Perhaps you can use a water hose reel, be sure to completely unwind before charging. My zappi you wind the cable round the box, it has a holster for the plug but it sticks out too much.

 

just get an old car wheel off eBay.. loads of styles to choose from....

 

Verve Hose hanger | DIY at B&Q

This Verve Metal Hose hanger is easily fixed to walls, fences or posts, for tidy storage of your garden hose when not in use.

www.diy.com

Type 2 EV Plug Holder with Cable Tidy Hook

Type 2 Black wall mounted Plug Holder with Cable Tidy Hook. Used to store Electric Vehicle type 2 plug holder system for dry and handy storage of Type 2 (IEC62196) plugs and cables whilst not in use. Key Features Matte Black finish Houses female Type 2 (IEC62196) plug (included) Ideal for 2-3...

ecoharmony.co.uk

 

The problem with a reel which would recoil a cable or hose or wind it in manually is the join.

It's not a single cable which somehow twists it's a short section with a joint (doomed to fail) so not really a suitable thing to port to an EV cable.

Hose pipe, Air hose, Power lead, all joined or have a socket in the middle of the thing.
Extensions for EV stuff are bad news so I guess what you want isn't a thing.

The trick is to use the shortest cable for the situation so there's less of it. I know one of the cable suppliers sell something they refer to as a reel but it's just something to wind the cable round.

For my tethered Wallbox I get a bracket which was made to sit atop that and the 5m lead was just 4 or 5 turns, anything more and I would see it being a PITA.
I have an 8m untethered lead which I coil up using the top of the Indra Pro and it's a nightmare when it's a bit cold and the cable a bit stiff, there is no way around it if you need a long cable and wont shell out for something expensive which is easier to handle.
For another chargepoint I bought a 3.5m cable which seems to stay nice and soft but is short enough to just gather up and flea if the heavens are wide open.

The amount of money these things cost you really want to look after them but there is a technique I've adopted which seems to lessen the burden with a long cable which is a bit stiff.
I guess it comes down to the ground you're stood on, the desire not to scuff the plug and how you feel about cold water down the back of your neck but you'll find a way which preserves the cable and your sanity.

Gaz

 

Problem with any reel is less the join(though that would have to be substantial to handle the current and the force of being unwound. The major hurdle is that it would permanently be run at reduced current to allow for people using them mostly coiled up. Best mass market solution would be the cable hangers that most chargers come with.

 

Problem with any reel is less the join(though that would have to be substantial to handle the current and the force of being unwound.

Doable, but expensive.

 

Am I missing something?

Yes 😅. Fundamentally the rotary union.

It’s not garden hose or even hydraulic hose which can run though the equivalent of a rotary union quite simply.

32 amps at 240v is another matter entirely to reliably put through an equivalent union which is also water, weather, rodent and toddler finger resistant for years on end without arcing, increased resistance and all the associated bad ju ju that goes with such things. Unless you have the resources of Space X or NASA, just loop it over a couple of times. It’s only 7m tops of cable.

 

They do exist but they are stupid expensive for what they are. Easiest solution is either custom or a cable hanger.

 

This is very, very amusing. EV owners banging on about the superness of not going to fuel stations and just home charging and then whinging about winding up a few metres cable. WTF! The poor dears.

 

Yeah it is rather “first world problems”.

Life with an EV is generally so blissful and easy that this is the level of niggle we are reduced to complaining about!

 

Or just get a coiled cable.
Mode 3 Coiled EV Cable | Type 1 or Type 2 | 32 amp-Green | Black- 1.8, 3 ,5 or 7.5 metres – EV Extras (ev-extras.com)

 

Am I missing the point here, the cable is not very long. I use a shelf bracket next to the charger, three loops and the plug end into the charger. Unwinding the cable by sliding it off the bracket.

 

Ionity uses a system whereby the cable is halfway attached to a thin steel cable that is retractable with the pulley at a height of half the cable's length. So in rest, the cable hang vertically at half its length. When you take the connector the steel cable unwinds. When you take the connector out of the car's socket, the steel cable is wound back through a coil system and the charging cable is neatly folded back.

