Home Charger Advice

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Mike230

Original Poster:

76 posts

69 months

Saturday 8th June
quotequote all
Hi all

EV newbie here. We have a Nissan Ariya arriving in the next few weeks and I'm looking at home charger installs. Can anyone advise on which is the best model? Pod Point seems popular.

Also regarding my current energy supply, I'm with Utility Warehouse. They don't have a specific EV rate but would look to move me to a a tariff that is 32p kWh during the day and 5p kWh at night. Does this seem reasonable? The night rate certainly seems to be from what I've seen elsewhere.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Knock_knock

588 posts

183 months

Saturday 8th June
quotequote all
If your mileage profile fits, ie: needing to charge a good few times a week, then I think it's hard to beat one of the offerings from Octopus.

Intelligent Octopus Go gives at least 6 hours cheap overnight charging, and often bonus slots outside of this if you need more power. It's a full on smart tariff so you need a smart meter and either a compatible car or compatible charger. It looks like the Ariya isn't compatible, so you consider something like the Ohme ePod.

If you don't need that many hours then regular Octopus Go gives fours hours cheap overnight, but no extra slots.

If you're only needing to charge once a week at home you'll need to consider the sums, as the day rate is a little higher than standard so to save money you need to shift more onto the overnight.

I'm on Intelligent Octopus Go and these are my rates:
05:30 - 23:30 - 27.27p/kWh
23:30 - 05:30 - 7.5p/kWh

We plug a car in most nights and usually get extra slots from 9pm onwards, and that means the whole house is on the cheap rate, not just the car.

Mike230

Original Poster:

76 posts

69 months

Saturday 8th June
quotequote all
Thanks for your response. I think we will probably need to charge twice a week, unless my wife starts having range anxiety. This is our first EV so it's all very new to us.

ucb

1,039 posts

219 months

Saturday 8th June
quotequote all
Mike230 said:
Hi all

EV newbie here. We have a Nissan Ariya arriving in the next few weeks and I'm looking at home charger installs. Can anyone advise on which is the best model? Pod Point seems popular.

Also regarding my current energy supply, I'm with Utility Warehouse. They don't have a specific EV rate but would look to move me to a a tariff that is 32p kWh during the day and 5p kWh at night. Does this seem reasonable? The night rate certainly seems to be from what I've seen elsewhere.

Thanks in advance for any advice.
That overbight rate is very cheap. Haven't seen anything below 7.5p/kW (IOG). How long is the low rate period?
Fwiw we 3-pin charge our EV with octopus go but we sometime have to top-up during the day. Weve had to do this about 4 times in 8 weeks
Mileage in the last 8 weeks has been about 2500miles but that's probably lower than anticipated as we've had a few weekends away which we've used my diesel estate for and left the EV at home for cheap rate charging only


Edited by ucb on Saturday 8th June 17:11


Edited by ucb on Saturday 8th June 17:19

plfrench

2,905 posts

275 months

Saturday 8th June
quotequote all
ucb said:
That overbight rate is very cheap. Haven't seen anything below 7.5p/kW (IOG). How long is the low rate period?
Fwiw we 3-pin charge our EV with octopus go but we sometime have to top-up during the day. Weve had to do this about 4 times in 8 weeks
Mileage in the last 8 weeks has been about 2500miles but that's probably lower than anticipated as we've had a few weekends away which we've used my diesel estate for and left the EV at home for cheap rate charging only


Edited by ucb on Saturday 8th June 17:11


Edited by ucb on Saturday 8th June 17:19
Ovo Anytime is 7p/kWh for EV and 22.68p/kWh for non EV. As long as you let the app choose the charging times and don't 'force' charge, then all EV charging at any time of day is at 7p. Done 20,000 miles in the ID3 since Sep last year and apart from three public charges, all of that has been at 7p/kWh. The other EV (Born) has done just under 20,000 miles since March last year and again, 95% + of that has been at 7 p/kWh (well actually pre Sep it was 10p/kWh before Ovo reduced the EV rate).

