r/evchargingUK

Hi all, looking for some advice from people familiar with EV charger installations/DNO requirements.
I’m having a Pod Point EV charger installed at my house and have had a bit of a saga getting to this point.

Following the initial Pod Point survey, it was identified that my electricity supply was looped with my neighbour. This was raised with my DNO, SSEN, and I was told the supply would need to be unlooped before the EV charger could be installed.
I’ve spent the last few months waiting for this to happen, and SSEN finally completed the unlooping last week.
I therefore expected that, once the unlooping was complete, Pod Point would be able to proceed with the charger installation based on the original survey/installation plan.

However, Pod Point have now reassessed the installation and the proposed connection has changed.

I have a 100A main supply fuse and a separate consumer unit in my detached garage. The garage is supplied from the house and is relatively close to where the charger would be installed.

Pod Point originally looked at connecting the charger from the garage consumer unit using CT clamp/load management. Following the latest discussions, however, they have now submitted an application to SSEN requesting approval to connect from the garage consumer unit without load management.
Pod Point have calculated the property’s maximum demand at 110A against the existing 100A main fuse.

Their current proposal is:

SSEN to assess/approve the installation without load management.

If approved, the charger will be connected from the garage consumer unit.

The required Type A RCD is apparently already available, and Pod Point can order the required MCB.
Pod Point have confirmed they would waive the £200 non-standard installation charge if SSEN approves this arrangement.

If SSEN rejects the application, Pod Point are arranging another survey to look at an alternative route from the meter/main supply area.

That alternative route would potentially be subject to the £200 non-standard installation charge, plus any required groundwork.
I’m trying to understand whether this all sounds technically reasonable.

The bit I’m particularly interested in is the 110A calculated demand against a 100A main fuse. I understand that 110A is a calculated maximum demand and doesn’t necessarily mean the house will actually draw 110A continuously, but I’m unsure how SSEN will view that.
I’m also wondering whether the garage consumer unit route is actually a sensible solution, given that the garage is already supplied from the house, or whether connecting closer to the meter/main supply would be preferable.

Questions for anyone knowledgeable:

Is the proposed garage-board connection without load management reasonable?
Is SSEN likely to approve a calculated 110A maximum demand against a 100A main fuse?
Does the fact that the supply has now been unlooped change anything materially from an EV charger connection perspective?
If SSEN rejects the garage-board proposal, would connecting directly from the meter/main supply be a better approach?
Is there anything specific I should be asking Pod Point or SSEN before proceeding?

I’m not an electrician, so I’m mainly looking for some independent opinions before I end up another few months into this particular electrical installation soap opera.

Hi folks, I'm considering a used smallish EV for my wife (id3) or any similar recommendations (around 10k). She has a relatively short commute and we can easily cover her milage on a 13amp 3 pin socket using a night rate ev tariff. The layout of my property makes it extremely difficult to fit a fast charger. Buying this is a bit of a test really, if we like it I have a massive workshop I can fit with solar and would invest in this going forward.

My question is, how long a run can I realistically take a cable for the the slow charger. She likes to park about 60 yds from the nearest socket.

I’m not certain this is the best place to ask…

What are the rules on getting a friend/family member (who is a qualified electrician) to install an EV charger at home for me?

Looking at a Hypervolt. He has installed several chargers before.

How does this affect Warranty? Can I/we get in trouble for doing so?

I think price war is a bit strong but I feel like we're starting to see more price competition appearing.

I got a free ionity year subscription with my car, making the rate 43p/kWh. I only road trip every few months but typical that I've got 2 trips coming up a week after my subscription expires!

I was thinking of renewing but then I looked at what my weekend journeys would look like without that and was pleasantly surprised.

Daytime rates

Evyve: 48p/kWh

Arnold Clark: 55p/kWh

MFG: 59p/kWh

Tesla: ~60p/kWh

Sainsbury's Smart Charge: 66p/kWh (with IOG)

Nighttime rates

Tesla: ~33p/kWh (varies but post 10pm)

Be.Ev: 39p/kWh (post 7pm?)

Instavolt: 55p/kWh (post 8pm)

And then you've got Be.Ev doing a spend £10 get £10 offer through Electroverse.

There's an Evyve almost perfectly placed on my journey up and I'll be returning at off peak Tesla rates (I know Tesla's great prices have been around forever).

My 470 mile road trip is now:

235 (50%) miles at 3.5p/kWh home rate

94 (20%) miles at 48p/kWh Evyve

141 miles (30%) at 33p/kWh Tesla

Round trip cost of about 21p/kWh!

Hopefully this is the start of some better pricing for public charging

Ordered my first EV (Renault 5 on lease). Decided on Tariff. Rates aren't good at moment, but having just moved to EDF, their EV rate is competitive for what I can access currently.

I have narrowed my charger choice to 3 - Hypervolt, Andersen Quartz, Pod point solo 3s. They all have pros and cons but still struggling to make a decision.

Hypervolt seems most robust, and I was leaning to tethered but am now worried someone will rip the cable off, which the warranty wouldn't cover.

Andersen seems decent, and I get 7 year warranty.

Pod point is slightly cheaper, and I could pay half now and the rest over two years, but then I'm locked into EDF for 2 years, not 1, and it's got worse reviews.

And If I chose andersen or PP, do I want tethered or non tethered?

Help and advice would be appreciated!

We got ours free with a lease deal and Ford were partnering with Octopus.

Now we are moving, my partner instantly suggested going with Octopus again.

