Reply With QuoteI'd be keen to know this as well for the same reasons as your good self.
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Hi all,
I've done a search and not found anything that specifically covers this off, so hoping there will be some advice on the forum!
I've recently ordered a Tesla Model 3 (long range) and need to arrange a home charging point. I'm aware there can be quite long waits on these which is fine in the short term, as I have lots of chargers locally and work right next to a Supercharger location.
My question is more around which charging point to get? There seem to be so many options but it's not clear to me what the difference is between them.
Things that are important to me are:
Fast charging
Smart features (i.e app I can use to set timer for car charging, perhaps this can be done directly with the Tesla app?)
Aesthetically looks nice :)
Is future-proofed as I'm likely to get a 2nd electric car (so are any wall-boxes able to charge 2 cars or do you need 2 x wall-boxes)
The list so far:
Tesla v3
Ohme
Podpoint
Zappi
EO Mini Pro 2
Hypervolt
But I'm sure there are many more!
Any guidance, experience, and tips welcome (aside from a general discussion on whether EVs are good/bad/evil/wonderful as there are plenty of threads covering that!)
Cheers,
John
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I'd be keen to know this as well for the same reasons as your good self.
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Also going through the same process.
I have found a local installer who has mentioned Wallbox is discreet looking. Hypervolt was also recommended.
I have seen that C-TEK can charge two cars. However, that is double the price of a normal charger so I don't think I will go for it. If I ever get a second EV I will install a second charger at the other side of the drive.
I found this site useful:
https://www.mrcharger.co.uk/ev-charg...c-ev-charging/
My Zappi has been flawless and integrates perfectly with my solar panels to direct electricity where it’s best used
As an Octopus customer, I got an Ohme charger for £199 (what they now call the Go) and then had it installed connecting into a Commando socket, all inside an outdoor enclosure, it integrates with my car API and I would assume it does the same with a Tesla.
Maximum charge output is 7kW which I believe is typical for home. Using the app is painless, setting up was straightforward. I have no complaints. I use the smart charging features (you set a 'mileage required by this time' in the app, you can limit the maximum unit rate so it will only charge during off peak, and you tell it your electricity tariff to support this.
In the almost two years I have had mine, it has worked really well and where I have had a problem, their customer support has been good. It has on occasion been problematic contacting my car, but I suspect this is more down to the car manufacturers service than Ohme.
Since I received my Ohme charger in late 2019, I believe their terms have been updated to reflect some kind of ongoing fee for the GSM connectivity cost, so worth factoring that in if you haven't already.
Happy to answer any questions.
If you are not with Octopus but look to move to take advantage of their Go cheap overnight tariff for EV's, let me know as we can both get an account credit if you were to use my referral code.
This YouTube channel is worth watching. This playlist should be all of his EV charger vids in one place:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL...1ohQg-2TgVZJ34
I have 3, 2 at home and one at work.
First installation was a Zappi, its in the garage and hardly used. Cost me more to fit with a grant than the two below...
Next was a Tesla charger on a pole next to my parking spot, second hand tesla charger on ebay for £180, simple installation by a qualified electrician.
Third was at work, second hand pod point 7kw wall box for £150, installed an armoured cable off a 40A breaker, took 2 hours works flawlessly.
A lot of people trying to charge the earth, get a reliable charger new or used and get a suitably qualified electrician to fit.
Don't bother with all the smart features unless you have solar or otherwise and wish to manage that in which case the Zappi is good.
You can programme when the car charges within the vehicle. 99% of the time you will come home plug in and forget about it. On the occasions you want to see charge speed or charge state the Tesla app will give you all you want.
We have a Pod Point charger and that works well. We have it to charge between 00:30 and 04:30 as we are on the Octopus go electric tariff (5p/kWh during those hours). We have 2 electric cars so it was easier to program the charger than both cars, plus when I tried to program my e-tron it didn’t allow you to set start and finish times, only the time that you wanted the car to be charged by and it would then work out the best time to charge.
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Welcome to the club!Originally Posted by Strnglwhank
Thank you - I have just been looking at both and I like them! Hypervolt seems slightly nicer design-wise.Thanks, I've seen a lot of good things about Zappi and think my neighbour has one so will give him a shout.Cheers Andy, I have messaged Octopus to see what the deal is and will PM you if I go ahead. My only concern with getting them to fit the charger would be time - I think as a national outfit they might have a long lead time.This is brilliant, thank you!
