My mate's car coming soon, which wall charger should he buy?

[WannabeOwner]

I've got Tesla and Zappi wall chargers, happy with both of them.

I guess the Zappi Eco+ wins for PV simplicity "Fill the car if PV starts to export".

I like the fat cable on the Tesla as there are inevitable times when it doesn't get properly coiled away, and is then driven over etc. I have a long cable on it, which is handy for parking 2nd car "nearby" and not having to do a two-car-shuffle on the driveway. The charger-release button is handy too.

He is thinking Anderson, for aesthetics on outside of his (period property) house. He has 3-phase supply and plans for PV

Do you wish you had bought a different Wall Charger?

 

[DeejUK]

This probably won't be a terribly useful answer, so feel free to discount it. I don't have solar PV (boo, hoping to fix that on the next house).

Our only cars have always been EVs, dating back to a Renault Zoe in 2013. We've had one ChargeMaster charger that failed just out of warranty, and then replaced it with a Rolec. Both have absolutely no smart features, and a cable that needs winding back 'round the charger. On a drive at the side of a very modest suburban house.

I've never really felt the need for a smarter charger. As long as they work reliably, I'm fine. In recent times with energy price rises it'd be kinda handy to know how much we're spending on the cars specifically. But that's it. I've never needed or wanted remote control, or timed charging (both cars can do that).

So, in summary my experience would suggest that it probably doesn't matter as much as charger manufacturers would want you to believe. Reliability is definitely the number one concern... It's hugely inconvenient when you can't charge at home and it'll take weeks to get fixed.

 

[MadScientist]

I’m happy with my Andersen charger and my other half likes it too because it’s a neat and tidy solution. On the charger plug, I had to enlarge the lock pin hole slightly to prevent my Model 3’s unlock mechanism sticking in cold weather but that’s been the only issue.

 

[Mrklaw]

You could put the zappi in a box if aesthetics are important.

I don’t know if PV integration is that useful unless you have a pretty big array as you need to accommodate variances in generation and house use and make sure they’re staying over 1.4kw minimums. If its big enough that can work though, otherwise it’d be better with a battery to buffer the troughs in generation to keep the charging smooth.

Zappi does work well with other kit though - eddi for hot water diversion, battery charging priority etc whereas the Andersen I think is a pretty siloed product - a pretty charger but no other home integrations?

 

[JupiterMan]

I’m happy with my Andersen charger and my other half likes it too because it’s a neat and tidy solution. On the charger plug, I had to enlarge the lock pin hole slightly to prevent my Model 3’s unlock mechanism sticking in cold weather but that’s been the only issue.

I'm happy with the Andersen too (single phase) - purchased because of aesthetics in our case, as unit is in full view from the road (wife insisted on it!)

Had my charger been tucked out of sight I would have been happy with a cheaper one. For me the only smart feature I need is the ability to schedule on and off times for the charger for Octopus Go overnight cheap rates... so as long as it does that then no problem.

I've had no issues with the lock pin hole with mine though - its been through two winters now with no issues.

 

[WannabeOwner]

Both have absolutely no smart features

I do wonder what benefit smart features would be, I'd prefer that was driven by an APP rather than the Charger and Car and House Battery trying to second-guess each other (or even have a conversation - which will inevitably fail when one-or-other gets an OTA update and something changes)

I have the car initiate the charge at start of Off Peak - then if internet down / whatever it will start. If I come home late then the car will still start charging.

Only snag is getting it to stop charging. I use a scheduled task in TeslaFi for that, but others in the family just set the LIMIT to X% - where they know how many percent-per-hour the car will charge, so with a 4-hour off peak slot they limit it to that much. And that is only on the occasions that they come home needing more than that i.e. charge fully over two nights ... otherwise their normal 90% (whatever) limit will do.

I thought the Zappi would be perfect for excess PV diverted to car ... but in practice I think I would prefer an APP that did that. Zappi approach is to Fill-PowerWall (at flat-out rate) and then after that once export starts then charge the car. The max PowerWall charge rate from PV is considerably higher than the from-Grid rate, which is intended to be kind to the battery. So I think it would be better that the car and PowerWall are charged together such that the PowerWall is regulated to approx the max grid rate. If the PowerWall charge rate rises/falls for a prolonged period (i.e. not just a single cloud passing over) then adjust the car charge rate, but also prioritise that the PowerWall SOC is on target (e.g. hourly targets) to be full at sun-down.

An APP that did something like that would then mean that any (non smart) charger would do.

Reliability is definitely the number one concern... It's hugely inconvenient when you can't charge at home and it'll take weeks to get fixed.

