Which EV home charger?
Discussion
Some reports of early Rolec ones having reliability issues but generally much of a muchness now.
Aesthetics and price tend to separate the standard run of the mill ones and Charged EV have a December sale on at the moment with £99 untethered and £199 for their tethered unit.
Not bad prices at all, especially as charging the PHEV is less essential than charging a BEV and the unit only shaves a bit of time off using the three pin charger. The aim would be to get the unit as cheap as possible to help keep the e-miles under the price of fuel. Bulb seem to have a great tariff for your energy supply too - handily low electric unit price.
Tethered unit lot less hassle than having to plug and unplug both ends each time though.
Aesthetics and price tend to separate the standard run of the mill ones and Charged EV have a December sale on at the moment with £99 untethered and £199 for their tethered unit.
Not bad prices at all, especially as charging the PHEV is less essential than charging a BEV and the unit only shaves a bit of time off using the three pin charger. The aim would be to get the unit as cheap as possible to help keep the e-miles under the price of fuel. Bulb seem to have a great tariff for your energy supply too - handily low electric unit price.
Tethered unit lot less hassle than having to plug and unplug both ends each time though.
I've got an i3 on the way and have also been looking at charging points. Ultimately it just seems to come to which one you like the look of the most. I quite like the EO ones - https://www.eocharging.com/home-chargers - relatively clean and simple
ChargedEv, looked good on price but never turned up, moved my install date 3 times then let me down on the day. Not happy.
Eventually I had an EO charger installed by a local electrician who was OLEV registered, untethered. Nice clean design, all good except for the very bright EO logo that is the status LED. This is very bright in the dark and advertises to the street that you have an EV charger there. A bit of carefully placed black tape sorted that without ruining the aesthetics!
I was going tethered all the way, but eventually went tethered. No cheaper overall because you have to buy a cable but this has meant that I have used it a few times when out and about. I had not done that before. The extra faff in getting the cable in and out of the boot is nothing to sway your choice really IMO. You still have to coil the cable if it's tethered to stow it neatly, buy the time you've done that you could have lobbed it in the boot! Swings and roundabouts. I have actually mounted a padlock on the wall below the charger where I can loop through and lock the cable down if I want to when popping in and out and the weekends (see below too)
It's definitely worth it even for a PHEV. Charge time is now 2 hours instead of 3/4, this is especially beneficial when you are popping in and out. You get a decent recharge at max amps, when the supplied three pin would have not have been worth the bother.
Eventually I had an EO charger installed by a local electrician who was OLEV registered, untethered. Nice clean design, all good except for the very bright EO logo that is the status LED. This is very bright in the dark and advertises to the street that you have an EV charger there. A bit of carefully placed black tape sorted that without ruining the aesthetics!
I was going tethered all the way, but eventually went tethered. No cheaper overall because you have to buy a cable but this has meant that I have used it a few times when out and about. I had not done that before. The extra faff in getting the cable in and out of the boot is nothing to sway your choice really IMO. You still have to coil the cable if it's tethered to stow it neatly, buy the time you've done that you could have lobbed it in the boot! Swings and roundabouts. I have actually mounted a padlock on the wall below the charger where I can loop through and lock the cable down if I want to when popping in and out and the weekends (see below too)
It's definitely worth it even for a PHEV. Charge time is now 2 hours instead of 3/4, this is especially beneficial when you are popping in and out. You get a decent recharge at max amps, when the supplied three pin would have not have been worth the bother.
Orion917 said:
ChargedEv, looked good on price but never turned up, moved my install date 3 times then let me down on the day. Not happy.
Eventually I had an EO charger installed by a local electrician who was OLEV registered, untethered. Nice clean design, all good except for the very bright EO logo that is the status LED. This is very bright in the dark and advertises to the street that you have an EV charger there. A bit of carefully placed black tape sorted that without ruining the aesthetics!
I was going tethered all the way, but eventually went tethered. No cheaper overall because you have to buy a cable but this has meant that I have used it a few times when out and about. I had not done that before. The extra faff in getting the cable in and out of the boot is nothing to sway your choice really IMO. You still have to coil the cable if it's tethered to stow it neatly, buy the time you've done that you could have lobbed it in the boot! Swings and roundabouts. I have actually mounted a padlock on the wall below the charger where I can loop through and lock the cable down if I want to when popping in and out and the weekends (see below too)
It's definitely worth it even for a PHEV. Charge time is now 2 hours instead of 3/4, this is especially beneficial when you are popping in and out. You get a decent recharge at max amps, when the supplied three pin would have not have been worth the bother.
