling me the Zappi is the best option as it’s completely future proof and you get the govt grant included.

I know the Tesla one does not get the grant however I still have a feeling this may be the best option.

Does the Tesla home charger charge any quicker than the Zappi & others available? Could Tesla potentially update the software on the Tesla home chargers in the future as technology develops (maybe even quicker charging etc)

‘Thanks

 

[PXW1]

Unless you have 3 phase supply to your house then you will be restricted to around 32A which will give a bit over 7Kw/hr charging, whichever charger you choose. That’s not really any issue in practise as it still gives easy overnight charging. The government grant is available to “Smart” chargers, which are programmable and typically WiFi connected. The Tesla unit isn’t smart (in that sense!) so does not qualify for the grant.

The Zappi has advantages if you have a solar installation as well - apparently it helps to control the flow between mains and solar and any battery installation in the house. I don’t have any of that so I went for an EO Mini - very neat unit. Do a search here and elsewhere for product reviews - the Rolec has had some issues, for example, though those may be resolved by now.

the other key decision is whether or not to get a tethered cable. I’ve done that and not regretted it at all. But it does mean that the unit is a little less neat when not being used. Frankly I’ll put up with that rather than have to get out a cable every time but it’s a personal preference and makes no difference to performance.

 

[freekie]

After a lot of deliberation went for a tethered Tesla charger. No regrets about 6 weeks in.

 

[MrBadger]

Looks, length of cable, tethered/untethered, smart/dumb, price, how long to get installed are about the only variables. Reliability should converge pretty quick as couple of minor quirks that affect random configurations are sorted out - still early days for Model 3 in UK.

Otherwise they are 'just' an electrical socket that the car plugs into. The car does all the hard work.

I recon the simpler the better. More chance of it working how you think, when you want.

 

[Adopado]

I recon the simpler the better. More chance of it working how you think, when you want.

Yes, there's no particular need for many of the smart features and they all should charge at the same rate. Sure my Zappi 2 will be able to do some clever stuff if I get future solar organised but it does introduce additional complexity. And you then have another couple of devices to keep software/firmware updated (Hub and Zappi itself .. it's a clunky process too) and since early September it has crashed 3 times, so if I had been depending on a full charge for a morning commute I wouldn't be so relaxed about it!

 

[Glan gluaisne]

The Tesla wall charge point is a pretty simple bit of kit, which is a very good thing IMHO (none of the potentially flaky software features that have plagued a few smart charge points). The Tesla wall charge point also looks good, and has the advantage of a button on the connector that will both open the charge port door and terminate the charge and allow the connector to be removed from the car. This seems to be a very useful feature, and it's not available on any other charge point (although it is possible to modify a standard connector to do this, although it's not that easy to do).

 

[interbear]

Lots of interesting charger discussion on this thread - Best home charger

And this spreadsheet put together by a helpful poster on here is also very useful - EVSE Options

I went with the Andersen A2 myself. Why? I like the cable being out of sight when not in use, it looks good, the app allows me to schedule charging and 2 months in, it works well. I was also impressed with their pre-sales advice and installation. It’s pricier than other alternatives even with the OLEV grant, and when I ordered in the summer the lead time was long (like 10 weeks, but that may have improved) but I’m happy with my choice.

 

[Bluebell]

I have just had my Andersen A2 installed, delay was 12 weeks although the equipment arrived 10 days ago. The key criteria for the boss was looks. She would not allow any of the others on the front of the house! Very expensive (nearly £1K with the coloured front panel and 8.5m cable after the Govt rebate) but successful first charge. Looking at the app, it seems that I can set the time of start and finish charge which could be useful for those with electricity providers who offer a cheaper rate at certain times. I'm sure that I will get over the capital cost in time.

 

[Tuxs]

With the Anderson A2 do you have to get them to install it as a complete package or can you just purchase the unit and get the install done yourself?

I am torn between the Tesla, Zappi & Anderson A2 although the later maybe too expensive.

 

[MrBadger]

Looking at the app, it seems that I can set the time of start and finish charge which could be useful for those with electricity providers who offer a cheaper rate at certain times.