Yes, good point. I had a Commando socket installed at the same time as the wall charger, so I have that as a fallback.

I had the original Rolec's at home and work. Both failed. Also the work charger trips sometimes ... frustrating to come out to the car at 5PM and discover it stopped charging at 09:01 !!

I use TeslaFi to send an ALERT if the car is parked at WORK, and CONNECTED and then scheduled task at 11am, 2pm, and 4pm to check if SOC is below target (i.e. to ensure it gets to "max" by 5PM) ... that takes care of the charger tripping. But I'm a geek ...

I’m happy with my Andersen charger and my other half likes it too because it’s a neat and tidy solution

Yup, that's my mate's view too (he might have had some outside influence too!!)

You could put the zappi in a box if aesthetics are important.

Good point. I've got a "planter" in front of mine - can't see it unless you look

I don’t know if PV integration is that useful unless you have a pretty big array

He's got a big house so "big array" probably. I've got 48 panels and the amount it generates at peak is more than the 32 AMPs that a single car will charge at ... so I think needs more than the simple Zappi approach of "Divert if excess" ... however, Zappi-style plug-and-play would suit plenty of folk.

Zappi does work well with other kit though

Good point, I'd forgotten that, thanks

 

[Casss]

Only thing I would swap mine for is an Andersen

 

[WannabeOwner]

Only thing I would swap mine for is an Andersen

Have you already got an Andersen? or something else and you'd prefer an Andersen?

Thanks

 

[Big Dunc]

How the Zappi works depends on how it is set up. Ours will charge the car first and then when the car is either full or goes off for a drive, the powerwall gets its turn to charge. If for some reason I want the powerwall to take priority I just turn the Zappi off using the app. For my needs, I could not think of anything more simple.
I have heard of people who say that their power wall takes priority over the zappi, which I would find annoying. Our panels are mainly South East facing, so we get max charge in the morning, normally before the car goes out. However, the powerwall should see the Zappi as a house load. The powerwall also has no user settings. Therefore if the "wrong one" is getting priority for your liking, it must be down to one of the many user adjustable settings in the Zappi, or (less likely) an incorrectly positioned CT clamp.
We have 31 panels and that is sufficient to keep on top of the (modest / low mileage) car use and powerwall use in all but mid winter.

 

[WannabeOwner]

Ours will charge the car first and then when the car is either full or goes off for a drive, the powerwall gets its turn to charge. If for some reason I want the powerwall to take priority I just turn the Zappi off using the app

Thanks.

Mine is the other way round - I want the PowerWalls full so that they provide house power from sun-down until dawn. If there is more sun, once the PowerWalls are full, that is dumped that into the cars. At full tilt my PV generates more than the PowerWalls will accept, even after allowing a couple of kW for the house, so that too can go into the cars.

I can see that PowerWalls first and "all" to the cars, after that, would be more efficiency (avoiding the Zappi having to figure out how much is being exported and presumably keep adjusting the charge rate)

I have to give it some thought when we are going somewhere further afield, to make sure that the car gets charged in time, but mostly we are just running around so any modest car charge is "good enough". It can take several days, waiting for the right weather!, for the car to get recharged ... but on a wall-to-wall sunshine day we add about 50% / 150 miles to a car, so provided we aren't further-afield two days in a row there is enough sunshine to replenish the car by the next trip.

 

[Durzel]

Andersen still, bizarrely, have the market stitched up in terms of aesthetics. I think the Hypervolt looks decent, but it still looks a bit incongruous on the frontage of a house. Other stuff is even worse, staggeringly so in some cases.

I also think the Tesla charger looks pretty crap, mainly because of the cable dangling around it like it's a hosepipe when its not in use.

Unfortunately, Andersen costs significantly more than the competition and is very basic in smart terms. They also have had 2 noticeable outages recently which made the chargers stop functioning properly, which is a concern.

 

[WannabeOwner]

I also think the Tesla charger looks pretty crap, mainly because of the cable dangling around it like it's a hosepipe when its not in use.

We, mostly, just dangle the wand over the charger so that it is vaguely pointing downwards to keep rain and muck out ... but if we are here the cars are here, and plugged in ... so I'm not sure at what point the aesthetics thingie might bother me, certainly not when I'm not at home!

The Tesla cable is fat, and it won't coil with a simple twist, so to make a series of loops isn't entirely straightforward. Zappi and Rolec have thinner cables, which don't mind just being "looped"


Will Andersen 3-Phase do 11 kW for Model-3/Y and 16.6 kW for Model-S / X ?


