[Paul_Moxhay]

Has anyone seen this very stylish home charging pod from Opel/Vauxhall?

http://www.opel-accessories.com/subproductgroup.jsp?language=en&country=DE&vehicle_name=Ampera&category=Comfort+&+Care&subcategory=Charging+Cords&part_num=22860932#anker

This is a great price and it has changed my opinion of the Rolec because at that price the Rolec looks expensive.

 

[Duncan]

How do the UK prices from Vauxhall compare with those Euro prices?

Most of those products aren't listed on the Chevrolet site, but Chevrolet UK price for "Charge Cord Set Plug Type 1" is £305 against € 244.00 for the same from Opal. I make €244 plus 20% about £235.

 

[RayG]

UK Home Charge Unit considerably more expensive @ £402 v 376 Euro.

 

[proddick]

The €376 does not include tax. Is the price of £402 including 20% UK VAT?
There is a 10% accessory voucher on the Vauxhall owners site which would make it £361

This is the only online supplier I have found in EU
http://www.autoparteseuropa.com/product ... uct=310707
With delivery to UK would probably be similar to £361

Regards

Paul

 

[RayG]

Yes includes VAT - saw the voucher after the event

 

[Ian Forde-Smith]

Has anyone managed to successfully order one of these charge pods yet they look ideal.

 

[RayG]

Yes, here is my set-up. The only thing about it is that I cannot record how much the Ampera uses from the solar panels when I charge during a sunny day. All I can say is when the sun is out I use between 1/2 and 3/4 from the panels and the rest from the grid.

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

That is a neat set up Ray.

It is good that you connected your solar PV, via Henly Blocks, between your import meter and the consumer unit. With your set up you can properly measure import and house use separately and accurately. Most solar firms just connect the solar PV to a spare way on the consumer unit so there is no way to measure import from the grid... only net import/export.

Our solar PV company just connected our solar output directly to the consumer unit and we had to get an electrician to put in the Henly Blocks to allow us to monitor and record import.

Do you leave the garage door open when charging overnight or can you close the door whilst plugged in?

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

This is mine (excuse the mess!)


Untitled by Paul Churchley, on Flickr

Click pic to enlarge

 

[RayG]

Hi Paul,

No I can close the door - I took the photo with the door open just to show the car plugged in.

It also provided enough light for the photo :twisted:

 

[RayG]

Not that it is shown in the pics above I have one of these fitted up (Eco-eye) so I can see the House consumption, Solar generation and the net figure of those i.e. generating or consuming. It monitors at 4 second intervals and you can download the data and see the results.

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

I have an Eco-Eye measuring the house use (not import or export but actual house use) - the white wire clipped on to the input to the consumer unit.

I have a Current Cost measuring the house use (red clip next to white one) and also measuring solar generation (red clip lower down).

The current cost readings is sent to my home server and then every 5 mins to PVoutput.com where it is grapphed and the import/export figures are calculated.

I also have monitors for the solar and house use on my desk so I can at any time see what we are using in the house and what we are generating from solar... if I notice the house is using more than we are generating I know we are importing.


20120525_130209 by Paul Churchley, on Flickr

Top one is solar (direct from inverter)
Bottom one is Eco-Eye measuring house use (from white wire in pic in prev post)

 

[david]

Has anyone managed to successfully order one of these charge pods yet they look ideal.


_________________
Ian Forde-Smith
Ampera Owner
Wilmslow

Yes I picked one up today - it took 6 working days to get to my dealer (Skurrays of Swindon) as they are not normally a stock item.
Price £402

Solid, well built and great for indoor or outdoor mounting, will send a picture of mine when it is intsalled but my electrician has announced he's off for a two week holiday and as he is a friend I will wait for his return and post a picture then

One snag you may have in ordering is that there is a standing instruction from GM/Vauxhall saying it is only to be sold to certified electricians, however when I explained I would be using such a person they were satisfied.

Regards

David

 

[dpeilow]

Is there any way to turn down the charge from 16A when using the wall charger? There are times when 6A is fine, even preferable.

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

I have not yet heard of any wall pod that has variable charging rates. I agree with David that 6A would be very useful especially for those with solar PV. If I want to charge using my surplus solar PV I can't use my wall pod as it is 16A and I would be importing from the grid (something I try only to do on my cheap rate at night) but with 6A I could ustilise my spare solar and charge completely for free when it is sunny.

 

[taylorgx]

Interesting to see that in one of the online Ampera manuals, you can select various charging currents on one of the pages on the DIC, see below, like Paul said a useful function if trying to maximise solar panel output.

Charge level selection
The charge level preference setting allows the customer to select their vehicle’s charge level so it matches the capability of their charging location. If the vehicle consistently stops charging after plugging in, or if a circuit breaker continues to trip, reducing to a lower charge level preference may resolve the issue.
The charge level preference should be configured to match the electrical current rating for the AC outlet that the charge cord is connected to. The charge level preference settings are:
■ Maximum - 16 Amps: Limits AC current to 16 ampere
■ Reduced Level 1 - 12 Amps: Limits AC current to 12 ampere
■ Reduced Level 2 - 9 Amps: Limits AC current to 9 ampere
■ Reduced Level 3 - 6 Amps: Limits AC current to 6 ampere
Exact current levels for a particular region may vary from values shown in this manual. Please check vehicle for available levels.
The charge level preference settings are not directly related to the charge level button on the charge cord. The vehicle will adhere to the setting that minimises the AC current used to charge the vehicle.
The charge level preference setting will be retained between charging events. This setting should be referenced before charging to ensure that the vehicle is configured to properly match the electrical current rating for the AC outlet that the charge cord is connected to.
The charge level preference setting can be changed at any time while the Colour-Info-Display is operable.

 

[dpeilow]

Interesting.

On the Tesla Roadster if you manually set a reduced charge level at a given location, it remembers that location via GPS and sets it to the same level next time you go there. This is a nice touch and I would suggest should be easy for GM to implement on our cars too.

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

Does anyone know how we set this charge level preference?

I did see that in the manual but I couldn't find it on any of the config menus so I assumed it wasn't implemented on the UK version... I hope I was wrong!

 

[dpeilow]

I've just been out and checked the menus with the car on, off, plugged in and off and plugged in and on. I'll be damned if I can find any means to adjust the charge current.

 

[dpeilow]

Just been checking the Chevy Volt manual: http://www.chevrolet.com/assets/en/pdf/ ... 12volt.pdf

Page 5-33 shows that they have the ability to change the charge level. Why not us? Does Vauxhall think things need to be dumbed down for the UK?