Mike230

Original Poster:

76 posts

69 months

Saturday 8th June
quotequote all

That overbight rate is very cheap. Haven't seen anything below 7.5p/kW (IOG). How long is the low rate period?
Fwiw we 3-pin charge our EV with octopus go but we sometime have to top-up during the day. Weve had to do this about 4 times in 8 weeks
Mileage in the last 8 weeks has been about 2500miles but that's probably lower than anticipated as we've had a few weekends away which we've used my diesel estate for and left the EV at home for cheap rate charging only


Edited by ucb on Saturday 8th June 17:11


Edited by ucb on Saturday 8th June 17:19

[/quote]

They are saying 7hrs. I've asked for them to send it through in writing. Happy to share the details once I have it.

ucb

1,039 posts

219 months

Saturday 8th June
quotequote all
plfrench said:
ucb said:
That overbight rate is very cheap. Haven't seen anything below 7.5p/kW (IOG). How long is the low rate period?
Fwiw we 3-pin charge our EV with octopus go but we sometime have to top-up during the day. Weve had to do this about 4 times in 8 weeks
Mileage in the last 8 weeks has been about 2500miles but that's probably lower than anticipated as we've had a few weekends away which we've used my diesel estate for and left the EV at home for cheap rate charging only


Edited by ucb on Saturday 8th June 17:11


Edited by ucb on Saturday 8th June 17:19
Ovo Anytime is 7p/kWh for EV and 22.68p/kWh for non EV. As long as you let the app choose the charging times and don't 'force' charge, then all EV charging at any time of day is at 7p. Done 20,000 miles in the ID3 since Sep last year and apart from three public charges, all of that has been at 7p/kWh. The other EV (Born) has done just under 20,000 miles since March last year and again, 95% + of that has been at 7 p/kWh (well actually pre Sep it was 10p/kWh before Ovo reduced the EV rate).
Thanks
A bit irrelevant for me at present as my Zappi needs a warranty repair...

Mark-ri571

604 posts

114 months

Sunday 9th June
quotequote all
Intelligent Octopus Go is a no brainier for me but you have to have either a compatible car or charger. Full list of compatible cars or chargers on the Octopus website. We charge our Mini electric just on a 3 pin socket. If I have a low battery I will invariably get extra cheap rate hours during the day and have never had to bump charge at peak rate.

By plugging in during the day and getting cheap rate and by load shifting to cheap rate I have got our whole house average down 15.5p pkwh

ahenners

606 posts

133 months

Sunday 9th June
quotequote all
ucb said:
Thanks
A bit irrelevant for me at present as my Zappi needs a warranty repair...
Would you recommend a zappi or not based on this? Like the look of them, or an ohme pro.

paralla

3,961 posts

142 months

Sunday 9th June
quotequote all
Octopus Go here with 4 hours overnight at 9p/Kwh which is enough to charge my PHEV MADZA CX-60, it only has an 18Kwh battery.

Dishwasher, washing machine and clothes dryer (when we use it) all timed to run during the overnight cheap leccy rate.

If your charger is tethered and close to the charge port on the car it’s easy enough to plug in every day when you are finished using the car.

Turtle Shed

1,754 posts

33 months

Sunday 9th June
quotequote all
paralla said:
Octopus Go here with 4 hours overnight at 9p/Kwh which is enough to charge my PHEV MADZA CX-60, it only has an 18Kwh battery.

Dishwasher, washing machine and clothes dryer (when we use it) all timed to run during the overnight cheap leccy rate.

If your charger is tethered and close to the charge port on the car it’s easy enough to plug in every day when you are finished using the car.
Yeah we do that and hot water too... NIssan Leaf, tumble dryer, dishwasher, washing machine and immersion heater all at 9p/kWh on Octopus Go.

Monthly bill is £110.00 for all of our usage.

Mikebentley

6,704 posts

147 months

Sunday 9th June
quotequote all
plfrench said:
ucb said:
That overbight rate is very cheap. Haven't seen anything below 7.5p/kW (IOG). How long is the low rate period?
Fwiw we 3-pin charge our EV with octopus go but we sometime have to top-up during the day. Weve had to do this about 4 times in 8 weeks
Mileage in the last 8 weeks has been about 2500miles but that's probably lower than anticipated as we've had a few weekends away which we've used my diesel estate for and left the EV at home for cheap rate charging only


Edited by ucb on Saturday 8th June 17:11


Edited by ucb on Saturday 8th June 17:19
Ovo Anytime is 7p/kWh for EV and 22.68p/kWh for non EV. As long as you let the app choose the charging times and don't 'force' charge, then all EV charging at any time of day is at 7p. Done 20,000 miles in the ID3 since Sep last year and apart from three public charges, all of that has been at 7p/kWh. The other EV (Born) has done just under 20,000 miles since March last year and again, 95% + of that has been at 7 p/kWh (well actually pre Sep it was 10p/kWh before Ovo reduced the EV rate).
Another vote for OVO and their Charge Anytime free add on. You would need a compatible car or charger but my recommendation would be an Ohme Home Pro charging point then you are future proofed if you change your car. 25000 miles in my EV since last July and only needed two charges away from home. Fuel costs of about 1.8 pence per mile.

paralla

3,961 posts

142 months

Sunday 9th June
quotequote all
We got a 7Kw charger from Simpson & Partners. It works fine and it looks like it was designed and built by Bang & Olufsen rather than Dyson.

https://simpson-partners.com/?gad_source=1&gbr...

