[jwilf]

So I'm thinking about home charging options for my 30kWh Leaf. We only do about 4000 miles per year.

Option 1 would be to contact an OLEV approved installer and get a Rolec smart charger or similar.

Option 2 would be to buy a used "dumb" charger on eBay and get any qualified local electrician to install it.

My understanding is the grant only covers the cost of the unit, not the installation costs.

It seems to me that as the Rolec costs over £500 and the grant is only £350 now, I might as well just go for the used unit. I'm not bothered about the "smart" functionality - we only charge every week or so, and the only feature that I would be interested in would be to stop the charge at 80%, which apparently is not possible.

On the other hand, you could say that I might as well go for the smart charger, as the cost with the grant will not be much more than the used dumb charger.

Thoughts?

 

[freddym]

Why would you want to install a 2nd hand piece of tat....
Go with a new Quebev or Viridian charger, both are cost effective.

 

[Spiny]

The grant covers installation but only for smart chargers. What this appears to mean is add £350 to the usual quote for fitting a charger, call me a cynic but grants paid direct to companies I always feel encourage price gouging.
I bought a 2nd hand chargemaster unit years ago and had it fitted and documented by a local electrician and it came in a long way under the granted aided installation at the time even taking into account the saving on the unit.

 

[DougM]

I had a local electrician install a 32-amp commando socket and bought the matching Ohme EVSE from Octopus at the discounted price of £199. Not only did it save money versus on OLEV installation, the Ohme EVSE is a smart charger so I can schedule charging remotely and even set price targets to minimise costs when using the Octopus Agile tariff.

If that's interesting to you, sign-up with Octopus Energy and we each get a £50 account credit.

 

[jwilf]

Thanks Doug, I'm already on Octopus and the Ohme cable is another option I'm thinking about but just thinking it will look a bit messy on the side of my shed and I don't currently have a smart meter.

 

[Trevor Larkum]

So I'm thinking about home charging options for my 30kWh Leaf. We only do about 4000 miles per year.

For just 4000 miles per year I would use a granny cable. Or roll it down a nearby hill.

 

[dk6780]

4,000 miles a year is around 1,000 kWh in a LEAF, so around 500 hours charging on the granny charger. If you never need to recharge quickly in the day then that's easy to do on the granny charger, although a full recharge from flat will be in the order of 14 hours. However, there is in theory a slightly lower degree of safety with granny chargers (level 2) rather than fixed EVSE (level 3), and the granny chargers do go wrong occasionally. Do you have a suitable plug on a suitable circuit to plug it into that will provide a continuous 10 Amps?
The OLEV grant can pay towards the total cost including installation, and Ohme sell a fixed unit with installation for around £500 after the grant. Personally I'd go that route rather than a Commando socket but the choice is yours.

 

[jwilf]

Yeah I'm using the granny cable at the moment with a Toughleads RCD-protected extension cable connected to an outside socket that was installed a year ago on a dedicated circuit when we had the house renovated. It works perfectly fine, it's just a bit inconvenient.

 

[dk6780]

So, is around £500 worth the reduction in hassle from the current arrangement and the small potential saving from taking advantage of the best Agile rates? If so, a new dedicated socket on its own dedicated circuit (13 Amp or Commando) will have a significant cost, and if it approaches £300 (the cost of the OLEV installed Ohme lead less the cost of the Commando version) then you may as well go the OLEV route and add value to your property.

 

[jwilf]

Yeah that's what I'm trying to decide! Would an EV charger really add value to the property though? I hadn't considered that.

 

[donald]

Yeah I'm using the granny cable at the moment with a Toughleads RCD-protected extension cable connected to an outside socket that was installed a year ago on a dedicated circuit when we had the house renovated. It works perfectly fine, it's just a bit inconvenient.

Carry on.

For 4,000 miles/yr ...pfftt....

 

[donald]

I had a local electrician install a 32-amp commando socket and bought the matching Ohme EVSE from Octopus at the discounted price of £199. Not only did it save money versus on OLEV installation, the Ohme EVSE is a smart charger so I can schedule charging remotely and even set price targets to minimise costs when using the Octopus Agile tariff.

If that's interesting to you, sign-up with Octopus Energy and we each get a £50 account credit.

Thanks for the link. TBH I had heard this mentioned a few times but not really looked at it.

OK .. looking at it now!!

