Why do I NEED a home charger for my electric car? | Electrifying

[@JohnBright-wi4ce]

I have done 20,000km in 15 months and used a trickle charger exclusively, except for two weekend trips to Sunshine coast where I topped up with a 50kW DC charger.

[@JoriDiculous]

Honestly i have no idea but a wild guess would be to charge at home.

[@boethiusm8438]

To charge what? Could you please be specific

[@jackroutledge352]

Well yes, but you could just plug it into an outdoor 13amp socket. Which is what I do.

[@roberthaggas8164]

​@jackroutledge352 Well yes, I did the same initially. As pointed out in the video drawing 2.3 kW on a domestic socket for 8, 10, 12 hours at a time is not ideal.

[@ObiePaddles]

Honestly, i have no idea why you said this but a wild guess would be that you didn’t watch or understand the video before you wrote this comment.

[@Bournethorpe]

The main reason why I have a Zappi 7 kW charger is to make best use of output from my solar panels, and to minimise importing from the grid. It has three settings: Fast, Eco and Eco+. The fast setting will charge at 7 kW, obviously using any solar energy available but getting the extra from the grid, 100% overnight. The Eco setting will roughly use equal amounts from the panels and the grid, whilst the Eco+ setting will make full use of all the solar energy that we are not using in the house up to 5 Kw, and will pause whenever the solar output falls below 1.4 kW.

[@MartinzW]

The safety reason deserves a deeper look: * The load will depend on the control unit (the granny charger) and the vehicle - often with adjustable amps so speed of charging can vary, * The sockets in your home may not be rated for the chosen kW load but you can double check as, often on sockets, it's stated, ** To add to this point, sockets have to have ground, otherwise control box will report error, ** The presented control unit has a built in fuse in the plug - in UK fuses are used almost in every connection so it's relatively safe in case of overcurrent, ** If you home wiring looks shabby or is not rated for many kW, reduce the amps on control unit, * Sockets not designed for use of high load for extended period of time is only true if it significantly heats up which may indicate socket is not designed for the load in the first place or faulty connection. The only safety concern that should have been raised is the risk of how users may use it: * control unit with cable is hanging from socket with full weight causing improper connection, heating up the socket and depennding on your breakers could lead to melting socket and burning. * Extension cord is used while it's rolled up, causing it to heat up and then damage depends on breakers, * it's laying on ground and your new puppy likes chewing cables. Getting a wall box likely means an electrician sets it up so less risk of user error. Or you could just hide a granny unit in a box mounted on a wall while ensuring all connections are safely in place. The only practical reason to have wallbox then is potentially increased charging speed depending on the car, more control and aesthetics.

[@pmholling]

The biggest issue is that 'granny chargers' don't have PEN fault protection. Since EVs are not isolated they can present a significant shock hazard in every of an Earth-Neurtal fault

[@duncanbuchanan218]

I think the EV industry is missing "a trick". An EV rated 13a socket makes sense for many people. Anyone doing higher mileage would probably need the 7.5kw charger, but if you are simply topping up from 40% to 80% when you need to with say a Niro 64kw you would only need to charge every 3 or 4 nights (based on 8,000 miles pa). I can see how using the granny can work for many people. So, maybe its worth pointing out to people that if they are a low mileage driver that they may not need to blow £1,000 on having a charger fitted, a well located 13a socket may be all thats needed.

[@NZherewecome]

I fitted mine myself, just needed the sparky to check and sign it off. Obviously he fitted the RCD/MCB in the unit also. We have our BYD set to charge from 10pm only, and our cheap rate kicks in from 11pm 0.12cents per KW and our hour of free power set for 10-11pm. Our full 68kw battery is normally about $6 for 420ish kms. We’re NZ btw

[@OldManTony]

The main reason to get a home charger is to spend a load more money, that can take years to recoup, and it keeps electricians in work. The average £1100 for an installation will give you 40 or 50 full charges at a Tesla Supercharger or around 10,000 miles.

