Free home charger

[Cirprocon]

Hi all, I put the deposit down last week and my car should be arriving late September. At the moment MG are offering a free wall charger and when I asked the dealer how this was managed they said my details would be put into a portal with Pod Point for one of theirs or a Rolec. Today I received a email from Pod Point which invited me to select a charger, it also mentioned dealer discount price and or OLEV price ! at the end of the process it asks you to make payment !! Am I missing something here or do I have to pay and then be reimbursed later ? For those of you that have had a free wall charger could you tell me if this is right. Many thanks

 

[Chrispydoc]

A year ago it was MG's initiative, it sounds like your dealer is offering you the option this time. I'd get clarification from all parties.
The original scheme was dependant on the distance from you main electricity board to your preferred place for your charger. Over a certain distance you had to top up the price. I had to pay £188 ...but this was later refunded when they agreed a shorter route.

The problem is they didn't want to visit first and work it all out, but relied on the customer to provide all the information...including photo's measurements etc etc. The engineers finally decide when they arrive and start the job.

Seek clarification and take notes...including the names of folk you speak to......that tends to concentrate their minds. That would be my tip.

 

[Mark Holmes]

Yes this happened to me and I ended up paying a £185, I discussed this with MG as there literature was deceiving, but didn’t get anywhere....

 

[Cirprocon]

Thanks for replies, yes it appears they want photos to get the ball rolling. I might try and contact Pod Point to see if they can explain what "Free charger" means. Thanks again.

 

[Mgkev]

I had a free wall charger supplied with my Prius PHV. I had to provide full installation photos and dimensions. However, the charger turned out to be a basic unit and I had to pay extra for a 7 Kw unit. Make sure you know what your getting.

 

[Chrispydoc]

I believe the government contribute to the "Free bit"...as well. I recently bought a 2nd unit, 7KW, off eBay for less than £300, had a chum fit it for free. Double check every detail before you commit yourself.

 

[Kithmo]

My dealer warned me not to pay anything beforehand, he said some had proceeded and it was a bind to get their money back. Here's what I did. When it got to the payment bit I just exited the webpage and replied to the email they had sent me stating the MG Motors UK were paying. Next day I got an email saying payment had gone through then they progressed from there. The next stage involved sending scanned copies of the documents they asked for (order form etc.), some photos, filling inthe OLEV form online and some questions on Covid-19 etc. They then arranged a date and came and installed it in less than 3 hours. It was all very easy and straightforward. I ordered my car on the 6th July, picked it up on the 11th and the Pod Point charger was fitted yesterday 17th July. Very efficient Dealer Eric Stead's Sheffield.
The standard cable length run is 7.5m (mine only needed 5m), the unit is a 7kWh tethered (your choice) and the Pod Point charger does not require an earthing rod as some others do.

 

[Cirprocon]

That's good to hear Kithmo, did you by any chance get your service fuse uprated to 100 amps along with the tails to 25mm ? I have phoned Power Networks UK and they advised to do this before the charger is fitted.

 

[Kithmo]

TBH I don't know what the installer did and I don't know if my service fuse is 100A or not .We have SMETS1 smart meters fitted by BGAS many years ago, so whether it was upgraded then I don't know. By the tails, do you mean the wires ? if so they all look about 10-12mm to me. New things that he fitted were, a black box (could be a fuse ?) and an RCB and the wiring, which again was all 10-12mm. By my reckoning, the charger is drawing about 29A and unless you have electric heating or several electric fires on, I would think that the rest of the house would be hard pressed to match that, so I can't see why you would need a 100A fuse.

 

[Cirprocon]

Thanks Kithmo, I think my old fuse is probably a lower value possibly 60 amps. I thought I might jump the gun and get started with the upgrade before Pod Point arrive. It may be in vain but hopefully it might future proof me for any upgraded chargers in the future ?

 

[Cirprocon]

Just an update on the charger. Spoke again to the dealership this morning and they have suggested ringing Pod Point direct on Monday. It would appear they may require a copy of the order form to start the process. Dealership advised not to go through the Pod Point website. Will let you know Monday how I get on.

 

[Kithmo]

Just an update on the charger. Spoke again to the dealership this morning and they have suggested ringing Pod Point direct on Monday. It would appear they may require a copy of the order form to start the process. Dealership advised not to go through the Pod Point website. Will let you know Monday how I get on.

You can ring them or do what I did, reply to the original email. They do require a copy of the order form (I scanned and emailed it) and it has to be signed by you, dated and have you full name on for the OLEV grant. You can write these on yourself after if the one you got wasn't signed.

 

[Scriv]

Upgrading the main fuse to 100amp is recommended when installing a home charger. The work is carried out by Power Network UK or whoever has taken over from National Grid in your part of the country........and it's FREE!

 

[Chrispydoc]

Free can't be bad.. ...

.I phoned pod point several times, before and after the installation and the 'team leader', Chris I think, was very helpful.

 

[Kithmo]

Do you think I should retrospectively have mine checked or will the Pod Point fitter have known ?

 

[Scriv]

@Kithmo
You can easily see the main fuse amperage for yourself, they are marked 60, 80 or 100amps. Many properties today have 100amp fuses as standard installation.

 

[Kithmo]

Mine's inside a closed brown box sealed with a twisted wire tag so I can't open it to look.

 

[Chrispydoc]

Very strong wire is it?

 

[Kithmo]

No but it has some sort of official tamper proof seal on it

 

[Scriv]

If it's a fairly old installation I would guess that the fuse is not 100amp.
The electricians often refer to the size of the "tails" under the meter.........it gives them some idea of the fuses, but I don't know how they are measured!!