Mark-ri571

604 posts

114 months

Sunday 9th June
quotequote all
paralla said:
Octopus Go here with 4 hours overnight at 9p/Kwh which is enough to charge my PHEV MADZA CX-60, it only has an 18Kwh battery.

Dishwasher, washing machine and clothes dryer (when we use it) all timed to run during the overnight cheap leccy rate.

If your charger is tethered and close to the charge port on the car it’s easy enough to plug in every day when you are finished using the car.
I deliberately let my battery get down to 20% as that way I am pretty certain that when I plug in at say 1.00pm I will get cheap rate for the car and whole house throughout the rest of the day until 05.30 the following morning.

John87

693 posts

165 months

Sunday 9th June
quotequote all
You need to work out how much of your load you can actually shift to work out what works for you. You can't put on multiple loads of laundry while asleep for example.

I used to be on intelligent octopus go but am averaging 3-5p per kWh less on Agile. This is because my wife and I both WFH most days and can put on multiple loads of laundry and charge the car during the day where needed. It has been excellent in the last week or so as solar and wind have kept afternoon rates to below 10p.

There have been some negative rates today so I've used 36kWh so far and it has cost about 36p. This doesn't happen every day or week so you do need some flexibility for this route.

timberman

1,335 posts

222 months

Sunday 9th June
quotequote all
ahenners said:
Would you recommend a zappi or not based on this? Like the look of them, or an ohme pro.
We've got both the Zappi and the Ohme Home Pro,

they both work fine for us but if I had to choose one I'd probably pick the Zappi just because the cable storage is better

Cupid-stunt

2,806 posts

63 months

Sunday 9th June
quotequote all
paralla said:
We got a 7Kw charger from Simpson & Partners. It works fine and it looks like it was designed and built by Bang & Olufsen rather than Dyson.

https://simpson-partners.com/?gad_source=1&gbr...
I've looked at these - they do look so much better than other brands.
Mine will be inside the garage so I will prob pass, but if it were outside, then I would pay the extra and get one of these.

quinny100

960 posts

193 months

Monday 10th June
quotequote all
With these multi rate tariffs you need to work out the average cost per kWh across the rates to find which will be the best value.

To work out your EV consumption, divide you mileage by 3 to get the number of kWh you’ll need - I’ve chosen 3 to represent a reasonably efficient EV and include charging losses and ancillary use.

You then need to establish your normal usage - I used about 10kWh/day with a base load around 100W.

On a 32p/5p tarifff, if I do 300 miles/wk

Home - 63kWh
Home Night - 7kWh
EV - 100kWh

(32*63)+(5*107)= 2551/170 = 15p/kWh which is not bad - it’s well under the price cap.

However, if your EV charging is only 150 miles/wk, you’re up to 19.2p/kWh.

I’ve achieved 13.05p/kWh on Octopus Agile since February with some very minor load shifting and 640kWh of. charging but mostly at times it’s very cheap as I can charge at work for free but if it’s under 5p/kWh I’ll plug in at home. The last 2 days my total energy usage costs have been 71p for 79.64kWh of gas and electricity but it’s been an unusually cheap weekend with many hours at negative prices.

Low EV rates are very psychologically alluring, especially when working out how much your running costs are, but it’s the overall average rate (and standing charges) that determines your bottom line.

gmaz

4,621 posts

217 months

Monday 10th June
quotequote all
I see Screwfix are now selling a Masterplug charger at reasonable price. Early days but it has several good reviews.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/masterplug-1-port-7-4kw...


ucb

1,039 posts

219 months

Monday 10th June
quotequote all
ahenners said:
Would you recommend a zappi or not based on this? Like the look of them, or an ohme pro.
I can't comment as it has been unable to deliver a charge since installation. Myenergi have been fairly good at organising for warranty repair so far but the repair hasnt happened yet.
I chose the Zappi due to the potential benefits of the other add-ons such as solar integration and battery on the one ecosystem