Which at home charger?

[therooster]

I am currently on Octopus Agile and looking at moving to Intelligent go in the winter but wondered which charger works the best with the ZS EV Long range & the intelligent tarrif?

I don't have any charger yet so open to any suggestions

 

[fred12345]

Yes, I'm in the same boat, looking for wall chargers.. not yet ready to commit to one particular provider and EV tariff as I might be spending more peak than off peak electricity even with EV charging so need to do some calculations first...

Anyone here that bought their own wall charger and had an electrician install it? Wondering if it's much cheaper that way...

 

[therooster]

Yes, I'm in the same boat, looking for wall chargers.. not yet ready to commit to one particular provider and EV tariff as I might be spending more peak than off peak electricity even with EV charging so need to do some calculations first...

Anyone here that bought their own wall charger and had an electrician install it? Wondering if it's much cheaper that way...

That is exactly what I am looking at doing getting my own electrician to install the charger just need to try and work out which one!

 

[fred12345]

I don't have any charger yet so open to any suggestions

You must have a 3 pin charger at least? I bought one on Amazon and quite happy with it, might end up using it for a while until I figure out what to do about the wall charger...

I'll post here if I find any decent info online

 

[Bam Bam]

I am currently on Octopus Agile and looking at moving to Intelligent go in the winter but wondered which charger works the best with the ZS EV Long range & the intelligent tarrif?

I don't have any charger yet so open to any suggestions

I would say the big question is do you have (or are you planning to get) solar and/or batteries? If so you'll want a charger that works well with those. You don't want the car to be draining out your home battery or anything weird like that.

I went for the Givenergy EV charger as we already had givenergy solar inverter and battery so it all works from one app and no conflicts between anything.

It is probably not the cheapest, and not yet on Octopus Intelligent Go, but they are working on it.

Hypervolt and zappi are two others that offer solar divert.

If you don't/won't/can't have solar then you can choose based on price/aesthetics/app etc. Ohme seems popular and looks smart.

 

[therooster]

I would say the big question is do you have (or are you planning to get) solar and/or batteries? If so you'll want a charger that works well with those. You don't want the car to be draining out your home battery or anything weird like that.

I went for the Givenergy EV charger as we already had givenergy solar inverter and battery so it all works from one app and no conflicts between anything.

It is probably not the cheapest, and not yet on Octopus Intelligent Go, but they are working on it.

Hypervolt and zappi are two others that offer solar divert.

If you don't/won't/can't have solar then you can choose based on price/aesthetics/app etc. Ohme seems popular and looks smart.

I do have solar (solar 3.6KW) and 20KW battery (Alpha Ess) I hasn't realized that I needed one to be compatible with that

You must have a 3 pin charger at least? I bought one on Amazon and quite happy with it, might end up using it for a while until I figure out what to do about the wall charger...

I'll post here if I find any decent info online

I do have the 3 pin which charges at a fantastic 2KW I think!

 

[ched]

I believe Octopus Intelligent Go is only compatible with 3 chargers Ohme Home Pro, Ohme ePod and a MyEnergy Zappi.
If you have solar and batteries then get an electrician who can fit a henley block before your 'fuseboard' and then a second 'fuseboard' to feed the charger. That way the current clamp for your solar system can just monitor the feed going to the main 'fuseboard' and it cant see the load coming from the charger so it won't drain the battery.

 

[Bam Bam]

I do have solar (solar 3.6KW) and 20KW battery (Alpha Ess) I hasn't realized that I needed one to be compatible with that

It doesn't have to be compatible - an electrician should hopefully get it all working ok. Ched has suggested a method.

But it might make your life easier, particularly if you want to divert excess solar into the car and not involve your home battery with that.

It's worth considering I expect.

 

[johnb80]

Intelligent Octopus GO currently works with MyEnergi, Ohme and Wallbox EVSE (chargers) and many compatible EV's. MyEnergi Zappi is often the preferred choice due to its excellent solar integration, it works co-operatively with Solar PV, Energy Diverter etc with the excellent and easy to use APP that MyEnergi provide.

No matter which EVSE unit you choose, if you have battery storage it's critical that the EVSE unit is connected to the grid supply BEFORE and Solar / Battery Inverter in order to prevent the EVSE unit depleting the home battery.

 

[fred12345]

Intelligent Octopus GO currently works with MyEnergi, Ohme and Wallbox EVSE (chargers) and many compatible EV's. MyEnergi Zappi is often the preferred choice due to its excellent solar integration, it works co-operatively with Solar PV, Energy Diverter etc with the excellent and easy to use APP that MyEnergi provide.

No matter which EVSE unit you choose, if you have battery storage it's critical that the EVSE unit is connected to the grid supply BEFORE and Solar / Battery Inverter in order to prevent the EVSE unit depleting the home battery.

Thank you, there seems to be so much to learn... I was going to get solar panels but keep delaying it for various reasons... I guess I should just chose the cheapest wall charger and a separate provider/tariff unless there is a good package deal available, and somewhere down the line make sure my solar installer knows what he's doing...

Another question on home wall chargers. Seen some on AliExpress 1 phase 7kW and 3 phase 22kW.
Anyone had an "upgrade" to 3 phase supply and how much was it?

 

[johnb80]

Another question on home wall chargers. Seen some on AliExpress 1 phase 7kW and 3 phase 22kW.

