The Lemon Fool

I have a plug-in hybrid car, which seems to need 10kw to fully charge the battery, and charges in about 5 hours at about 2kw/h. I use Octopus Go with cheap units 00:30 to 04:30 so it will mostly charge on cheap units if I haven’t emptied the battery. I’m using a 3-pin 13A domestic plug charger (sometimes known as a ‘granny charger’). I know granny chargers are not a long term solution. But for the moment it’s a workable solution.

I am looking to get a home EV charger, for a quicker charge, and maybe get Octopus’ “Intelligent” tariff. The costs of getting and installing a home EV charger have to make sense. I’ve hit a problem in that my house has (unfortunately) an 80A supply (not the usual 100A supply) and I’m on a loop with a neighbour (I can hear sharp intake of breath).

I am learning that EV chargers require permission from the distributor (in my case Electricity North West, ENWL).

A local EV installer has looked at my 80A supply, the loop, my consumer unit and started using lots of long words like diversity and load balancing, and quite large amounts of money. The installer has proposed a solution with load balancing and diversity to ENWL but this doesn’t seem to have been satisfactory.

ENWL also recommend upgrading the supply which will mean (someone, probably me) paying for a trench from the road to my house and the neighbours with cost and disruption, which isn’t swinging the cost equation in favour of a home EV charger.

Apparently, there are 7.2kw EV chargers that you can reduce the supply to 3.6kw, but still no joy with ENWL. Nor the fact that I have a 10kw shower, and oven etc which would be far more than the EV charger, but no joy there either. Rules are rules ....

I’ve read about something in the car manual called a Green’up socket which seems to charge at 16A, instead of the 10A granny charger, but I’m told they aren’t available any more.

I suppose I’m looking for a plug that will give a bit more than 2.3kw/h, but won’t incur the requirement to apply to ENWL. But maybe I’m quite out of luck in that respect.

Does anyone have any innovative suggestions, or been in this position?

TIA

yorkshirelad1 wrote:I’ve read about something in the car manual called a Green’up socket which seems to charge at 16A, instead of the 10A granny charger, but I’m told they aren’t available any more.

I suppose I’m looking fo
TIA

OK, I can't comment upon the charging.

However a STANDARD single socket is supposed to be 13A, Some 30% higher than you state. In old school that's a 3 bar electric fire.

Now caravans, unlike electric fires, are expected to support a bit more demand. Their plug is design to accept a current draw of 16A.

BTW, we are talking plugs here. Your standard electric shower draws a LOT more. Plugs are actually the issue. However, for safeties sake things are restricted to the weakest point.

TBH - and YMMV - the entire scenario seems like a perfect storm of "too much hassle".

I'd be getting rid of the EVC and get a unleaded, fuel efficient replacement. Seems the least hassle and cheapest medium term option. And won''t hack my neighbours off to boot.

Cost wise it really isn't worth it until your neighbour also wants the same and you go the whole hog.

Urbandreamer wrote:Now caravans, unlike electric fires, are expected to support a bit more demand. Their plug is design to accept a current draw of 16A.

That was my thought - also known as a commando socket. Waterproof, and can be fed directly from your distribution board on a 4mm cable and available as (IIRC) 16A or 32A. Out of interest, how do you stop your car charging at 15A or whatever now?

yorkshirelad1 wrote: Nor the fact that I have a 10kw shower,

There's the solution, fit a commando socket in your shower and run a lead out of the bathroom window

Paul

yorkshirelad1 wrote: I’ve hit a problem in that my house has (unfortunately) an 80A supply (not the usual 100A supply) and I’m on a loop with a neighbour (I can hear sharp intake of breath).

TIA

Our Zappi charger has a current transformer which measures the house incomer current. I have the maximum charging current set to 40 amps to protect the house main fuse. See power chart below. The charging current reduces to zero as the house draw approaches 40 amps.

yorkshirelad1 wrote:
I am learning that EV chargers require permission from the distributor (in my case Electricity North West, ENWL).

Does anyone have any innovative suggestions, or been in this position?

Talk to ENWL - I asked them what it would cost to move to a 3-phase supply in order to install an EV charger and have later capacity to run a heat pump setup. Their reply was that they had a budget for that stuff, and they charged me nothing. They supplied schematics for how they wanted the trench to be setup, and left me to get it dug. I'm in deepest suburbia, and the trench was only 5 meters, so in the end I dug it myself. They might also be keen to get you off a looped supply.

As an aside, part of the schematic was a yellow warning tape to be laid 10cm above the conduit carrying the cable. So 5 meters of tape - I have some 145 meters spare, for which I haven't yet thought of a use. If you have a use for some, give me a shout.

Many thanks for all the comments, ideas, information and suggestions. Very helpful and enlightening.