Noob home charging questions

[Palros]

Hi. Sorry this may have been answered else where but when I searched I could not find a recent topic.

I am looking at leasing model 3 bit I am trying to get my head around charging. I know I can get 7kw at my house but I was trying to workout the pros and cons of going for a Tesla charger or a pod point charger. Anybody able to provide some guidance

Finally, I am confused on whether the charger decides when it chargers the car or does the car decide to take the charger?

Thank in advance

 

[dst87]

Hey! Welcome to the forum.

The main advantage of the Tesla charger is that it has a little button to open the charge port and ultimately stop charging and unlock the handle from the vehicle after you're done. This is subjective, but I'd also argue it looks better. The downside is that it's not eligible for the OLEV grant, so it's quite a pricy option.

With Tesla, the vehicle is configured to decide when to charge, not the charge point. Some charge points will have this feature, so make sure you don't have them in conflict. If you get a car in future that _doesn't_ have the ability to set a charge schedule, you might be thankful for a charge points that has that built in.

 

[kevuwk]

With Tesla, the vehicle is configured to decide when to charge, not the charge point. Some charge points will have this feature, so make sure you don't have them in conflict.

My understanding is that you can currently tell a Tesla when to automatically start charging but not automatically stop charging. For a ToU electricity tariff do you tell the Tesla to constantly charge but then tell the charge point to only charge during the cheap electricity period?

 

[Epico]

I am having a zappi installed in a few weeks, it's olev grant compliant and works with my solar panels to take the excess I would otherwise export to the grid. It's costing me £500 after the olev grant, don't think it looks too bad either.

Definitely worth a look if you have solar...works like a normal charger as well if you don't.

 

[henleyregatta]

I've got a Tesla Wall Charger.

• Pros: It has a nice long tethered cable, it has a little button on the wand that opens the charge port and unlocks the wand to remove it. It can load-balance if you end up with multiple cars/chargers. It has a pretty flashing status light on the front.

• Cons: Not eligible for the OLEV discount. But it's not massively expensive. Also, and this is just me, it's not working very well at the minute because I suspect one of the signalling wires has become internally fractured. Waiting for Tesla to get back to me on that.

Not sure what you mean the 2nd question but the charging process goes:

1. Arrive home.
2. Plug in cable
   1. IF car has scheduled charging, car waits until scheduled time before starting to charge
   2. OTHERWISE car starts charging immediately up to the defined charge limit
3. In the morning, leave the house
4. Unplug the car and stow the cable
5. Drive away

I understand that there *are* some smarter chargers that can throttle external to the car itself but unless you've got a specific use-case in mind (charging only when solar is providing the power, for instance, or chopping the power when a low-rate tariff stops), then I'm not sure they're worth the additional hassle. It'd be nice if Tesla's software could updated to provide a complete-charge-by-X scheduling mode (as I understand some cars can do) but the sums aren't too hard to work out for a given car / power supply.

On my Model S, 7KW gives me a charge rate of 22 miles/hour. Based on my drive profile I'm normally recharged within 4-5 hours. If/when we can get a cheap overnight tariff then I should be fine to delay charging until midnight and still be done by the morning. If I've done the sums correctly it'd be more like 30 miles/hour for a Model 3 which ought to give you some idea how long a "window" you need to allow for regular driving based on your habits.

 

[dst87]

Not eligible for the OLEV discount. But it's not massively expensive.

To be fair, OP is talking about having a PodPoint installed. That costs more/less £300 (depending on tethered or not). Buying and installing a Tesla charger is likely to be around £1,000. £700 could be a lot to spend on something that is prettier, but does basically the same job.

I'm not saying it's not worth it (we considered it, and ultimately went for an Andersen charger) but £700 is not to be sniffed at.

My understanding is that you can currently tell a Tesla when to automatically start charging but not automatically stop charging. For a ToU electricity tariff do you tell the Tesla to constantly charge but then tell the charge point to only charge during the cheap electricity period?

Yes, that's a good point.

I think generally it's better to have a charger that can control when you charge just in case. It could be useful with the Tesla in some situations, and could be essential on future vehicles.

 

[ACarneiro]

Buying and installing a Tesla charger is likely to be around £1,000.

The charger alone is about £400.... Would a sparky really charge you £600 for installing it? You need to find yourself another electrician

 

[Jellus]

Does the PodPoint support scheduled charging? I'm browsing through the manual and it says this:

• Check car’s manual to see if it supports scheduled charging.
• If it does, simply plug-in and schedule charge time via car’s on-board display
• Green light with green flashes indicates the chargepoint is waiting to start a schedule charge.
• Flashing Green also indicates the vehicle has ended the charge cycle.

which makes me think it relies on the car to provide scheduled charging, and the charger itself can't do it.

 

[Christiez]

Approved installer for a Tesla charger quoted me £460 for the unit and £612 for fitting it.

 

[henleyregatta]

The charger alone is about £400.... Would a sparky really charge you £600 for installing it? You need to find yourself another electrician

Cost to Install will vary for everyone depending on circumstances. For me it was cheap - I wanted the charger on the outside of the garage wall about 1 metre from where the main consumer fusebox sits on the inside. If you want it on the other side of the house AND 3-phase electric adding to increase charge rate, it's going to cost a lot more....

Also bear in mind the anecdotal evidence that certain less-scrupulous suppliers will add a "Tesla Tax" to their quotes if they know that's what's in play vs. a 3rd party charger....

So: In theory cost-to-install depends only on the external factors and only minimally on the type of charger. In practice, get a couple of quotes and if you can avoid mentioning the car/charger you're using, so much the better....

 

[dst87]

The charger alone is about £400.... Would a sparky really charge you £600 for installing it? You need to find yourself another electrician

Approved installer for a Tesla charger quoted me £460 for the unit and £612 for fitting it.

