Which EV charger?

Solarchaser

I have a zappi and would definitely recommend it.
I have a Tesla as a company car as do most of my colleagues. 
Some have been using the granny charger and 1 has melted the plug on his.
Now on its own, that's evidence of nothing, if the plug wasn't fully home, or if the socket was worn, or not wired up well, all of these have the potential for extra heat and potential arcing and so melting things.

I personally used a granny charger and waterproof outdoor socket for about 3 years on a Nissan leaf, charging at 10amps and had no issues.
So 1 melting doesn't equal all melting.
I can see both sides. 

I know several people who have went for what I would consider the middle ground, which is paying around £200 to get a dedicated outdoor 32a circuit and commando socket and the adaptor for their charger (in this case Tesla sell them to replace the 3 pin plug adapter) and this seems to work very well for an £800 saving over an actual charger.
There is an argument for pen protection and the installation of an earth rod, and i maintain that an earth rod could be included in the £200 i mentioned above and still be a good solution, better than a 3 pin plug and 1/5th the cost of an ev charger.

If my zappi died tomorrow I'd definitely be fitting a 32a commando socket rather than buying another charger

Reed_Richards

@Solarchaser, your "middle ground " sounds very good to me.  I think a dedicated circuit is essential unless you are completely confident about your house wiring (as I am).  If you are putting in a dedicated circuit then there is no need to limit yourself to 13 A (running at 10 A, as I do).  My car, a Vauxhall Mokka E, will start a charge at a pre-set time but, very stupidly, you cannot pre-set a time to stop charging.  So I use a 13 A outdoor socket that I can control by WiFi.  A commando socket would be better but I would have to be able to control it to turn it off when my cheap charging period ends.      

QrizB

Reed_Richards said:

I use a 13 A outdoor socket that I can control by WiFi.  A commando socket would be better but I would have to be able to control it to turn it off when my cheap charging period ends.      

You could potentially use a WiFi RCBO to switch the 32A circuit. Something like this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/126646066168

Just an example not a recommendation, it could be an entirely inappropriate model!

Solarchaser

That's a strange thing in this day and age Reed.
Even the nearly 10 year old leaf has a start and stop time on the charger, and Tesla does also, id have just assumed there would be one on every EV with the acceptance that people are going to charge on off peak rates. (It's why you should never assume)

Me personally, I'm confident in my house wiring as I've rewired it myself, and I have a 10mmT&E cable going from the consumer unit on a 50a trip (not through an rcd /rcbo) to a small consumer unit mounted on the outside wall which does the charger and my outside sockets.

In your situation I'd be very tempted by QrizB 's suggestion there.
Ebay/amazon seem to have a few options of them too.

Reed_Richards

I agree that the lack of an off timer is really strange and stupid and, I presume, common to all Vauxhall electric cars.

Here is how you set the start time and can't do anything else: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx_50fBozrU

Heedtheadvice

That is odd Reed. I assume they expect that once you start charging you will only want to stop when full!

Solar...are you saying you have a current overload trip but no earth leakage trip?.......fizzzz

QrizB

QrizB said:

Reed_Richards said:

I use a 13 A outdoor socket that I can control by WiFi.  A commando socket would be better but I would have to be able to control it to turn it off when my cheap charging period ends.      

You could potentially use a WiFi RCBO to switch the 32A circuit. Something like this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/126646066168

Just an example not a recommendation, it could be an entirely inappropriate model!

This site gives me far too many bad ideas ...

I've just ordered one of these for my outdoor socket (the circuit's already RCD protected). Will let you know if it's any good when it arrives:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006982502120.html

(There are cheaper versions that are app-controlled, but I wanted a Zigbee one to match my other smart stuff.)

Solarchaser

Heedtheadvice said:

That is odd Reed. I assume they expect that once you start charging you will only want to stop when full!

Solar...are you saying you have a current overload trip but no earth leakage trip?.......fizzzz

No, no, just i don't have the outdoor box connected to the main CU through an RCD, but the outside box has its own RCD very similar to this one:-

https://www.screwfix.com/p/british-general-fortress-5-module-2-way-populated-garage-consumer-unit/453VF?gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAx9q6BhCDARIsACwUxu7bgr0TR37csjexrKzG5WRTB2TLV0Rs9kACSRIQs6FZ9r6zSUHPBe8aAkGEEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Heedtheadvice

Solarchaser said:

Heedtheadvice said:

That is odd Reed. I assume they expect that once you start charging you will only want to stop when full!

Solar...are you saying you have a current overload trip but no earth leakage trip?.......fizzzz

No, no, just i don't have the outdoor box connected to the main CU through an RCD, but the outside box has its own RCD very similar to this one:-

https://www.screwfix.com/p/british-general-fortress-5-module-2-way-populated-garage-consumer-unit/453VF?gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAx9q6BhCDARIsACwUxu7bgr0TR37csjexrKzG5WRTB2TLV0Rs9kACSRIQs6FZ9r6zSUHPBe8aAkGEEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Phew! I just pictured your hair standing up on it's ends ...

Martyn1981

I swing both ways.  

Rapid charger overnight in the lowest 6 months of PV generation, then granny charge during the better 6 months, off PV. But, if I'm going to be charging for more than an hour, then I turn the granny (actually the Tesla) down to 8A, just in case.*

When we wired up the side extension with a ring main, we put in a second ring that only feeds the outside sockets, one at the front, and one at the back.

We have had the Tesla (back in 2020/2021 when Covid prevented the install of the rapid charger), dial down the charging rate, saying that the charger was getting hot. Another reason why I drop an amp or two.

*This may change this coming year as we have the DC side batts, so the inverter can supply 3.68kW (plus any generation from our front PV system). So may well use the fast charger, but dial the amps down to say 10A-15A to avoid any day rate import. So granny may get to have a rest.


Oops, forgot extension leads. Not recommended, but we've used them in a few situations where the granny is too short. But used 13A extenion leads, unwound (of course), and amps dialed down.