EV Charging Points — EV Part 3
One of the biggest things with an EV is charging, while the UK has quite a few points unfortunately there are no points in Great Yarmouth which are for the public to use.
As of this (and most people would even with charging points nearby) I need a method to charge my car!
Eventually I’d like to have two methods of charging my car when at home so if one failed I had a backup. Furthermore ideally a method to charge it when I go to visit some people.
3 Pin Charging
To begin I’ve ordered a 3 Pin to Type 2 cable which will allow me to charge the car using a normal 3 Pin socket in the UK, to allow for easier charging as my garage already has sockets inside I fitted an external socket on it allowing me to plug the car easily in.
It’ll depend on the model, brand and how you buy your car as to if one of these cables is included. In my case I’ve ordered one from eBay for £220 delivered as the Zoe didn’t come with one.
The great thing about having one of these cables is that virtually everywhere has 3 Pin sockets so when I do go to visit my Grandad for example I can charge while I’m there.
However the disadvantage is that they’re very very slow being limited to around 3KW in comparison to the slowest fixed chargers at 3.6KW or most at 7KW. For the zoe I’ve read reports that it would take around 9.5 Hours to charge compared to 7 with the 3.6KW charger or 4 with the 7KW Charger.
But while this sounds a lot for a majority of the time it’ll be fine, my average drive when I do go out is only 12 Miles (or around approximately 15%) in total which is approximately only 1.5 hour charge time with the slow charger. When you take into account that you would usually put your car on charge after every journey it’ll always be at 100% charge.
Getting a fixed charger
However within the next couple of months I plan to get a fixed charger.
So far quoting has been quite a weird process, some installers came out to inspect and provide a quote where as others did it based on pictures that I sent.
As this is my first EV car and the first EV at this address I was eligable for the OLEV Grant which entitles me up to 75% off my installation up to £500, however so far the two quotes I have had have been at around £500 cost to me meaning that the installation is around £1000 in total! Just for a basic type 2 non teathered 7KW Charging point.
I then started to look around and found a few places online that I could buy the points from for only £350! Even with the cost of the cable (£50) and MCB (£10) that makes £410, £100 less than most quotes so far and we get to have it installed just how we like.
Best of all there then becomes a slightly wider range of colour combinations such as I’ve seen a nice orange box with green inserts, excellent!
However I’ll be waiting for a few more quotes before I decide on the route I take, that’ll be tomorrows post.
Originally published at ryanteck.net on September 30, 2018.
