Average cost of a 7kW home charger!

14p normal rate 5p 12.30 - 4.30.
Octopus go. So our normal rate is about 4p cheaper than our previous Bulb normal rate on Economy 7.
 
Hi I've got a Zs... my previous car was a Nissan Leaf. I had a 7kW charger installed when I had the Leaf even though it was only capable of charging at 3. I thought Future proof... Not quite. The leaf had a type 1 connection the Zs has a type 2. The charger I had was one with a tethered cable. I could have spent £120 and got a replacement cable with a type 2 connector or for slightly cheaper a type 1 to 2 converter (although so say these can overheat). The problem then is timed charges. The charger I had and most you get on ebay are dumb chargers. The Leaf had the ability to set timed charges on the centre screen or even start a remote charge via the app (when it worked). So in order to benefit from the cheaper rates at night I had to get a smart charger. I had an electrician remove my PodPoint and replace it with a commando socket. He did this for £60. I sold the PodPoint to someone who had just purchased a second hand Leaf. I then bought an OHME charger and as I'm with Octopus they have a 50% off deal so it cost £199. It looks like the granny cable but with a commado socket and so can charge at 7kW.
 
Mike SOS said:
How much do motorway service stations charge to charged a MG EV model?
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It depends which charging companies.... Ecotricity are the ones at most motorway services and they are around 30p but if you have your home supply with them it drops to 15p. The issue I find is that their chargers are getting old and unreliable. Their customer service do try and help whenever they can and sometime you can get a free vend out of them but sometimes you have to find an alternative. I tend to use Polar now (they are part of BP Chargemaster). You can find them just off motorway junctions at a Holiday Inn or some other hotel chain. I've never had to go too far away from a motorway junction. Their chargers are more reliable but can vary in price and they have a different price if you pay a monthy subscription or just pay contactless at the charger. Also check if you have to report to reception or not as you may get a parking fine. On A roads the choices get greater. You could come across some Instavolts or even IONITY. Instavolts are easy and I've never has an issue with one yet. They charge 35p per kW. IONITY have their super fast 150kwh chargers but they make no difference to us as ZS's only charge at 43ish so paying 64p per kW for the privilege is throwing money away... but then I did get caught out and had no option once...
So best to plan ahead use ZapMap or PlugSure apps to check what chargers are on your route and always have a back-up plan B, C and just in case D :) happy EVing
 
Hi,
I got a Teison 7kw ev charging station on ebay, brand new for £180. Dug a 25 metre trench myself and laid 10mm cable. Connected it myself including an isolationg switch, using a 30amp fuse usually for showers in the consumer unit, not difficult if your a bit handy. Once connected it charged for about 10 seconds then cut out, tried again and it did the same. I researched it a bit and realised that most of these 7kw chargers have to have a separate earth rod. Got one for about £12, put it in myself and it now works perfectly. All for about £240.
 
Martin said:
Hi,
I got a Teison 7kw ev charging station on ebay, brand new for £180. Dug a 25 metre trench myself and laid 10mm cable. Connected it myself including an isolationg switch, using a 30amp fuse usually for showers in the consumer unit, not difficult if your a bit handy. Once connected it charged for about 10 seconds then cut out, tried again and it did the same. I researched it a bit and realised that most of these 7kw chargers have to have a separate earth rod. Got one for about £12, put it in myself and it now works perfectly. All for about £240.
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Are you a qualified electrician or just “a bit handy”? I’ll assume the latter since you didn’t know about the earthing requirements until finding it didn’t work properly.

It’s pretty irresponsible to encourage people to carry out DIY electrical work - especially adding a new circuit which is notifiable work. Potential safety issues aside, not having the proper paperwork in place can cause real problems when trying to sell a house etc.

Never ceases to amaze me the lengths people will go to in order to save a few quid when they’ve spent tens of thousands on a car, mind.
 
Rather harsh!..........I too bought one off eBay, and a mate of mine fitted it for me for my second location........I'm not worried about the paperwork.

The man from Podpoint who had fitted the original one did not inspire me with confidence...... He kept blowing all the fuses until he eventually figured it out!
 
What paperwork is this, I didn't get any paperwork from PodPoint nor did I get any from Northern Powergrid when they upgraded my mains fuse.
 
Kithmo said:
What paperwork is this, I didn't get any paperwork from PodPoint nor did I get any from Northern Powergrid when they upgraded my mains fuse.
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A new circuit installed by an electrician who is a member of a governing body (eg NICEIC) should be self certified and you should get given a certificate after installation. I would chase PodPoint / their nominated installer if you haven’t received anything. The main fuse/cutout is the property of the DNO so you wouldn’t get anything for that.

If it’s installed by anyone else a-la our weekend warrior here, building control should be notified (before work starts) and it should be signed off.
 
Thank you for the input, but my house is thatched and has to have an annual electrics test, which has just been carried out. It passed with flying colours, the electrician was fully aware of the work.
 
Dodger said:
Like buying an MG instead of a Tesla?
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Not sure how that’s comparable to scrimping and saving on an electrical install that has the very real potential to burn your house down if it goes wrong?

Tesla owners do it too - it’s not unique to this thread - I just don’t understand why.
 
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@kiltox, I have a digital "certificate of completion" from Pod Point, is that what you mean ?
 
There is nothing wrong you to do your own DIY work on electric system. As long you have it check out by a current certified electrician BEFORE you make contact with live electric, and let that electrician make the contact to.
 
When selling a house, the buyer's solicitor may ask for certificates for electrical work.
For example, we were required to supply the (self certified by the installer) certificate for the solar panel installation or pay towards insurance against any issues.
They didn't ask for anything WRT the chargers.
 
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