TESLA EV CHARGER vs FRONIUS WATTPILOT Review

[@SmartEnergyLab]

Another excellent presentation. Thanks Mark for making the complicated simple.

[@mcelectrical]

Thanks Glen!

[@brettoau84]

I went with the Tesla Gen3 $1000 installed, 32amp single phase. Got ChargeHQ running fine with my Sungrow invertor and iSolarCloud.

[@nathanthomasrecruiter]

You are bloody awesome man - O love the tests you do - its such valuable information. I wish you were working in SA - love to pay it forward and use you guys

[@mcelectrical]

Thanks mate!

[@saifmansoorgiki]

What happens in case wifi is down ? Does froniuos keep working with solar vs charge hq not being able to communicate or will both stop solar charging ?

[@davidunwin7868]

Thanks. I learnt a lot about the Fronius Charger that I didn't know! Looking forward to the zappy review.

[@henvan8737]

Re the Tesla Gen-3 charger. Charge HQ is wrong in stating the relay in the Tesla wall charger will burn out thru constant connection and disconnection when used with a Tesla. As you have seen the Model-3 ramps up the charging process in a very controlled manner. The same is true when disconnecting, the on board charge controller ramps down the charging process before instructing the wall connector to open the main relay.

[@twinrotors]

So to be clear, are you comparing three phase charging options only? Is the single phase pilot far more restrictive in charge performance?

[@markcavanagh]

Good question. Both of these chargers will work on single or three phase. Single phase will be limited to 7kw vs the 11kw (depending on the ev) if you use 3 phase.

[@twinrotors]

@@markcavanagh thanks! Worth mentioning you need to buy the 22kw charger if you want 7kw capacity for single phase… All Wattpilots can be wired as single or 3-phase. Confusingly the 11 kW version will only charge at a maximum of 3.68 kW if it is on a single phase. If you only have single-phase you must buy the 22 kW version to charge at 7 kW

[@markcavanagh]

@@twinrotors yes great point. I was going to mention 3 phase but the content was getting a bit too long. Most of our customers don’t know what three phase means, so I’m planning to tackle that topic in another video.

[@rvecranges]

Brilliant review. Thank you very much.

[@mcelectrical]

Glad it was helpful!

[@justcruisin109]

Tesla does have a charge on excess feature but you have to have a Powerwall 2, a Tesla car and a Tesla charger so it won’t be useful for too many I expect. Additionally the feature is still to be released in Australia but has been released in the US. Cheers

[@mcelectrical]

Interesting, Tesla told me it “may be in a future update” but I didn’t realise it was already in the US. Hopefully they come out with an affordable consumption monitor that can communicate with the charger.

[@justcruisin109]

@@mcelectrical You may know better but I think the Powerwall is the consumption meter given it measures current flow in both directions. The car software needed is 2023.26.1 and the gateway software is 23.12.10 - I have these but it’s not enabled as yet for Oz. Don’t know whether there are regulatory requirements or what.

[@arthurbradley5843]

@@justcruisin109 I use Charge HQ to run on sun. Charge HQ gets its info from my Gateway controlling my Powerwall 2. Works fine. I don't think it takes 18 min to switch off and on when clouds arrive.

[@justcruisin109]

@@arthurbradley5843 Yes I use it too - it’s fairly configurable and is very good at using my solar excess to charge the car. I’ve not timed it but I think the on/off with cloud cover only takes a few minutes. Cheers

[@markcavanagh]

@@justcruisin109 I agree it’s good at using surplus solar, it’s not perfect, but it’s good. Charge HQ state the figures of the on off delay on their website. I tested it and that’s how it worked at the time for me. But, these things always evolve. Charge HQ wasn’t charging for subscription when i was testing!

[@forzer456]

Is there any difference between the go and the fixed version besides the go being portable. Also to get the excess solar features for an ev charger (fronius or zappi) do you also have to pair the inverter with a smart consumption monitor? In this video with the fronius system you only mention the fronius inverter and wattpiolt does that mean you don’t need the smart meter to still get monitoring?

[@mcelectrical]

Yes, only difference is a plug top. The Wattpilot needs a Fronius inverter and smart meter to work on solar surplus. The zappy has its own consumption meter that is an optional extra.

[@forzer456]

@@mcelectrical thanks, do you find they are the same or do you have a preference? also is the zappi the more budget friendly one. Looking forward to your zappi video.

[@scorch76mail]

​@@mcelectricalcan a catch power relay be used instead of the fronius smart meter in this situation

[@unners]

@@scorch76mail Did you ever find an answer to this?

[@chevron916]

I haven’t located your review of the Zappi charger. Do you still intend to review it?

[@mcelectrical]

It’s just being edited now. Will be published in a week.

[@chevron916]

@@mcelectrical look forward to it

[@dangraham949]

Another great video. Did I imgine that "Excess solar charging to your car was not available in QLD."? Was that correct, but now changed?

[@mcelectrical]

We’ve got an ev charging in QLD but I think you may have dreamed that one! The issue that will change soon, is we can only *usually* charge at 20 amps single phase, but the will change very soon with dynamic control. :)

[@dangraham949]

@@mcelectrical Great. You guys installed my solar system, so I'll call you soon about the charger. Cheers

[@stanmoderate4460]

Good timing for me, just about to order a Tesla Model Y. I look forward to the Zappi review in order to finalise my choice!

