Would I really need an EV Home Charger?

Netexporter

Qyburn said:

I guess it's going to vary between cars but I saw some data about Tesla showing a greater efficiency from fast charging. The issue is that during charging the car is "awake" and consuming power. So it wastes less by charging over a shorter time.

I believe it is the Teslas with the BYD Blade battery, rather than the CATL battery pack, that have a higher sustained charging rate.

Heedtheadvice

On reading the first post my initial thoughts:

If, if, if and never.

There may/will be times when things do not go to expectations or plans such as ( maybe extreme!) you are at hone with a virtually empty battery after a longer journey then you need to urgently go somewhere such as a necessary unplanned visit or hospital at short notice.

Plus with a Zappi (example) you get full safety earth testing. You do not necessarily get that with a granny charger (kia and ioniq ones anyway) !!!!!

Reed_Richards

Fortunately we are a two car family, my wife is firmly anti-electric so I should be able to borrow her car (or ask for a lift) if necessary.

LunaLater

Reed_Richards said:

Fortunately we are a two car family, my wife is firmly anti-electric so I should be able to borrow her car (or ask for a lift) if necessary.

When we had the Model S my wife had a Smart ForFour, which while not ideal for long journeys was very capable of them.

Now that she has the electric Smart I’m happy that our other car is a petrol Range Rover.

silverwhistle

I use a granny charger occasionally during the day to exploit solar but only when I am around to monitor the situation. Standard 13A plug sockets are not designed for continuous high level draw, nor do they have PEN protection.

I use a commando plug and an OHME charger and use Intelligent Octopus, although the car itself is not compatible, and it's a shame the OP can't get it at 7.5p for 6 hours. At the moment it is also offering periods outside the cheap overnight 6 hours, and of couse anything you use at the same time is also at the cheap rate.

Reed_Richards

Turns out I can give an answer to my own question now that I actually have an EV.  My car allows me to set a time to start charging but stupidly there is no facility to set a stop time or a maximum charge.  Apparently many car models share this absence of feature.  I'm on an E.on next EV tariff that give me cheap night rate electricity between midnight and 7 am but I don't want to have to get up at 7 am every day I charge the car. 

Netexporter

As long as it doesn't need more than about 40 kWh to fill the battery, it will be done in less than 7 hours, so you can stay in bed.

Reed_Richards

It will be done in less than 7 hours if I fork out for a Home Charger but not with the "Granny Charger" (3-pin plug) that I am using at the moment.  So I have to pay £500 or more to get a lie-in.

Netexporter

Ah, I thought you'd got a 7kW charger. 

I'm granny charging at the moment but I'm on Agile, so I'm more likely to be charging in the afternoon and, on good days, getting paid to do so. There was a plunge a couple of nights ago, so I plugged in at bedtime and thanks to the "benefit" of being an old man, checked the state of charge when I got up for a wee in the night. Luckily the battery was full by then so i didn't have to get up again at 05:30 when the price went positive.

I shall be pleased to have a proper charger, though, so I can be paid at a faster rate.

QrizB

Reed_Richards said:

It will be done in less than 7 hours if I fork out for a Home Charger but not with the "Granny Charger" (3-pin plug) that I am using at the moment.  So I have to pay £500 or more to get a lie-in.

You could use a £10 time switch on the granny charger, to shut it off at 7am. Or a similarly-priced smart switch, if you're that way inclined.