 

the Ionity design or a variant of it is the way to go. I mean it IS very much a 1st world problem but then we still (just about) live in a 1st world country so.......

in truth my main issue with my zappi and winding it up is that when un coiling it gets twisted. I am worried I will damage the cable (the cable isn't indestructible as proven that BOTH of the EVs I bought had faulty type 2 charge cables. they were not cheap ones either both well made 32amp fat cables.

if they can get damaged then so can my tethered zappi cable and that won't be so easy to replace.

 

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/garage-overhead-cable-management.14458/

I think some pulleys are definitely the way to go. Maybe some sailing gear, once you've pulled out enough cable, lock it off on a cam cleat.

Or use stage curtain rail, and loops of cable like those for overhead winches; the last one can have a bungee cord on it.

 

https://craneplex.co.uk/cranes/517-118682-pillar-mounted-slewing-jib-crane-beta-100.html#/69-length_mm-2000/2249-working_load_limit-0125/2296-hoist-nowithout_cable_route

 

I have a round podpoint and with fixed cable and just wrap cable round the box and put trigger in provided holder. Can’t see a problem.

 

Guys, you are all wiser than me. I'm sure I'm the one with the problem 🤦‍‍

Problem: it looks untidy and ugly.
That's it. Nothing else.

Add a spindle next to the EV charger. The cable has a place to wrap around now. And you can unplug and just reel off the cable to charge your EV.

I'm going to make this my next little project and will assemble parts and will show you in a few days 🧐
As long as you lot don't laugh out loud too much, I'll consider it mission accomplished.

My brother told me about the problem when he got his hybrid and EV charging point 2 years ago. The problem can't be appreciated until you have a tethered charger.

But then all, or most of you guys have a tethered charger... doesn't the messy cable bother you at all? 🤷‍♂️

 

I'm sure I'm the one with the problem. Problem: it looks untidy and ugly. But then all, or most of you guys have a tethered charger... doesn't the messy cable bother you at all?

I have a PodPoint so the tethered cable wraps around the case out of sight. Not that I would be bothered if it was just looped over a suitable hanger. Trust me - nobody passing by is the slightest bit concerned about you having a cable in sight. As you say, it's just your own imagined problem.

Out of interest, when I first had mine installed one of my daughter's friends asked her why her dad had fitted a heart defibrillator on the porch wall.

 

Zappi cable just wraps around the chargepoint. A few flicks of the wrist to uncoil, a bit more to wrap it back around again.

Of course people do say that the Zappi chargepoint itself is ugly, and I don’t mind it, so perhaps I am just less sensitive to it.

 

If the problem is just how it looks, how about putting it inside a police box or similar, so that the cable is hidden?

 

How does Anderson do it?

 

By selling you an expensive bit of designer furniture, that is twice as large as is needed, to hide the offensive bits n pieces inside.

 

Other than a rental or holiday let, I can't think of a good reason for an untethered home charge point.

 

Household with a mix of type 1 and type 2 EVs?

Although even then an adapter might be easier.

 

Just reading up on replies...
Gaz: that looks neat. But I think you are a cheating a little using the bit of velcro to keep the wire in place!

I've bought a spindle and researched how best to fit next to the EV charger.
I've tried it and it looks nice.
Damn: the location I have the charger means I don't really have space for the spindle!!
I'll try and post a pic.

But... I think a much better idea would be a box around the charger as suggested.
And/or just add plastic around the charger to hide the dangling wire. But retro fitting won't be easy I think.

 

You spotted my velcro.
I put that on in about 5 seconds.
The flaw was I would take it off and keep it in my back pocket so I didn't lose it. Velco seems to hold rainwater quite well, until it's on your back pocket. 😢

I could have bought one of those velcro straps with a loop to remain on the cable though.

Depending on which chargepoint you have there are various brackets and holders available which mount with the chargepoint mounting through the bracket.

That was the trick to making the Wallbox look neater than most.

Where it's mounted, if space is limited then a seperate reel might be difficult. Think about integration.

Gaz

 

Not ordered one but purchasing from Aliexpress is a lot cheaper - but as most sellers are based in China arranging any return would be tricky:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005429384731.html

 

I'd also question the saftey of that extension reel, it doesn't mention any thermal overload protection and promotes the fact that it is a fully copper cable which should go without saying for a cable that your running a constant 16 or 32 amp load on for several hours.

An example of a safe enough extension lead for this situation.

https://evconnectors.com/product/ev-type-2-extension-cable/

 

🤮🤮🤮