[no_ngins]

Hi All,

I am just joining up as I am looking to get my first EV in the next 4-6 months or so. I will likely do a tryout on one of the car subscription services first before taking the plunge on ownership (although with some of the deals, when I run the numbers and consider all the inclusions on Subscriptions there is not much in it). I am used to owning cars outright although financially I don't think this ever plays out quite as well if you are planning to have a relatively new vehicle (I seem to buy new and then keep it until it disintegrates into a pile of rust, then onto the next one with a huge up front - but I don't think that will work so well on an EV).

I haven't yet had home charging installed although I have a couple of quotes. I have been reading the forums, but is there a collection of photos for installations anywhere that people have found or can point me at? I have seen the odd one or two but it would be quite interesting to see how the installs are being completed, where cables are routed etc to be able to compare the various installers and options.

Look forwards to being a but more active once I have a car on the drive!
:n)

 

[80698]

Welcome!
What cars are you interested by at the moment? Some of the subscription services are pretty busy, and have long waitlists depending on what you're hoping to get. ONTO/Evezy's subscription service for example could see you waiting many months for cars like the Tesla Model 3, or the Hyundai Ioniq. It may be advisable to register your interested now and get on some waiting lists if you're after one of the more rare or high demand models (And of course if you do opt for ONTO then be sure to take advantage of a referral code when registering, mine is CADA7 - We both get £50 off!)

Regarding chargers, try not to get too excited about one brand in particular. If you are going to buy a car then you may find the dealer has a partnership with one company in particular and can throw in a free home charge unit with the purchase. If you aren't so lucky though, Pod Point is my recommendation for a basic install, or get a Zappi if you happen to have solar power or are planning on it in the near future. I Don't think I have seen any large photo collection like you are talking about though, unfortunately.

 

[no_ngins]

Welcome!
What cars are you interested by at the moment? Some of the subscription services are pretty busy, and have long waitlists depending on what you're hoping to get. ONTO/Evezy's subscription service for example could see you waiting many months for cars like the Tesla Model 3, or the Hyundai Ioniq. It may be advisable to register your interested now and get on some waiting lists if you're after one of the more rare or high demand models (And of course if you do opt for ONTO then be sure to take advantage of a referral code when registering, mine is CADA7 - We both get £50 off!)

Thanks a mill - I have been watching the waitlists on on.to and I guess I would take what I can get for an initial play - in parallel I am looking at Pivotal i-Pace or else maybe one of the leasing companies that does 12 months at a time - Post noted about getting registered and on a wait list!

Regarding chargers, try not to get too excited about one brand in particular. If you are going to buy a car then you may find the dealer has a partnership with one company in particular and can throw in a free home charge unit with the purchase. If you aren't so lucky though, Pod Point is my recommendation for a basic install, or get a Zappi if you happen to have solar power or are planning on it in the near future. I Don't think I have seen any large photo collection like you are talking about though, unfortunately.

Understood. I am not too bothered about the charger although some of them do look needlessly awful in my view but I guess the charger market will also move a lot over the next few years especially given a lot of the embedded connectivity so once the basic cabling is in then that can also be updated - I was more interested to see how the installers are doing the cable runs from the consumer unit, which is often slap bang in the middle of the house to the various external locations. Maybe there are not so many alternate ways to do it, but I am interested in seeing if there is any general practise!

 

[dk6780]

Understood. I am not too bothered about the charger although some of them do look needlessly awful in my view but I guess the charger market will also move a lot over the next few years especially given a lot of the embedded connectivity so once the basic cabling is in then that can also be updated - I was more interested to see how the installers are doing the cable runs from the consumer unit, which is often slap bang in the middle of the house to the various external locations. Maybe there are not so many alternate ways to do it, but I am interested in seeing if there is any general practise!

Your CU may be in the middle of your house, but where is your meter and what age/type of construction is your property?

 

[no_ngins]

Your CU may be in the middle of your house, but where is your meter and what age/type of construction is your property?

Meter and Main Fuse in the same place - typical cupboard under the stairs job. (Although I am not sure if that is so typical but its been the location for meter and CU in my past 2 or 3 houses). In this case - block and brick build for exterior walls, cardboard and chewing gum (well plasterboard and i-beam) interior walls , less than 10 years old but no obvious route. Sorry I am probably taking this well off topic now

 

[andyswarbs]

I haven't yet had home charging installed although I have a couple of quotes. I have been reading the forums, but is there a collection of photos for installations anywhere that people have found or can point me at? I have seen the odd one or two but it would be quite interesting to see how the installs are being completed, where cables are routed etc to be able to compare the various installers and options.

We bought an ohme and have been extremely happy. It is the best if you don't have solar panels, imo. What it does do is control your charging extremely well. Not only can you prioritise cheaper costs, you can also prioritise lower co2 emissions. And since one of my aims for buying an EV was being greener then that's a a priority for me. The ohme also has a setting to maximise battery life, which I won't know much about the benefit of until I travel another 50k or so. But to know that my charger is trying to take care of my battery is no bad thing!

Finally whichever charger you go for, get tethered if possible. Most people charge at home and to have that ease of plugging the car in or disconnecting it taking no more than the time to walk around the front of car is awesome.

 

[no_ngins]

Finally whichever charger you go for, get tethered if possible. Most people charge at home and to have that ease of plugging the car in or disconnecting it taking no more than the time to walk around the front of car is awesome.

I wondered about that - since you can remotely turn on/off the charge point for most of them (or at least use the MCB) do people ever get untethered but just leave the cable plugged in? tat way it would potentially be an easier swap in the future - or is it just a faff to do that and unlikely to be needed?

 

[andyswarbs]

I wondered about that - since you can remotely turn on/off the charge point for most of them (or at least use the MCB) do people ever get untethered but just leave the cable plugged in? tat way it would potentially be an easier swap in the future - or is it just a faff to do that and unlikely to be needed?

During lockdown I've left my cable in for days on end.

 

[HandyAndy]

Tethered .vs. untethered is a very personal choice imho. I went for untethered, as my EVSE lives inside gge & can run the 10m cable under the gge door & close it as well, (nice large gap to keep the mice happy!), and it lets me take the same cable on trips out when I hope to AC charge somewhere/holidays. The tethered cables seem to be shorter for some reason, max I've seen is (I think) about 8m? OTOH untethered costs more initially, as you have extra plug & socket in total. If the EV mfr gives you a "free" Type-2 cable, that's probably 5m long, and may or may not reach your EVSE. If it reaches, why pay for 2 cables? May as well go untethered.

If your EVSE's outside, then tethered is surely nicer, as taking the thing right off every time to stop it being nicked/look tidier is a pain, apparently, though some here have fitted padlocks & retaining hoops etc which in effect make them "tethered".