Whilst looking I did find this .... done by an ingenious Tesla owner. Is pretty good.....

“ingenious” - so instead of a cable on the floor they can step over, they now have one at neck or waist height to walk into.

Hmm…

 

Is true, .... milkman still alive, failed to trip him so I'm going for the Columbian necktie approach

No the thinking is, illuminated / luminous and with a suspended cable above head height that can retract in ... aka Osprey and Ionity style.

I feel obliged let the milkman know how many folks are invested in his well being. Poor bugger has no idea currently .... no rest assured I do want the milkman and indeed anyone else delivering to lead full, rich and happy lives. Joking aside it is part of the thinking .... safety but also ease and cosmetics.

 

You could try a coiled cable like this. I bought mine here. When it's not in use, I can just hang it over the Project EV case and it sits reasonably neatly out of the way.

 

Snap - with a holster, also means that it does not lie on the ground and get dirty when in use.

 

Is a solid suggestion you and Edinburg2000 make and indeed answers the visibility aspect we discussed in the other thread.

For me it falls down a little on the cosmetic side for our configuration. Nowhere near so bad if you have a side of house arrangement such as you do or of course in garage. Would be near perfect cost effective.

Ours is fully on show out front on a busy road so looks a bit of a dogs dinner the way I have hooked up now.

But have to say for practically there's zero argue with on this one.

 

I’ve also seen some people use a hinged outdoor wooden slatted box as the store for their cable. It just looks like another piece of garden furniture, like a water hose reel store or meter reader cover etc.

 

Good call and the weird thing is that I ordered and received an Andersen unit in Oak and Stone months back. That was the business for management and cosmetics. But it had to go back as there turned put be no PV integration on their 22kw unit or any RJ45 connection. The latter being very bizarre .... they removed it in later models in favour of just wireless. That must have saved all of 0.15p in the build cost and a lot of lost security. Nevertheless the Andersen is the nuts in terms of CM and cosmetics .... way out in front.

And you have a solid point the more I think about it. It would not cost so much so fabricate a proper built Oak cover in such a way. Arguably a lot cheaper than the retractable system. Even if I got our chippy to do it.

 

I am of the opinion that the plug for the car should be holstered as close to the port of the car as possible, with a suitable length cable. Meaning the holster is installed a distance away from the charge point. This has 2 benefits:
1. No need cable manage, the cable will naturally rest along the path to the holster or the car.
2. Super easy to plug in.
Same idea as Tesla supercharger, the cable comes out from one end of U shape and the plug goes into another end. The cable is just long enough to reach 2 points: the car charge port and the holster.

With pending V2H install, it will be critical to make plugging in as quick as possible. So I plan to install a garden post near where Leaf parks and holster the Chademo plug there. It will be a single motion to unholster and plug into the car, and another single motion to unplug and return plug to holster.

 

I am of the opinion that the plug for the car should be holstered as close to the port of the car as possible, with a suitable length cable. Meaning the holster is installed a distance away from the charge point. This has 2 benefits:
1. No need cable manage, the cable will naturally rest along the path to the holster or the car.
2. Super easy to plug in.
Same idea as Tesla supercharger, the cable comes out from one end of U shape and the plug goes into another end. The cable is just long enough to reach 2 points: the car charge port and the holster.

With pending V2H install, it will be critical to make plugging in as quick as possible. So I plan to install a garden post near where Leaf parks and holster the Chademo plug there. It will be a single motion to unholster and plug into the car, and another single motion to unplug and return plug to holster.

Strueth wyx087, folks really have thought about this. Again a solid set of options that (yet again) changes my thinking here. And could be possible for us.

At present I have no holster as such ... it's just wrapped around the box. A holster makes total sense as does the post configuration. Are you thinking of buying or fabricating your solution? I'm one of those types who has a history of fabricating but warming more and more to purchasing as I get a bit older. Interested in any design / purchase ideas you have found.

And on the V2H side.... is that actually getting closer? Battery on our thing is big ... 109kw. I very much like the V2H thing but was led to believe it's still a good way off. Would be brilliant if it was on the horizon and could integrate all three bits of thinking ..... better cable management/cosmetics / V2H and keeping Ernie alive

 

There's always this thing: 8m 7.4kW Type 2 Spring Return EV Cable Reel IP44

However, do you guys remember the old petrol pumps which used to have a high level swinging arm to bring the pipe to your car? Presumably before they invented unrollable ones. I wonder if something like that would work for EV charging.

 

This is very much the type of thing I started thinking about. Or indeed one on an extending arm as you mention.

I've contacted Schill asking them for details and if they do a 22kw version. It's pricey but definitely the sort of thing that would work in our application. Better still on an arm arrangement.

Saw this system that builds on your swinging arm concept. It looks interesting but not sure on the build quality. It's also a little bit big and I think aimed more at large US garages. I need a smaller more weatherproof solution that would blend in. Easier said than done.....

Have to say, Tesla owners do like their cable management. I'm with them on that.

 

I bought a hook/holster combo from eBay, 3d printed by some guy. It works nicely. Sits next to the box and looks best enough. Really the only very best solution I’ve seen is the Andersen which completely enclosed the tethered cable… it’s really nice but too spendy for my tight wallet.

 

100% Idiotzoo, as in reply above, I did order an Andersen at the beginning of my EV journey a few months back. Was a real shame have to send it back for good reasons .... certainly not on the cosmetic or cable management side.

I would note that whilst we could not complete with Andersen, their customer service was exemplary. They accepted return in good faith, zero resistance and in understanding of our reasons. They did say that a PV integrated version would come but at that time, it was not on list of priorities for them. Maybe that has changed since the energy crisis. But on the RJ45 side, that is just madness and they would be wise to include it again on next version.

 

Well, I don't know if I got it right, only time will tell, but I ordered this .... essentially it's a 22kw retracting wall hose. They come in colours and I've specified black rather than the orange shown below.

This link gives the details and indeed a video showing operation.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004535155438.html?spm=a2g0o.order_detail.order_detail_item.2.7c89f19c5ywqZf

It's not ideal but the Schill 22kw version is £2.4k .... I kid you not. But hey, it does have free shipping ....

8m 22kW Type 2 Spring Return EV Cable Reel IP44

22kW [wound or unwound]

www.cef.co.uk

Not 100% convinced by the Yilade one but is 10% of the price. This neatly fitted and with maybe a raised pulley wheel might do the deal. Or indeed fitted at head height and without the pulley.

 

Did this thing ever arrive?

Conclusions?

Gaz

 

I wonder if you could dismantle the reel and retrofit it with TRATOS® EV RF - Reflective & Fluorescent - Electric Vehicle Charging Cable


Gaz

 

I wonder if you could dismantle the reel and retrofit it with TRATOS® EV RF - Reflective & Fluorescent - Electric Vehicle Charging Cable


Gaz

Yeah that's the fella .... that would be perfect if it could be fitted. I'm not sure I'm brave enough to open it up but having seen the web page for that product, that might change ... it does look the right stuff.