I would not rely on that too much. There have been a number of posts about charging problems with scheduled wakeup which iirc, this week partially concluded with an admission that currently, the car cannot handle it - comment that it will be fixed in a future car update.

 

[Evilted]

With the Anderson A2 do you have to get them to install it as a complete package or can you just purchase the unit and get the install done yourself?

I am torn between the Tesla, Zappi & Anderson A2 although the later maybe too expensive.

I am in exactly the same position, same choices.
The Anderson can be bought without installation but it works out more expensive as just supply because there's no OLEV grant so in reality it's a complete package inc. install.

If the Anderson is too expensive you can scratch the Tesla charger too. My Anderson quote is £975 (inc the 8.5m cable) and the Tesla is £1081.
My install is completely standard, no complexities at all (new house, attached drive, short run etc etc)

So you are left with the Zappi (indicative quote is £624 for the tethered 6.5m cable), just like I am.

 

[Adopado]

So you are left with the Zappi (indicative quote is £624 for the tethered 6.5m cable), just like I am.

A tethered Zappi 2 costs £725 ... the Hub is £85 (that's required to make it "smart") the Harvi to link your grid and/or solar via CT clamps is £55 ... the CT clamps to connect to the Harvi ... plus the cost of the CT clamps themselves.

 

[Tuxs]

Why is the Tesla £1081? The unit is £460 so that means it’s over £600 to install!

 

[Glan gluaisne]

Why is the Tesla £1081? The unit is £460 so that means it’s over £600 to install!

Good question, well asked. Stuff needed to install the charge point will come to around £50 to £80 or so. Labour around here is about £200 to £220/day, and this is around half a day's work in total. Labour in somewhere like London may well be at least 50% higher, plus half a day's work will usually be charged at more than half the day rate, to allow for travelling and time spent buying materials for the job.

Hard to see how a straightforward installation could cost more than about £300, plus the cost of the charge point, TBH. I rather suspect there may be an element of overcharging going on.

 

[MrBadger]

I got quoted ~£1200 and ~£1400 - on top of the £460 charge point. They did include a combo socket, electricity meter and isolation switch for TWC though - about £200 in extras.

A Type B RCD is not cheap, but not that expensive. I can get a whole suitable consumer unit for ~£180, so on top of that its earthing, cabling and some want cutoff switches and/or surge protectors.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

Type B prices seem to be coming down, but it's still cheaper to fit a Type A and an earth rod at the moment.

 

[Adopado]

Hard to see how a straightforward installation could cost more than about £300, plus the cost of the charge point, TBH. I rather suspect there may be an element of overcharging going on.

And in Scotland there is the additional £300 EST grant ... yet the final cost to the customer is remarkably similar to the costs I've seen quoted on this forum ... it's something of a coincidence that it costs about £300 more to install in Scotland!

 

[Tuxs]

Another quick question; -

I’ve heard the Tesla one may have benefits if you have or plan to have more than 1 electric car in your household. We are a 2 car family and as we need to change our other car at the end of 2020 there is a strong possibility we may get another electric car if the M3 works well for us.

Is this true about the Tesla home charging station?

 

[Glan gluaisne]

Another quick question; -

I’ve heard the Tesla one may have benefits if you have or plan to have more than 1 electric car in your household. We are a 2 car family and as we need to change our other car at the end of 2020 there is a strong possibility we may get another electric car if the M3 works well for us.

Is this true about the Tesla home charging station?

Yes, if you have two or more they can be set to load share, which is useful. One or two others may do this as well, I think that the Zappi can, when two or more are installed together with a Hub.

 

[Grymbok]

Why is the Tesla £1081? The unit is £460 so that means it’s over £600 to install!

The Tesla unit uses a more expensive type of RCD than most/all other charger designs in the UK, and doesn't qualify for the OLEV grant so you miss out on that saving too.

I'm a happy Andersen A2 customer. To my knowledge it's the only tethered charger with built in cable storage. As it's on the outside of the house for me (rather than in a garage) I didn't want 8m of cable flapping around the drive.