V2L adapter cable adaptor - £ 6.20 vs £500

[Stian Thomassen]

Errr....so, Ali Express are selling a V2L adapter cable for £ 6.20 while my dealer is selling it for around £ 500. And I'm seeing a German guy who makes his own(don't do that) and shows that it is not gold and jewels inside the V2L that cost £500. I have also seen one to 169,40€

I'm not gonna order a V2L from Ali Express, but I'm asking: Is the V2L overpriced?

And, why are many of these writing specifically that the cable is for MG or Specifically for IONIQ 5 or KIA. Like, ain't all these the same?

£ 6.20 6.2￡ |V2l Adapter Cable Adaptor Mg Zs Ev Ioniq 5 Kia 6 Byd Neta V2l Adaptor Schuko Bidirectional Adapte Entladekabel Charger - Electric Vehicle Discharging Gun - AliExpress

169,40€ Vehicle To Load V2L adapter (for MG) - Electric-Star

 

[Eclectic]

I made my own from an almost unused Type 2 charging cable. All that is needed is to change a resistor in the car end plug, and to fit a 13 amp socket on the other end. It works a treat!

 

[Gadget Geek]

The value of the resistor on the Pilot Lead tells the car what current the lead is rated at, or whether it is a V2L plug. Different manufacterers use different resistor values.

 

[Anf800]

Isn't £6 just for the bag? The cables seem to be £82.46. Unless I'm reading it wrong.

Still cheap though . . .

 

[Cloggsy]

Isn't £6 just for the bag? The cables seem to be £82.46. Unless I'm reading it wrong.

Why would it ask you for the plug type required, if it was just for the bag?

 

[Guru]

Lol £6 is just for the bag!

 

[Anf800]

It's in the middle of the screen where it says bag no adapter.

 

[Anf800]

 

[N2STY]

 

[Lovemyev]

I think this company worked in conjunction with a very early owner of a ZS EV facelift to develop and test a third party V2L cable.
I have one of these cables in my car.

MG Vehicle to Load V2L Discharge Cable

A Simple Adapter Power Source (MG Only) PLEASE NOTE: We have received reports that the latest deliveries (06/2023) of MG ZS models have had the V2L functionality disabled or removed. Please confirm with your dealer before purchase. Turn your MG ZS (2022), MG 5 (Facelifted 2023), MG4 (2022) and...

evcables.com

 

[hmadsen]

Why would it ask you for the plug type required, if it was just for the bag?

You have not been to Alibaba a lot have you

I can guarantee you that they try EVERYTHING they can to fool you, there, and if something sounds very cheap, then it is definitively because they are trying to con you.

Usually they have some accessory to the thing that is displayed predominantly in the add, that is very cheap, to get you to click the ad. When you go there the accessory (For example a bag) will cost very little, but if you change the option to the actual thing you want, the price is A LOT higher

Standard operating procedure on these sites...Same with Wish.

To answer the initial question

The cable is a Type 2 adaptor, one resistor, a length of cable, with a gauge that is enough to carry the load the resistor sets, and then some sort of socket in the other end for a normal domestic appliance plug.

The price of £500 is WILDLY inflated.

The price MG pays for this cable is probably less than £50

It's the same with the Type 2 cable they sell.

When i bought mine i saw they have a Type-2 cable in a nice little MG labelled bag.

The seller asked if i wanted this cable, and i asked him bluntly, if he would be able to tell me what the advantage, if any i would be getting, compared to a cable from a generic "Car accessories chain" here in Denmark. The cable was the same length, and the same 3*32A rating.

He was honest, and said..."That cable will work just as fine with the car"

To me this was kind of an admission that they just charge an "ignorance premium"....Meaning, that most people getting into EV, will buy that cable from them, at the inflated price, because they don't know enough about EV's and think that a MG car needs a MG charge cable, or that the "cheap" cable will somehow damage the car.

 

[Tiny Tim]

You have not been to Alibaba a lot have you

I can guarantee you that they try EVERYTHING they can to fool you, there, and if something sounds very cheap, then it is definitively because they are trying to con you.

Usually they have some accessory to the thing that is displayed predominantly in the add, that is very cheap, to get you to click the ad. When you go there the accessory (For example a bag) will cost very little, but if you change the option to the actual thing you want, the price is A LOT higher

Standard operating procedure on these sites...Same with Wish.

'Tis true. But still a good price and often the ´better´ebay offerings from Europe are just dropshippers using Alibaba. Hey, who knows - they might even start shipping cars from China one day....

 

[hmadsen]

'Tis true. But still a good price and often the ´better´ebay offerings from Europe are just dropshippers using Alibaba. Hey, who knows - they might even start shipping cars from China one day....

The only advantage for me of using drop shippers is, as long as it is shipped from within the EU, i dont risk customs nabbing the package.

If this happens, you need to add 25% VAT to the price, and £19 handling fee for the postal service.

 

[Tiny Tim]

The only advantage for me of using drop shippers is, as long as it is shipped from within the EU, i dont risk customs nabbing the package.

If this happens, you need to add 25% VAT to the price, and £19 handling fee for the postal service.

I've had that - the handling fee wasn't £19 though! Eeek! Regardless, it was a small thing and I just let them return it - it simply wasn't worth paying the handling fee.

For items bought through an online marketplace like Amazon or Aliexpress, it shouldn't be an issue anymore as, for small items at least, since July 2021 the marketplace has to account for the VAT, not the retailer. - Online electronic interfaces

(I'm an accountant - don't get me started on VAT - I hate it!)

 

[hmadsen]

I've had that - the handling fee wasn't £19 though! Eeek! Regardless, it was a small thing and I just let them return it - it simply wasn't worth paying the handling fee.

For items bought through an online marketplace like Amazon or Aliexpress, it shouldn't be an issue anymore as, for small items at least, since July 2021 the marketplace has to account for the VAT, not the retailer. - Online electronic interfaces

(I'm an accountant - don't get me started on VAT - I hate it!)

To be honest i bought a lot of stuff off of Wish, before our government changed the rules.

Before, anything under ~£10 was exempt from VAT, and import tax, so i bought mobile phone covers, screen protectors for my phone and a slew of small electronic PCB's for different projects, because those things were massively cheaper.

The local postal service convinced the politicians that they were being murdered with costs, as most of these things were free shipping, and the postal service had to essentially deliver them for free.

I have resorted to just buying from EU dealers, the price is usually a bit higher, but the hazzle has not been worth it for me.

That was until Ebay had a massive moronic meltdown and removed the search filter option to only show sellers within the EU (Still there if i select Germany as my shipping destination, but if if select Denmark i can not select that) so now i get a TON of Chinese sellers and it is really like finding the needle in the haystack to find anything on Ebay sadly.