Would 22kW 3-phase be suitable for UK homes and MG ZS or it's just too complicated and pricey to install? Price wise not much difference between the two, and I'm not really in need of quick charge very often...

Thats down to if you have a 3 phase supply to your property (unlikely). The other aspect is it charges at 3 times the rate of single phase but is that important, most people charge overnight so 7 kW does that ok.

 

[fred12345]

Thats down to if you have a 3 phase supply to your property (unlikely). The other aspect is it charges at 3 times the rate of single phase but is that important, most people charge overnight so 7 kW does that ok.

Yes, just read few things online, unnecessary investment unless you have massive solar panels to "upload" the excess electricity... Thanks

 

[Bodgerx]

It doesn't have to be compatible - an electrician should hopefully get it all working ok. Ched has suggested a method.

But it might make your life easier, particularly if you want to divert excess solar into the car and not involve your home battery with that.

It's worth considering I expect.

For it to work with Octopus intelligent you either need those compatible charges or a compatible car.

The MG ZS EV is not a compatible car, so I would be interested in a link to the work around, as I don’t believe it exists.

 

[ched]

Another question on home wall chargers. Seen some on AliExpress 1 phase 7kW and 3 phase 22kW.
Anyone had an "upgrade" to 3 phase supply and how much was it?

You would need a 3 phase supply to your house. At minimum that would be 3 x the standing charge plus a few £K for installation. Then I believe the UK ZS even the LR can only charge at 11kW on 3 phase so not much faster than standard 7kW.

I believe that Octopus Intelligent Go has the cheapest off peak electricity at 7.5p/unit (it does vary region to reigon). You can only go on that tariff if you have a compatible charger (assuming you are talking about the MG ZS).

As for people who use excess solar to charge their batteries it always confuses me. i.e. on Octopus fixed export you get paid 15p/unit vs off peak import at 7.5p/unit. So it's cheaper to charge the car over night than use your solar panels to charge with 'excess' power. Obviously if you are not on Octopus or don't have a compatible charger then the charges will be different and then charging using 'excess' solar might be more cost effective.

 

[Spinynorman]

Good thing about Zappi 2 - myenergi is no earthing rod required, which makes install a breeze. It has so many options that work with it too. When I had mine installed, Octopus were the cheapest but had a small problem with the incoming line sparking, so had to call out the DNO - who were great - came out to me @ 10pm and fixed it in a few minutes at no charge. I don’t have solar yet due to difficulties with getting scaffolding up and wanting to convert the loft for storage - it’ll hold the battery storage - I live in a small terrace you see and getting scaffold through my house is currently impossible. Might get the roof replaced at the same time so need to save them pennies…

 

[Slipstream]

I believe Octopus Intelligent Go is only compatible with 3 chargers Ohme Home Pro, Ohme ePod and a MyEnergy Zappi.
If you have solar and batteries then get an electrician who can fit a henley block before your 'fuseboard' and then a second 'fuseboard' to feed the charger. That way the current clamp for your solar system can just monitor the feed going to the main 'fuseboard' and it cant see the load coming from the charger so it won't drain the battery.

Quite octopus intelligent go is only compatible with certain chargers. I have rolec wallpod for three years which I've been very happy with. But compatible yet octopus say there working on it

 

[DDC]

Good thing about Zappi 2 - myenergi is no earthing rod required, which makes install a breeze. It has so many options that work with it too. When I had mine installed, Octopus were the cheapest but had a small problem with the incoming line sparking, so had to call out the DNO - who were great - came out to me @ 10pm and fixed it in a few minutes at no charge. I don’t have solar yet due to difficulties with getting scaffolding up and wanting to convert the loft for storage - it’ll hold the battery storage - I live in a small terrace you see and getting scaffold through my house is currently impossible. Might get the roof replaced at the same time so need to save them pennies…

I believe that there has been a change in the recommendations, and it is no longer recommended that the battery be placed in the loft. This is not currently a regulation, but a best practice guide. It may become a standard in future

Industry update: home battery installations in lofts | GivEnergy

Can you install a GivEnergy battery in a loft space? Here, we clarify a few key details when it comes to home battery installations.

givenergy.co.uk

 

[johnb80]

I believe that there has been a change in the recommendations, and it is no longer recommended that the battery be placed in the loft. This is not currently a regulation, but a best practice guide. It may become a standard in future

Industry update: home battery installations in lofts | GivEnergy

Can you install a GivEnergy battery in a loft space? Here, we clarify a few key details when it comes to home battery installations.

givenergy.co.uk

It is a proposal for consideration. Having watched the guys struggle to lift my batteries into the loft I can see very good reasoning for it, the reality is theyre better outside IMHO.

 

[ched]

It is a proposal for consideration. Having watched the guys struggle to lift my batteries into the loft I can see very good reasoning for it, the reality is theyre better outside IMHO.

The problem with them being outdoors is the winter temps. When batteries get too cold they won't accept a charge at the same rate as when warm, same for discharge.
Same as our vehicle batteries.
Mine are in the loft (easy access) but even there they need a polystyrene box to keep them warm in winter.

 

[Bodgerx]

It is a proposal for consideration. Having watched the guys struggle to lift my batteries into the loft I can see very good reasoning for it, the reality is theyre better outside IMHO.

The reasoning is not saving installers creaking backs. It's more about the safety of your house