EV Charging from a 13A Socket

[davelx]

Now I am confused. Do you include Octopus Energy under this category? Quote:

Your new EV charger will be connected directly to your electricity meter​

Clearly!

More likely this was written somebody in the marketing department who knows nothing, and aimed at customers who are not expected to understand the technical detail anyway.

 

[flameport]

Your new EV charger will be connected directly to your electricity meter

Total nonsense.

An EV charger requires it's own circuit, usually 32A or 40A, and in almost all situations RCD protection as well.
That circuit starts from a consumer unit or similar - just like a circuit for any other item of equipment.

Some installers may install a tiny separate consumer unit for the EV only, perhaps because the existing one is full or it's so old that parts for it do not exist.
However if there is an existing consumer unit with spare ways where an RCBO can be installed, then that is where it should be connected.

 

[Why Not Indeed]

Octopus require 'the serial no of the charger and car' before granting the EV tariff.

This is specifically about them being able to turn your charging off/on in order to give you the lowest prices. Ie, when there is a surplus of supply, they switch you on. This might not be relevant if you're charging off a 13A socket rather than an EVSE.
Octopus have quite a lot of tariffs.

 

[StephenStephen]

This is specifically about them being able to turn your charging off/on in order to give you the lowest prices. Ie, when there is a surplus of supply, they switch you on. This might not be relevant if you're charging off a 13A socket rather than an EVSE.
Octopus have quite a lot of tariffs.

It might not be - Octopus might well be asking for this info in the process of giving you the Go tariff, which can work well with a granny charger and doesn't involve them turning anything of yours on or off.
If you do decide to go with Octopus, look for a referral code which will give you and the referrer £50 each.

 

[ericmark]

You now say charging in the garage, so no problem with TN-C-S.

 

[StephenStephen]

My understanding is that it there can be good technical reasons for AC charge timings to be managed by the car, rather than externally - more info in the speakev forum...

 

[monday]

Total nonsense.

An EV charger requires it's own circuit, usually 32A or 40A, and in almost all situations RCD protection as well.
That circuit starts from a consumer unit or similar - just like a circuit for any other item of equipment.

Some installers may install a tiny separate consumer unit for the EV only, perhaps because the existing one is full or it's so old that parts for it do not exist.
However if there is an existing consumer unit with spare ways where an RCBO can be installed, then that is where it should be connected.

Thanks for clearing that up. Still dithering between a 13A socket and a wall box. £1,000 represents a lot of kWh!

 

[monday]

It might not be - Octopus might well be asking for this info in the process of giving you the Go tariff, which can work well with a granny charger and doesn't involve them turning anything of yours on or off.
If you do decide to go with Octopus, look for a referral code which will give you and the referrer £50 each.

Thanks, yes I was aware of this referral code. I am stuck with EON until late October but will investigate Octopus tariffs shortly. Experience tells me they will be very difficult to compare.

 

[Adam_151]

Octopus have quite a lot of tariffs.

Did you change over to Agile in the end?

I've just got my car plugged in to be charged overnight at negative prices, and I've got a load of washing to go on overnight as well

Forecasts suggest that in the small hours tonight wind generation is going to come quite close to predicted demand: https://emoncms.org/ukgrid/app/view?name=UKGrid

 

[Why Not Indeed]

Yes indeed I did - literally just set the schedule on my EVSE to start at midnight
Dishwasher coming on at 0100.

The signup process for Agile really left me wondering. I submitted it, got no feedback at all then 2 weeks later, an email saying that I will be on it from the previous midnight if I click to accept the terms.

Need to find something that warns me proactively of upcoming price drops like tonight's. Suggestions?

 

[ericmark]

Experience tells me they will be very difficult to compare.

Oh your not kidding. I don't have an EV, just solar and a battery, I am with British Gas locked in until April, and I have failed to get any money for export. But it is the requirement for EV charge point serial number with Octopus, but not with British gas which causes the problem, as can get EV tariff with British Gas but only the Economy 7 tariff with Octopus, and the payment for export promise is only valid if you actually get it.

So you are juggling with not only peak, off peak, and export, but also with a load of different tariffs for same supply from the same firm.

I need around 2 hours to recharge battery, I have failed to find out if the times given are British Summer time or Unified time constant, the app seems to show UTC but the meter shows BST, and getting the meter to show the two rates involves pressing the B and A buttons, and to date I have failed to get it to work.

So total (ind) Q1, total Rea XPort, total (net), total (sum), total Act export, are double Dutch to me, the app shows 26th Sept 0.51 kWh, I know that's wrong, 25th 9.19 kWh which seems about right. (£1.55 or £2.14 with standing charge) yesterday it shows total of £0.16 which is clearly incorrect as less than the standing charge.

I did not sign up with British Gas, the company I was with went under, and British Gas took over the account, but is seems what one pays for electric is a lottery, and the government owned provider is owned not by the British government but the French government, how does that work?

So yesterday and day before my solar software shows me

this shows 9.6 kWh and smart meter app shows 9.19 kWh I will guess one is UTC and other BST so that accounts for the difference, but close enough to each other, but neither show how much off peak and how much peak.

I suppose one could work it out, £1.55 for 9.19 kWh approx 3.26 kWh peak and 5.93 kWh off peak. I used trial and error, there must be a better way?

 

[Risteard]

I may be wrong but I understand they are cabled directly from the meter box?

Absolutely not. That space is for the sole use of the DNO.

 

[Risteard]

Total nonsense.

An EV charger requires it's own circuit, usually 32A or 40A, and in almost all situations RCD protection as well.
That circuit starts from a consumer unit or similar - just like a circuit for any other item of equipment.

Some installers may install a tiny separate consumer unit for the EV only, perhaps because the existing one is full or it's so old that parts for it do not exist.
However if there is an existing consumer unit with spare ways where an RCBO can be installed, then that is where it should be connected.

Bearing in mind that the RCBO must interrupt all live conductors, which will rule out many existing DBs even with spare ways in them.

 

[ericmark]

Bearing in mind that the RCBO must interrupt all live conductors, which will rule out many existing DBs even with spare ways in them.

There are RCBO's designed mainly for TT installations which do interrupt both lives, line and neutral, it does not monitor the neutral for overload, but it does switch it.

However when I looked not all consumer unit manufacturers offered them as an option, so this would need looking into.

However it would be a new circuit, so it would need registering, which is darn expensive going down the LABC route, so the electrician doing the work should know the rules. Which I must admit are confusing. I have fitted many a fork lift charger, and charge my own e-bike from a 13 amp socket, but most of them use batteries under 75 volt, so are classed extra low voltage, and are normally charged within the equal potential zone, but the rules don't seem to say what an EV is!

Is my mobility scooter an EV, it is 24 volt, and clearly an electric vehicle, I wonder if I can use that to get EV charging tariff from Octopus? British Gas have given me an EV tariff, but Octopus seems odd, there are two tariffs with 7 hours at cheap rate, but the one for EV's is far cheaper than the one for storage radiators, so I assume some government help to promote EV's?

 

[StephenStephen]

Yes indeed I did - literally just set the schedule on my EVSE to start at midnight
Dishwasher coming on at 0100.

The signup process for Agile really left me wondering. I submitted it, got no feedback at all then 2 weeks later, an email saying that I will be on it from the previous midnight if I click to accept the terms.

Need to find something that warns me proactively of upcoming price drops like tonight's. Suggestions?

Octopuswatch has always worked well for me.