Best Wall Chargers & Best Energy Suppliers

[hermitdave]

I went with Pod Point as they sorted out the government rebate. Good comms, prompt survey and a very efficient installation. I haven’t got into the weeds of the cost/benefit so grateful to everyone as we are on Octopus but don‘t (yet) have a smart charger.

Can you not create schedule on pod point unit using the app?

 

[Scalextric]

Hi,
You dont have to change your gas supplier you just need a smart meter for your electric.
I use the Ohme that you can get from Octopus for £199. Brother in law is a sparky and connected it up for me..
Worth a look and don't worry about using the grant

Hi Jomarkh

I was considering the same.

How does this £199 'mobile' charger differ from the fully fledged ohme wall charger they supply for £450?

Is it designed to be plugged into a normal outdoor 3 pin socket?

It sounds like it can be adapted like in your case to be hardwired in..hence making it a cheap wall charger?

 

[Jomarkh]

Hi, you can buy three types to use fit yourself
1, type 2 plug to use in dumb charge to make it smart.
2, Commando plug to fit into 32a Commando socket (see picture).
3, hard wired. Soarky to install.
I would imagine they do install them too so that would be £450 possibly?

 

[Zman]

I had no option but to go for a wall charger, can't park near enough to the garage for the granny charger to reach and my outdoor socket is even further away.

Got away with it for years with my two Outlanders as I had a caravan in the drive, connected to a garage socket, with an accessible waterproof socket, sadly now gone.

Fitted today is a Wallbox Pulsar Plus, 32amp with 5m tethered lead for £499.00.

Won't get into a debate over suppliers rates, I've got what I've got and am OK with it for now.

Installation was by Evolution Solutions in Lancashire as recommended through the Rightcharge website.

Pain free online process, details required to complete an online survey were very clear and communication from the installer was without fault.

Engineer even turned up a little early, explained the process and completed sooner than I expected.

The Wallbox is controlled from an app, setup gone through by the engineer.
It lets you lock the box against unauthorised use, set timers, input unit rates for reports on use and cost.

I'm early retired through ill health, so charge up through the day to benefit from solar panel output. I could have spent a lot more on a fancy box to optimise solar use but only do very short journeys through the week so only need one or two recharges at most.

Very happy so far. I had a look at web reports before choosing, which excluded Rolex due to reported problems

 

[Troy]

We have rolec which is hooked up to octopuss with a low cost power at 20.30 - 01.30. at 5.5kh which as been working fine with our Jaguar I Pace and now the MG5.
The installed cost was £808.00 with forty five meter cable installed under the garden.
this took half a day to instal, all has be faultless with its remove app to control it plus the I paces own charging software.

 

[Mach13]

Interesting thread...

I'm just in the process of signing up to the Go tariff (already with Octopus)

All energy suppliers have hiked up their pricing.... and when I realised the granny charger is effectively running at the rate of an electric kettle for 4 hours.. I needed to look the same as the OP has...

We were originally with British Gas... their rate shot up massively so I did a compare the market and Octopus had the best no exit fees deal.. even then our day rate shot up from 14p to 24p and the kwh jumped to 20p kwh so am expecting our bills to double and am taking more care with what we are using at home.

I'm thinking to have an ext charger installed as soon as my meter tails and main fuse are upgraded so I can take advantage of the 5p night rate.

The day rate is currently 25p so a penny more (some Ive seen are 30+p) ..but the daytime kwh will be cheaper at 15p kwh I haven't crunched the numbers in detail but it seems there's an obvious win here.

It seems to me to be worth the change and install of an external charger when combined with a 5p night rate.. other home items can also use the night rate so dishwasher , washing machine etc...

and with Octopus not charging exit fees, it seems a no brainer for my needs

 

[Jomarkh]

I was looking around to see if I could get a better price for my gas but that has shot up too.
The 5p rate is great but not for a granny as it needs to be on for 10-12+ hours,

 

[jem111111]

The granny only needs to be on for 5 hours on a phev. So the 5 p deal is great, I have the go faster , 5.5p a kw and got the time range 20:30 - 01:30 , so perfect for the phev.

 

[ajw1100]

Not got a PHEV yet but will test drive the HS later next week. Currently checking wall box costs and such like. Came across this forum and got a very good insight into what its all about. Still got a LOT to learn!!!
Checked the Octopus website this evening, seems they have changed to cheaper trarrif times so you really need a timer now unless you stay up very late!!

QUOTE
The smart tariff with super cheap electricity for 5p/kWh between 00:30 - 04:30 every night

Fill up for the tenth of the price of a traditional car with Octopus Go, and keep your fuel costs around 1p per mile

Octopus Go charge is on average over 50% cheaper than typical Economy 7 night time rates

FYI: That's based on all Economy 7 tariffs as of April 2021.
Unquote

 

[hermitdave]

The granny only needs to be on for 5 hours on a phev. So the 5 p deal is great, I have the go faster , 5.5p a kw and got the time range 20:30 - 01:30 , so perfect for the phev.

Granny takes longer than 5 hours I get about 80% charge when I plug in for 5 hours