Charger help
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It comes with a 2.3kW charger that is the maximum that will plug into a standard 13A domestic socket.
That is fine if you only intend short journeys and want to use the cheap overnight charging slots (ie, Octopus) but the best solution is a 7.5kW wall charger.... There are many available but they need a dedicated power supply, ie, a qualified electrician to install it and possibly your DNO to upgrade your main incoming fuse.
Mine is finally going to be installed next week, over a year since it was supposed to be (included in the purchase price of the car).
For the choice of which it's down to how many "extras" you get, "Apps" and things like that. Mine, next week, will be a BP Pulse, not by choice, it's just what the purchase deal came with.
That is fine if you only intend short journeys and want to use the cheap overnight charging slots (ie, Octopus) but the best solution is a 7.5kW wall charger.... There are many available but they need a dedicated power supply, ie, a qualified electrician to install it and possibly your DNO to upgrade your main incoming fuse.
Mine is finally going to be installed next week, over a year since it was supposed to be (included in the purchase price of the car).
For the choice of which it's down to how many "extras" you get, "Apps" and things like that. Mine, next week, will be a BP Pulse, not by choice, it's just what the purchase deal came with.
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125 Posts
First things to check if you haven't already are the property fuse and where/how it will be cabled.
As Rod mentioned you need to check in your supply cupboard where your meter is what rating fuse you have. It is usually next to or under the meter and more often than not will have sticker on it. If its 100A you're laughing, if its 60A there's more to discuss.
Next is the location of your consumer unit (fuse box) in relation to where you want the charger. It will need a spare slot to install a separate breaker for the charge point, and they will need to run a dedicated cable from there to your chosen location. Depending on the locations it sometimes makes sense to put the charge point closer to the fuse box and use a longer cable.
For the actual chargepoints it comes down to features and looks in equal measure.
I went for an Easee One for a few reasons. Looks wise it's small and discrete, plus I can turn the lights off so it's not lit all night (opposite my neighbours bedroom window). Features wise the app gives good options for scheduling charge, remote activation and reporting etc. It also doesn't come tethered but you can lock a cable in which I have done with mine, so if I effectively have a tethered lead but can change it for a longer one if needed. If we need a second charge point in the future you can chain from one to another, you share (or queue) on the same 7.4kW but don't need all the electrical work to run back to the CU. It was recommended by the installer on the basis that they've not had to got out and fix any. It flagged a fault when installed due to our property having 250V rather than 240V but they remotely reconfigured it in a few minutes. Install was easy, approx 4 hours from arrival to commissioning including running the cable under floor.
The only fault I've had is it stopped charging after 1.5 hours a couple of nights when it was 25deg overnight. I logged a call and they applied an update after a couple of days investigating and its been fine since.
![Light Brick Brickwork Wood Building material]()
You can get changeable covers if you dont like the black, but its not really bothered me, several people have stood near it or walked past it and then asked me if im getting a charge point.
Others I considered were...
Zappi- we have solar panels and it can be linked so you divert the solar to your car. But you need an extra box (Eddi) and the extra cost didn't work out worthwhile for our 2kW array. Plus the Zapppi is big, ugly and expensive IMO
Hypervolt - liked it but didn't want to be restricted to their cable length as was available as tethered only.
PodPoint - several installers told me the same thing. A pig to install and get more faults than any other make.
Ohme - didn't really like the look of it, but very good if you want to make the most of Octopus tariffs.
As Rod mentioned you need to check in your supply cupboard where your meter is what rating fuse you have. It is usually next to or under the meter and more often than not will have sticker on it. If its 100A you're laughing, if its 60A there's more to discuss.
Next is the location of your consumer unit (fuse box) in relation to where you want the charger. It will need a spare slot to install a separate breaker for the charge point, and they will need to run a dedicated cable from there to your chosen location. Depending on the locations it sometimes makes sense to put the charge point closer to the fuse box and use a longer cable.
For the actual chargepoints it comes down to features and looks in equal measure.
I went for an Easee One for a few reasons. Looks wise it's small and discrete, plus I can turn the lights off so it's not lit all night (opposite my neighbours bedroom window). Features wise the app gives good options for scheduling charge, remote activation and reporting etc. It also doesn't come tethered but you can lock a cable in which I have done with mine, so if I effectively have a tethered lead but can change it for a longer one if needed. If we need a second charge point in the future you can chain from one to another, you share (or queue) on the same 7.4kW but don't need all the electrical work to run back to the CU. It was recommended by the installer on the basis that they've not had to got out and fix any. It flagged a fault when installed due to our property having 250V rather than 240V but they remotely reconfigured it in a few minutes. Install was easy, approx 4 hours from arrival to commissioning including running the cable under floor.