[@mcelectrical]

I better work a bit harder on that one then :)

[@guringai]

We use the Charge HQ app & are happy with that. On our MY. & Tesla 3 phase charger. Mainly though we charge when sunny (& when Amber Electric tariffs are extremely low on weekends) Super happy with this combo

[@stanmoderate4460]

@@guringai Thanks for that! 👍

[@allmylifesacycle]

Thanks for another i formative video. I'm considering getting a EV charger and also looking at changing electricity provider. As part of the whole process I'm trying to determine if I already have a smart meter. I had a new meter installed several years ago when we had solar installed. The model of the meter is EM1200. Is this a smart meter?

[@mcelectrical]

No worries! Em1200 isn’t a smart meter. I point out a potential issue with that meter in this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/j4urhJpslsRkrs0

[@irwinlowe9784]

Great info. I wasn’t even aware of the tesla. We’re on 2 phase with a fronius inverter on each running ‘independently’. Do you think it’s possible to connect the wattpilot up so that it draws from the excess solar from both inverters?

[@mcelectrical]

Hey Irwin, yeh I’m sure you could do that if you have a 3phase consumption monitor. (There is no 2 phase consumption monitor)

[@markcavanagh]

I think i understand your question. It isn’t simply an on or off switch, but rather it increases or decreases the power in 1 amp or 3 amp intervals. I do like the idea of being brand agnostic, that’s my next review… the zappy!

[@natalwala]

Impressive comparision. Wondering if you have done zappy review and what you think about it.

[@mcelectrical]

Hmm yes. I have done the review. Not published yet cause I’m taking with Zappi. In short, Zappi looks like it was made by me (a sparkie) and one of my engineering mates from high school. We are both very proud.

[@natalwala]

😊thanks. Thats great to know. Yes i also feel its very flexible and you can configure the way you want.

[@mcelectrical]

Ha, sorry I think you missed my sarcasm. It’s a pretty bad design. It’s overheating and derating. Components are undersized and design is elementary.

[@natalwala]

@@mcelectrical oh...ok :). Then i will wait for your full review before making a decision

[@mcelectrical]

@natal, a lot depends on your requirements? What car? (Eg how fast can your car charge on AC charging) Do you have a single phase or 3 phase home? How much solar do you you have?

[@timm5997]

Wanted to get the wattpilot in Nz but the pricing was rediculous. 3700 nzd vs 1500 for the Tesla charger. This is more than any other wall charger I know of in NZ.

[@mcelectrical]

Wow, the difference in Australia is much less than that. The Tesla charger is good, but you need a Tesla battery and car to use it as a smart charger. Have you looked at EVNex? It’s a great stand alone smart charger, and from NZ.

[@tzetv]

Can’t wait for Fronius to release a bidirectional charge for V2H

[@mcelectrical]

I haven’t heard about that being part of the roadmap for fronius, have you heard something?

[@kaiwuthenow827]

1:05 top left insert, water on the carport floor... is your Kia losing cooling liquid ;)

[@mcelectrical]

Ha ha, that’s actually slightly up hill- not sure what that is. But, ironically there is a crazy story around this moment that one day I’ll be able to tell.

[@typxxilps]

5:20 not being a Fronius expert but is that really right ? Isn't it rather so that the charger simply gets a signal like other SG ready devices for example water heatpumps? Or is there more going on regarding what charging speed the wattpilot is able to deliver ? I would guess that the Wattpilot is a bit smart(er). We use here Pulsar Plus from the manufacturer Wallbox and the EVCC software that can run different wallboxes with different inverters brand independently . THat gives everyone the biggest autonomy and brings people out of the brand lock or brand cage. The app has all the reporting and access control too and it was by far the cheapest 11 kW charger available for back then 250€ incl. 19% VAT which would equal about 400 australian $ plus 40$ for a raspberry pi or nothing cause we could integrate it in our home assistant home automation, so no additional hardware needed. Software is open source and free, made in germany with a huge community that all suffered the samae issues different inverters and chargers that need to work together for surplus charging or sharing the surplus energy based on priority rules with other devices like a second wallbox or even a heatpump.

[@markcavanagh]

Yes, so probably the way you are explaining it is more correct. The smart meter tells the inverter how much it it exporting. The inverter sends a signal to the charger on which rate to charge at. Is that what you mean?

[@user-d6b5o9]

You can just buy a cable, that has a integrated Chip hoch is able to open the Tesla Chargecape

[@jordansage9655]

The best EV charger is…..plain Nema 14-50 outlet. Don’t pay for chargers, they’re useless additions.

[@TechnoMonkeyFarm]

Was going to buy an Evnex… I have a Fronius inverter so looks like Wattpilot could be a better option..

[@mcelectrical]

Yeh, the Wattpilot is a great option if you have a Fronius inverter.

[@TechnoMonkeyFarm]

@@mcelectrical It only chargers to 3.68kW on single phase?

[@markcavanagh]

No, it will charge at 7kw (32amps) on single phase

[@TechnoMonkeyFarm]

@@markcavanagh Will the cheaper 11J do that?

[@alexgretel3490]

just don’t purchase the 11kw watt pilot

[@mcelectrical]

Yeh that isn’t a great option even if you have 3 phase. I’m assuming cars will be able to charge faster than 11 kw soon enough

[@borex379]

promo sm