dspp wrote:BobbyD wrote:Howard wrote:Any suggestions for the ideal charger installation would be appreciated.
Have you looked in to how much charging the car is expected to need given expected use? A three pin plug may be sufficient for your needs, especially in a multi-car household.Howard wrote:As a non electrician I have a feeling that the chargers being offered are over complicated as I believe charging times etc can all be set by the car's software......
...Looking at Electric Car owners discussion boards it's relatively easy to get a charger installed next to the power supply but as soon as detached garages are involved the costs mount.
...I've written this post to highlight some of the issues about transition to an electric car - hope the comments are helpful.
In all fairness Howard this appears to be a feature of the cost of electrical work in the UK which is unlikely to be a factor for most BEV users, or for those who should they decide it is their preferred solution can't afford it, and as such whilst understandably annoying probably isn't going to have a massive impact on BEV adoption.
Howard,
Indeed, half of these costs are due to the cost of any qualified technical tradesperson in the UK, combined with the physics/engineering cost of running a lengthy bit of high current cable*. Re the cost of the charger itself there are a number of things going on. 1) A fight between car companies and electrical companies for control, with not all car companies seeing things the same way; 2) a fight between the householder and the electricity company for control. I have previously pointed out how to do it as cheaply as reasonably possible whilst remaining code-compliant, but that means you won't get the bells & whistles of cheap tariffs. Really you have to make a choice.
regards, dspp
* It would be best if all houses/roads/etc being built today had the relevant cabling installed from birth. Unfortunately not so.
Yes, thank you for your comments. And, yes I have looked back at your suggestions for the simplest charging connections. For anyone else interested they are here : viewtopic.php?p=358829#p358829
Now that I'm seriously considering changing to a BEV, I must admit that I understand your comments about the conflict between cars, energy suppliers, charger suppliers and government agencies better.
Forgive me if I rehash your advice as an "electrical layman" now I think I understand it better.
Energy suppliers' websites push their apps for controlling charging. But BEVs have more sophisticated apps which better control how much charge goes into the car battery. These two apps will almost certainly conflict. Also energy suppliers push their chosen chargers and installers who set prices high because they can get an OLEV grant for the consumer. The energy suppliers car tariffs also place constraints on the consumer. For example Octopus have only a four hour window for their lower overnight car charging tariff. This means that a powerful charger must be used if the battery needs a serious top up in a short time.
This question must be asked: is it environmentally sensible to change to Octopus, be forced to have a virtually new electricity meter removed and replaced by a different smart meter, then to have a new car charger installed to handle the power required to match their tariff? Lots of diesel van driving involved to achieve this.
So if we go ahead with a BEV, as a second car it seems sensible to follow your suggestion and go with a simple 16amp or 32amp type 2 socket installation. This means a lower cost installation and no conflicting app required from the energy company!
Hope this is helpful to anyone else considering a BEV. Correct me if I'm wrong!
regards
Howard