What speed of home charger do you have?
Poll: What speed of home charger do you have?
Total Members Polled: 125
Discussion
You can answer that without really needing a poll - its 7kw
Most people are on single phase and the max current you can have is 32a single phase which is about 7kw, and does not need DNO approval (although it does need notification)
You can only go above that if you have 3 phase which is a relatively small number of properties
You'd only go below that if you foolishly tried to save money or it can't be done for some restriction placed upon you.
The only other cohort of people are those who use their granny chargers on a 3 pin plug, they'll be limited to 10a in the UK and therefore 2.3kw and are likely to get bored of that approach eventually and get a 7kw charger,
Most people are on single phase and the max current you can have is 32a single phase which is about 7kw, and does not need DNO approval (although it does need notification)
You can only go above that if you have 3 phase which is a relatively small number of properties
You'd only go below that if you foolishly tried to save money or it can't be done for some restriction placed upon you.
The only other cohort of people are those who use their granny chargers on a 3 pin plug, they'll be limited to 10a in the UK and therefore 2.3kw and are likely to get bored of that approach eventually and get a 7kw charger,
My first EV is getting delivered on Monday (MG4) and I'm not planning on getting a charger fitted, I'm hoping granny charging will cover my fairly low usage. I've got a retail park with a load of rapid chargers about a mile away from home if I need it.
Edited by Chris Peacock on Friday 13th September 12:32
Gone fishing said:
You can answer that without really needing a poll - its 7kw
Most people are on single phase and the max current you can have is 32a single phase which is about 7kw, and does not need DNO approval (although it does need notification)
You can only go above that if you have 3 phase which is a relatively small number of properties
You'd only go below that if you foolishly tried to save money or it can't be done for some restriction placed upon you.
The only other cohort of people are those who use their granny chargers on a 3 pin plug, they'll be limited to 10a in the UK and therefore 2.3kw and are likely to get bored of that approach eventually and get a 7kw charger,
What he said! Most people are on single phase and the max current you can have is 32a single phase which is about 7kw, and does not need DNO approval (although it does need notification)
You can only go above that if you have 3 phase which is a relatively small number of properties
You'd only go below that if you foolishly tried to save money or it can't be done for some restriction placed upon you.
The only other cohort of people are those who use their granny chargers on a 3 pin plug, they'll be limited to 10a in the UK and therefore 2.3kw and are likely to get bored of that approach eventually and get a 7kw charger,
Anyone running a charger thats less than 7kw will likely have had it prior to the 7kw chargers becoming widely available.
There's currently a "loop hole" for want of a better word with Intelligent Octopus Go, whereby it permits using a granny charger, and in doing so will often give huge chunks of cheap rate time, which the whole house enjoys.
So there will be some people who will live on the granny charger because it greatly reduces their electricity bill.
So there will be some people who will live on the granny charger because it greatly reduces their electricity bill.
phil4 said:
There's currently a "loop hole" for want of a better word with Intelligent Octopus Go, whereby it permits using a granny charger, and in doing so will often give huge chunks of cheap rate time, which the whole house enjoys.
I've not got intelligent Go, just 'Go' but I imagine it's only a matter of time before these perks, so many people are using it well beyond charging their EV. I've got the washing machine, dryer, dishwasher, de-humidifier etc all timed to come on at 00.30. I don't even have an EV yet.Turtle Shed said:
7kw I think, but my Leaf only has 3.7kw onboard.
Charger was fitted in 2013, so could well be only 3.7kw. Don't care to be honest, only ever charge for five hours overnight which puts a full charge on the car on almost all days.
Exactly.Charger was fitted in 2013, so could well be only 3.7kw. Don't care to be honest, only ever charge for five hours overnight which puts a full charge on the car on almost all days.
Mine is a 3.7kw device, originally installed in 2017 for a 24kwh Leaf without the 6.6 charger upgrade. It was free from Nissan when I bought the car on their PCP finance. I was offered to "future proof" it to a 7kw if I wanted to pay the extra, but declined. I have since changed my car to a 30kwh Leaf with the 6.6 charger, but as my use pattern hasn't changed the 3.7kw device is still more than adequate, and of course has the right tethered connector for Type 1. Even if I changed my car to one with a Type 2 socket, I think I'd just get an adapter for my current cable, rather than change the whole unit, so I'd still be on 3.7kw. Which is fine, I haven't once in 7 years even considered I might need faster charging at home. All my miles go into the car overnight, it's always parked up for at least 12 hours.
