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New ev tesla y suggestions for charger?
- Thread starter Ijuk
- Start date
gorghimself
Member
We went for an Andersen A2 (andersen-ev.com) on the basis that it was going to be on the front of the house so needed to look nice, and crucially we didn't want a visible cable. The Andersen unit has a built in cable tidy which makes it very convenient. You can choose the material and paint on both the front and the sides. I guess because it's customisable it's more expensive, but for us it was worth the expense.
blert
Member
First ev here as well and went for the Tesla one. Fairly certain there are better ones but I liked the look of it and figured I'll have enough to get used to already without adding charger functions to the list 
Imo:
Andersen A2 is best looking
EO mini pro is smallest and quite cheap.
Other than that, as long as it's not a no name brand I'm convinced there isn't much in them other than looks and cost. Features are all ver similar unless you go out of your way to find a 'dumb' one.
Back when I got my Andersen the Tesla wasn't on the grant scheme so I didn't consider it. I do like them tho. Not having the button isn't the end of the world (and the new app design needs less clicks to release the cable), but they do manage the cable well, are part of the eco-system and have the nice animated LED.
Andersen A2 is best looking
EO mini pro is smallest and quite cheap.
Other than that, as long as it's not a no name brand I'm convinced there isn't much in them other than looks and cost. Features are all ver similar unless you go out of your way to find a 'dumb' one.
Back when I got my Andersen the Tesla wasn't on the grant scheme so I didn't consider it. I do like them tho. Not having the button isn't the end of the world (and the new app design needs less clicks to release the cable), but they do manage the cable well, are part of the eco-system and have the nice animated LED.
I’d want one with timer support if you’re on a split tariff like octopus go. Tesla doesn’t have it built in other than a couple of slightly dumber options. You can hook up software to the car like teslafi to control it, but having the control on the charger is convenient. I have a Zappi 2 which is set by default to only charge during octopus go hours, so I can plug the car in whenever and not worry about it. If I need more juice I can override with a button on the charger or from the zappi app
You can plug in any time you want to any charger without it starting to charge until off-peak time. As it happens I have a Zappi too but I don’t bother with any timer settings because I have a start time set on the car. If the Zappi has times set and you do want to charge for a longer period or during the day you have to make override changes on the Zappi or Zappi app as you say … whereas I just tap “start charging” on the Tesla app, so six and half a dozen really! I did have timer settings on the Zappi for a while to try it but went back to dumb mode as there was no advantage.
For me it boils down to dumb chargers can be fine unless you really need the smart features.
I'm no authority here (not managed to acquire a split tariff yet, still waiting on a new meter), but can't you manage this from in the car? Should work for the basic ones where you know your cheap period up front, won't work for a variable time slot like the latest tariffs?
Tesla allows you to schedule a start time only, and it’ll charge to your preferred %. It doesn’t have a simple start-stop timer
If you have eg a 4 hour slot you can kind of estimate and change your cars % to guess to stop in time but it’s a faff
Many of us routinely vary our charging percentage to match our use of the car. If I'm not expecting to use the car the next day or for shorter trips I will still charge but just to 80% (or maybe 70% in the summer). Otherwise I will charge to 90% and just occasionally higher than that. The reason I mention this is that I am therefore changing my percentages as a matter of course ... so it's no extra work to set that percentage to fit within a 4 hour off-peak charging period. I would be doing exactly the same thing even if I had my charger restricted to run within set hours. I have had a few occasions when our mains voltage wobbled such that the car or charge point rolled back the amps. This would have meant not achieving the desired battery percentage overnight if the times were restricted by the charge point. My priority is to reach my required battery percentage by the morning and if it needed to use some standard rate electricity once in a blue moon then so be it. Anyone who does end up with a "dumb" charger can work it this way.
If smart features for specific requirements of multiple on/off timings and tracking variable tariffs or making best use of solar are important then the more expensive fully featured charge points cover all bases.
If smart features for specific requirements of multiple on/off timings and tracking variable tariffs or making best use of solar are important then the more expensive fully featured charge points cover all bases.
DenkiJidousha
Member
Pretty sure the existing threads on chargers for the Model 3 etc would apply. People have mentioned the Tesla charger advantage being less faff in use. Consider the Zappi or similar if you have solar panels and would be able to charge at home on free solar electricity.
People are recommending a charger with a timer (for things like overnight cheap tariffs like Octopus Go) because the USA-centric Tesla software on the car does not fit the UK electricity market very well - it only has a start time & target percentage, but no stop time.
People are recommending a charger with a timer (for things like overnight cheap tariffs like Octopus Go) because the USA-centric Tesla software on the car does not fit the UK electricity market very well - it only has a start time & target percentage, but no stop time.
