Tethered charging point or non tethered? Future proofing?
Discussion
Is there any consenus on which is better? I have a BMW i3 on order, so looking at getting a dedicated charge point installed, rather than running the extension lead out under the garage door.
The BMW one looks terrible, as do most of them... Only the Rolec appears to at least be able to vaguely blend into the house and not be all lumious green and chinzey.
Anyway, regardless of that, is it likely the charging socket is going to change anytime soon? As the tethered option seems ideal for just plug n go... But if the next EV means it has to be changed then the extension seems to make sense.
Any opinions would be welcome!
The BMW one looks terrible, as do most of them... Only the Rolec appears to at least be able to vaguely blend into the house and not be all lumious green and chinzey.
Anyway, regardless of that, is it likely the charging socket is going to change anytime soon? As the tethered option seems ideal for just plug n go... But if the next EV means it has to be changed then the extension seems to make sense.
Any opinions would be welcome!
SystemParanoia said:
dont the dedicated points charge ALOT faster.
just running an extension to a 3 pin 240v plug will make charges take a loooooong long time
They do charge a lot faster - but you can get ones with a plug, so will be future proofed in that any cable changes mean that the cable can just be swapped, and still charges a lot faster.just running an extension to a 3 pin 240v plug will make charges take a loooooong long time
http://www.rolecserv.com/ev-charging/product/EV-Ch...
To be fair, for our usage we'd probably only need to charge the car once a week but then you never know.
I went for a tethered one. You could always get an adaptor in future if things change as you'd be doing the same with a non tethered anyway.
The bonus with the tethered one is it takes me two seconds to plug in rather than having to faff getting a cable out every time.
Through a 3pin plug you'll only be drawing about 1500w, through a dedicated charger you're looking at 3000w or 7000w depending what your car can draw (I've only got the 3.3kw leaf so that's all it will draw but went for a 7kw charger for future proofing for the next car)
The bonus with the tethered one is it takes me two seconds to plug in rather than having to faff getting a cable out every time.
Through a 3pin plug you'll only be drawing about 1500w, through a dedicated charger you're looking at 3000w or 7000w depending what your car can draw (I've only got the 3.3kw leaf so that's all it will draw but went for a 7kw charger for future proofing for the next car)
Yeah I don't think they're that complicated inside so you could either fit a new lead (or have a new lead fitted) or just have an adaptor on the end of your existing cable.
I've got a Podpoint unit and they look pretty decent no the side of the house, no issues with it at all so far.
Mine was included with the sale of the car (I bought a used car but nissan were throwing that in as part of the deal) although I paid £95 to have the 7kw instead of 3kw.
The no faff is a major bonus, especially if its tipping it down at the time!
I've got a Podpoint unit and they look pretty decent no the side of the house, no issues with it at all so far.
Mine was included with the sale of the car (I bought a used car but nissan were throwing that in as part of the deal) although I paid £95 to have the 7kw instead of 3kw.
The no faff is a major bonus, especially if its tipping it down at the time!
We just use a standard plug to charge the i3. We're doing decent mileage (about 1500 a month) and have it set for charging off-peak, which is after 8pm and before 7am. It can fully charge over night on a standard plug
This approach has been almost perfect. The only time when we've struggled is when we plan to do more than it's range in one day. There is a DC charger about 15 mins away & if I need to I'll use that - probably done so once every other month.
We don't get a grant in Switzerland so that makes a quick charger more expensive.
This approach has been almost perfect. The only time when we've struggled is when we plan to do more than it's range in one day. There is a DC charger about 15 mins away & if I need to I'll use that - probably done so once every other month.
We don't get a grant in Switzerland so that makes a quick charger more expensive.
OK, the good news is that we can with minimal effort run a 32 amp charge point, so 4 hours to full from 20% or whatever it works out at.
The guy did recommend the non tethered one, but sounds like, on reflection a tethered may be the one to go for, for an extra few quids... I'll drop them a line next week!
The guy did recommend the non tethered one, but sounds like, on reflection a tethered may be the one to go for, for an extra few quids... I'll drop them a line next week!
Tophatron said:
I'd always go untethered - the tethered one looks messier with a cable wrapped around it for a start, plus the ability to charge multiple different types of vehicles makes it a no-brainer for me.