[@vhol93]

Agree 100% with stated reasons!

[@wonderonegaz]

There is an alternate option half the cost of a wallbox but still 7kw. That's a CCE connection, such as the cable available from Jolt. The regulations permit use of interlocking CCE connections for special applications, of which charging an EV is. Simply getting an electrician to connect up an interlocked CCE socket plus a 32A CCE to type 2 cable costs half what a wallbox does (around £500), yet gives you the same capability as a £1,000 charger and ability to charge at 7KW.

[@phuketexplorer]

A CCE socket can be bought on line for less than £5! And no doubt cheap chargers from China will soon be available for anyone - unless they live in the US 😄

[@montybarko8461]

This would not comply with the Electric Vehicle Smart charging regulations. It also would not have PEN fault detection (if you have a PME supply, though you could install an earth rod and change this to TT earthing), or meet the requirements for monitoring and adjusting the load as it would have no CT clamp/s monitoring the house load at the supply tails. It is also a requirement to notify the DNO with the specification of the EVSE (EV charger) used. You will also not have CP or PP cores of the EV charge cable doing what they need to do. I.e. tell the car how much load it can take from the EVSE/charger and what conductor size and length of charge cable is used. Bending the rules to do this may be possible as you could try to argue the ceeform/60309 socket could be supplying something other than an ev, but for the above reasons, you might as well fit the correct Electric Vehichle Supply Equipment.

[@mikadavies660]

If you have the opportunity for Off-Street parking, then a proper EV Charging box it will allow you to charge (1) At much much cheaper rates and (2) it safer. It is NOT convenience to use Cheap Rate Charging... A "full tank" of electricity is around £7 to £8... Approx 1/5th the price of a petrol car.

[@Brian-om2hh]

I agree, around £6 to £7 is what I normally pay. I'd like to know where you can fill up a petrol car for £40 though.......

[@mikadavies660]

@Brian-om2hh The 1/5th the cost of petrol is allowing for 150 to 200 miles real world for the £7 or £8 of electric. 200 miles is approx 5 gallons at say £7 per gallon.... Some rounding up here. But filling an BEV is sadly not the same range as filling a petrol tank.

[@phuketexplorer]

I can fill my Yaris for £30, from complety empty. 😄

[@mikadavies660]

@@phuketexplorer Not in England unless your Yaris has a smaller tank than my motorbike....!

[@phuketexplorer]

@@mikadavies660 Correct. I'm in Thailand 😄

[@Singlej13]

But most folk with solar are capped at producing 3.68kW, so a granny charger is better at ensuring all the electricity going into the car is “free” since a wallbox will charge above your solar’s cap, meaning you are importing or paying for approximately 3.5kW per hour. Personally I’ve got both, so I use the granny to save money, and the wallbox when I’m in a rush.

[@davidhumphries3614]

The Zappi has a regular 1.2kW base load, then a great function which puts all the excess solar into the car to maximise the ‘free’ solar.

[@Bournethorpe]

I think the cap of 3.68 kW only applies to older solar panel systems. My 20 panels were installed in May 2022, and in theory they can produce over 6 kW in summer, but output is capped at 5 kW to comply with the Smart Export Guarantee limit. I have a Zappi 7 kW socket from Myenergi, and int has three settings, one "Eco+", which will only use excess solar output that is not being used in our home. I can still get 20 kWh of solar energy into the car on a good day, but it would be less if we use the oven a lot! And on that setting it will take nothing from the grid.

[@stevenjonesnmcc]

Crikey you're a lucky one using the new Evios charger!

[@Kzzz1369]

Are they hard to obtain? I was looking at getting one

[@petergaskin1811]

If you, at any time, draw more than 100A [for most domestic installations], even for a short period of time, it won't matter how clever your charger is, it will still blow the main isolator on your consumer unit. Check first with your electricity supplier that your individual supply and the area supply in the street outside your house is capable of handling the load.

