Which 3 pin charger?

[Niallds]

Would a type 2 to 3 pin charger from a C class 300e (BMW I think) be OK for an ID3?
It says this on it:
230V/13A/50Hz/1-
Are they standard or do you need a specific VW one?

[monkeyhanger]

C class? Mercedes. That granny charger lead will be fine for the ID3. If it is pulling 13A rather than 10A for significant periods, it'll likely cook your 13A plug socket over time. Are you planning on using that full time for home charging rather than a proper 32A/7kWh charger?

[Niallds]

I'm hoping to use it a fair bit with solar panels. Would you a 10A is better? Does it matter if it's a VW one?

At the same place:
5 hours charging today - £9.17 for 18.72kWh From the miles the car said it added, not much cheaper than diesel tbh.
last week - £6.79 for 30.88kWh

[Utumno]

I'm hoping to use it a fair bit with solar panels. Would you a 10A is better? Does it matter if it's a VW one?

At the same place:
5 hours charging today - £9.17 for 18.72kWh From the miles the car said it added, not much cheaper than diesel tbh.
last week - £6.79 for 30.88kWh

Any “granny” charger that’s compliant with UK regs won’t draw 13A, it’ll draw 10A or less. The issue remains the same though - most UK “13A” domestic sockets aren’t rated to run at that amperage for hours on end. You’re effectively boiling a kettle constantly overnight.

If you’re going to make this safe, you should employ an electrician, at which point you should also see whether you can then install something like a commando socket to give you the flexibility to charge at anywhere between 10 and 32 amps with the appropriate cable.

£9.17 for 18.72kWh

48.98p/kWh? Change your electricity tariff.

[monkeyhanger]

£9.17 for 18.72kWh

48.98p/kWh? Change your electricity tariff.

I think those are away from home charging rates, from saying "at same place" to demonstrate a huge rise in costing at that site in the space of a week. He's right though, at about 13[ a mile (assuming the efficiencies i'm currently getting), running an EV with away from home charging, its the same cost as diesel.

[sidehaas]

I'm hoping to use it a fair bit with solar panels. Would you a 10A is better? Does it matter if it's a VW one?

At the same place:
5 hours charging today - £9.17 for 18.72kWh From the miles the car said it added, not much cheaper than diesel tbh.
last week - £6.79 for 30.88kWh

Re granny safety. It doesn't matter whether the cable is a VW one. Better ones have some inbuilt protection like a thermal cutout and I wouldn't buy something from abroad off eBay or Amazon as it's unlikely to be designed to the right standards, but if you have something supplied by Merc it should be fine. The vulnerable point is your house wiring/socket.
As for using it regularly - you can, but ideally do as Utumno says. If for some reason you are unable to get an electrician in, then based on others' advice I've seen who have done this regularly, I would suggest the following:
- charge it first for several hours in the day while you are home. Not with solar at this point as you need to know it is drawing constant current to check it.
- check the reduced AC current option in the ID3 charging menu - this limits current draw to 6A
- go out touch the back of the plug after 30 minutes and again after every hour. If it feels anything more than slightly warm, stop it and don't use that socket again. If you aren't sure, be cautious.
- if the 6A charge goes without a hitch and there is no noticeable heat produced, do the same again but without the reduced current option ticked in the car. It should run at 10A or about 2.3kw. Follow the same procedure as above. Anything more than slight warmth throughout the charge = stop it and don't use that socket again.
- double check the charging rate in the weconnectID app while charging. It should be 2.2-2.5kw depending on your house supply voltage. If it is more like 3kw then the granny you have is allowing it to charge at 13A - if so, stop the charge and buy a new lead (people on speakEV seem to recommend a particular brand that's available at Screwfix, for one that's safe but cheaper than car manufacturer branded ones.)
- once you've run it a couple of times at 10A with regular checks during the day, you can be confident that it's safe to run without supervision and start to use it overnight or with solar, via that same socket.

To be extra safe, you could check it regularly on a 10A run, but then limit it to 6A for regular unsupervised use.

In terms of charging off solar, note that the minimum charging rate is about 1.6kw / 4A (I think) so if you are supplying less than this the car will not allow charging to start. I understand there is also a potential issue whereby the ID3 will detect a fault if charging stops and starts (due to the 1.6kw limit) more than a few times during the day. If that happens it won't charge again until you unplug and replug in. People who have actually done this would be better placed to advise. I think there is a regular user on here who does solar charging (G43FAN?)