That is a 40A which is plenty for a 7.4kW charging point, as is the 6mm² cable.

Why was 6mm² and a 40A used for a 3.6kW charging point?

 

Why was 6mm² and a 40A used for a 3.6kW charging point?

This is the important question. Why was the chargepoint set to 3.6kW (16A) at installation? Its possible there is a reason the PodPoint was left at 16A due to other loads in the house. One reason can be a looped supply, so a single cable from the supply in the road feeding 2 or more houses. It may be you are a heavy user of electricity - Power showers, electric kitchen etc. and 16A was all that the DNO allowed.
Any original PodPoint paperwork? it may say.

Though it is known on installation the PP is by default set to 16A and later its updated to 32A over the air. As your previous car could not take more than 16A it was never a thing and so was left at the default. Hopefully this is the case and it can be simply switched to 32A (7.2kW)

 

Surely 7.4kw is 32a - so 40a only leaves 8a draw for the whole house? Flick on the kettle and it will trip.

So I disagree, I don’t think it’s enough. I think your electricity supplier needs to sort it though.

 

I would assume that this is a seperate consumer unit for the charge point and if so it would be fine at 40A

 

Hi,

First, thanks for such quick responses!

Good to hear its 40A,thought it was but always good to have more knowledgeable people confirm. Tbh I don't know why they fitted stuff that's more than necessary, maybe they didn't look at what rating they were doing until they were finished or had fit several 7kw chargers in a row so we're in the habit - either way, I'm glad they did!

As for the CU, yeah, it's a dedicated CU with the original next to one for the rest of the house.

Does anyone know if its easy to get Pod Point to switch it over to 7kw,or do they make it hard and charge for the honour of pressing a few buttons?

Thanks again!

 

Hi,
I’ve got a 3.3kw Podpoint which was installed free of charge in 2017 when I had a new Nissan Leaf on a 2 year lease. I still use it with my now 2016 Renault Zoe which I bought secondhand in 2019, but I‘m going to get rid of my Zoe in the next year or so, due to its 22Kw appalling range (70-80 mile on a full charge!) Anyway, whichever car I get (on a 2 or 3 lease again), I’d like a more powerful charger, at least 7Kw (which appears to be the norm now), as any new car will have a far bigger batter, so will need a more powerful charger.
i enquired a couple of years ago about upgrading my charger, and Podpoint wanted £750 to upgrade it!
Regarding the above enquiry about upgrading a Podpoint, if I find out exactly what type of Podpoint mine is; technical details etc, is it something a qualified electrician could do?

 

Does yours not have DIP switches?

 

I guess it's an older one, in which case it should have dip switches inside, or jumpers depending on age.

Have a 'competent person' confirm all looks ok, and try to make the change?

PP-D-130012-15 - Solo Smart Charger - Install Guide

 

Hi,

Think you're right, it will probably have dip switches, it's a couple of years old (s7-1c).

I think they probably limited it as I didn't pay for the upgrade - I paid the lower price for 3.6 rather than the extra for 7kw as the car couldn't use the higher wattage, even though obviously they are the same kit.

I had the whole house rewired about 3 years back so hopefully there wasn't anything about the house's wiring which prevented using the higher rating.

I'll look for paperwork when I get home.

Thanks

 

If you increase the capacity of the charge point, you will need to notify your DNO. Good news is that as long as your particular model is on the ENA charge point database then you can use the Connect and Notify process as all of the PodPoint models in there are shown for 32A and none of them is marked “Apply to Connect”.

You will need to assess the max demand and certify that it is less than 13.8kVA.

 

Hi all,

I was wondering the exact opposite compared to the original poster.

I want to know if it is also possible to turn a 7kWh Podpoint down to 3.6.

I have solar panels and on sunny summer days I have about 4.5 kWh of solar going spare. If I plug into my Podpoint, it means that I get 4.5 kWh of solar free... but I'm still paying 30p/kWh for the remaining two-and-a-half kWh.

