Home charger advise
Discussion
JD said:
Running at 10A continuously for a few hours, a 13A socket/plug will get extremely hot to the touch, and the pins can sometimes scorch the socket.
As above mentioned, you should not be running 13A continuously from a socket, it invites disaster.
That's not true. If the electrics are OK 10A continuous is fine.As above mentioned, you should not be running 13A continuously from a socket, it invites disaster.
When I had to use a 10A granny charger for a few weeks, I was advised to plug it in and then check the plug and socket to see if it was getting warm after 30min and then 1Hr.
It shouldn't get warm; but worn or loose contacts can do so, and for extended load times need monitoring.
Paul Drawmer said:
JD said:
Running at 10A continuously for a few hours, a 13A socket/plug will get extremely hot to the touch, and the pins can sometimes scorch the socket.
As above mentioned, you should not be running 13A continuously from a socket, it invites disaster.
That's not true. If the electrics are OK 10A continuous is fine.As above mentioned, you should not be running 13A continuously from a socket, it invites disaster.
When I had to use a 10A granny charger for a few weeks, I was advised to plug it in and then check the plug and socket to see if it was getting warm after 30min and then 1Hr.
It shouldn't get warm; but worn or loose contacts can do so, and for extended load times need monitoring.
long coiled extension leads don't like the constant power and melt.
short, cheap extension leads............melt
good quality extension leads are fine.
every plug socket has been fine.
the-norseman said:
She came down last weekend and had about 46% charge left when she got here
She used 54% of her battery to get to your house.So, to get back home she also only needs 54% of battery, but it would be sensible to add a 10% margin for safety, so let's say she needs to charge back up to 64% from 46% to get home safely - in other words she needs to add 18%.
A full charge (0-100%) on a granny charger may take 32 hours but she only needs to add 18% - that would take just under 6h.
I suggest you definitely don't need to spend £1000 on a home charger for her if you have a decent quality 3-pin socket reachable from your drive (see other comments about checking it doesn't get warm/hot the first time you use it).
andyspiers said:
the-norseman said:
She came down last weekend and had about 46% charge left when she got here
She used 54% of her battery to get to your house.So, to get back home she also only needs 54% of battery, but it would be sensible to add a 10% margin for safety, so let's say she needs to charge back up to 64% from 46% to get home safely - in other words she needs to add 18%.
A full charge (0-100%) on a granny charger may take 32 hours but she only needs to add 18% - that would take just under 6h.
I suggest you definitely don't need to spend £1000 on a home charger for her if you have a decent quality 3-pin socket reachable from your drive (see other comments about checking it doesn't get warm/hot the first time you use it).
the-norseman said:
yesterday we found a 300kw charger for 0.63p
So about the same price as petrol - not worth you spending £1,000 getting a charger installed for that for the occasions when your mother visits and needs to charge her car.the-norseman said:
Our nearest "fast charger" which is 120kw is 0.85p per kwh
Although that is 35% more expensive than petrol, which as an aside, it is a pretty good demonstrations of why EVs (unless you are doing salary sacrifice) only make sense economically if you somewhere at home which you can charge them.Hard to see that the government will be content to allow that two tier situation to persist in the long term.
One thing to remember is that at this time of year she’ll be getting good efficiency, come winter she’ll use a 1/4 more to get to you.
I’d recommend downloading the Tesla app and see if there is a charger on her route to/from you. Charge costs are approx 40p a kWh. Should only take 10 minutes as she’ll only need enough to get home not a full charge.
Another option is to look at getting a 32amp commando socket installed which’ll be significantly cheaper than a dedicated home charger. My parents did this and their entire install including the charge cable was under £500.
I’d recommend downloading the Tesla app and see if there is a charger on her route to/from you. Charge costs are approx 40p a kWh. Should only take 10 minutes as she’ll only need enough to get home not a full charge.
Another option is to look at getting a 32amp commando socket installed which’ll be significantly cheaper than a dedicated home charger. My parents did this and their entire install including the charge cable was under £500.
Phunk said:
I’d recommend downloading the Tesla app and see if there is a charger on her route to/from you. Charge costs are approx 40p a kWh. Should only take 10 minutes as she’ll only need enough to get home not a full charge.
To save around £10 would I be suggesting that a parent with a mobility car did that, rather than just charging it for them when they visited me - I don't believe I would. Phunk said:
Another option is to look at getting a 32amp commando socket installed which’ll be significantly cheaper than a dedicated home charger. My parents did this and their entire install including the charge cable was under £500.
