please recommend me a charger

[korky]

i'm a very low mileage user, 100 miles is high on a normal week for me and any long journeys would usually be planned well ahead
do i spend £500-£600 on a wall charger or just stick to a 3pin charger from the likes of screwfix etc. ?
i.e. will the extra cost outweigh the electricity bill over the 4 years i'll definitely have the car,
i'd guess the only time i'll get stuck is for unplanned trip to where the 3pin charger would presumably benefit me if away from home.
any thoughts welcome

[Warminster id]

Check your local area. You may have a free Tesco pod point available and you could charge while shopping or some bp polar units are free with a £7.85 subscription so over 4 years would be about £370.
Cheaper than a wall box and the charging.
If no public chargers available and you do get a wall box consider renting it to other local Ev drivers to make some money back

[korky]

3 local supermarkets have free charging available, obviously i can't rely on these but handy to top up whilst there,
wouldn't like to consider renting due to parking location, bp charging points are a tad sparse local to me

[BillyBobs]

i'm a very low mileage user, 100 miles is high on a normal week for me and any long journeys would usually be planned well ahead
do i spend £500-£600 on a wall charger or just stick to a 3pin charger from the likes of screwfix etc. ?
i.e. will the extra cost outweigh the electricity bill over the 4 years i'll definitely have the car,
i'd guess the only time i'll get stuck is for unplanned trip to where the 3pin charger would presumably benefit me if away from home.
any thoughts welcome

Might be worth mentioning if you didn't already know, a home charger, either granny (3 pin) or 7.4kW Type 2 charger, they don't save any electricity, they both cost the same per kWh used, the only advantage of the 7KW charger is it can charge 2.5 times faster.. So to go from 0 - 100% (assuming 58kWh battery) will take ~29hours on the granny charger, but just under 8 hours on a 7.4kW type 2 charger, but both will still cost the same, 58kWh (29*2kW or 8*7.4kW) of your electricity , e.g. @ 16p per kWh = £9.16.


That's all a gross simplification but the premise is roughly correct.

[bitmanEV]

You could always contact your local council if they are willing to install a public AC charger in your street
This is what I did (video shot in one go)

[shire-dweller]

i'm a very low mileage user, 100 miles is high on a normal week for me and any long journeys would usually be planned well ahead
do i spend £500-£600 on a wall charger or just stick to a 3pin charger from the likes of screwfix etc. ?
i.e. will the extra cost outweigh the electricity bill over the 4 years i'll definitely have the car,
i'd guess the only time i'll get stuck is for unplanned trip to where the 3pin charger would presumably benefit me if away from home.
any thoughts welcome

 
If you have a place where to get a wall charger fitted at home (like a driveway), then that's what you should do. EV car manufacturers (VW included) do not advise granny cables for regular use. Besides charging speed, this is for reliability, safety and convenience reasons. The exact safety and reliability risks will vary significantly from one house to another. A granny charger will rely on the condition of the existing wiring and sockets of the house and/or detached garage. Wiring or sockets in poor condition can overheat, melt, and in the worst case start a fire. Unlike a kettle that typically draws high power for only a few minutes, a granny cable could be drawing high power (2.3KW, 10A) for many hours, over which time heating builds up in the wiring and the 3-pin socket. By contrast, when a wall charger is installed, the electrician will fit a new dedicated electrical circuit (cable) from the wall charger to the consumer unit, with a dedicated trip switch. It will be very safe and reliable. A wall charger is typically also more convenient because you will choose the best location for it to be fitted, and you can choose a tethered wall charger so the cable is always there, ready for use. Some people pass granny cables through window gaps or cat flaps that may mean cold draughts in winter, and trip hazards. If the 3-pin socket is inside a detached garage, it may mean having to open and close the garage door whenever the car needs to be charged. If there is an outdoor 3-pin socket, the granny cable's inline box may be exposed to scorching sun, rain, ice, snow, and it is typically not designed for this.

