Any point in getting home EV charger?

Eggs For Dinner

I'm about to purchase a plug-in hybrid which has an EV range of 70kms. Generally, that would do me for the week. However, approx once a month, I do a round trip of 300kms. This trip would involve an overnight stay

My question is, does it make any sense to install an EV charger in my home, or should I stick with the granny cable it comes with? I'm being quoted between €1.100 and €1.500 to install a charger. I'm retired and there's a 2nd car available, so a 6 hour charge time, once a week, wouldn't be much of an inconvenience. I would be able to use the granny cable during my overnight stay too. I have solar panels if that's a consideration

All thoughts appreciated

mr chips

We've been running a full EV using just the granny charger since March. We also have solar, without a storage battery just yet. This is coming soon - I'm in the process of upgrading the setup I have at the house as I run a business from home and need more power than I used to anyway, plus we're about to change to a day/night tariff - but here's how things have been working for us.

The car is often at home during the day, so it just gets plugged in to trickle charge - especially whenever there's enough sunshine to generate a surplus from the panels (not as much at this time of year!). Up to 2-3 weeks ago, I've often been able to charge the car for free just from the solar excess - if I don't need a lot of range in a hurry, I can slow the charge rate on the granny charger to just 6 amps, which translates to adding about 5km of range in an hour. If I want it to charge faster than that, or if it's particularly bright, with the touch of a button I can adjust it to 8 amps, 10 amps or 13 amps - the latter will add about 16km in an hour. On the occasions when we know we're going on a long trip, we just leave it to charge all day or else overnight, depending on how much range the car needs to add. We only rarely need to use public chargers, even though one of the longer trips we do regularly is 300km each way, as we can trickle charge overnight when we get there.

Your use case seems to involve doing slightly less day-to-day driving than we do, and your regular longer trips are half the distance of ours if not less. If your car also spends a lot of its time on the driveway at home, and if you have a suitable outdoor 3-pin socket (or can get one fitted), I think you'd be fine with just a granny charger, as you'd be able to fully charge your car's battery in under 5 hours. Depending on the size of your solar array, if the car is parked on the driveway during daylight hours you may even be able to charge it from the sun for free. In your shoes, I'd save the money and not bother with the home charger.

KCross

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058427426/any-point-in-getting-home-ev-charger

I'm retired and there's a 2nd car available, so a 6 hour charge time, once a week, wouldn't be much of an inconvenience.

Dont see much need for the home charge point in that case.

Buffman

There's no need to blow €1k+ in that scenario OP, you'll be perfectly fine with the granny charger long term as long as it's plugged into a suitable socket.

Buddy Bubs

I'll weigh in behind the posters above, no need for a dedicated charger for you.

Full EV might take too long but PHEV will be fully charged overnight

Eggs For Dinner

Thanks everyone, you've confirmed what I was thinking

Buffman, can I ask what you mean by 'suitable socket'. I have an outdoor socket mounted on the wall of the house, but might need to run an extension cable to it. If that is not appropriate, I can always run the granny cable in through a window into one of the internal house sockets

hold my beer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123944391#Comment_123944391

Dont plug into an extension lead. Smell of burning plastic the next morning the last time I done that.

KCross

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123944391#Comment_123944391

The granny cable will be pulling 10 amps for hours on end. Thats close to the max that a standard 13amp socket can handle. If the socket is old or worn it could overheat. Think of the granny charger as like having your kettle turned on and heating constantly…. thats the draw the granny cable will have. If the socket, or cable feeding it, are worn in any way it will be a problem.

You should not use extension leads.

You should regularly check that the socket and granny plug do not get hot, particularly the first few times you use it.

If in doubt get an electrician to check it and maybe replace the socket if it is old.

...Ghost...

I would agree with the above advice. You'll do fine with a granny charger as long as the socket is good and you don't start using extension leads.

The benefit of the dedicated charger is speed and convenience. They are safer too. You can get some of the convenience by leaving the granny charger plugged in. Believe me when I say it is no fun digging into the boot on a cold, rainy night looking for the granny charger.

Buffman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123944391#Comment_123944391

By suitable I mean a properly installed (correct cable size) and good quality socket.

Long term use of an extension lead can result in overheating and damage, I've seen examples of melted plugs and sockets.

As well as that, it will get very boring very quickly running extension leads or cables in and out of windows on a long term basis.

If you're planning on living with a granny charger long term, I'd recommend either get one with a cable long enough to reach the car or install another outdoor socket closer to the car.

I mounted my charger semi-permanent to the wall and it was far more convenient than setting it up each time.

User1998

Not sure what car you are buying, but 70km of range is probably highly unlikely. Especially with the heating on and during cold weather.

Gumbo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123944255#Comment_123944255

While I agree there’s no need for a charge point but I’d just like to state that they can be got significantly cheaper. €699 for example supplied and fitted after grant.

Eggs For Dinner

Thanks again everyone, valuable information to consider.

User1998, the car is a Hyundai Tucson plug-in hybrid. While I intend using the EV mode for my (low) daily usage, I've no issue relying on the ICE if conditions to charge it are not favourable.

Eggs For Dinner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123945188#Comment_123945188

Thanks Gumbo. Can I ask who is installing them at that figure?. On a technical issue, does the EV charger have to be wired directly to the fuseboard. My fuseboard is in a very difficult location from where I would want ro mount it

MojoMaker

If there is travel distance form chargepoint back to fuseboard there is usually a modest extra on the price to account for the greater cabling quantity and labour time. Not a huge deal. The team that comes out to you should factor that into the quote you get.

Gumbo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123945198#Comment_123945198

Fokearn