 

[jwilf]

Resurrecting this thread...

OK so I'm now leaning towards the Ohme with a commando socket as mentioned by @DougM so I contacted a local electrician to get a quote on installing the socket.

There's some complication though because the location for the socket will be on the side of my garden shed, about 15 metres from the house (my parking space is at the end of the back garden next to the shed, accessed from a rear lane). I also thought it would be a good idea to have lighting and a power socket installed inside the shed while I'm about it.

So to hook up the 6mm SWA (but not to lay it), install a new mini CU in the shed, install a double power socket and LED light in the shed, and the 32A commando socket outside, and install an earth rod, the sparky quoted £740.

My initial reaction was shock but I posted on a facebook group and someone said that sounds about right. And I still need to pay £75 for the SWA cable and £200 for the Ohme itself.

Now I'm probably going to just bit the bullet and go for it (saving money is not my primary motivation), but I have to wonder if an OLEV installation would work out any cheaper? Presumably I can't expect the grant to subsidise the cost of running power to my shed and installing lights and power sockets inside. So I guess it would come out about the same?

 

[Bullterrier]

Resurrecting this thread...

OK so I'm now leaning towards the Ohme with a commando socket as mentioned by @DougM so I contacted a local electrician to get a quote on installing the socket.

There's some complication though because the location for the socket will be on the side of my garden shed, about 15 metres from the house (my parking space is at the end of the back garden next to the shed, accessed from a rear lane). I also thought it would be a good idea to have lighting and a power socket installed inside the shed while I'm about it.

So to hook up the 6mm SWA (but not to lay it), install a new mini CU in the shed, install a double power socket and LED light in the shed, and the 32A commando socket outside, and install an earth rod, the sparky quoted £740.

My initial reaction was shock but I posted on a facebook group and someone said that sounds about right. And I still need to pay £75 for the SWA cable and £200 for the Ohme itself.

Now I'm probably going to just bit the bullet and go for it (saving money is not my primary motivation), but I have to wonder if an OLEV installation would work out any cheaper? Presumably I can't expect the grant to subsidise the cost of running power to my shed and installing lights and power sockets inside. So I guess it would come out about the same?

The grant is fixed so won’t have any effect on the cost of the ‘non standard’ parts of the install - the definition of what’s included and the rates that particular contractor decides to charge for extras will vary wildly though....

 

[Bullterrier]

Are there any real examples of a commando with the correct RCD and breaker (or compliant RCBO) plus earth provision cost vs equiv OLEV socket (both to be used with OHME)?

Given the £350 contribution and a *** packet I doubt much if any saving tbh and both require DNO and building regs forms.

 

[dk6780]

but I have to wonder if an OLEV installation would work out any cheaper? Presumably I can't expect the grant to subsidise the cost of running power to my shed and installing lights and power sockets inside. So I guess it would come out about the same?

The grant goes into the overall cost of the project and can be applied towards the cost of what you are doing if it meets the regulations and the OLEV requirements. Is the Ohme via Commando because you want to use Agile or just because it is a "cheap" way to get a "granny" lead?

The OLEV grant can pay towards the total cost including installation, and Ohme sell a fixed unit with installation for around £500 after the grant. Personally I'd go that route rather than a Commando socket but the choice is yours.

My previous advice is still applicable unless you want the flexibility to carry the Ohme as a portable cable.

 

[Ritzspark]

Have you had some quotes for fitting a smart charger with OLEV grant?
I made the decision to go down the Ohme cable with the Octopus offer, as were getting quotes above £700 to fit a Ohme Wall charger and that's with the grant taken off, for what looks like a very simple install with less than 2m between meter box,CU and charger.

 

[jwilf]

@Ritzspark no I haven't, but that's very useful, thanks. How are you getting on with the Ohme? Did you get the commando version and if so what did you pay for the socket install?

 

[dk6780]

were getting quotes above £700 to fit a Ohme Wall charger and that's with the grant taken off, for what looks like a very simple install with less than 2m between meter box,CU and charger.

What was their justification for the above normal cost?

 

[Johnny Read]

Can you get other quotes to compare. If someone doesn't want a job because it has unknowns, or they think a customer is going to be challenging it's not unusual to quote above average. If it was me I'd buy 10mm cable instead, especially if it's being buried. A small additional cost for the cable. Can you provide the interlocked commando socket too?