The OP didn't say how often his mother made the 2 1/2 hour journey to see them but would take around 30 visits to break even doing that, and it seems doubtful that it would make economic sense to incur that cost.SpidersWeb said:
Phunk said:
I’d recommend downloading the Tesla app and see if there is a charger on her route to/from you. Charge costs are approx 40p a kWh. Should only take 10 minutes as she’ll only need enough to get home not a full charge.
To save around £10 would I be suggesting that a parent with a mobility car did that, rather than just charging it for them when they visited me - I don't believe I would. Phunk said:
Another option is to look at getting a 32amp commando socket installed which’ll be significantly cheaper than a dedicated home charger. My parents did this and their entire install including the charge cable was under £500.
The OP didn't say how often his mother made the 2 1/2 hour journey to see them but would take around 30 visits to break even doing that, and it seems doubtful that it would make economic sense to incur that cost.Phunk said:
SpidersWeb said:
Phunk said:
I’d recommend downloading the Tesla app and see if there is a charger on her route to/from you. Charge costs are approx 40p a kWh. Should only take 10 minutes as she’ll only need enough to get home not a full charge.
To save around £10 would I be suggesting that a parent with a mobility car did that, rather than just charging it for them when they visited me - I don't believe I would. Phunk said:
Another option is to look at getting a 32amp commando socket installed which’ll be significantly cheaper than a dedicated home charger. My parents did this and their entire install including the charge cable was under £500.
The OP didn't say how often his mother made the 2 1/2 hour journey to see them but would take around 30 visits to break even doing that, and it seems doubtful that it would make economic sense to incur that cost.Granny chargers are for when you are in the absolute middle of nowhere when you have zero charge and can't get to a commercial. charger, which these days is pretty rare and why a lot of EV manufacturers no longer supply them with the car.
the-norseman said:
Haven't tried the 3 pin plug yet.
Our nearest "fast charger" which is 120kw is 0.85p per kwh, yesterday we found a 300kw charger for 0.63p a few minutes walk from ASDA so parked up and left it there for an hour, went from 23% to 100% in an hour.
Be careful with leaving the car to charge fully, some rapid charge sites have overstay fees if you leave it plugged in whilst full.Our nearest "fast charger" which is 120kw is 0.85p per kwh, yesterday we found a 300kw charger for 0.63p a few minutes walk from ASDA so parked up and left it there for an hour, went from 23% to 100% in an hour.
Best to move away from the same mentality of filling the car full like you would with a petrol car and just get what you need.
The charge rate on the BZ4X drops off below 50kw after around 70%, so I’d aim roughly for that or what you need to get home.
TheDrownedApe said:
every plug socket has been fine.
Charging at 10A with a 3 pin "should" be fine if used within rated capacity,It is obvious if the plugs, sockets and leads are getting hot or melting.
If using an EV tariff which starts at midnight then more savings can be made by using the dishwasher, washing machine and tumble dryer so set all running at max and go to bed.
What you can't see is what is happening to your ring final wiring buried in your walls and running through your ceilings and using the dodgy junction box that was installed years ago.
What could possibly go wrong?
We have 2 PHEV and we charge both using 3 pin plugs from midnight every night and we get max use of the dishwasher, washing machine and tumble dryer and it is safe because the required protected ring final circuits have been added to the electrical consumer unit.
the-norseman said:
Haven't tried the 3 pin plug yet.
Our nearest "fast charger" which is 120kw is 0.85p per kwh, yesterday we found a 300kw charger for 0.63p a few minutes walk from ASDA so parked up and left it there for an hour, went from 23% to 100% in an hour.
So I worked out when it was full that mum had paid around £34 for the 23% to 100% charge at 0.63p but... they took a £30 pre-authorisation which has been refunded today and they have now charged £48.. looks like they charged her for staying plugged in once it was charged. Our nearest "fast charger" which is 120kw is 0.85p per kwh, yesterday we found a 300kw charger for 0.63p a few minutes walk from ASDA so parked up and left it there for an hour, went from 23% to 100% in an hour.
the-norseman said:
but... they took a £30 pre-authorisation which has been refunded today
Exactly the same as when you pay by card at a petrol pump.the-norseman said:
and they have now charged £48.. looks like they charged her for staying plugged in once it was charged.
Exactly the same as if you left your car at a petrol pump after filling up.The first is irrelevant as the money comes back, and for the second, I suggest that she checks the settings in the app for her car as most will send you a notification when the car is 10-15 minutes away from the charge target you have set in order that you have time to get back and move it.
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