[Ben197]

Hi all.

Got a Outlander PHEV yesterday. Need some advice on granny charging setup.

I plan to run the cable from the garage. Please see items below. It’s an outside power cord and plug. Fitted from the power source will be an RCD.

Is this ample or not? I’m a newbie so I’m not entirely sure and you seasoned EV/PHEVs will know more so I’m looking for your advice.

If okay, I plan to make the outside cord a permanent solution so will be using wire clips to neatly run it the side of the house.

Thanks in advance!

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[Drewby80]

Charging a car of an extension lead is not really recommended, nor is charging from a granny cable long term.

If you do charge from a granny cable then it would be better to have a proper good quality external socket fitted to your property.

However a much better solution to charge long term if you don’t want to have a fixed charge point installed it to have an electrician fit a proper 16 or 32a commando socket fitted on 10mm cable and buy a portable Commando charger.

 

[Ben197]

Thank you Drewby. Unfortunately currently I cannot afford a commando charger. Think they’re around £300 from quickly looking.

Out of interest, why is charging with the granny cable frowned upon long term?

thanks

 

[DSLRed]

Thank you Drewby. Unfortunately currently I cannot afford a commando charger. Think they’re around £300 from quickly looking.

Out of interest, why is charging with the granny cable frowned upon long term?

thanks

Because you have to trust that your socket is up to the job and they are not generally expected to have to take the sort of high power draw that charging a car takes, over extended periods of time. Anything iffy with your wiring and you might want to make sure the battery in your smoke alarm is working.

 

[Drewby80]

And also they are less efficient than charging at higher amperages, more is lost in the charging electronics when charging at 10A

You use more KwH for the same amount of charge ending up in the battery, but mainly a safety issue, granny chargers melt something sooner or later if your lucky and set fire to something if your not.

Not great if your sleeping in the house that it’s plugged into when it all goes pear shaped!

 

[DSLRed]

Yep, if I was heading to bed knowing I had a granny plugged in overnight, I am not sure I'd sleep soundly. Works for some people, but not for me.

 

[Drewby80]

Yep, if I was heading to bed knowing I had a granny plugged in overnight, I am not sure I'd sleep soundly. Works for some people, but not for me.

Ignorance is bliss!

I charge on a granny occasionally when I’m staying at a friends house, but the garage it’s plugged into is detached from the house.

 

[Ben197]

Thanks for the clarity both.

Playing a bit of devils advocate, say the socket had a built in RCD?

What’s the solution without using a commando socket? Dedicated professionally installed outside plug?

 

[Ben197]

The garage mine is plugged into currently is detached to the house.

Go easy on me gents I’m new to the EV game

 

[Drewby80]

This was a professionally installed charge point that went wrong:

https://www.speakev.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,onerror=redirect,width=1920,height=1920,fit=scale-down/https://www.speakev.com/attachments/20200818_100746-jpg.133819/

The thing you have to understand about charging an electric vehicle is that it places a high load on a circuit for hours!

Nothing else ever does this to domestic wiring, if there is a weakness it will find it!

 

[Ben197]

This was a professionally installed charge point that went wrong:

https://www.speakev.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,onerror=redirect,width=1920,height=1920,fit=scale-down/https://www.speakev.com/attachments/20200818_100746-jpg.133819/

The thing you have to understand about charging an electric vehicle is that it places a high load on a circuit for hours!

Nothing else ever does this to domestic wiring, if there is a weakness it will find it!

Worrying. So what is the solution?

 

[DSLRed]

The garage mine is plugged into currently is detached to the house.

Go easy on me gents I’m new to the EV game

I am no electrician, I just go with the general advice that it is not a great long term bet. I am sure that a proper electrician will be along soon and give you some proper advice. Going in your favour is the fact that the garage is detached from the house and that because it's a PHEV, the battery is not enormous. But the more you can lean towards a dedicated solution the better. Safety rules. Don't take short cuts.

 

[Drewby80]

If you have to charge in a granny make sure the socket your plugging it into is a good quality one, I would replace the socket you plug into with a brand new MK one make sure the cable that supplies your garage is a proper cable I.e a ring main that’s on a 30a trip or at the very least an armoured cable that’s on a 16a not a dog eared 2.5mm twin and earth that someone fitted 20 years ago and tagged onto something in your board.

Don’t plug your granny into an extension it’s not a good idea.

How old is your property?

can you see the cable that supplies your garage?

where is the dis board?

how big is the trip that supplies it?

 

[Ben197]

I plug it into an extension as I’d rather plug it into the garage than inside the house.

To be honest now I’m looking it seems the garage supply comes from the kitchen circuit. It runs along the back gate with PVC conduit.

Board is at the front of the house and garage is at the rear. House is 1930’s.

If I were to get an electrician to do some improvement. Would an external plug suffice? Or, would further precautions be required?

 

[proddick]

If using an extension with a portable EVSE is your only choice for now, then get one designed for use - preferably the RCD one.

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Do unplug everything once a week and check for any signs of damage, etc.

Bear in mind that a proper charging point (professionally installed) is likely to become as important as fast broadband to house buyers in future.

 

[Drewby80]

Most of what you have just said is ringing alarm bells!

Can you post a pic of your mains board?

 

[Jrtev]

If your getting a sparky in to fit a dedicated outside socket get a commando socket.

It's the cable you're worrying about, so he's gonna have to run one from the CU anyway.

 

[proddick]

To be honest now I’m looking it seems the garage supply comes from the kitchen circuit. It runs along the back gate with PVC conduit.

That doesn't sound good. Best to get a separate circuit installed to garage. Ideally 10mm so you (or future owner) can get a proper charging point installed at some point.

Having a good, safe supply to garage will add value to home.

 

[Ben197]

 

[Ben197]

That doesn't sound good. Best to get a separate circuit installed to garage. Ideally 10mm so you (or future owner) can get a proper charging point installed at some point.

Having a good, safe supply to garage will add value to home.

Yeah I agree. Although, we wouldn’t do that short term as we plan to do some structural work on the garage.

How much are dedicated charging points (incl installation)?