Is the button on the Tesla wand useful anymore? or do all current cars have a button beside the charge port? (and will that STOP a charge [assuming car is unlocked] as well as release the wand?).

 

[Itidiot]

White Hypervolt, but will be installing a network cable to avoid any WiFi issues myself.

My quote (medium cable)

 

[robbieduncan]

I've got an Easee and I really like it. Very small, looks OK, good feature set (including being able to use RFID tags to authorise charging) and the app is rock solid

 

[WannabeOwner]

What is the benefit of an APP for the charger or scenarios where it is useful? (Apart from diverting Solar or something more sophisticated like that)

Seems to me:

Tesla: Plug the car in. It will charge on schedule (car is set to start charging at the start of Off Peak period).

If I want to charge the car I can just open the Tesla APP and START CHARGE.

Whereas I am assuming that with a charger with an APP I might also have to open the Charger APP and initiate a charge there too (e.g. if it is in some other mode such as "Only if Solar PV starts exporting")

 

[Mrklaw]

What is the benefit of an APP for the charger or scenarios where it is useful? (Apart from diverting Solar or something more sophisticated like that)

Seems to me:

Tesla: Plug the car in. It will charge on schedule (car is set to start charging at the start of Off Peak period).

If I want to charge the car I can just open the Tesla APP and START CHARGE.

Whereas I am assuming that with a charger with an APP I might also have to open the Charger APP and initiate a charge there too (e.g. if it is in some other mode such as "Only if Solar PV starts exporting")

If you use teslafi for more granular control then in theory no app is needed. But the Tesla isn't that great just in the car - you can't set a simple start/stop timer

 

[Big Dunc]

Just had another thought on the Zappi / powerwall priority issue. If you have want to charge both, you can always let the Zappi have priority and then limit the charge rate on the car, so anything above that goes into the powerwall. It seems like a faff to me, but if you wanted to it would be possible.

I agree that the Zappi cable is thin and easy to neatly wrap round the zappi for storage, but we tend not to. I have heard of several cable failures if a thin control cable within the big outer cable fails, possible due to excessive twisting. We put the plug into the zappi unit for storage, but rather than coil the cable round the zappi we just leave it by the side of the house on the ground. Where we have it located it isnt a trip hazard or an eye sore.

I don't find the lack of a charge port button an issue. I can open the charge port from the car key (or fob) and my phone and if I am plugging in or unplugging the car I am likely going somewhere or coming home and will have both of those in my hand or pocket.

 

[robbieduncan]

What is the benefit of an APP for the charger or scenarios where it is useful? (Apart from diverting Solar or something more sophisticated like that)

Seems to me:

Tesla: Plug the car in. It will charge on schedule (car is set to start charging at the start of Off Peak period).

If I want to charge the car I can just open the Tesla APP and START CHARGE.

Whereas I am assuming that with a charger with an APP I might also have to open the Charger APP and initiate a charge there too (e.g. if it is in some other mode such as "Only if Solar PV starts exporting")

I use it to setup the RFID access tags, can manually start if I forgot to touch a tag to authorise, control the amps if needed, lock or unlock the cable from the charger (and set it to stay locked), see current power draw and more

I don’t currently have a Tesla and the VW systems are very poor so having a feature rich charger is good

 

[Casss]

Have you already got an Andersen? or something else and you'd prefer an Andersen?

Thanks

Have a Hypervolt at the moment which I’m happy with. If Andersen didn’t have supply issues at the time I was ordering it would have been a toss up between the two.

Hypervolt is more feature rich imo, but Andersen hands down the best looking and probably the best put together though!

 

[WannabeOwner]

the Tesla isn't that great just in the car - you can't set a simple start/stop timer

Yes, agreed. Can schedule a START TIME (from the car) and (folk that I know who don't use TeslaFi for the scheduled STOP) then set the LIMIT to whatever percentage can be done in the 4-hours off peak period ... bit of a faff.

I can open the charge port from the car key (or fob) and my phone and if I am plugging in or unplugging the car

That would work for me ... but not family members!

FOB is at the bottom of a handbag. Works fine for door-open proximity, not so good for long-press for charge port release! Ditto phone and the KeyCard will be in purse somewhere ...

I need to try it, but I think if open a rear door (which will be unlocked "passive entry"), then close it again ... then I would press the Tesla Wand button, but I will try the button on the charger port instead - I expect that will work and stop-charge and unlock-socket.

Plugging-in is fine (I think?) Push the charger flap, it opens (car still unlocked having just got out), push the wand in. Walk-away car-lock. (Got no proximity problems here with either keys or phone)