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If you have a Tesla don't unerestimate the usefullness of the button on the charger to lock/unlock the charge port.
If I was choosing again I think I would get a Tesla charger and be done with it, I got a Garo 2 headed charger in the end for future usefulness at home and use an EV Charge King cable.
If you want something non-Tesla then I would go non-tethered and you can then use the cable that comes with your car and/or upgrade to a charge king cable in the future.
I was recommended to go tethered and that is what we have at work which is handy as means don't have to get the cable out of the car, given you have to use the app to start the charge (to stop anyone else using it).
For home use I would look at a way to get the Tesla functionality.
Now that is interesting! Thank you for sharing, that's something I'll look at - had not considered buying 2nd hand. One thing is that being from Scotland I benefit from an additional home charger grant of £250 so the cost is really not too heavy for charger and installation.I have looked at Pod Point but seem to have mixed reviews. As above have already looked into Octopus tariff which seems like a good way to go!Yes thanks, on one of the Tesla forums it seems to be commonly accepted that the Tesla chargers are expensive and don't seem to offer much beyond looks and that all-important button!
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Whichever you choose, make sure it’s 32amp as there are 16amp chargers out there. 32amp will give you 7kw charging (if your car is capable) whilst 16amp will only charge at 3.5kw.
I have a tethered type1 charger and would generally suggest that untethered is better but, given that even Nissan now use type2, I think it’s fairly safe to say that all new cars will now come with a type2 socket so a tethered type2 is probably the best option.
Cheers Dave - I'm definitely going with 32amp tethered with 7kw. I have Phase 1 power supply so that fits with my existing setup. Having spoken to a really helpful guy at one of the installation companies this morning, I feel a bit better informed!
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I've got a MyEnergi Zappi v2 (i.e. the current generation) to charge my ID.3, along with the associated Hub that's required for "smart" features.
I've also got solar panels and a MyEnergi Eddi solar diverter that heats my hot water with any left over generated electricity. Unsurprisingly, I bought all this because of the integration that this system allows.
I've been impressed with MyEnergi's support - the cable lock was a little bit lazy, no arguments, new part was in the post. They've been pretty proactive in dealing with shortcomings in the firmware of various cars (Volkswagen's ID.3 series that I have, and Teslas have certainly come up time and again on the forum), which is a good sign too.
Thumbs up from me.
Zappi are also a growing British company and it’s always nice to support those
I presume you have an existing hot water system using electric ?
I am just about to recurve and EV and I am installing PV solar so looking at how I use any spare power, but I have gas based hot water….
Combi boiler or a hot water cylinder?
If you have a cylinder then in some cases you can retrofit an immersion heater and then this uses the excess electric
This is what I did - I have no idea why the first owners of the house, who also installed the solar, didn’t do this at the time
So what does this special button do? I don’t get it!
It opens the charging flap.
I have had my Model 3 for over a year now and installed the Tesla charger and cannot fault it. Like you smart charging was not important and our previous energy suppliers app worked very well with added scheduling for depart and letting them chose the charging times gave me 400 miles per month FOC.
Happy to chat if required bud.
Pitch
I’ve just gone for a Hypervolt based on reviews and looks. No need for an earth rod and available in black, white and grey. Anderson are also nice looking units but a lot more expensive.
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Garage being reroofed to accommodate charger for my ioniq 5 I’ve got on order.
Got loads of questions TBH about getting installation and also electric tariffs. Current climate seems hard to change supplier and I don’t have a meter that will allow differential in Day/Night charging. Will watch the above video and come back, this post is very timely for me!
Podpoint or zappi - go tethered
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Sorry, bit slow replying here. I've got PV solar, and the MyEnergi Eddi (https://myenergi.com/product/eddi/) which uses the electric immersion element to heat the hot water, but I also have a gas boiler.
For most of the year I don't need to use the boiler at all - no need for heating and the excess generation from the PV is fed to the Eddi and is more than enough to supply hot water for the house and charge the car.
In winter, the boiler goes on, but the Eddi is left to do what it can. Towards the end of the day I use the boiler to boost the hot water back up to avoid any cold showers if there's been a run of several dark/wet days. If the days have been bright enough, then the boiler doesn't have much to do, so it still reduces the amount of gas to burn.
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