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Which Home Charger Supplier

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I have just ordered a model s, I was thinking of rolec because of the slightly faster charger, so are they out of the window now?

Can someome please explain to me about the grant for free install? Is it ending or changing in April. And as I only have an early order can I initiate the install yet, do I need to do it before April for the grant and who should I choose?

Thanks
 
I have just ordered a model s, I was thinking of rolec because of the slightly faster charger, so are they out of the window now?

Can someome please explain to me about the grant for free install? Is it ending or changing in April. And as I only have an early order can I initiate the install yet, do I need to do it before April for the grant and who should I choose?

Thanks

I'm not aware of anything changing in April.

If you get Chargemaster or British Gas or Podpoint to install a 30A point they will want around £90, assuming it's a straightforward install.

If you get a Rolec 32A installed from one of their installers you may be able to get it for £0, also if straightforward.

I believe you can you can get the point installed using order paperwork from the car maker I think you would need to have a VIN assigned so if you are early enough in the order process that you only have a reservation number you might not be able to do it yet.
 
Suggest you contact Rolecserv.com and call them on +44 (0)1205 724754 to see what is possible. They still have the free homecharging page, but seem to have taken down some of the links to it.

I have searched all the OLEV stuff and it still says it all ends end of March. They just announced the car grant extension and increase to 35% or £5k max, but found nothing about a consultation regarding the homecharge grant - thought they would announce all extensions together.
 
Heard from Rolec - there is a new OLEV scheme - all secret but it means that many installers are no longer suitably certified and have to be re-certified. Should take a couple of weeks.

Bit of a mess and it will be interesting where OLEV is pitching the new scheme and any hoops or caveats.
 
I have a delay because we will be a 2 EV household so I want a second home charge point installed. This needs DNO approval so have to wait for power company to come out and check overhead feed. Installer assumed only 68 amp feed so 2 32amp charge points would not be allowed. I do actually have an old school looking 100amp fuse where the feed enters the house, but not sure whether that is enough to prevent DNO recommending upgraded feed. Can't afford 3 phase conversion!
 
Survey done. The installer said that they have no problems getting the 32A Rolec unit but want to do it before the end of Mar to ensure that it falls within this funding round. He said that OLEV were providing some funds for next year but it is still up in the air with regards to home and commercial mix and whether they will require the owner to fund 30% of their own install. He suspects that there will be a delay in the announcement so there may be a gap in the funding. Best to get it done now if possible.

The bad news for me is that mine is not a simple install and will require me to foot some of the bill. Basically I need to run an SWA cable to an external car barn. So I thought I may as well get a socket and light there too.
 
Going to be some more delays for me so I may time out in March. Had the DNO round today and it is amazing what one does not notice when electricity just magically appears in your house. Apparently my 100 amp feed is not good enough for 2 charge points since I share my single phase with my neighbour. The 3 phase pole splits so 2 properties share a feed, one property shares with the street lamp and one has a dedicated single phase feed.

They will get back to me with costs to give me a dedicated feed and provide a whole new expanse to my neighbour, which may mean sticking with my single charge point - the main annoyance will be the morning defrost and pre-conditioning for both cars and swapping over leads or just driving off with cold battery and cabin.

Makes me wonder if there will be a serious grid spike when EVs are prevalent at 7.30am before everyone goes to work and they are warming up their EV - could be worse than the cup of tea spike after EastEnders!
 
the main annoyance will be the morning defrost and pre-conditioning for both cars and swapping over leads or just driving off with cold battery and cabin.

You can still pre-warm and charge using a Hydra (https://code.google.com/p/open-evse/wiki/Hydra_EVSE) or 2x Etrel units (Etrel :: Smart charging for plug-in electric vehicles) even if you only have enough capacity to put in a single 32A charging circuit. Both solutions will split the charge based on demand, and pre-warm doesn't use 32A :D

Unless both cars are Tesla's, and both returning home virtually empty every day, you might get away with a single 32A load balanced like this, and save upgrading your incoming supply.
 
That Hydra looks interesting if beyond my capabilities. Something like that will have future demand when it is not practical to have 2 charging points and there are more 2 EV households.

I have seen the OLEV confirmation that the grant will drop from £900 to £700, so I guess the smaller installers are having to re-calibrate their costs, but at least there is now a £15m commitment until 2020 to give installers better than 6 months planning and confidence.

http://www.airqualitynews.com/2015/02/26/ev-grant-scheme-extended-as-part-of-43m-funding-package/
 
You can still pre-warm and charge using a Hydra (https://code.google.com/p/open-evse/wiki/Hydra_EVSE) or 2x Etrel units (Etrel :: Smart charging for plug-in electric vehicles) even if you only have enough capacity to put in a single 32A charging circuit. Both solutions will split the charge based on demand, and pre-warm doesn't use 32A :D

Unless both cars are Tesla's, and both returning home virtually empty every day, you might get away with a single 32A load balanced like this, and save upgrading your incoming supply.

On a cold morning I've seen my Model S pull 32A from the mains during pre-warming. The Zoe on the other hand always pre-warms from the battery - it doesn't draw power from the wall for this even if it's plugged in.

But it's really not a big deal if the car has to pre-warm from the battery occasionally - how often do you set off needing both your cars to be genuinely 100% full and also both warmed, at the same time of departure?

I really think there is a market out there for a simple 2-socket Type 2 home chargepoint with a basic current-splitting system. I'm getting a second 32A point installed (and am confident the DNO to be fine with this in our case) but actually would prefer it if I could just have had one point that the cars share and charge from during the night, without me having to get up at 02:30 to switch charging cables around!
 
I really think there is a market out there for a simple 2-socket Type 2 home chargepoint with a basic current-splitting system. I'm getting a second 32A point installed (and am confident the DNO to be fine with this in our case) but actually would prefer it if I could just have had one point that the cars share and charge from during the night, without me having to get up at 02:30 to switch charging cables around!


Completely agree. Especially as I suspect more and more people are going to get PHEV's and even 16A is overkill for a Golf GTe to overnight charge.
 
It must depend on the installer.

Someone in East Anglia had the delay issue with Rolec and the preferred installer suddenly becoming non-preferred, but after haggling Rolec allowed that installer to install. The unit arrived with installer today and they are installing tomorrow!

Just re-read that and serious repetition of "install"!