[@ianpalin8318]

Why does no one ever talk about the Hive chargers, not expensive, easy to use and a great install experience.

[@graemeglass7566]

I got one because where I live there are only 2 ev chargers within 1/2 mile, both 7kWh. Plus I have a drive so I can attach the charger to the house. I don't want to tie up a charger for people who live in apartments and can't charge from home. Also I charge overnight at £0.09 per kWh, which saves me money, Roughly £5.40 per 200 miles

[@samuxan]

What if the power company can only supply 4kw max to your house?It's the same using the 3 pin or a proper charger. the dealership gave a free charger as a bonus, 3 years later I haven't installed it because of that

[@jackroutledge352]

You only get 4kw to your entire house? So when you turn on the oven, do the lights go out?

[@samuxan]

@jackroutledge352 gas for the oven. The things that consume the most beside the car is the water heater, the washing machine and the air fryer but that's just 1kw

[@richardhowlett9424]

Talk about arrogance . The worst thing about electric cars , are the holier than thou people that drive them . Millions cannot possibly charge at home , me included in a semi-detached with no driveway or garage.

[@toad008]

Well, if you've got it, flaunt it.

[@patrickh7368]

Understand what you’re saying but there… it is better to have a home charging unit, the grant towards these only works once each car Reg… but over the 4.5 years of EV ownership the EV charging rates have trebled in my area making it pointless being on a day night tariff as also day rates now get hiked ! I would indeed get a sparky expert in to create a separate line via consumer unit and have a industrial 13amp outdoor plug socket fitted and just use this as its going to be a fraction of the cost of a 7kw charge box 🤔

[@markgentry3305]

We use a so called granny plug fitted to an electrician fitted external socket, if we had bought a car charger as recommended on this video, it would take us around 14 years before we broke even , so , we will be sticking with our granny lead thank you.

[@markgentry3305]

We were quoted up to £1600 to have a charger fitted so no thanks .

[@PaulrB1968]

Spent £120 on a 32amp commando socket with isolation and it’s IP rated and guess what, get 7kw from it and car does the smart bit 🤷

[@akf2000]

Didn't know about this! There's a fancy commando to type 2 cable for £240 with a timer but generally, why don't more people know about this?

[@andrewsutton1657]

i looked at this, but for me it's a convenience thing... I have a solar arry, and getting all the systems talking to each other to charge appropriately makes the cost worth it to me. If I didn't have solar, i would just use the 32 commando and suitable connection, and get he car to time when it pulls from the grid off peak...

[@toad008]

You have to run a 40A cable to the distribution box and have a 40A Fuse. You may as well do this and fit a proper fixed 7kW charger.

[@PaulrB1968]

@@akf2000 I’m not sure, I just did some research online and thought this seemed like a more affordable option, I can always go back to a smart charger if I wanted but for what I need it’s fine.

[@johnnyboy7459]

@PaulrB1968. I installed a 32 amp commando socket with upgraded cable from garage to consumer unit. I also bought a Vorsprung portable ev charger(£256) which supplies power to the car from 10A through to 32A. It has built in leakage protection low/over voltage protection, overload and over heating protection. 7 months use now and it works perfectly. it doesn't have a timer but the car takes care of that.

[@King-mitch]

Good to know however if your home is on a loop system you CAN NOT have a charging point at home

[@TheHutchRuns]

Current full charge at a fast charger on the network is approx £70 on Audi RS E-tron GT and yet £7 overnight at your wallbox (depending on tariff), simples!

[@Brian-om2hh]

Although - depending on which charge network you use - subscribing to that network could reduce your charging costs by up to 50%......

