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[WannabeOwner]

the button on the charge "nozzle" that opens the charge port as you approach the car which saves you 5 seconds as opposed to pressing the charge flap

MUCH bigger advantage is stopping the charge without having to dig phone / key out of handbag / pocket or reach into car to stop the charge, and then get back out to unplug. Obviously not a problem for folk that always have phone-in-hand ...

Tesla wall charger supports 3-Phase, if you happen to have that, and also load-sharing for when you have 2+ EVs on your drive. There are OLEV ones that do that too.

If the charger is going to be somewhere prominent then one of the OLEV ones may be aesthetically more pleasing to you.

OLEV chargers tend to be a bit more expensive ... so installing a non-OLEV charge (because you like it for some reason) may only cost £200-ish more.

Whatever you install Sparky will have to run the same length of cable to get to it etc. many/most? OLEV installers seem to be looking for easy jobs, get-cash-and-leave ... so if yours is complicated you may be better off using Local Sparky - who will let you route the cables yourself, and leave everything open for Sparky to inspect, or do it far cheaper than OLEV fitter would. OLEV approved fitters unlikely to be interested to do any sort of self-install deal ... but if in, e.g. Garage, then your Sparky may be able to provide the supply / distribution board (assuming it is complex and thus worth getting cheaper Sparky to do that bit) and then OLEV just come and "hook it up".

Simple wiring (charger location within a few feet of the supply / distribution board, and you have a 100AMP fuse, or failing that not much smaller, then £200+ for install (and then £200+ to top up the OLEV grant for the Wall Charger of your choice)

If your Location said something more specific than "UK" then folk here would be able to make recommendations if they know someone in your area.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

For me there is also the question of aesthetics.

My wife would not allow wires hung on our wall looking untidy, so it looks like we will be going for the Anderson A2 charging unit shortly, £895 with OLEV, so not cheap, but looks nice.

Andersen A2 | Stylish and Smart Enabled Electric Car Charging Points

don't want to hijack thread - but anyone have experience with this one?

I agree that the Anderson styling does suit some locations, but the ~£230 QUBEV charge point doesn't look too bad, although it's not tethered:

 

[Tuxs]

Thanks for everyone’s advice. Very helpful.

I have informed the lease company not to hold back and I will take delivery when it’s ready.

Think I narrowed the charging points down to Zappi, Pop point or the Tesla one however I’ve not received quotes etc yet. Can anyone say how much their Zappi, Pod point & Tesla chargers have cost to install? It should be a fairly straight forward process as our electric supply is in our garage and we want the charging point on the outside wall of the garage so only a few meters away.

Thank you

 

[Glan gluaisne]

The Zappi and PodPoint are eligible for the OLEV grant, so will probably be cheaper than the Tesla. The Tesla charge point is ~£500 plus installation IIRC, and installation would be around £150 labour, plus maybe another £100 for materials. Unlike the others, the Tesla charge point could be installed by any appropriately qualified electrician (who needs to be a member of one of the Part P cartels if you live in England or Wales).

The Zappi and PodPoint are both OLEV approved, so eligible for a grant of 75% of the installed cost, up to a maximum of £500. This may make them cheaper to install than the Tesla, but neither will have the Tesla added functionality, which allows the charge port to be opened by the connector, and also allows the charge to be stopped and the connector removed. The latter, in particular, can be useful if you need to remove the connector to drive off before a charge has completed.

 

[Tuxs]

Ok so probably looking at around £750 for the Tesla one or £200 after the grant for the Zappi or Pod point.

 

[WannabeOwner]

or £200 after the grant for the Zappi or Pod point

Tesla is £460 (recent sales of brand new ones on eBay £350-400) plus £250 install (the Tesla install will cost more than the Zappi because some extra bits are needed, which are usually built in to OLEV models)

I would expect the Zappi to be £100-200 more than the OLEV grant, plus £150 install

All OLEV are "Smart", and some people don't want that. Personally I think that Smart could allow buying power at ToU rates in the futre, so would get the cheapest electricity ...

 

[Glan gluaisne]

All OLEV are "Smart", and some people don't want that. Personally I think that Smart could allow buying power at ToU rates in the futre, so would get the cheapest electricity ...

That's the positive side, but the flip side is that smart charge points can allow remote charge disconnection at high demand periods for grid balancing. This will certainly save the suppliers and network operators money, but I'm not sure how I'd feel if I had my car on charge, then found it hadn't charged because the smart system had turned it off, and I then needed to make an urgent journey to see an ageing relative.

I much prefer to have charging wholly under my control, in so far as that is possible, and I also keep my car plugged in and charged at all times when I'm not using it, just in case. Others may not have the same concerns, although as we age concerns like having a car ready to go at short notice does seem to become more significant. My wife's much the same, keeps her car well topped up with fuel, for the same reason.

 

[Durzel]

I wouldn’t get too hung up on the grant, you’ll probably find that whoever is providing it will find a way to massage their quote so that you don’t actually see any savings at all anyway.

Buy on features and aesthetics for your price range.

 

[Electric700]

Took the plunge and ordered a M3 Long Range. 2 year lease via Zen Auto.

Have been told 3 month lead time (Mid Feb 2020) so have informed them to hold back until March delivery for new reg plate.

