Your summary is very fair. The support for Solar is very poor as well but it does work. The amount of light emitted by the unit is much higher than the normal - I find it useful as it is effectively a low wattage floodlight for my car at night but I can imagine if we had nearer neighbours it would annoy them, and it certainly advertises its presence. Another plus is that the internal layout makes it simple to add wiring for an digital switch to integrate with Agile.

 

Someone might be able to help if we knew what part of the country you want to install a point.

 

York area.

The issue I've run into is it being a non-standard install. I've had a couple of electricians come round but they end up too busy to do it, either because they genuinely are or don't want the job. It isn't all that challenging to be honest, but involves a long run and taking the cable across the neighbours property. The installers who are offering the Project EV charger are very responsive and inspire confidence, I just don't think I want the unit they're offering. I suppose worst case I could go with it and use an Ohme type 2 cable... but that just adds cost.

 

.................................. but involves a long run and taking the cable across the neighbours property.

This bit might be causing some to walk away. Could involve some kind of legal waiver to cover future maintenance. In your circumstances, I would be tempted to contact one of the many nationwide installers as they have a list of approved installers to cover all areas and they will accept instructions to keep their contract going. Might involve a lot of photos and videos of the proposed install route and an explanation of the neighbours' involvement but that route will give you a better choice of charger units.

 

Can you not run the cable yourself or by a general handyman/builder and then just get the Spark to terminate the ends? Most Sparks aren't too keen on the general building work, particularly if it is potentially difficult.

 

Certainly considered that, the biggest issue is time as I'm working away from home a lot at the moment, might change in the coming months.... the job gets easier in winter too with less foliage to contend with.

 

Ohme also do a "proper" wallbox dont they? Everyone goes with the Commando version as Octopus are selling them for £200, but they also have a normal hard wired wall mounted unit which is OLEV approved.

 

Yes they do, I don't have solar and it isn't particularly viable for me to get it, so not a concern. Trouble with the Ohme wall box is the EVSE will end up either mounted on a wooden fence or a post of some sort. Looking at the mountings for the Ohme wall charger, but without seeing any sort of install instructions, it looks like it really does need to be on a wall. The attraction of the commando version is I have at least one other location where I can use a commando socket.... Of course I may just buy one anyway at £200 through Octopus.

Which side of York are you in?

Are you able to share what you’ve been quoted before additional works?

East, actually across the border into the East Riding. Yep, I will do, once I have actual quotes.

 

I didn't think that Ohme includes support for Solar?

 

True, it doesnt.

I guess the question is, does your use and charging profile mean that charging from solar is likely? If the cars out all day because your at work, the Zappi isnt going to help you much.

 

A local outfit that will install a charge point for me have narrowed their install options down to either the Project EV or Zappi. As far as I can tell the Project EV is a rebadged Chinese brand with a poor app that offers no meaningful integration with anything.... Can anyone tell me otherwise?

I've recently had a Project EV charger fitted (nothing to plug into it yet, but that's another story...). When I was getting quotes, the guy that I spoke to basically said that the key features list for Project EV are "cheap", "simple" and "5 year warranty", and it's great if you just want a box that you plug into and hit go, but not so great if you want to do anything fancy. I've not used it in anger yet, but looking around the app, I'm inclined to agree with him.

 

The Ohme is not a bad choice if you are on Go/Agile with the bonus that if it was sunny just start the car charging on the Ohme app? Say you bought a Zappi... would it ever pay back?

 

Hi I have charged on street in my Cul-de-sac for the past 15 months daily.

I tested the waters with a BMW plug in and I was able to charge so consistently I changed to a leaf about 9 weeks ago.

My point being, no one would have installed me a charge point because I technically don’t have anywhere to charge! 🤣

So my only option was to install a 32A Ceeform (commando) on the front of my property and see how it went.

All you really need is to run a 6mm armoured cable from your distribution board and install a 40A RCBO (assuming you have a modern distribution board) and put a 32A connector on the other end.

Any sparky will do this for you, they done even need to know you intend to use it to charge a car really, it’s just having a 32A outlet installed as far as they are concerned, you could just as easily be plugging a hot tub into it as a car it matters not.

You can then take your pick of whatever portable charger you want to use to charge your car.

Don’t get too hung up on whether the charger has an app.

Any decent EV has an app nowadays that will allow you to monitor the charge progress, set a delay timer on when you want the charge time to start / end and departure time to climatise in time mornings.

 

Any decent EV has an app nowadays that will allow you to monitor the charge progress, set a delay timer on when you want the charge time to start / end and departure time to climatise in time mornings.

There's a lot of rubbish out there then .....