[@TheHutchRuns]

@@Brian-om2hh still cheaper to charge at home but that is a good saving if you must use a charge network

[@raymondvaughan6262]

Nice if you can charge at home god help us and the future of driving not all people can government haven't given any thought at all terrace house flats low rise and high rise not very fair on people good job the industry factory's are about blowing smoke out people have heart attack remember people fed their families for working there and now comes to petrol and diesel cars are no good people didn't mind driving there family around in just people listening to the government and what they drill into you

[@RBcymru]

A misleading video with slightly inaccurate information. A domestic socket is designed to supply 8 Amps continuously with a peak of 13 Amps. The socket has a temperature rise specification and can deliver 13 Amps for 4 hours. My Granny charger has different load settings so I can reduce the current thus lowering the temperature rise. Yes the car charges slowly but its perfectly safe at 8 Amps. Many tumble dryers draw close to 13 Amps but normally run for up to 3 hours on a cycle. You would NEVER charge an EV from empty to full as it is recommended you use the battery between 20 and 80% (60% so on 8 Amps would take 18 hours). You can wire any dedicated socket with 32A cable connected directly to your consumer unit and have a 16 Amp RCBO fitted, add a 32A commando socket and it is perfectly safe. You just need to use the Granny charger to top up your EV when its parked outside your home or work. NOT everyone needs a 7kw £1500 charger.

[@joaomonteiro1258]

absolutely, that is my experience too

[@chrisbailey1966]

Some of the benefits are overstated, many cars allow a lower level of charge to be selected at say 8 Amps and if you already have a 'cooker socket' that has a direct feed to the consumer unit too. They only really 'work' if you regularly need to charge from low states of charge in as short a time as possible, however we keep being told that most people's commutes are under 20 miles. When the gov. used to give grants they made more sense and I think they will need to do that again with V2H and/or V2G units that are going to be very expensive (although electric companies may subsidies V2G units). Lower off-peak electric gives the problem that you then try to solve using more Amps, be careful to calculate all the higher 'day' costs too, and not just say it costs the lower rate to fill the car battery.

[@duncanbuchanan218]

8,000 miles pa / 365 days = 22 miles per day. @3.5 miles per kW thats an average of 6.3 kW per day. On a granny about @2kW per hour thats 3 hours a night. Most likely would top up every 3 nights or so if using the granny. Sure, some days are bigger distances than others, but that just means you top up the night before. To some extent this might be influenced by battery size a bit, how efficient the cars is and how its driven - but I can certainly see how a granny can work for many people.

I wish home charger was rather compared to public charging instead of (emergency) granny charger. Quite frankly I can't really see the reason of building a dedicated wall charger. Better have a CEE high load outlet and get a compatible EVSE for the fraction of the price. This you can take when moving or even on long trips (instead of granny charger).

[@evkx]

The reason is simple. This will not be your last EV, and investing in a home EVSE will increase your house value. The emergency EVSE should be in the trunk

@@evkx check what CEE plug is. There are high amp and 3 phase version EVSEs, I for one have a 11kW 3 phase charger that I can carry on trips for my Kona. These you can also leave at home.

[@evkx]

@ I have it on my EVSE (Audi deliver both), but still, much better to have a propper installation.

@@evkx why exactly? This is the answer I tried to get from the video tbh, and admittedly I have only charged once at home my Kona over 1.5 years.

[@montybarko8461]

Because a ceeform/60309 socket outlet would not comply with the Electric Vehicle (Smart charge points) regulations. A ceeform socket outlet does not have the ability to monitor the load of the house and adjust the consumption of evse/ev charger. There are other reasons as well, both for electrical safety and compliance with the above regulations.

[@RBcymru]

Side note NEVER run a Granny charger on an extension lead !!!!

[@barnoslogik]

yeah my neighbour found this out the hard way, to charge his new car. In fact it was me that noticed the smoke coming from the extension, so i had to let him use my allocated parking space to charge his "new" PHEV mitsubishi outlander.

[@foxylady1048]

Live in a council flat and can only use the granny charger. Concil has no interest in putting a proper charger in my garage that has no power in it. So, on with the granny full stop.

[@rcollinge325]

As they say If the landlord will not be willing to upgrade I will just move to a more modern home.

[@bshah4831]

Note Cupra Born is not now supplied with a granny charger!