They were fine, but i mentioned i would try to hunt down a local company.

Is there any other option I'm missing that's worked well for people? The people who fit these are for sure capable pros but there also seems to be a fair slice of profit in doing what's a half day job at most for the majority of installs, and you're always at the mercy of getting someone not so good.

Hi all,

Looking to get an EV charger installed and whilst a family member recommended deta.e edock 2 which "does the job", I am considering all options.

We have 2 cars, 1 ICE and other EV. One of the main criteria for charger is that would like 10m long tethered cable (or slightly longer if possible) as the driveway is quite long and this will allow the EV to be parked behind the other car. This is mainly for convenience as I don't have to move cars every morning since I go work earlier with the ev.

Couple of questions:

1. I saw ohme tethered do not come in 10m so wondering if it's worth going for untethered ohme and buy a long cable separately or alternatively go for hypervolt with 10m tethered

2. Family member is an independent electrician (certified) who has done EV chargers before (deta.e evc8001 is the recommendation from them). If they were to install ohme or hypervolt would that provide me with warranty still or would they have to be a "registered" with hypervolt or ohme?

eBay seems to have sellers with excellent feedback selling it for cheaper so considering purchasing the charger and getting family member install it as a quote from other (hypervolt registered) electrician came in around 1.5k

Or if you have any other suggestions, would appreciate it.

Thanks in advance

Will be picking up our first EV in the next few weeks. Family of 7 so need 7 seats and didn't want a slow van, or to spend a fortune, so a used Mercedes EQB 350 seemed to be the best answer (we also own a caravan so need towing capacity!). What should we be looking for in terms of charger? Recommendations for brands or energy suppliers? Open to advice.

I live in Oxfordshire, and I am in the process of getting at-home charging setup so I can purchase an EV. For those who are interested in pursuing it, I thought I'd lay out the headache and cost of the process so far. The process is a bit ridiculous and expensive.

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Step 1 - County Council Permission

To get an EV Charger installed at a property without off-street parking, you need to have a safe way of crossing public footpaths between your house and the vehicle. Cable trunking is not a legal solution. If you want to do it properly and not risk being fined, you need a charging gully installed across the path and a dedicated EV charger (which meets their specifications). Granny charging is not allowed.

To get this, you need to have a EV charger installer confirm they can install one at your house. And to make an application for the county council to come and verify they can install the gully.

If they say no, then you're shit out of luck and need an ICE vehicle or somewhere else to charge. If they say yes, you will need to go get planning permission for the installation of your EV charger.

This part can take 8-10 weeks.

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Step 2 - Planning Permission

Once the county council have said they can install a charging gully, you can now proceed to get planning permission.

To install an EV charger on a house with no off-street parking, you need planning permission. You will need to supply the product specification sheet (containing size, colour), elevation drawings, land and site drawings, photographs of the proposed installation spot, the confirmation from the county council that they will install a gully (providing planning permission is accepted).

As well as correctly filling out all other forms.

Submitting this will cost £548 (+£85 if you use the planning portal).

At the moment there is a 2 week delay in putting the application forward, no idea how long it'll take after it has been properly submitted.

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Step 3 - Insurance

Either your Home or Motoring insurance must insure for third party injury up to £5,000,000 when you're using the charging gully and your EV charger. So phone your insurer up and make sure this is included, pay for any alterations and additions to your policy.

They must cover you charging your vehicle using a charging gully.

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Step 4 - Notify the county council so gully installation can progress

If you have a successful planning application, you can now go back to the county council and inform them of your successes. You will need to show them your successful planning application, and supply them with your insurance details.

They will now be able to schedule the installation of the gully. This will not happen immediately and will depend on the availability of their works team.

Installation will cost you £300 (+£100 per year licensing fee) you will need to tell them your insurance details every year.

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Step 5 - Tell your installer what's happening so they can schedule installation

You're almost there... Now tell your installer what's happening so they can get to it.

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Step 6 - Try not to cry when you're charging your EV for the first time, this process is going to cost me near £2k in total.

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EV Charger Installation and unit cost - £950

Charging Gully Installation Cost - £300 (+£100 licensing)

Planning permission - £548 (+£90 if using the portal)

Insurance Admin Fee - £30 (+any additional insurance cost)

Drawings - N/A - I used illustrator to create all my technical drawings, but it wouldn't be cheap if you need new ones.

I’m looking to get a home charger installed. Price all seems much of a muchness and not concerned with aesthetics - which charger brands have the lowest fault rate/best customer service?

Has anyone used a WeCharge subscription and the Ionity Charge League network?

I have a 1 month subscription (the cheapest) and just noticed a Charge League charging hub at Colchester and wondering whether these are included in the subscription cheaper rates.

I am using up so r VW charging credits so trying to stick to Ionity for now.

Hi all,

I will be renting an EV for a weekend, don't have a home charger.

What is my best option for charging without subscription?

Thanks

So I posted here before about an issue wiht my new Simpson Charger https://www.reddit.com/r/evchargingUK/s/6GtLOlvoMO where it was making a clicking noise and tripped the RCD. Well it was replaced and now about 2w later the new unit has done exactly the same thing.

Photos of first and second unit below - any idea whats happening?

https://preview.redd.it/0phri8vkscjh1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=2de318c4d50588a1f58af3173bbf0ee6058efd7e

https://preview.redd.it/aomyvzyascjh1.png?width=1152&format=png&auto=webp&s=fd6662d07cc5db3053c1bacb7d77d026afedc508