I often wonder how many people automatically go out and spend ~£1000 on a 7kw home charger before they even get their first EV, when granny charging would comfortably cover their charging needs. Maybe I'm just being a tight Scotsman but I'll wait till I establish a need / benefit before I spend that sort of money.
loudlashadjuster said:
Yeah, I guessed that 7 kW would be the majority, but curious to see the mix.
Not every PHer lives in the UK too, most properties in many European countries have 3-phase so might have more capable chargers.
That's true.Not every PHer lives in the UK too, most properties in many European countries have 3-phase so might have more capable chargers.
But I can't imagine why they'd bother with the expense of a faster charger. Most people are done with driving by 8pm and won't start again until 8am. A granny charger is technically enough for most people, 7kw is definitely more than enough.
If you're eating/drinking wine/maybe some sex/sleeping, it really doesn't matter how fast the car is charging
Up to 11Kw for me and I am in the US!
I was lucky enough to have two fuse panels (relatively rare) and the electric standard allows you to bond a number of connections together to get to 240v and higher Amps. With the extra space in the fuse panel we got a 40Amp connection that my charger supports.
Previously had an i3 that wouldnt take more than 7kw anyway, but with the Mach-e, it can do more and hence upped the power. Getting something like 30-40 miles added per hour, but this is utterly dependent on where the battery is on the charge curve. Still getting a good 20%-30% improvement in charging performance.
I would suggest that 7Kw is the minimum these days and if you can, go for 11Kw if possible.
I was lucky enough to have two fuse panels (relatively rare) and the electric standard allows you to bond a number of connections together to get to 240v and higher Amps. With the extra space in the fuse panel we got a 40Amp connection that my charger supports.
Previously had an i3 that wouldnt take more than 7kw anyway, but with the Mach-e, it can do more and hence upped the power. Getting something like 30-40 miles added per hour, but this is utterly dependent on where the battery is on the charge curve. Still getting a good 20%-30% improvement in charging performance.
I would suggest that 7Kw is the minimum these days and if you can, go for 11Kw if possible.
TheDeuce said:
But I can't imagine why they'd bother with the expense of a faster charger. Most people are done with driving by 8pm and won't start again until 8am. A granny charger is technically enough for most people, 7kw is definitely more than enough.
If the low price electricity period is midnight to 5am then a granny charger at 2.5kW may not have enough time to put enough charge into a full EV.We have a PHEV and using the granny charger between midnight and 5am only charges 40 miles with less than an hour to spare.
Ww now also have an EV and I'm planning to only charge between midnight and 5am and due to the deal with British Gas and Hive the FreeCharge deal means that charging is "Free".
Chris Peacock said:
I often wonder how many people automatically go out and spend ~£1000 on a 7kw home charger before they even get their first EV, when granny charging would comfortably cover their charging needs. Maybe I'm just being a tight Scotsman but I'll wait till I establish a need / benefit before I spend that sort of money.
Me, I did exactly this. I’ve been successfully granny charging a PHEV for the past six months the expensive 7kW charger I thought I needed has been sat waiting to be installed. I poured the cement foundation for the post a couple of weeks ago, i’ll get round to it eventually but i’ve realised theres really no need.phil4 said:
There's currently a "loop hole" for want of a better word with Intelligent Octopus Go, whereby it permits using a granny charger, and in doing so will often give huge chunks of cheap rate time, which the whole house enjoys.
So there will be some people who will live on the granny charger because it greatly reduces their electricity bill.
No real need. I have 7kw charging but it’s still easy to game IOG, just set your overnight charge target to be 50%, then when you wake up increase it to 90% by 11am and enjoy 2-3 hours extra cheap electricity in the morningSo there will be some people who will live on the granny charger because it greatly reduces their electricity bill.
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