Installing a electric charging port at home

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81985464#Comment_81985464

Pretty sure the answer is NO, conversion is done by the car.

Granny just has the facility to reduce amps drawn.

Reed_Richards

Charger every time.

But aren't you are making a false comparison, @born_again ? To my mind the comparison should be between Octopus Go, which you can use with a granny charger and Intelligent Octopus Go, which you can only use with a granny charger if you have the right car. I have a Vauxhall EV and it's not compatible with IOG.

Cornucopia

Granny chargers, wall boxes and public slow chargers all supply AC current, which I understand is at mains voltage.

Hence the American "Type 1" charger is 120V AC, but the "Type 2" charger (which all of the above use) is 240V AC.

The car converts this AC current to DC to use it to charge the batteries.

QrizB

Granny chargers, wall boxes and public slow chargers all supply AC current, which I understand is at mains voltage.

Correct. A plugin charger and a home wallbox both do the same thing, which is tell the onboard AC-to-DC charger that there's AC available and how much current it's allowed to pull.

Everything else is left up to the car.

They're a bit niche, but you can buy plugin chargers with 32A plugs which (when used with a 32A supply) would give you the same charge speed as a home wallbox.

MWT

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81985478#Comment_81985478

Sometimes names can be misleading, the only charger is the one built into the car, everything else is Electronic Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE).

The amps drawn is a part of the negotiation between the EV and the EVSE when the charging session begins and can be affected by settings on the EV or the EVSE, or both.

FreeBear

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81985429#Comment_81985429

Unfortunately, the cable used to connect a wall charger to the consumer unit also carries a (for the want of a better word), data. This "data" is from a current sensor hooked round the primary tail from the electricity meter. This allows the charger to throttle back on charging current if you happen to turn on another high current device (e.g. electric shower or ASHP) - Note. Not all chargers support load throttling.

Fortunately, SWA EV cable is available - You may need to go to 6mm², which gets expensive.

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81985497#Comment_81985497

Mines a Kia e-Niro, which is not compatible with IOG. Get a compatible charger & any car is.

That is one thing I always ask when people ask which charger to get. "What tariff are you going to use", as they can have different compatible chargers.

A compatible charger to your tariff, means that changing cars is not a problem 👍

What's false about comparing (IOG) my tariff, against the variable? If you would like to compare "GO" against variable, please do as a comparison.👍

Would be interesting to see how many kWh difference there is to break even.

redped

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81985747#Comment_81985747

While some installers use SWA EV cable, others use standard SWA cable and run a second (thinner) data cable beside the SWA, which brings the cost down - although as you say, 6mm² SWA may be required.

This is how my charger is connected, and you'd need to look closely to see the second cable.

lohr500

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81985747#Comment_81985747

Thanks for explaining this. I wasn't aware of the overall home current monitoring aspect.

Reed_Richards

What's false about comparing (IOG) my tariff, against the variable?

Nothing as such @born_again, you are putting forward an argument why an EV tariff is better than a variable tariff and showing, in your example, that unless the EV does very few miles indeed then EV tariff works out cheaper. My house is all-electric and I can shift enough electricity use to overnight that an EV tariff would be cheaper for me, even if I didn't have an EV to charge. But with my granny charger I could still use Octopus Go and even Intelligent Octopus Go if I had the right car. So I don't see why your comparison is relevant to whether or not you should install an electric charging point.