The only fault I've had is it stopped charging after 1.5 hours a couple of nights when it was 25deg overnight. I logged a call and they applied an update after a couple of days investigating and its been fine since.
You can get changeable covers if you dont like the black, but its not really bothered me, several people have stood near it or walked past it and then asked me if im getting a charge point.
Others I considered were...
Zappi- we have solar panels and it can be linked so you divert the solar to your car. But you need an extra box (Eddi) and the extra cost didn't work out worthwhile for our 2kW array. Plus the Zapppi is big, ugly and expensive IMO
Hypervolt - liked it but didn't want to be restricted to their cable length as was available as tethered only.
PodPoint - several installers told me the same thing. A pig to install and get more faults than any other make.
Ohme - didn't really like the look of it, but very good if you want to make the most of Octopus tariffs.
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125 Posts
Also, make sure you check out the Octopus Go tariff which gives you a discount 4 hour charge slot (00:30-04:30) at 7.5p per kW plus a slightly inflated day rate (fixed for 12 months) currently around 40p per kW depending on location
octopus.energy
If want I have a spreadsheet to compare single rate to dual rate where you enter you average annual electricity use and weekly mileage. I've just been adding the estimated uplifts for Oct/Jan but got scared and ran away.
If you're not an Octopus customer and think about joining get a code from an existing customer and you get £50 each
share.octopus.energy
Octopus Go
The UK's most awarded energy supplier. We're doing energy better - for you and the environment.
octopus.energy
If want I have a spreadsheet to compare single rate to dual rate where you enter you average annual electricity use and weekly mileage. I've just been adding the estimated uplifts for Oct/Jan but got scared and ran away.
If you're not an Octopus customer and think about joining get a code from an existing customer and you get £50 each
Octopus Energy
The UK's most awarded energy supplier. We're doing energy better - for you and the environment.
share.octopus.energy
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4 Posts
Thanks for the infoAlso, make sure you check out the Octopus Go tariff which gives you a discount 4 hour charge slot (00:30-04:30) at 7.5p per kW plus a slightly inflated day rate (fixed for 12 months) currently around 40p per kW depending on location
Octopus Go
The UK's most awarded energy supplier. We're doing energy better - for you and the environment.
If want I have a spreadsheet to compare single rate to dual rate where you enter you average annual electricity use and weekly mileage. I've just been adding the estimated uplifts for Oct/Jan but got scared and ran away.
If you're not an Octopus customer and think about joining get a code from an existing customer and you get £50 each
Octopus Energy
The UK's most awarded energy supplier. We're doing energy better - for you and the environment.
I have a 100A fuse I also have solar panels I think they are 8kw so would want to make the most of them
Mini recommend the pod point but mite give that make a miss ! I do have a couple of independent firms coming to have a look but it is always good to have an idea of what I need 1st
atb Dax
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125 Posts
When I was looking the Zappi was the best option to use tge solar input. But you need another box to handle the monitoring and switching called an Eddi which is about £400. For me when I thought about how often I will be realistically able to connect while generating enough to put excess into the car throughout the year it wasn't worth it. Especially true as with my use case for the SE 100% of my charging is at 7.5p per kW. I think I calculated my break-even on the Eddi at about 5-6 years. Plus our solar array is OLD so we get around 50p per kW for feeding back.Thanks for the info
I also have solar panels I think they are 8kw so would want to make the most of them
Mini recommend the pod point but mite give that make a miss ! I do have a couple of independent firms coming to have a look but it is always good to have an idea of what I need 1st
atb Dax
One thing I forgot is if you intend to use a split tariff like GO don't rely on the car to do the timing. There's a few posts on here about it, but basically to set a timed charge on the car you have also set a departure time. The car will charge in the slot but then activate the charge again to warm for departure regardless of time. Its neither here or there with current rates and temps, but could make a difference come Feb rates and -5
Some recommend not to supply the EVSE from the house CU but to supply it from a separate small CU with it's own Type B RCBO. This keeps it independent from the house supply. You need one with PEN fault protection or you may have to install an earth rod for it. Having advice from a proper qualified installer is the way to go. There are lots of videos on YouTube that you can look at to see what's involved.