It takes seconds to get the cable out of the boot and plug it in.
I have an untethered point, too, for exactly this reasoning.It takes seconds to get the cable out of the boot and plug it in.
I just carry a Type 2 to Type 1 cable in the boot. This also means that I can charge at work where there is also a Type 2 Untethered box.
I have 2 untethered 32A Rolec Type 2s on my outside garage wall.
Reasoning was that they will be there for a few years and cars will come and go.
At the moment they have an 8m 32A Type2-Type1 used for the Outlander and a 12m 32A Type2-Type1 for the wife's Leaf plugged into them. The cables are left in there all the time, just like as if they are tethered.
When my Tesla arrives to replace the Outlander I'll eBay the 8m 32A Type2-Type1 and replace it with a 5m 32A Type2-Type2 (shorter as the socket on the Tesla is on the other side of the car to the Outlander).
When my friend came over in his Tesla, he could plug into my Type2 socket and charge, likewise when my mate popped over in his C350e.
I figured untethered made sense in the long term, just like in my house I don't hard wire my appliances (apart from the cooker!), they plug into sockets... Much more flexibility.
Reasoning was that they will be there for a few years and cars will come and go.
At the moment they have an 8m 32A Type2-Type1 used for the Outlander and a 12m 32A Type2-Type1 for the wife's Leaf plugged into them. The cables are left in there all the time, just like as if they are tethered.
When my Tesla arrives to replace the Outlander I'll eBay the 8m 32A Type2-Type1 and replace it with a 5m 32A Type2-Type2 (shorter as the socket on the Tesla is on the other side of the car to the Outlander).
When my friend came over in his Tesla, he could plug into my Type2 socket and charge, likewise when my mate popped over in his C350e.
I figured untethered made sense in the long term, just like in my house I don't hard wire my appliances (apart from the cooker!), they plug into sockets... Much more flexibility.
Edited by Bee_Jay on Friday 7th October 12:38
andrewrob said:
Yeah I don't think they're that complicated inside so you could either fit a new lead (or have a new lead fitted) or just have an adaptor on the end of your existing cable.
Adapters are not supported in the Type2 and Type1 standards. Couple of dodgy sites will sell you one that is essentially rigged up out of a wall-mount socket and a plug, but I wouldn't want to use one, or try and make an insurance claim when something went wrong.Bee_Jay said:
andrewrob said:
Yeah I don't think they're that complicated inside so you could either fit a new lead (or have a new lead fitted) or just have an adaptor on the end of your existing cable.
Adapters are not supported in the Type2 and Type1 standards. Couple of dodgy sites will sell you one that is essentially rigged up out of a wall-mount socket and a plug, but I wouldn't want to use one, or try and make an insurance claim when something went wrong.folks any ideas on the type of cable needed for the un-tethered pod point? and rough price? i would have thought in 2 or 3 years time the grants should still be around and the chargers will be better so going tethered saving yourself the price of the lead and getting a new charger in the future would be a better option? altho all depends on personal circumstances, ie if using more than one EV
layercake said:
folks any ideas on the type of cable needed for the un-tethered pod point? and rough price? i would have thought in 2 or 3 years time the grants should still be around and the chargers will be better so going tethered saving yourself the price of the lead and getting a new charger in the future would be a better option? altho all depends on personal circumstances, ie if using more than one EV
All depends on which cars you're looking at for type of cable. Quite a few come with them now toolayercake said:
folks any ideas on the type of cable needed for the un-tethered pod point? and rough price? i would have thought in 2 or 3 years time the grants should still be around and the chargers will be better so going tethered saving yourself the price of the lead and getting a new charger in the future would be a better option? altho all depends on personal circumstances, ie if using more than one EV
You'd need to get whichever one you need for your car, it will be a type 2 to whatever your car needs.This site is a good start: http://www.evcables.co.uk
Yes, one will probably come with your car, but you will want to keep that one in the car to plug into public charging points etc. Like me you will want to buy one to leave plugged in at home.
Edited by Bee_Jay on Tuesday 1st November 11:09
Gassing Station | EV and Alternative Fuels | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff