Which Wall chargers

PaulBJ

Standard Member
Joined
May 1, 2021
Messages
8
Reaction score
7
Points
3
Location
Trowbridge
Driving
MG ZS EV
We had a Rolec Wallpod installed as part of the local MG dealer offered package. We had to have 30 metre cable run from the house electricity meter cupboard around the garden to the Rolec pod point located at the back of the garage. All up cost was £700. The cable was fitted unobtrusively and carefully. I have now been using the Rolec podpoint to charge for our ZSEV for just under a year without hitch or failure. So my question, why does the community (in other MGEV site postings) think The Rolec charger is to be avoided.
 
I have a dumb Rolec 7kw 32 Amp wall box that is about four years old.
In that time it has received three new Rolec RCBO breakers and a new contactor.
I guess that MAY answer your question.
Thank you for the Rolec reliability report, I appreciate it. That makes the system failure rate about 36,000hours / 4 = 9,000 hours mean time between failure. I imagine the other brands have their own reliability characteristics that could be compared to the Rolec if anyone could contribute. Reliability aside, I suppose my question is what makes the other chargers better; a kind of ‘which charger’ report. P.S. the MG EV in my opinion is a brilliant package. P.P.S. Now the weather has improved the round town range is tapping on 200 miles. I love it.
 
I am due to have a Rolec fitted in a couple of weeks. Having read good and bad reviews I was a little unsure about what to do so I contacted the company who are installing my charger.

Here is their response:

The Rolec unit used to have a few issues (in the early days), however the new ones are very reliable, I have one and it hasn’t missed a beat in the 14 months its been installed. That said we do offer other units, we do the following:

Wallbox
Ohme
Podpoint
Zappi
EO
Anderson

We haven’t done any Hypervolt ones to date, however I have had a look at them and they look like a decent unit. If you want a price on any of the above please let me know?

I have asked for a quote for the Hypervolt.
 
Maybe take a look at this.....


Hi @jamesie .
I have seen this video from Jordan, it is typical of what other owners have witnessed on there Rolec units.
The quality of the Rolec RCBO’s fitted to these units are of poor quality and are a diffident weak point.
The newer Rolec branded breakers with the green breaker switch, was an attempt to rectify the issue they had on the older blue switch coloured breakers that failed early.
Although the newer units are better, they still fail ( depending on use ) after around the 12 to 18 month mark.
Ask me how I know 😞.
I currently have a Garo branded RCBO installed in my unit and I am conducting checks on its condition every couple of months.
In fact, I intend to carry out a check today.
I think it largely depends on the usage you give your wall box, to how long the Rolec breakers are likely to last.
My previous car was a VW Golf GTE PHEV.
The battery pack was only small and the car would only pull at about 3.5 kw’s.
Therefore the load / time spent on the unit was only less than three hours Max.
When moving to the ZS EV - 99.9% of our charging requirements are done from home on a cheaper over night rate.
The car is about 15 months old and we have covered 12,000 miles in this time.
As you can judge from this usage pattern, our wall box is used on a very regular basis.
The unit can be pulling a load for up to 4 to 5 hours sometimes.
When the unit has been on for this length of time, if you place your hand on the top of the outer cover, you can feel the heat that is being generated over that long charging period.
This must have a long term affect on the life of any of the components inside of the unit.
This high load, delivered over a long period of time, is truly going to test the quality of the contacts inside of any RCBO.
This is what sorts out the men from the boys alright !.
The Garo branded RCBO comes highly recommended by other owners and EV installers alike.
This is why I have opted for going for one of these breakers.
Time will tell I guess !.
The unreliability of the Rolec branded breakers, has made me.completely paranoid now.
That is why I continue to keep up my periodical checks.
My wall box is installed on the internal wall of my integral garage, so in that respect it has had a pampered life.
Another reason why I check on its condition on a fairly regular basis.
I can out a FULL safe isolation process before entering the wall box of course !.
Jordan has natural stopped installing Rolec units anymore because his company and work load has increased massively over the last 12 months.
He can not spare the time to keep revisiting Rolec box’s that he installed to carry out warranty work due to early failures of the breakers.
Better to install a reliable unit in the first place.
 
I am due to have a Rolec fitted in a couple of weeks. Having read good and bad reviews I was a little unsure about what to do so I contacted the company who are installing my charger.

Here is their response:

The Rolec unit used to have a few issues (in the early days), however the new ones are very reliable, I have one and it hasn’t missed a beat in the 14 months its been installed. That said we do offer other units, we do the following:

Wallbox
Ohme
Podpoint
Zappi
EO
Anderson

We haven’t done any Hypervolt ones to date, however I have had a look at them and they look like a decent unit. If you want a price on any of the above please let me know?

I have asked for a quote for the Hypervolt.
Wise move !.
Just to say, my brother has a ZSEV and under the grant, had the so called “Newer” smart Rolec box installed about 6 months ago.
His usage is very small, but I can tell you for sure, that they are STILL fitting the same RCBO breakers in these units !.
 