Artisan Electric seem to know what they are talking about to give you some ideas.
Artisan Electric seem to know what they are talking about to give you some ideas.
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1 Posts
Hi
I have been using the podpoint now for two years no issues at all, I suggest you do your own research and make your own choice, that way you can only blame yourself if things go wrong.
As per Red Mini mentioned, in my case they will be installing a small seperate CU in my meter box (it has plenty of spare room) as the existing CU indoors is only good for 80A total, doesn't have an RCD (age of the house, wasn''t mandatory back then), and everything has to uprated to 100A in my case because we are all electric, no gas in my rural area..
My main fuse was only 60A and when the DNO came to uprate it (which took months to organise) he said "no" because Octopus (or rather their metering company) had used 16mm^2 cable for the meter tails when they installed my smart meter and they should have used 25mm^2 and it took me ages more to get that fixed.
Some installs appear to be easy and quick - and then there is me.....
Good luck with yours, I'm off outside now to finish digging the required trench between my house and garage.....
My main fuse was only 60A and when the DNO came to uprate it (which took months to organise) he said "no" because Octopus (or rather their metering company) had used 16mm^2 cable for the meter tails when they installed my smart meter and they should have used 25mm^2 and it took me ages more to get that fixed.
Some installs appear to be easy and quick - and then there is me.....
Good luck with yours, I'm off outside now to finish digging the required trench between my house and garage.....
Joined
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125 Posts
My install of the charge point was super slick at 4 hours, but my fuse was 60A so I was limited to 10A charging until the DNO spent 2 weeks doing this...
Wow.....
All the DNO has to do to mine is put the 100A fuse in, they physically verified the main incoming cable is 35mm^2 so just wanted the meter wiring upgraded (which is now done) and they will fit the new fuse next month.
My install (next Wednesday) will also be downrated until the new fuse is fitted..
The only big hole I'm digging is on my own property between the house and garage as I (obviously) want the charger on the front of the garage, not the house....
All the DNO has to do to mine is put the 100A fuse in, they physically verified the main incoming cable is 35mm^2 so just wanted the meter wiring upgraded (which is now done) and they will fit the new fuse next month.
My install (next Wednesday) will also be downrated until the new fuse is fitted..
The only big hole I'm digging is on my own property between the house and garage as I (obviously) want the charger on the front of the garage, not the house....
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164 Posts
My installation of a 7,8kWH charger was done in a couple of hours. The installer requested completion of a pre- survey form giving basic details of the position of the CU and the likely location for the charger., then a phone call to discuss any points and confirm the date.
The charger is located in the garage about 3 metres from the incoming supply and the main fuse. Normally they would wire the charger to the consumer unit by adding an additional circuit breaker. However for us the CU is over 10 metres from the mains supply on the second level of the house. (The garage is below ground level). Simple solution: he connected directly to the main supply unit and added a separate mini CU with integral circuit breaker.
We have had it trip the main circuit breaker once but that was because the wife’s ID3 58KW was charging at the same time as the house electric heating kicked in at 530 on a February morning when it was -5C
The charger is located in the garage about 3 metres from the incoming supply and the main fuse. Normally they would wire the charger to the consumer unit by adding an additional circuit breaker. However for us the CU is over 10 metres from the mains supply on the second level of the house. (The garage is below ground level). Simple solution: he connected directly to the main supply unit and added a separate mini CU with integral circuit breaker.
We have had it trip the main circuit breaker once but that was because the wife’s ID3 58KW was charging at the same time as the house electric heating kicked in at 530 on a February morning when it was -5C
Mine was installed yesterday (pictures to follow).
It took just over 6 hours but most of that was running the 40m of cable from my meter box at the back of the house all the way along the side to reach the front then across the front then dropped into the trench across to the garage.
He used proper cable cleats, drilled holes, rawplugs and stainless screws, every 500mm and extras on the corners (house is "L" shaped) and looks really neat. I was expecting a cowboy contractor hammering in masonary nails but I got lucky, real professional job on the cable. But very time consuming.
Most of the rest of the time was taken up by adding a new small CU in the meter box plus the henley blocks to split the new CU from the main house one. Screwing the charger to the garage wall and wiring it up was minimal compared to all the other work.