Next job is to install a home charger. Any advise/tips as to what one to go for and what company to go through as this is all new to me.

Thanks

Congrats!

 

[MrBadger]

The Tesla charge point is ~£500 plus installation IIRC, and installation would be around £150 labour, plus maybe another £100 for materials.

Tesla wall connector requires a Type A-EV RCD (6mA DC protection) or Type B RCD if to be used for charging outside.

If you could let me know where I could get the kit materials needed for this for £100 I would be eternally grateful I already have a source for the Type B but it isn't as cheap as £100.

Tesla wall connector is more expensive to install as it does not have the internal protection that some units have (so needs additional hardware - RCD with DC protection and earth rod) and if you get a quote from an approved installer, expect maybe £600 to £1200 for the quote - on top of the £460 for the wall connector. Advantage of approved installer is 4 year warranty. I'm sure most are happy to forgo the 4 years and save the money.

 

[NoUserName7]

You'd better check with an electrician if you can install an ev-charger with earth rod first. I tried to install a Rolec Smart Home Charger, but a Rolec electrician advised me that they cannot ground the charger because the front of my house is a pathway. That made my option pretty shallow - Andersen or Zappi, which doesn't need earth rod. I ended up with Andersen and am very happily waiting for the installation.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

You'd better check with an electrician if you can install an ev-charger with earth rod first. I tried to install a Rolec Smart Home Charger, but a Rolec electrician advised me that they cannot ground the charger because the front of my house is a pathway. That made my option pretty shallow - Andersen or Zappi, which doesn't need earth rod. I ended up with Andersen and am very happily waiting for the installation.

No problem at all with putting an earth rod down through a pathway, done it a few times. The one in my workshop goes down though the concrete slab, gives a nice low value of Ra, too, that doesn't seem to change much with the weather.

I think someone was pulling your plonker by saying an earth electrode couldn't be installed in a path. The main limitations with installing electrodes relate to proximity to other services, drains etc, and occasionally the type of soil (dry sandy soil can be a bit of a challenge). I can't recall ever having a location where one couldn't be fitted with a bit of ingenuity. I once had to install one for an installation in an old granite cottage, that had been built with flat slabs of granite, just below ground level, as foundations. Took me nearly an hour to drill though the granite to get to the ground beneath, but the rod worked just fine.

 

[NoUserName7]

No problem at all with putting an earth rod down through a pathway, done it a few times. The one in my workshop goes down though the concrete slab, gives a nice low value of Ra, too, that doesn't seem to change much with the weather.

The electrician said that they cannot claim OLEV grant, but not technically impossible.

 

[Ramb0]

The one reason I went with the Pod Point is you don't need an earth rod as it has built in protection.. there document here gives a good explanation..

Saves a lot of hassle

 

[WannabeOwner]

I'm not sure how I'd feel if I had my car on charge, then found it hadn't charged because the smart system had turned it off, and I then needed to make an urgent journey to see an ageing relative

No way of knowing what will be introduced with Smart meters of course ... but I don't share the "Its bound to be worst case" doomsday scenario ... but that might be what we get of course. I don't see why Smart Meter needs to prevent you charging urgently when you need to ... but you'll just pay the going rate / premium.

OTOH if you set it to schedule charging to start at midnight and finish by 6AM then the Smart Meter can figure out when it will choose to charge within that period.

Quite possibility you will also be able to leave it plugged in and say "Buy when price falls before 2p", or whatever.

Clearly some people will have an urgent need to charge, at some times, Smart meters cannot not charge when there is that need.

When I come home below 20% I want to charge immediately for the health of the battery ... but I only need to charge to 30% or whatever ... after that, and so long as I have charge before my next planned journey, all I care is that it is as cheap as possible

 

[Glan gluaisne]

No way of knowing what will be introduced with Smart meters of course ... but I don't share the "Its bound to be worst case" doomsday scenario ... but that might be what we get of course. I don't see why Smart Meter needs to prevent you charging urgently when you need to ... but you'll just pay the going rate / premium.

OTOH if you set it to schedule charging to start at midnight and finish by 6AM then the Smart Meter can figure out when it will choose to charge within that period.

Quite possibility you will also be able to leave it plugged in and say "Buy when price falls before 2p", or whatever.

Clearly some people will have an urgent need to charge, at some times, Smart meters cannot not charge when there is that need.

When I come home below 20% I want to charge immediately for the health of the battery ... but I only need to charge to 30% or whatever ... after that, and so long as I have charge before my next planned journey, all I care is that it is as cheap as possible

Sorry, but what's the connection to smart meters? AFAICS there's no clear linkage between the reason for introducing smart charge points and the reason for introducing smarter metering.

The drive for smart charge points (not smart meters) is to allow DNOs and suppliers to be able to load balance by controlling vehicle charging as required. The reason is to reduce the need for reinforcement investment in the local distribution network, work that will cost money to undertake.

This has nothing at all to do with smart metering. The primary reason for smart metering being introduced is to allow 30 minute tariff changes, so that the present risk that suppliers have, of having to guess what the 24 hour, buy ahead, 30 minute wholesale prices is , will be eliminated, allowing suppliers to sell energy on a cost plus basis.

 

[WannabeOwner]

what's the connection to smart meters?

Smart Chargers not Smart Meters.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

OK, so it was a typo, understood!"