For a wall charger, the likes of pod-point.com will further give you power options to choose from: 3.6KW, 7KW or 22KW. Assuming your house's electrical installation (main fuse) can cope (they will advise you), you should choose 7KW. A minority of houses can support a 22KW charger, but it is significantly more expensive and in any case the ID.3 draws a maximum of 11KW (AC charging). As for the 3.6KW wall charger, the charging speed benefit over a granny cable will be smaller, and the cost-benefit compared with the 7KW wall charger favours the latter.

Regarding "I'm a very low mileage user" and "Will the extra cost outweigh the electricity bill over 4 years", in my opinion these are considerations to potentially choose using public chargers only, and not charging at home at all. But if you have a driveway or garage and you choose to charge at home, then get a wall charger fitted. In addition to the wall charger, some people will want to have a granny cable for topping up when visiting a relative, or if you unexpectedly find yourself stranded in some strange place, or to have it as a backup option in the unlikely event that the wall charger fails.

[Warminster id]

I drive 42 miles a day on my daily commute and charge from 20%_80% about every 4 days, I do all this using public chargers. It can take a bit of planning but once you get used to it it’s no problem.
With you being a low mileage user my advice would be to try public chargers for a few months and if it’s not working for you then you will have to go through the expense of a wall charger.
I do like the sound of having a street charger put in as suggested in another post

[colonelpurple]

 
If you have a place where to get a wall charger fitted at home (like a driveway), then that's what you should do. EV car manufacturers (VW included) do not advise granny cables for regular use. Besides charging speed, this is for reliability, safety and convenience reasons. The exact safety and reliability risks will vary significantly from one house to another. A granny charger will rely on the condition of the existing wiring and sockets of the house and/or detached garage. Wiring or sockets in poor condition can overheat, melt, and in the worst case start a fire. Unlike a kettle that typically draws high power for only a few minutes, a granny cable could be drawing high power (2.3KW, 10A) for many hours, over which time heating builds up in the wiring and the 3-pin socket. By contrast, when a wall charger is installed, the electrician will fit a new dedicated electrical circuit (cable) from the wall charger to the consumer unit, with a dedicated trip switch. It will be very safe and reliable. A wall charger is typically also more convenient because you will choose the best location for it to be fitted, and you can choose a tethered wall charger so the cable is always there, ready for use. Some people pass granny cables through window gaps or cat flaps that may mean cold draughts in winter, and trip hazards. If the 3-pin socket is inside a detached garage, it may mean having to open and close the garage door whenever the car needs to be charged. If there is an outdoor 3-pin socket, the granny cable's inline box may be exposed to scorching sun, rain, ice, snow, and it is typically not designed for this.

For a wall charger, the likes of pod-point.com will further give you power options to choose from: 3.6KW, 7KW or 22KW. Assuming your house's electrical installation (main fuse) can cope (they will advise you), you should choose 7KW. A minority of houses can support a 22KW charger, but it is significantly more expensive and in any case the ID.3 draws a maximum of 11KW (AC charging). As for the 3.6KW wall charger, the charging speed benefit over a granny cable will be smaller, and the cost-benefit compared with the 7KW wall charger favours the latter.

Regarding "I'm a very low mileage user" and "Will the extra cost outweigh the electricity bill over 4 years", in my opinion these are considerations to potentially choose using public chargers only, and not charging at home at all. But if you have a driveway or garage and you choose to charge at home, then get a wall charger fitted. In addition to the wall charger, some people will want to have a granny cable for topping up when visiting a relative, or if you unexpectedly find yourself stranded in some strange place, or to have it as a backup option in the unlikely event that the wall charger fails.

I agree, although I would recommend a zappi as more flexible which you might want in the future.

Also note a few things:
1. Wallchargers are much more convenient to use = especially in the rain. Granny chargers are a pain as you have to leave a window open, use an extension cable possibly, and take out and put back as used
2. The ID3 is so much fun, we are driving it where we wouldn't have used a car before. Which means I have blown my PCP mileage prediction be careful about this one

[Idmania3]

I have a Pod Point home charger for day to day 7se but also have a OHME 3pin smart granny charger for when I stay at relatives etc.
You can get the Ohme 3 pin charger half price if you are with Octopus Energy.