I have a Rolec home charger, didn't have a choice other than which Rolec charger to choose (choice of 2 I think). Still, it cost me £0 under MG's offer at the time and no complaints yet, but it hasn't had frequent use due to lockdown and such.
 
I have a Rolec home charger, didn't have a choice other than which Rolec charger to choose (choice of 2 I think). Still, it cost me £0 under MG's offer at the time and no complaints yet, but it hasn't had frequent use due to lockdown and such.
We just missed the freebies. We bought the EV in August last year.
Our Rolec is used every couple if days for an over night charge. It lives outside in the cold, wet and heat. Touch wood no problems.
 
We had a Rolec Wallpod installed as part of the local MG dealer offered package. We had to have 30 metre cable run from the house electricity meter cupboard around the garden to the Rolec pod point located at the back of the garage. All up cost was £700. The cable was fitted unobtrusively and carefully. I have now been using the Rolec podpoint to charge for our ZSEV for just under a year without hitch or failure. So my question, why does the community (in other MGEV site postings) think The Rolec charger is to be avoided.
We had ours fitted at the end of January and have no issues. Overnight charging works (with the Rolec work around) and we are happy with it
 
In fact, I intend to carry out a check today.
Just completed the visual and then termination screw tightness test.
Quarter of a turn on two of the 6mm terminations, that’s it.
No sign of any overheating etc.
The Garo RCBO looks as absolutely fine at the moment.
Again, if your usage is low OR your box is fairly new, then I would not expect any issues yet.
If your usage is high then expect to find issues when your unit becomes older IF you have the Rolec RCBO installed.
If it fails inside of the warranty, Rolec will unusual supply one FOC.
I had one fitted under warranty, that failed.
Then I purchased another one at my own expense.
I removed that one when it also started to display signs of failure after about 14 months.
If you get up one morning and your car has either stoped charging early, then check the breaker in the wall box.
If it has tripped, it is likely starting to fail.
It MAY reset, but it is start to go bad !.
My best advice is to try the trip on the wall box once a month, if it has difficulty resetting it is one of the warning signs.
I will see if I can put my hands on one of the fault breakers, and upload an image of the damage.
When it fails, it can also overheat / burn the supply lines of the cable, that will need cutting back to heathy cable.
Just more work to contend with.
Ask me how I know !.
The EV installer fitted the first replacement and before anybody thinks it was a loose connection, I can verify this WAS not the case.
I was standing alongside him when he found the problem and the terminal connections where absolutely solid.
He actually said :- It not the terminations, it’s the unit that has failed ( breaker ).
f02869a8-8ab6-4ae2-928c-7404ea5ff3bc-jpeg.3579
 

Attachments

  • F02869A8-8AB6-4AE2-928C-7404EA5FF3BC.jpeg
    F02869A8-8AB6-4AE2-928C-7404EA5FF3BC.jpeg
    233.5 KB · Views: 554
  • 0CE3E3F0-6F03-49A2-B03E-9DB4A8D32B46.jpeg
    0CE3E3F0-6F03-49A2-B03E-9DB4A8D32B46.jpeg
    204.2 KB · Views: 130
I have posted this on another thread but I thought I would post here as well.

I have just had a quote for £580 for the Hypervolt charger which I have accepted. Although it was more expensive than the Rolec (£105) I feel that the extra cost is justified.
 
Does anyone have a Zappi charger? It seems to be one of the "MG compatible" ones, and I notice it's designed and manufactured in the UK. I'm thinking of tying in some solar panels at some point, which the Zappi can accommodate, but has anyone else tried them?
 
I have a Zappi but no solar. It worked well with my MG5. But I am currently using Ohme as I like the app.
 
Thanks. Who installed it for you BTW, and did you get the grant?
 
I have just had a Zappi installed and it works perfectly with my ZS EV. I don't have solar but my electrician was very persuasive with regard to the quality of the products (installed with Harvi and Hub). I don't expect any problems with the grants (2 available in Scotland).
 
I have just had a Zappi installed and it works perfectly with my ZS EV. I don't have solar but my electrician was very persuasive with regard to the quality of the products (installed with Harvi and Hub). I don't expect any problems with the grants (2 available in Scotland).
Congrats Jamesie! Your installer will take care of the UK grant but you need to do the Scottish grant yourself and be prepared for a bit of a wait - mines took just over a month to get processed and that was after getting all the certificates and docs from the installer!

Cheers

Bloggsy
 
Does anyone have a Zappi charger? It seems to be one of the "MG compatible" ones, and I notice it's designed and manufactured in the UK. I'm thinking of tying in some solar panels at some point, which the Zappi can accommodate, but has anyone else tried them?
The Zappi is an ideal choice if your EVEN close to considering about having solar.
Hyper volt are still working on a wall box that can utilise a solar array.
 
Support us by becoming a Premium Member

Latest MG EVs video

MG3 Hybrid+ & Cyberster Configurator News + hot topics from the MG EVs forums
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom