The only problem is that charger (EVSE) will not work with most EV tariffs - eg Intelligent Octopus Go needs Ohme, Wallbox or Zappi (others may be in beta or available soon).

It seems the best way is to work out which tariff suits your mileage/charge timing at home and then decide which one works with the tariff chosen.

 

Thank you. Sorry to be dim, but I was planning on using a regular electricity supplier for my power to the house. Are you talking about the economy 7 type cheap night time electricity?

 

There are several offers giving cheap rate charging from 7p unit up. These often rely on specific EVSE's or chargepoints (charger is in the car) to work, Ohme, Zappi and wallbox with octopus's IOG for example.
If you have or are getting Solar then a solar aware Chargepoint like the Zappi is a good idea.

I wonder who got at whatcar

 

ok thanks for this. I wasn't aware there were energy companies doing special deals.

Acc to wikipedia EVSE and chargepoint mean the same thing. Are you saying there's a difference? I am talking about the box you stick on the wall and which connects to your house mains supply to give you 7kW for the car.

(to be fair, whatcar wasn't the only site to give it a rave review)

 

The electricity companies will fit smart meters if needed mine was put in by Ecotricity if my memory hasn't failed. With Octopus now using their GO tariff as my car is not compatible with smart tariffs. Have a Zappi as we've got solar.
One thing, make sure the evse you choose can be used without an app if needed, if the maker goes down then the app will cease with no one to pay for its servers. The Zappi has buttons 😀

Chargepoint or EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment) are the same thing, the granny leads are EVSE's as well .What they are not are chargers, the charger for ac mains is in the car, the Rapids like Tesla Superchargers really are chargers.

 

With Octopus now using their GO tariff as my car is not compatible with smart tariffs. Have a Zappi as we've got solar.

Even if your car is not compatible you can get IOG using the Zappi integration now. We use IOG+Zappi with the EV6, which had on-again-off-again compatibility with IOG (API calls triggering 12V drain issues).

Zappi-based integration also makes it straightforward to charge two different EVs on different nights.

 

Yep, I saw the review and was surprised their rating system didn't take into account the ability to access EV specific tariffs. So it's well worthwhile doing some more research,.

What car do you have, some are compatible with smart EV tariffs some aren't, if it isn't then a smart EVSE will still allow you to use tariffs like Intelligent Octopus Go, we have an Ohme Home Pro to charge our Mini and daughters Corsa, while the Mini would be compatible the Corsa isn't, but because the Ohme is compatible then charging both at cheap rate is very easy.

 

thanks. I have an MG4 Trophy. It's only a year old, so I hope it has compatibilty

 

I've got an Easee One and have no complaints. It works reliably, looks nice and is easy to swap a cable which came in handy when a type 1 cable started misbehaving and then again when I swapped from a Type 1 Leaf to a Type 2 BYD Dolphin. The downsides are it doesn't integrate with solar panels or really smart tariffs where an energy supplier takes control of your charge point via its API, though I'm on Agile and charge on cheap windy sundays so that doesn't bother me.

 

this has been incredibly helpful! Thanks everyone for your advice.

I think the conclusion is to get my power from Octopus and buy a Zappi. Is this the one? (Octopus will install it for me!)

 

I think the conclusion is to get my power from Octopus and buy a Zappi. Is this the one? (Octopus will install it for me!)

do get conformation from your partner as the Zappi is probably not the prettiest one around. I do see others in the local area mainly on houses with solar.
Someone on here said it looked like a toilet seat on the wall (not me!)

If your switching to octopus use a referral as this will get you and the referrer £50 Helps with the first bill.

 

I've got an MG4 SE SR and a Zappi charger on Intelligent Octopus go and it all works very well (touch wood). My 3 month old Zappi did fail but Myenergi were very quick to replace it under warranty so would have no problem endorsing the Zappi.