[Dollop]

I recommend the EO mini pro type 2. I found the company brilliant to deal with and the installer Crosstech Electrical ltd equally as good. I’ve chosen the tethered version.

[korky]

thanks all for replies,
i think i may opt for the cheaper granny charger to start, and something that will be handy to keep in the boot, slower but should be fine for my needs and saves me £400ish on the wall charger, plenty of supermarket chargers nearby too
finally got confirmation of car order today too, estimated late jan! i was hoping to have it for xmas

[colonelpurple]

Tell us how it goes. In my experience supermarkets have max stay times (1.5 hours aldi, 2 hours tesco, etx,) and 3amp charging, in which time you will probably only charge 10-20 miles

Rgds

[korky]

tried 1 of my local tescos, it has 7kw charging (pod point) and noticed 2 across road from which says 22kw but not sure if that's free (new motion)

[Deleted User 192]

Free supermarket chargers are provided for customers to use while they're in the store - ask Tesco or look on their corporate website.

Having a proper charge point at home is the simplest approach to running an EV, and if you can charge off-peak it's the cheapest way too, giving you 12% of the 58kWh battery every hour.

Rapid chargers can be used if you're away from home.

Granny chargers are really an "if all else fails" in my opinion.

[bitmanEV]

Tell us how it goes. In my experience supermarkets have max stay times (1.5 hours aldi, 2 hours tesco, etx,) and 3amp charging, in which time you will probably only charge 10-20 miles

Rgds

That's what I told Pod Point that those 7Kw AC chargers are pointless as most people might be in the shop for about 1 hour not really putting lot's a electrons in a BEV

22Kw AC chargers should be better IMHO

[monkeyhanger]

Some supermarkets have no waiting time restrictions. When visiting family down on the edge of the New Forest, there was a Tesco there (Applemore) that had no time restrictions (signage stipulated not abusing the disabled/parent & child spaces and to park within the spaces, only EVs in the charging spots). It was open 0800-0000, so I got a full charge there overnight. I wouldn't like to rely on it every day rather than use a charger at home though.

[van]

To echo another contributor, suck it and see with the supermarket charging first. I would consider this but the only one anywhere close to me is a 15 min drive and there are just two chargers. Wouldn't want to rely on those. Plus we have a 5.7kw pv system and in due course, if it ever gets built, a Tesla power wall, so my criteria for wanting a home charger differ.

Hopefully you will rarely need a 29h charge on a granny but imagine what could happen to your electrics to have the equivalent of a kettle boiling away for hours on end.

[Leccy]

I’m with the proper charge point at home approach if you’re able to have one, stress free and convenient and cheaper in the long run (assuming you can’t use free chargers all the time!). See free chargers as a bonus if you come across them and rapid chargers as a necessity on journeys.

We haven’t spreadsheeted it, but compared to ICE, even on our low to moderate mileage we don’t need to. We filled the petrol car every couple of weeks at £40-50 a pop, so £80-£100 a month. We’re typically charging the ID.3 once or twice weekly at £1-2 a session (Octopus Go Faster), so roughly £10 a month. Paid £549 for Pod Point, £129 for 10m cable, should be paid for in 7-8 months (without the EV tariff multiply that by 3). Even if we’ve got rose tinted glasses on in terms of how much the petrol was and charging is costing or our mileage has changed, it will still be inside a year. The gov grant of £350 on the charger may not last forever!

Edit: We got a granny charger, only used it once (before pod point install) so that’s another £150 to add to upfront cost I suppose, wouldn’t have bought it with the benefit of hindsight.

[monkeyhanger]

22Kw AC chargers should be better IMHO

Not much better. ID3 maxes out at 11kWh on AC.

[monkeyhanger]

I'd only use a granny charger if I couldn't get a proper home charger it's a stop gap for most. Charging at around 10 miles per hour, more likely to be pulling most of that at full 15-18p per kWh rather than 5p per kWh on Octopus GO.

You start doing 2 or 3 x 4 hour charges at £5 a pop instead of £1.50 a pop (with Octopus Go) and that 7.4kWh charger starts to pay for itself in under a year, as well as being massively more convenient.