Yes, I know I can get a Zappi... but it's 750 pounds, so my solution so far has been to use my granny charger. But that's so slow and then I still end up giving 2 kWh to the grid (for which I get 4.1p/kWh).

Is there a way to lower the output of my 7kWh Podpoint? About 4.5 kWh would be ideal, but if my only options are 7 or 3.6 then maybe it's worth going down to 3.6.

I know how funny it sounds that I want to charge slower! It's about using my excess solar.

Thanks for views.

 

Hi all,

I was wondering the exact opposite compared to the original poster.

I want to know if it is also possible to turn a 7kWh Podpoint down to 3.6.

I have solar panels and on sunny summer days I have about 4.5 kWh of solar going spare. If I plug into my Podpoint, it means that I get 4.5 kWh of solar free... but I'm still paying 30p/kWh for the remaining two-and-a-half kWh.

Yes, I know I can get a Zappi... but it's 750 pounds, so my solution so far has been to use my granny charger. But that's so slow and then I still end up giving 2 kWh to the grid (for which I get 4.1p/kWh).

Is there a way to lower the output of my 7kWh Podpoint? About 4.5 kWh would be ideal, but if my only options are 7 or 3.6 then maybe it's worth going down to 3.6.

I know how funny it sounds that I want to charge slower! It's about using my excess solar.

Thanks for views.

You can turn it all the way down to 1.4kW.

I've modified my Rolec to be switchable between 1.4 and 7.4kW, when it is sunny I charge at 6A (and let the batteries soak up or give out power as the clouds pass), in the overnight cheap period I charge at 32A.

 

I think that that is only on the tethered unit. (If it's between PP and PE). It's simulating the cable capacity resistor in the connector of an untethered cable so if the unit has a socket, PP is connected to the socket.

Viridian EPC1.0 or 2.0 are controllable via a resistor on a separate (IC) input. Viridian EPC2.0+ is controllable through a Modbus port. There is also a replacement version of the Rolec firmware that can do the same but with serial commands.

 

Thanks guys. I've got a tethered Podpoint.

So what I basically want to create here is a 'manual' Zappi... I select how much kW to divert from solar to car.

Bit more work but cheaper than a Zappi.

 

Thanks guys. I've got a tethered Podpoint.

So what I basically want to create here is a 'manual' Zappi... I select how much kW to divert from solar to car.

Bit more work but cheaper than a Zappi.

How good are you with a soldering iron?

 

Thinking about this thread I had an idea regarding the current sensor. Presumably if you set the maximum current to 0 Amps, the podpoint would only charge when there was excess solar?

Looking at the podpoint manual, it mentions you need to contact them if you want to do this, and they will alter the current setting remotely. Then you would just need to switch off current sensing to charge normally.

 

That sounds good and I've contacted PodPoint to ask... I'll update everyone when they get back.

Can you tell me where in the PodPoint manual it mentions this? It'll help me explain the issue to the support people.

 

I had my last PodPoint 8 years ago so it didn't do any of this stuff but I'd be surprised if you can switch current limitation on and off at will, especially seeing as the level of limitation is an engineering level function. It's designed for when the installer assesses that the supply is limited so shouldn't be a user accessible function.

Setting the level at zero without being able to suspend limitation will put your charge point out of action for most of the winter.

 

The deciding factor is the power rating of the circuit. Even if your PodPoint unit can be switched to a higher current, the installation needs to be able to support it.

The key determinant is the size of the cable. If there is a way for you to find that out, we can advise. You need a 32A breaker to supply a 7.2kW charge point. If yours is 16A, it may be possible to upgrade it but only if the cable is big enough.

The other issue you might have is that if the PodPoint isn’t compliant with the latest regulations, a qualified electrician shouldn’t sign off any alterations without bringing it up to spec.

 

I think some early 16A charge points were installed with over sized cable, which would be good news.