Eventually I had an EO charger installed by a local electrician who was OLEV registered, untethered. Nice clean design, all good except for the very bright EO logo that is the status LED. This is very bright in the dark and advertises to the street that you have an EV charger there. A bit of carefully placed black tape sorted that without ruining the aesthetics!
I was going tethered all the way, but eventually went tethered. No cheaper overall because you have to buy a cable but this has meant that I have used it a few times when out and about. I had not done that before. The extra faff in getting the cable in and out of the boot is nothing to sway your choice really IMO. You still have to coil the cable if it's tethered to stow it neatly, buy the time you've done that you could have lobbed it in the boot! Swings and roundabouts. I have actually mounted a padlock on the wall below the charger where I can loop through and lock the cable down if I want to when popping in and out and the weekends (see below too)
It's definitely worth it even for a PHEV. Charge time is now 2 hours instead of 3/4, this is especially beneficial when you are popping in and out. You get a decent recharge at max amps, when the supplied three pin would have not have been worth the bother.
Orion917 said:
I was going tethered all the way, but eventually went tethered.
The second tethered should read untethered? I believe you have a 330e from the other thread? Did you know you could have got a BMW blue coiled cable for around £125? Much less faffing trying to get it tidy to put back in the boot.Happy with the tethered Rolec I had installed earlier this year.
The installers massage the price so they make the most they possibly can (obviously). Given you can buy a Rolec for about £300, yet they charge an effective £700 to have one put in, is an obvious case of them 'working' the grant system. Sadly, I just tagged along with it as it cost me £200 with the grant, rather than probably £400 to DIY it. If they had been scrupulously honest (yeah, right) then it would have cost about the grant figure, still allowing them a decent profit, so free to me. Again, yeah, right.
The installers massage the price so they make the most they possibly can (obviously). Given you can buy a Rolec for about £300, yet they charge an effective £700 to have one put in, is an obvious case of them 'working' the grant system. Sadly, I just tagged along with it as it cost me £200 with the grant, rather than probably £400 to DIY it. If they had been scrupulously honest (yeah, right) then it would have cost about the grant figure, still allowing them a decent profit, so free to me. Again, yeah, right.
essayer said:
Does it actually need to be an approved company? Surely any electrician can do it.
Yes they can but you can't claim it back if you're not approved by OLEV, Installs seem like quick work but many homes need additional consumer boxes, they aren't simply like wiring up an outside socket next to the main consumer box and general electrical paperwork can take quite a lot of time. It seems like a quick and simple job but its rarely the case.
The bloke that did mine had it easy - I'd already run a cable in 10mm from adjacent to the CU and even drilled the hole in the outside wall ready for him. The limit they put on a 'standard install' is a direct 10m run from the CU, and they only do surface runs. I wanted the cable to go a specific, indirect route so did it myself before they came to fit. Had a spare MCB ready too.
As for the paperwork...despite me telling them from day one it was a TT install and the guy actually inspecting the earth spike himself, they put the wrong supply standard down on the certification paperwork.
Forgot to say, good call on the part of the OP to specify the 7.2kW version - never know where a PHEV may lead....
My C350e can only charge at 3.6kW but it seemed daft to limit future options by having a 3.6kW charger installed. Never know, might have an iPace one day.
As for the paperwork...despite me telling them from day one it was a TT install and the guy actually inspecting the earth spike himself, they put the wrong supply standard down on the certification paperwork.
Forgot to say, good call on the part of the OP to specify the 7.2kW version - never know where a PHEV may lead....
My C350e can only charge at 3.6kW but it seemed daft to limit future options by having a 3.6kW charger installed. Never know, might have an iPace one day.Frimley111R said:
Yes they can but you can't claim it back if you're not approved by OLEV, Installs seem like quick work but many homes need additional consumer boxes, they aren't simply like wiring up an outside socket next to the main consumer box and general electrical paperwork can take quite a lot of time.
It seems like a quick and simple job but its rarely the case.
Took our guy half a day to fit an additional CU inc Henley block and neatly run cable under ceilings etc for a single 7kW charger. It seems like a quick and simple job but its rarely the case.
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