Is it possible to totally run an EV on just a Granny charger? 🤔

[salty]

As I've said in another thread I'm considering getting an X power. Is it possible to just use the supplied Granny charger to run the car. As I won't be venturing to far from home. For say, at least a couple of months, to find out if I really like an EV/X power and can live with it permanently, rather than go to the expense of a home charger, and then find out I hate it, (doubtful but you never know)

 

[Artful]

Yes using just the granny charger is fine. Although very time consuming. We had 2 Renault Zoe's and 99% of the time they were both charged on our granny charger no problems at all.

Rob

 

[JimD]

I'm well into my second year with my MG5 and I've only used the granny lead at home (plus a few 7 kW car park chargers occasionally and one rapid charger just to test it out).

I don't do that many miles though.

 

[maskull]

If you only drive a few miles a day and only require a small top up ,it's feasible . But for many drivers it's impractical

 

[tsedge]

It should also be said that you need to have a properly checked electrical socket - ideally on a dedicated circuit. Get a sparky to eyeball your setup to make sure you won't have any problems.

 

[Rolfe]

Yes. I've had my car since April and I don't have a wall box. If you work out how much mileage you can get per hour on the granny charger (it's about 7 miles) and how many hours per week you can plug in for, you can figure out whether you can keep up with yourself.

You can also use a rapid charger as a back-stop if you need to hurry things up. I'm in the fortunate position of having a rapid charger (50 Kw) only five minutes walk away which is only 30p per unit, and I sometimes just give the car 55 minutes on that (the time limit) if it's pretty low, then drive home and finish and balance on the granny charger.

The main issue is that it's not really practical to have a variable electricity tariff with this method as you don't get enough cheap hours for it to be worthwhile. (That and electrical safety of course, but my garage has a dedicated circuit and metal-jacketed power points.)

I am now contemplating going the whole hog on solar panels, a home battery and a wall box, but I've been fine on the granny lead and I still am. Doing it this way has given me the time and the space to get used to the car and read about all the options and other people's experience. I'm currently consulting my next door neighbours in an identical house who have gone the whole nine yards.

So unless you have a big mileage, I can see no drawback at all to doing it this way at the start and thinking about what you might want to do about alternative possibilities at your leisure.

 

[Gadget Geek]

I worked out that I can get about 1% an hour at 10 Amps on the granny charger. On an overnight, 7 hour cheap rate tariff I can put in 16%.
Edit: At present I am putting free solar into the car via the house PV panels and the granny charger.

 

[Rolfe]

I'm getting 10% into the battery in three hours on the granny charger. Possibly a fraction more, I realised when I did my long charge a couple of weeks ago - I found 9% to 100% then balance took 26 hours. So in the SR that's about 5 KWh in three hours. Which would be 20 miles at 4 miles/Kw. So about 7 miles in an hour, or maybe say six as I wouldn't get 4 miles/KWh really.

 

[Jomarkh]

I worked out that I can get about 1% an hour at 10 Amps on the granny charger. On an overnight, 7 hour cheap rate tariff I can put in 16%.
Edit: At present I am putting free solar into the car via the house PV panels and the granny charger.

Don't you get more for selling your solar excess and charging the car overnight on the cheap tariff?
If you get 1% an hour how do you get 16% in 7 hours?

 

[5teep]

I used a granny charger for 3 months while waiting for my house charger to be installed. If your mileage is not too high then it's perfectly possible to do this successfully.
I'd plug it in every night to top up and then if required use a public charger if there wasn't enough for a long run.
Usual caveats, make sure you use a properly wired socket and check it for overheating especially for the first few charges. Same applies for any extension you might need.

 

[Gadget Geek]

Don't you get more for selling your solar excess and charging the car overnight on the cheap tariff?
If you get 1% an hour how do you get 16% in 7 hours?

Oops, my bad. It's 2% an hour on the 10 Amp setting. (2 and a bit actually which gives the 16% over 7 hours)

I get the feed in tariff regardless of how much I send to the grid, so it's better to put the excess into the house and car batteries.

 

[Tommy]

At home I have no charger. I charge my MG5 on an overnight tariff using the 'granny charger' and during the 7 hours I can fill up about 30% battery. I commute 90 miles a day, 3 times a week. I manage just fine.

PS: If desperate I can top up at work, but I usually don't have to.

 

[chelsea56]

As I've said in another thread I'm considering getting an X power. Is it possible to just use the supplied Granny charger to run the car. As I won't be venturing to far from home. For say, at least a couple of months, to find out if I really like an EV/X power and can live with it permanently, rather than go to the expense of a home charger, and then find out I hate it, (doubtful but you never know)

At home I have no charger. I charge my MG5 on an overnight tariff using the 'granny charger' and during the 7 hours I can fill up about 30% battery. I commute 90 miles a day, 3 times a week. I manage just fine.

PS: If desperate I can top up at work, but I usually don't have to.

I’m confused I thought a granny charger charged a 1 kw approx 3.5 miles an hour so that’s about 42 miles a day charge
How many miles a day do you would think you would use ?if Under 40 a grannie charger would just work if more I think you would be struggling

 

[Rolfe]

My granny charger gives me 6-7 miles an hour. So if you have seven hours of cheap electricity then you'd be looking at about 45 miles a session. So if you're only doing 90 miles three times a week (279 miles) then should be OK, as you have seven nights charging per week (over 300 miles). So long as you don't do other trips.

Of course that's assuming you want to do the whole thing on the cheap rate electricity. In terms of practicality overall you can easily get 70-80 miles from a granny charger if you plug in evening and overnight. On the other hand if you're determined only to use the cheap-rate times you're going to reduce your range a lot unless you get a wall box.

 

[Tommy]

I’m confused I thought a granny charger charged a 1 kw approx 3.5 miles an hour so that’s about 42 miles a day charge

Granny Charger draws (up to) 2.3kW ... I seem to get that when I charge up in my garage. Like I said about 16kW overnight (7 hrs) - which is almost 30% battery.

 

[siteguru]

My car tends to charge at about 1.75kW rate on the granny lead (as reported by the iSmart app).

 

[Tommy]

I must be lucky to get over 2kW then, but that's what I get, according to my smart meter.

 

[Rolfe]

Mmm. Have you checked your app? Because there are losses in there and what your smart meter is charging you for may not be what the car is getting. My car usually charges at 1.87 Kw on the granny charger according to the app.

 

[siteguru]

I assume 80% efficiency when using the granny lead. (I tend to use it if I'm visiting my brother, so I calculate how much went into the car, divide by 0.8 and then give him the cash based on that kWh usage times his unit rate).

 

[Tommy]

OK, so I might not be getting (up to) 2.3kW into the car, I see what you're both saying.
I don't have an App, because it's a pre-FL MG5, but will do a test tonight