 

If you want the solar and something that looks half decent (well superb tbh) it’s the Andersen.

I don’t know what car your getting but the polestar, apparently, doesn’t have a scheduler.

 

The Andersen would raise the tone far too much.

 

How much is your quote for a zappi?

 

Duplicate, and it wasn't that good.

 

Not actually received the quote as yet. Initial inquiry yielded a starting price of £971 inc vat with the olev grant, so that seems to be well in line with general prices.

 

I have a Project E.V charger which I converted to tethered by adding a fixed 5 metre cable and type 2 plug.
Changing the charger's settings to "plug and play" and simply using the car's (an Ioniq) system to determine when (usually off peak via Octopus Go) it wants to charge.
The option of the charger's type 2 socket still remains for a visiting vehicle with a type 1 socket. (however unlikely that might be).
The Project E.V App. was kind of OK, but I just didn't need to use it for the way I regularly recharge my car at night. The conversion to tethered was to avoid the faffing with uncoiling and connecting every night; having it tethered is just so simple.

 

For those interested in prices, I've been quoted £1374 for the Project EV installation, before the OLEV grant. I'm sure there are cheaper options, but it's a non-standard install - not complex but a bit fiddly and will consume more time than many installs. I'd anticipated worse so sub £1k with the OLEV grant isn't too bad.

A fly in the ointment is a complication of the land ownership - essentially nobody owns it - which means it might not be possible to get the grant, that extra £350 upsets my man maths....

 

A fly in the ointment is a complication of the land ownership - essentially nobody owns it - which means it might not be possible to get the grant, that extra £350 upsets my man maths....

Understood. You have to say that it is part of your property for the installer to be able to claim the OLEV grant. I'd suggest just forgetting about the grant and get the cost down by running the cable yourself / get a handyman to do it and just pay a spark for terminating the wires. A Commando socket and Ohme lead via Octopus seems the lowest cost route.
One last question - is there a mobile signal where the car is? Ohme only works on 3 / 4 G, not WiFi.

 

How longs the cable run?

 

pacing it out in my mind, about 35-40metres. Probably more by the time you've gone up and over a few things.

 

Yep, mobile signal is pretty good here.
Though I live with someone who's jittery about not doing something properly, and will happily pay more for peace of mind... and it must be said the company who've quoted for the work thus far do inspire confidence. Goecorenewables - a local business that specialise in heat pumps and solar, and offer EVSE as a core part of the business.

If it were my decision alone, I'd be ordering the cable right now. However....

 

What is their attitude to the risk of not getting the grant?

 

I would say that doesn't register.

I think I'm going to be paying £1374 for this

 

if you have a Ceeform installed and buy a portable charger you will easily get change from £600 (depending on how to town you go with the charger) My charger was £255 and its a well built piece of equipment, depending on how reasonable your sparky is for an hour and a half’s work tops it shouldn’t be expensive.

A trip switch is usually about £45 for an RCBO

6mm armoured is about £4 a meter

32A commando socket should be about £12 (Screwfix)

This solution is no less properly done than a fixed charge point, just an alternative solution.

I installed my 32a outlet with change from £100 (but I have worked in fire alarm installation and other electrical trades in the past)

Labour to do this should only be around £150, and that’s if they charge £100 p/h

These “grants” IMO just help keep the coat of charge points high!

 

Ouch. Frankly if I were that far in I'd want a better specified charge point than the Project EV one.
Does your car have an onboard timer and associated App, and do you want to use a time of use tariff like Agile?

 

One thought came to mind. What about getting that company to install on your own building under the grant. And then later ask a jobbing sparky to re-locate the unit to where you want it long term. That would involve a junction box at the grant location then cable to the new place 40 metres away and reconnect the charge box there. That would then become a standard install followed by a contract to relocate.

 

Yes the Niro does have a timer and, though I'm yet to use it, I believe the Kia Uvo app allows remote charging control.
I am planning a move to Agile, but that first relies on getting a smart meter to work which is not a given according to Octopus.

The building we own (our house) has our neighbours house next to it, so attaching to property I can currently prove is mine is not at option.

I am going through the motions to sort out the land ownership. It's a very slow process involving the Land Registry. I reckon I could carve out a fjord quicker than they can handle some paperwork. It may be a case of waiting around to see what happens with that. Guess it depends if we can survive on the granny charger for a bit. I'll find out from Monday when I pick up the car.

 

The building we own (our house) has our neighbours house next to it, so attaching to property I can currently prove is mine is not at option.

You might know what that means. But I have no clue. Why can't you attach a charger unit to your own house if you can prove that you own it?