80 amp main fuse - second podpoint?

Meevee said:

Frustratingly I made a novice mistake with our first EV (a 2016 leaf) - getting a tethered type 1 and getting a 7 kw for a 3kw leaf.

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Not so bad - it costs the same to change the tethered lead as to buy another fly lead, and at some point you'll want the higher charge rate and the cost of upgrading 3kW to 7kW is much higher than the initial premium.
I can't see why the 80 Amp main fuse should be a problem, but have you investigated whether you can get a free upgrade? PodPoint are capable of load restricting so even if not you can live within the limit.

You shouldnt really put 2 x 7kw chagers on an 80A, it will only leave you with 16A of headroom, a kettle will take 13A so youd be down to 3A for the rest of the house if everything was being used simultaneously. A 3kW and a 7kW would probably be ok, will you be needing to charge both cars at the same time, if not an untethered 7kW with different cables for each car might be a better solution, you could just buy an adaptor cable in the interim to convert the Type 1 to a Type 2. Type 1 to Type 2 Converter - 32A/Straight

We have two EVS and only one charger. We have never had an issue where both cars absolutely had to be charged at the same time. If that happens I would fast charge one somewhere or put one on the Granny.
If you both do high miles every day, arrive late and have to charge overnight, I see it could be an issue.

If you were more in the first scenario, perhaps putting a commando socket in the front for the Granny so it can charge at higher speed/more safely, might be a cheaper option.

PodPoint Solo has a current clamp to restrict itself if the house supply gets too high. Two 7kW chargers would be 64A which isn't a problem if it's overnight when you only have base load, and if you did try to cook a midnight snack, the chargers should downrate or switch off to limit overall load.

With a 20A oven, 32A induction hob, 40A shower and 32A charger plus the usual ring mains, I could easily exceed my 100A supply in theory, but have never gone over about 75A (shower whilst charging an I-PACE at 7kW — those things take a long time to fill up!). The primary concern is safety: that you should not be able to overload wiring with too much current without a breaker operating.

I assume you are going to have two EVs concurrently?

Two PodPoint is an interesting idea as not sure how the load monitoring will work as both might try and drop current.

My suggestion would be to get them to downrate your Type 1 for Leaf to 3.3kW using internal switches and remove any current clamp. Then fit a second 7kW Type 2 with demand current monitoring. That way both cars should charge fine overnight, the 7kW one might drop down if you have a late night shower or similar!

Get a type 1 to type 2 adapter cable? They work fine, then the 7kW charger will do either.

As above the key is to what the usage will be - both cars at once and possibly with other requirements.

We have two 7kW charge points with a 100 Amp main fuse and charge two cars concurrently overnight most nights along with an immersion heater. Even with this and background (180W) we have never exceeded 80 Amps so clearly don't cook midnight snacks.

The question about how two PodPoints would react to load restriction is an interesting one and I could see them getting confused if both were used in that mode, but I'm sure that PodPoint could advise. The best answer remains a fuse upgrade if at all possible.

Don't think of it as a mistake that you installed the 7kW. Rather that than install 3.6kW and (inevitably) regret it later! You can change the tethered cable for a Type 2, or even replace the unit with an untethered one. This would be one option if you can get away with sharing one charger.

Agree that usage pattern is key here. I wouldn't go to the expense of installing a second charger at 3.6kW. I think you would regret that in the future.

Two EVs per household is going to become much more common in the coming years. Maybe in the future, they regs will change to allow 11kW on a single-phase supply. You could then have a double-header, loadsharing, to allow both to charge at 5.5kW at the same time, or one to take the full 11kW.

mad_rich said:

Maybe in the future, they regs will change to allow 11kW on a single-phase supply. You could then have a double-header, loadsharing, to allow both to charge at 5.5kW at the same time, or one to take the full 11kW

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There are no EVs sold in Europe that charge at more than 7kW on single phase and I can't see that changing, especially as even that is ambitious in homes in France, Italy, etc.

In USA we can charge Tesla at 48A which is handy. We have 200A to house though

In UK, ideally we would all have 3 phase and could have a dual charger on 32A 3 phase connection, so max 22kW if one car. One day maybe

dk6780 said:

Not so bad - it costs the same to change the tethered lead as to buy another fly lead, and at some point you'll want the higher charge rate and the cost of upgrading 3kW to 7kW is much higher than the initial premium.
I can't see why the 80 Amp main fuse should be a problem, but have you investigated whether you can get a free upgrade? PodPoint are capable of load restricting so even if not you can live within the limit.

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Thanks for the kind reassurance.

podpoint have quotes £390 (ouch!) to swap the cable

proddick said:

I assume you are going to have two EVs concurrently?

Two PodPoint is an interesting idea as not sure how the load monitoring will work as both might try and drop current.

My suggestion would be to get them to downrate your Type 1 for Leaf to 3.3kW using internal switches and remove any current clamp. Then fit a second 7kW Type 2 with demand current monitoring. That way both cars should charge fine overnight, the 7kW one might drop down if you have a late night shower or similar!

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Thanks. I think my existing podpoint might not have a clamp as it’s a few years old (and I can’t see one). I agree, limiting the leaf one is probably the easiest option if the installer will do it and won’t allow me to carry on with 2x7kw

They are having a laugh. You can do the same for £80 in parts and 10 minutes work. That's one heck of a call out charge.

dk6780 said:

The best answer remains a fuse upgrade if at all possible.

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Thanks. I have been getting lost on the SPEN website trying to work out how to do this easily. It seems to me that the installer has to request it for an EV.

Meevee said:

Thanks for the kind reassurance.

podpoint have quotes £390 (ouch!) to swap the cable

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Get a canle from EVbitz Welcome and either do it yourself or if your not happy doing it get a local spark to do it for you.