All I've got left to do is backfill the 8m trench between house and garage that took me two days to dig earlier in the week, two days - even though I have my own mini-digger - because the ground is rock solid at the moment because of this heatwave that is affecting NW Europe and SE England at the moment.
It took just over 6 hours but most of that was running the 40m of cable from my meter box at the back of the house all the way along the side to reach the front then across the front then dropped into the trench across to the garage.
He used proper cable cleats, drilled holes, rawplugs and stainless screws, every 500mm and extras on the corners (house is "L" shaped) and looks really neat. I was expecting a cowboy contractor hammering in masonary nails but I got lucky, real professional job on the cable. But very time consuming.
Most of the rest of the time was taken up by adding a new small CU in the meter box plus the henley blocks to split the new CU from the main house one. Screwing the charger to the garage wall and wiring it up was minimal compared to all the other work.
All I've got left to do is backfill the 8m trench between house and garage that took me two days to dig earlier in the week, two days - even though I have my own mini-digger - because the ground is rock solid at the moment because of this heatwave that is affecting NW Europe and SE England at the moment.
Hi there, I went for an ICS charger for the level 3 mini I ordered in April 2022. The electrician was excellent, I did my own research for the charger. The unit is isolated from rest of the house so that if there is a power cut as a direct result of say, an overload whilst I was cooking for the masses ☺, the charger remains unaffected. That said, I am not an electrician, my level 3 car is nowhere near being produced as no status apart from 111, I did want to know that charger was isolated from my routine activities. If you would like more details, happy to pass on. I can’t answer technical questions!
For our L2 the electrician recommended the Zappi as the best match for our solar panel and battery backup system.
You can use it as a straight 7kW charger but also to respond to the output of the solar array in a couple of ways eg charge at 1.4kW rate (the lowest rate in the charging specs) until the spare output is higher then use all the surplus to charge at a higher rate or to only charge when the surplus is above the 1.4kW rate. There are “boost”s available on top of the solar rate levels if needed. All can be changed via the app on the fly. The standard tethered cable is 7m rather than the more usual 5m.
This is in addition to the usual timed charging etc options available from most chargers. Not the cheapest but no complaints from us.
You can use it as a straight 7kW charger but also to respond to the output of the solar array in a couple of ways eg charge at 1.4kW rate (the lowest rate in the charging specs) until the spare output is higher then use all the surplus to charge at a higher rate or to only charge when the surplus is above the 1.4kW rate. There are “boost”s available on top of the solar rate levels if needed. All can be changed via the app on the fly. The standard tethered cable is 7m rather than the more usual 5m.
This is in addition to the usual timed charging etc options available from most chargers. Not the cheapest but no complaints from us.
Mini SE Level 3
Home Charger - Hypervolt Home 2
Highly recommend this charger
Arrived within 2 days of purchase
Local qualified electrician fitted within 2 weeks
Longest delay getting approval from Electricity North West
Installation similar to that described by others -
( in layman’s terms, not electrician’s !! )
Splitter block off main tails after Mains Fuse,
New additional Consumer Unit for charger,
( all fitted into existing wall cupboard ),
Cable along garage wall to internal installation,
Set up Hypervolt App and chose settings,
Took about 4 hours, excellent job.
Very pleased with neat installation.
![Hood Vehicle Automotive lighting Car Automotive tail & brake light]()
Home Charger - Hypervolt Home 2
Highly recommend this charger
Arrived within 2 days of purchase
Local qualified electrician fitted within 2 weeks
Longest delay getting approval from Electricity North West
Installation similar to that described by others -
( in layman’s terms, not electrician’s !! )
Splitter block off main tails after Mains Fuse,
New additional Consumer Unit for charger,
( all fitted into existing wall cupboard ),
Cable along garage wall to internal installation,
Set up Hypervolt App and chose settings,
Took about 4 hours, excellent job.
Very pleased with neat installation.
Joined
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28 Posts
Lucky enough to have a small garage to park inside.
My SE is parked at home for at least 15 hours per day plus I very rarely drive over 90 miles in that day.
This means the 3 pin granny charger is perfectly fine.
The £700 saving on a wall box pays for a few years of overnight slow charging once or twice a week.
My SE is parked at home for at least 15 hours per day plus I very rarely drive over 90 miles in that day.
This means the 3 pin granny charger is perfectly fine.
The £700 saving on a wall box pays for a few years of overnight slow charging once or twice a week.
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