Uk Home Charger / Electricity Supplier

[Styner]

Hi All

With the article in Autocar stating that the majority of UK EV chargers to cost within next year (http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/majority-uk-ev-chargers-cost-within-next-year) I feel it may be a better option to install a home charger (reluctantly). With the potential charges mentioned I also feel that this would be a far cheaper charging option.

I need the charger fitted externally - does anyone have advice or experience on the best to go for and what is the best electricity supplier to opt for to give the best value?

Thanks in advance.

 

[calibanjon]

Hi,

I had a unit fitted by British Gas which I am happy with and the process was simple and straightforward. It is located on the side of my house on the drive but open to the elements which doesn't cause any problems. It is rated at 32amps but the car allows you to restrict this which can be a very useful feature. I have solar panels and have been able to use my excess production to charge the car which has worked out great and by restricting the output to around 3kw it allows me to fully utilise my surplus minimising what I draw from the grid.

I did look at the off-peak tariff's but for my personal use they worked out no cheaper and that was before considering the solar charging. The additional day time costs off set any savings gained by the night time low rate. I reckoned on using about 6kwh a night to charge the car which wasn't enough to justify the extra day time costs. It is obviously a personal calculation and depends on your usage profile but it is certainly not a black and white choice.

Regards

Jon

 

[logorrhoea]

I'm thinking of switching to the Ecotricity tariff when I take delivery of my i3 with its offer of '1,000 free miles'. It's not a massive discount though, so I'll do my sums at the time before deciding for sure. One of the potential attractions is if Ecotricity decide to start charging to use their points then I expect Ecotricity customers will get some sort of discount (hopefully 100%).

 

[noakey]

Hi,

I had a unit fitted by British Gas which I am happy with and the process was simple and straightforward. It is located on the side of my house on the drive but open to the elements which doesn't cause any problems. It is rated at 32amps but the car allows you to restrict this which can be a very useful feature. I have solar panels and have been able to use my excess production to charge the car which has worked out great and by restricting the output to around 3kw it allows me to fully utilise my surplus minimising what I draw from the grid.

I did look at the off-peak tariff's but for my personal use they worked out no cheaper and that was before considering the solar charging. The additional day time costs off set any savings gained by the night time low rate. I reckoned on using about 6kwh a night to charge the car which wasn't enough to justify the extra day time costs. It is obviously a personal calculation and depends on your usage profile but it is certainly not a black and white choice.

Regards

Jon

Hi

We had the tethered polar installed by British Gas a few days ago and paid for the 32A upgrade. Also have gone Economy 7 for off peak charging so we alll ready... all we need now is the car... June isn't that far..

 

[Dunkster]

Hi Neil,

It might be worth checking again with your dealer. I was anticipating my car to be ready in September originally, after I ordered it the week before Christmas, but a visit to my dealer a couple of weeks ago showed progress.
Once the order system on the BMW network was opened, it turns out my car is due to be built in week 19, which I think is the end of April or early May. Hopefully you will be able to test out your 32a EVSE sooner than you thought.

Good luck,


Dunkster

 

[noakey]

Hi Neil,

It might be worth checking again with your dealer. I was anticipating my car to be ready in September originally, after I ordered it the week before Christmas, but a visit to my dealer a couple of weeks ago showed progress.
Once the order system on the BMW network was opened, it turns out my car is due to be built in week 19, which I think is the end of April or early May. Hopefully you will be able to test out your 32a EVSE sooner than you thought.

Good luck,


Dunkster

Hi Dunkster

Hmmm thank you for that.. I think I will go have a chat with my dealer... It was quite a disappointment to be delayed from April to June... as you say... it may be further progressed than I expect... yeee... fingers crossed...

Neil

 

[Xabia]

Similar situation with my delivery date. Ordered early January, delivery scheduled for end of May. Queried situation with dealer having heard that they are only building 70 cars each day, good news was the response, your delivery date has come forward a week to 27th July!

When I pointed out that the date had actually gone backwards by two months there was no response.

Mike

 

[bishbosh]

Similar situation with my delivery date. Ordered early January, delivery scheduled for end of May. Queried situation with dealer having heard that they are only building 70 cars each day, good news was the response, your delivery date has come forward a week to 27th July!

When I pointed out that the date had actually gone backwards by two months there was no response.

Mike

Hi Mike,

Hopefully I have mine being delivered for the end of July too, I'm thinking of holding off until 1st September but not sure I can wait!!

Looking into various home charging options that are free install so I'll keep an eye on here. I do have an extended test drive arranged for mid April and looking forward to that.

Mark