Electric Vehicle - Home Charge Point Installation

rjmachin

Hi,
I am in the process of arranging the installation of a home charge point with BP Charge Master before I can take delivery of my Electric Vehicle.
I got the first call back yesterday to go through the application for the charge point and the grant.
They asked questions about appliances, and because I have electric oven, hob, microwave, dishwasher, tumble dryer, and washing machine, they need to write to someone (i think distribution network) to check they are happy before they can arrange a date.  They said because it takes me over 60 (amps? i think).

Surely most people have these kinds of appliances?

Has anyone had experience of being over the limit and being referred to this other company (distribution network?)?
If so, is it just a technical tick box exercise, or is it possibly/likely they will say "no"?

I was so excited to order by first electric car, I just hope I don't have to stay with petrol... eeek.

MWT

It should have more to do with the size of the main fuse on the incoming feed to your house, but some installers are over-cautious.

The rating of your fuse will be visible on the side, it is on the incoming side of your meter and if you are not sure how to spot it post a photo or two here...

Depending on who your DNO is, it can be quite easy to get this upgraded.

Mine was 60A and UK Power (my DNO) were happy to upgrade that to 80A at no charge.

Do you know who your DNO is?

MWT

rjmachin said:

They asked questions about appliances, and because I have electric oven, hob, microwave, dishwasher, tumble dryer, and washing machine...

You don't have an electrically heated shower as well do you?

To answer your other questions, yes, it is a technical exercise and there will be a lot of box-ticking, but the answer can be 'no' if there are a lot of other people with high-loads on your local circuit or if the infrastructure has already fallen behind demand due to new house builds and hasn't yet been upgraded.

If it is 'no' then it isn't always a final answer as it may just require some additional work on their side, so it may be a 'not yet' rather than a 'no'.

If you are on a 40 or 60A main fuse I would have been inclined to ask for an upgrade to 80A before heading down the home charger route anyway as the answer to that request would have given you a clear steer on any local problems before you got to this stage, but you are where you are right now and hte odds are your fuse is 60A based on their questions.

The worst case scenario is if your incoming supply wires are not large enough to support more than 60A, but even then there are ways around the problem as a suitable car charger can be fitted which will monitor the rest of the house use and limit the car supply accordingly...

rjmachin

Is it the white thing under the black meter?   I think that says 100A.  This is a photo I took for the application.

I do not have an electric shower, water and heating is all done via the combi boiler.

MWT

Yep, that's a 100A main house fuse, may be worth pointing that out to your installer.

They will be used to dealing with 60A fuses, so with your maximum consumption including the car charger being comfortably covered by the 100A fuse already in place, for example, my DNO - UK Power Networks, only requires notification after the work is complete, no prior approval required.

JC_Derby

MWT said:

Yep, that's a 100A main house fuse, may be worth pointing that out to your installer.

They will be used to dealing with 60A fuses, so with your maximum consumption including the car charger being comfortably covered by the 100A fuse already in place, for example, my DNO - UK Power Networks, only requires notification after the work is complete, no prior approval required.

actually THAT sticker on the side of the fuse carrier is the cut out type and rating.

There should be another sticker stuck on the spine of the fuse carrier stating the fuse rating installed - most people don't bother.

Ive just upgraded my browser which has knackered my view so cant view the picture properly.

rjmachin

I can't see any other stickers on the grey fuse box under the meter.  It just says:
100A Series 7
Type II b. 415V B.S. 1361

The fuse box inside my house shows:
MK LN 5780
240V~
80A 2 Pole B.S 4293
30mA Rated Tripping Current
2000A Rated Breaking Capacity

MWT

JC_Derby said:

actually THAT sticker on the side of the fuse carrier is the cut out type and rating.

Oddly then, my sticker for the fuse rating is where that sticker is.

Mine was a little strange though as it was booked as an upgrade to 80A but when they can to do the job it turned out they only had a 100A fuse with them so they fitted that and torn off the part of the sticker with the amp rating on it...

During a later unrelated visit I mentioned this and got the fuse swapped to the correct 80A rating, but the sticker remains with the rating torn off...

[Deleted User]

MY main external fuse had a sticker on it saying 100A.  It turned out that the fuse was actually only 60A.  They reckon that the minimum fuse (they told me) for EV use with normal appliances was 80A.  My DNO came out and fitted a 100A fuse free of charge, a 5 minute job.

I had a few weeks running the car whilst still having the 60A fuse fitted.  I had no issues with this but ensured I wasn't using any heavy draw appliances whilst charging.

I'm sure you will love your EV and the savings you will make too!

Talldave

How many simultaneous EV fast charges can a street have before the cables under the pavement catch fire?

rjmachin

desktop, Did you get in touch with your DNO?  Or did they come out after you applied for a charger installation?