[@shawing]

😂😂😂 Wait for it,... to charge at home! 😁🤣

[@danielrichards8472]

She’s on about Vs charging from the wall socket otherwise known as granny charging

[@Alrukitaf]

I wonder if you need three phase power to get the 7kw charger?

[@montybarko8461]

No, 22Kw EVSE/EV Chargers are 3 phase. Provided you don't have a 60 Amp Cut out fuse at your incoming supply then a 7Kw will work fine. There are other things that need to be considered too, such as if your supply is looped with your neighbours house, but this is what a decent installer will check on a survey.

[@johnwinters4201]

Your 13 A socket can charge your car at 3 kW, not 2.3 kW. OTOH, most granny chargers are only 2.4 kW.

[@MartinzW]

I used to have 16A custom EVSE for my Leaf. I could adjust it down to 6A if I recall correctly. After few months I learned though that European Schuko at 16A, even if rated, the slight risk of poor connection (I would often take it with me so plug in and plug out) will cause the plug to heat up and melt. So I went down to 13A and never had issues again. So technically it really depends on your EVSE, vehicle and your house.

[@MrGMawson2438]

Sounds great

[@hffletcher5906]

Hi Ginny & Team. I have been charging my new EV from my garage 3 pin socket. To install a home charger would cost in excess of £4,000 + digging up one of my patios. My property is in the country and has a looped connection. Any advice team. Regards Hiram F Fletcher.

[@chrisbailey1966]

Check the load the cable to the garage can take and make sure the draw for the EV is lower by turning the load down in the car or granny cable box, if that's not possible consider a granny cable with that option.

[@hffletcher5906]

@@chrisbailey1966 Many Thanks Chris👍

[@BMWHP2]

I will wait for a homecharger that can handle V2H and/or V2G.

[@leesmart1971]

My car can't do V2H/V2G so the charger kit I have installed is a good match to the car I own right now and makes owning it much easier. If I upgrade to a car with V2G/V2H at some future point, I hope there will be a suitable charger I can upgrade to also. I agree it's extra outlay but it benefits me right now so it's worth it for me.

[@BMWHP2]

@@leesmart1971 I can understand that. But since we are buying new cars around the €20k to €25k mark, and there are no EV's yet in that category, we cant buy a reasonable EV till there are. After that, will buy a V2H capable charger. 1 follows the other. Mass adoption of EV's is still many years in the future. And probably they will be needed to balance the electrical network. And with the solar panels on our house, we will make better use of that energy.

[@timothybloomer8287]

For 20k you could easily buy a decent secondhand ev.

[@BMWHP2]

@@timothybloomer8287 No, not a decent one. Around €20k you can start with a6 year old Leaf or Golf with over 100.000km on the Odo. Degraded battery with probably less than 85% range and high possibility that within 2 years it needs a new €10k battery. For €20k we can buy a brand new ICE car that will goe for the next 15 years without serious problems and has a usable 700km range. 2nd hand EV's with over 100.000km on the odo arn't a very wise thing to buy. The 6 year old EV's dont have the battery types and tech on board to give that fantasy 1 million km without degradation. When you start with a new 300km WLTP range EV, that will be down to unusable 200km real world range. after 100.000km and down hill faster after that.

[@DigitalWeap0n]

We live in an end terrace with allocated parking in front of the house but can't have a charger fitted because the cable would go across the path which is a public right of way. I'd love how the government think people are going to charge their hybrid/electric vehicles when the majority of houses in this country are terraced.

[@eBoard3R]

⚡⚡

[@Cashclever]

Load off rubbish if the connections are ok on standard sockets etc I’m a qualified electrician it’s totally fine… also slow charging is way better for the car battery

[@phuketexplorer]

MG and other car manufacturers where I live, supply a free home charger. It's not an option.

[@ottot3221]

Nothing about bi-directional loading?! V2X? No? How utterly disappointing.