I had a similar experience to @Christiez there. Tesla definitely told me the charger was more than £400, and the electricians they recommended both quoted around £500 - £600.

 

[alexp2]

if you can avoid mentioning the car/charger you're using, so much the better....

"Can you install an electric car charger for me?"
"Sure, can you just confirm what model it is for the complexity of the install?"
"A Tesla wall connector... but it's just to charge my Renault ZOE, honest guv!"

 

[Keeper]

Does anybody remember the supplier of an EV Type 2 cable for Tesla that also had the button on it to open the flap. I thought it was King... something and I thought that I had written it down but cant find reference to it anywhere now. It was on a thread in here somewhere but can I find it - no. Any ideas? Ta.

 

[alexp2]

Does anybody remember the supplier of an EV Type 2 cable for Tesla that also had the button on it to open the flap. I thought it was King... something and I thought that I had written it down but cant find reference to it anywhere now. It was on a thread in here somewhere but can I find - no. Any ideas? Ta.

From a quick Google looks like it was "EVChargeKing" REVIEW: Type 2 Charging Cable with Built-in Chargeport Opener

Link to their shop: Charging cable with Tesla command button - evChargeking

 

[Keeper]

For a quick Google looks like it was "EVChargeKing" REVIEW: Type 2 Charging Cable with Built-in Chargeport Opener

Link to their shop: Charging cable with Tesla command button - evChargeking

Thank you! That is the one. I'll make a note of it

What a great Forum this is just how a Forum should be!

 

[WannabeOwner]

My understanding is that you can currently tell a Tesla when to automatically start charging but not automatically stop charging. For a ToU electricity tariff do you tell the Tesla to constantly charge but then tell the charge point to only charge during the cheap electricity period?

Some Wall Chargers can do things like "schedule stop charging" ... worth considering how you will override that (i.e. using the APP) on the days when you need longer charging.

There are various 3rd party APPs for Tesla which have schedulers - so that can be used to STOP the charge (a few minutes before end of Off Peak rate for example). You then have to decide what to do on the days when you need a full charge AND car is sufficiently depleted to need to carry on after Off peak finishes ... for me that is "forget to do anything and then Curse the following day" ! Hopefully you are more organised than me. (Let me know if you need a referral code for TeslaFi)

I do have an "override" schedule in my 3rd party app - which resumes charging a couple of minutes after Off Peak ends, which I can enable on the few times I need it ...

I also have schedules for other things:

Pre-condition the car shortly before I leave for work (weekdays only, and only if parked at HOME GPS location)
Similarly before leaving work (again if parked at Work on weekdays)

Charge to 100% aiming to finish shortly before departure time (i.e. on a long trip) and pre-condition 15 minutes before that ... and turn everything back off if I don't actually leave!

I would still use Tesla Scheduler to START the Off Peak Charge and not rely on anything else for that - then if all else fails, e.g. the "other thing" fails to talk to the car, at least it will start charging.

Tesla Scheduler WILL start the charge if you have a really good night out and arrive home after the normal start time ... 3rd party might not do that ("Retry for 5 minutes then give up")

Beware if arriving home "empty" and doing an "immediate" charge that you don't turn that schedule off (OR [unlike me ] remember to turn it back on ! )

It is aggravating that it is so complicated when you want to do the "out of the usual" ... so needs some lifestyle adjustment

To be fair, OP is talking about having a PodPoint installed. That costs more/less £300 (depending on tethered or not). Buying and installing a Tesla charger is likely to be around £1,000. £700 could be a lot to spend on something that is prettier, but does basically the same job.

IME OLEV grant doesn't cover the full cost of the typical charger - so you wind up paying "installation/wiring cost plus a bit". That has usually been attributed to either Greed or "Cost of doing the OLEV Red Tape"

Tesla WallCharger is £460 - so should work out about £400-£459 more expensive than an OLEV install. There may be OLEV units that avoid having to have extra earthing rods or additional safety kit, which could work out cheaper (unless the units themselves are exceed the OLEV grant by a lot, of course)

List of wall chargers:

EVSE Options - Google Sheets

 

[Fullerene]

Welcome @Palros ! Recommend taking a look a this thread as well:

Tesla Wall Connector - Type B / Type A-EV RCD

Only a small number of chargers are compliant with the DC RCD, if you need to get a complaint RCD it may cost over £200 in addition to your charger.

I've eventually gone with zappi (12 week delivery time) as it has this RCD feature built, & I have solar panels so it can charge depending on solar power available & it's a UK company. Was very tempted by TWC but I decided against it, due to the RCD issue which was a new UK requirement this year.

Some chargers load balance - so you can run more than one charger and they will sort out how much power to send to each car.

The chargers advertise the available charge current to the car, sometimes this can be selectable but mainly it's fixed. @Baldrick 's sheet was a great help as I was struggling to work out where to start.

Good Luck!

 

[Fullerene]

Link to their shop: Charging cable with Tesla command button - evChargeking

Here's a DIY alternative:

Open-Chargeport

 

[Markblox]

The charger alone is about £400.... Would a sparky really charge you £600 for installing it? You need to find yourself another electrician

Including materials, that could be realistic in some installs.

 

[pgkevet]

Grant based charger wasn't possible here - none of the options wanted to plod out to the sticks and local sparky (understandably) didn't want to go though hassle of licence for a one-off job. Hence I went with the tesla charger and local sparky install. St Neots shoudn't have those issues (nostalgic used to row in the annual regatta 50+years ago) however a little depends on where the charger might get installed and power line availability. In other words it may/may not be cheaper to get local sparky to run power to where the charger will be installed and then get the grant guys to do the rest as opposed to having them do it all...?