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rating out of 10 (10 being the highest score)

5K views 49 replies 15 participants last post by  EV Chargers Direct 
#1 ·
Hi, my name is Chris, the owner of EV chargers direct ltd a new UK company

we have two new chargers coming to market in the next couple of months please see the photos attached of one installed at my house. just wanted some feedback on the unit if possible?.

its: mode 3, type 2 socket, built in type A RCD, 230v 1-phase 16 amp or 32 amp charge (3.6kw or 7kw), key lock, led display, lights around edge showing charge status too, wall mountable, metal back and sides and acrylic front. will be around the £350 + vat price. we have applied to get it approved from the 'office for low emission vehicles' (so will be able to use grant with it) but that is not confirmed yet I will update if and when we get approval.

please let me know what you all think of the look, price, features etc. our website is being built, www.evchargersdirect.co.uk

you can also email me for documents, more info etc at info@evchargersdirect.co.uk

Thank you,
 

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#2 ·
Hi, my name is Chris, the owner of EV chargers direct ltd a new UK company

we have two new chargers coming to market in the next couple of months please see the photos attached of one installed at my house. just wanted some feedback on the unit if possible?.

its: mode 3, type 2 socket, built in type A RCD, 230v 1-phase 16 amp or 32 amp charge (3.6kw or 7kw), key lock, led display, lights around edge showing charge status too, wall mountable, metal back and sides and acrylic front. will be around the £350 + vat price. we have applied to get it approved from the 'office for low emission vehicles' (so will be able to use grant with it) but that is not confirmed yet I will update if and when we get approval.

please let me know what you all think of the look, price, features etc. our website is being built, www.evchargersdirect.co.uk

you can also email me for documents, more info etc at info@evchargersdirect.co.uk

Thank you,
 
#4 ·
Hi Ryan, thanks for your positive reply. Yes, were developing a 22kw rapid charger (3 phase) but will also be a wall mounted unit and look similar to that in the photo. and also a twin socket version (7kw and possibly 22kw) that will be similar. with the posts do you mean public charge points or just for domestic? at the moment were concentrating on domestic but in the next 6 months, depending on how it goes with sales etc we want to develop a work place/ public charge post, it will be 7kw and 22kw at first then we will move into the bigger 50KW and up level afterwards.
cheers, chris
 
#6 ·
It looks nice, but I have a few comments:

1) Is the "light show" programmable in any way? There will be locations where you might not want to draw too much attention to the charger, plus it may get irritating to neighbours (if it is opposite a lounge window for example).
2) You have an emergency stop button on your charger (though it is half hidden which seems to defeat some of its purpose) - these are pretty much unknown on all except rapid chargers. Do you really need this?
3) Is the key switch waterproof? I see there is a cover that can swing down to protect it. What is the implication if the cover is left up?
4) The bottom of the box in the picture is open. This is not a good idea as the RCD is not waterproof!
 
#7 ·
Hi Thanks for your reply

the RCD is in a recess and the switch only comes through the casing, it is sealed in place, it cannot get rained on etc and has been certified IP54 for outdoor use, because of the recess design and the water shedding properties of the casing.

the key is weatherproof (IP54), it is sealed internally, the flip is more for aesthetics and so to reduce risk of ingress in the event of a high pressure jet from a hose etc.

The light are on all the time when the key lock is in the on position and change colour depending on the status.

we are looking into installing a switch at the bottom to choose between lights on or off and will likely include this feature shortly.

Many Thanks, Chris
 
#8 ·
with regards to the emergency button is is not required to meet regulations we have added it as an extra failsafe for rare occasions, for instance, lock/button not working, unit is ripped from wall by vehicle collision etc. your right in that it is not a necessity but may come in handy one day
 
#9 ·
As has been discussed already, the light show will prove unwelcome to many users. My Rolec has a very modest single small light showing either ready or charging. But even that is an attraction to curious passers by advertising somewhere for a bored antisocial yoof to come and investigate. I have stuck a 1" length of white plastic water pipe over the lamp so that it can only be seen from head on and not from an angle. I would definitely give your unit a swerve simply on those grounds alone.
 
#13 ·
we have applied to get it approved from the 'office for low emission vehicles' (so will be able to use grant with it) but that is not confirmed yet I will update if and when we get approval.
Do OLEV chargers still require cellular data reporting?

One reason why OLEV supported units are expensive is because of the additional complexity added to meet the reporting requirement. As far as I know, nothing has ever been done with the data collected. If the data is even collected....
 
#16 ·
Might be worth submitting another FOI request. Don't want to rock the boat but maybe it is time for OLEV to stop requiring data reporting. If they aren't going to do anything with the data, what is the point of adding the hardware?
 
#17 ·
Oh good. I wonder if they are ever going to release anything. A 2014 FOI request was denied because they will be publishing sometime in the future.
 
#19 ·
Lights are always a pain - even my pod point single led is too bright really and serves very little purpose as the car is telling me what I need to know. What I would really prefer is some kind of cumulative kwh meter that breaks down how much Im putting in my car daily, weekly,monthly and total. I cant believe they dont all have these as standard. Obviously if carwings worked properly I wouldnt need it. I did see a post where someone had installed a meter on their podpoint breaker circuit.
 
#21 ·
I would love to have a charger with a web interface (NOT available outside my home network unless I specifically set it up as such) that would allow me to change things such as the lighting (off all the time, on all the time, on for the first n minutes after a change etc. - also change what the colours mean (irritatingly sometimes green means idle and blue charging, sometime the other way around). This interface would also allow me to reduce the charge rate, set an off-peak period and override it, check how much power has been used etc.
 
#23 ·
The web interface were planning to include with the next generation will be for information only, for instance checking level of charge, kw/hrs today/ yesterday/ last week/ lifetime etc it would be too complicated to to have a two way control of sorts, at the price we're thinking to sell them anyhow.
I'm definitely doing something about the light though after reading responses on here seems like it's not popular so thank you everyone for your feedback, it's been very useful,
 
#27 ·
I'm definitely doing something about the light though..........................
Perhaps a subtle 'glow' around the emergency button that changes colour when charging would be sufficient. It would then serve two purposes. One to identify the button in the dark for emergency use and also used as a standby indicator, and changes to another colour to show correct connection and charge flow. Screen indicator to go dark after a minute or so. All other unit 'bling' to be replaced by a choice of classic coloured piping to customers preference.
 
#28 ·
Personally I wouldn't go for this because of the lights and the exposed RCD. The RCD might well be recessed and out of the way of rain, but you'll get spiders and hibernating ladybirds and all sorts crawling up into that box. You want it properly sealed in my opinion.

Also not a great fan of having a key either. Can it be locked on and have the key removed ?
 
#31 ·
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Also not a great fan of having a key either. Can it be locked on and have the key removed ?
I agree. There is a perception that someone would rock up and steal your electricity. It really is a nonsense. If someone is seriously concerned that a driver would risk parking there for ten hours to steal £2, then isolate the unit in the house when it's not being used. But even that is paranoia in extremis imo.

What would be useful is a sort of lockable swivelling secure loop that the cable could be passed through but the plug head is too large to go through when locked in. People do worry about un-tethered units over the security of their precious cable, and being able to lock it to the wall when in use would be a selling point to many.
 
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