[@harrycummings6501]

Thought this was about the poor sods who can’t charge their cars at home

[@stevewalsh-balshaw1727]

Unfortunately the masses of working folk on real wages that is 1k to 1500k take home pay per month simply cannot afford an ev they run "small" economic ice cars that cost a few k to buy ev's are not the green bullit people pretend they are yes they have a place but so does ice wayyy too much hype over ev's much of which is not correct they have their own issues the real problem is we live in a throw away society cheap tack goods mainly from China India and the like plus flying boating etc etc is not taken into account cheapo goods from manufacturers the list is endless wayyy too much hype on green pushed by those whos main reasons are making money the real green involved

[@trevorhale8192]

I just cannot understand why so many people refer to the various devices that connect to your EV as 'Chargers' They are NOT chargers. They are devices that safely connect your vehicle to the mains supply in order to re-charge your EV battery. The CHARGER is an integral unit mounted in your car/vehicle. It is not the unit mounted on your wall or the unit connected via a 13A flexible lead, commonly referred to as a 'Granny Charger'. These are NOT chargers!!

[@JustMeTalking]

I have installed four ev chargers at our home 2 x 22kW Very fast wall chargers 1 x 7kW fast wall charger 1 x 7kW fast Commando Socket with Universal Mobile Charger Just sayin' 😂

[@tony5oos]

Why are you giving such misinformed guidance . You need to have a correct supply cable to the property. In simple terms on notification by the company installing the charger who will notify the supplier who will do a survey and possibly dig up your garden or drive and put in another.

[@JuanSanchez-ik7wx]

Twaddle. All twaddle. None of these chargers actually give more power than a direct connect from an outlet. All these stations are good for is tweaking when to charge and when not to charge. You don't need to program your phone to charge you car. Just plug the damn thing in and unplug it when you are done. This is all smoke and mirrors whose only mission is to make money for the companies who sell these device. If you open one up to see the actual circuitry it should be clear to the novice that it has no ability to do anything as far as generating electricity or transforming it. All of that is done onboard the car. As far as your claims of safety..... complete boulderdash. In fact its even more dangerous than a direct line from the service panel. With a direct line from the service panel there is nothing that can burn up and set your house ablaze. Put one of these on your wall and you have the potential to combust for all kinds of reasons like overheating, defective components, lightning strikes and on and on and on. Forget the charger if you want reliability, safety and saving money.

[@adriangleprin6949]

It is NOT a charger , it is a charging cable , with a stop start relay . The charger is part of the car . Just buy a cable rated at your cars amp hour charging capacity.

[@robhayes6121]

It’s to charge your vehicle at home an pay your bills for using electric to power the battery on the vehicle as you don’t go to the fuel station anymore, how easy is that, 🤷‍♂️ spell RED backwards At a guess I’d get your hair dyed blonde, naw you choose the colour yep blonde.

[@bennorris6673]

"Promosm" 😚

[@toad008]

Total rubbish and poor understanding. A granny is perfectly ok, and just takes the usual 13 Amps.

[@casperhansen826]

You will be the next house fire then

[@MartinzW]

@@casperhansen826 He won't be. He can name Amps, that's more than what a casual user knows. Chances are, he plugs his plug properly - sockets can take 13A because they can be rated up to 16A so 13A is easy. Also, chances are, he has a proper breaker box that, in case he does not plug it in properly, once it heats up to a certain point, the breaker will go out - yes, the socket may melt but that can be replaced. I realize I put in a lot of faith in a user. But burning down house likely is a low risk for new EV owners as they likely don't live in an old electric system without proper breakers.

[@bernel2.0]

Stop calling these Charging points chargers.

[@duncanbuchanan218]

No.

[@Aoocci791]

I have no of street parking

[@DigitalWeap0n]

We live in an end terrace with allocated parking in front of the house but can't have a charger fitted because the cable would go across the path which is a public right of way. I'd love how the government think people are going to charge their hybrid/electric vehicles when the majority of houses in this country are terraced.