Changing EVSE

[Gomev]

I have a Rolec, works perfectly well but I have a hankering (yes hankering is allowed in polite society) to change it so that I can switch to Intelligent Octopus from Go when my fix ends.
Financially it doesn't make sense but my sense of wellbeing might be.

When the Rolec was installed it needed an earth rod, but since the ground was impossible they installed a Matt:e instead. So question is if I get something with pen protection built in, such as an Ohme Pro do I still need that ?
Also what else is involved, is this a possible DIY job (like but not like replacing a socket ) swapping the boxes.
I suspect though with connecting to EVSE networks etc it will not be, so how much should this cost to have done professionally ???????
Any thoughts, particularly our resident electricians.

 

[smokie]

Not an expert but my old PodPoint (installed yonks ago, before earthing was a requirement) failed and I had it rebuilt, but with the latest Viridan internals, which do not need earthing. I sent the box away. It is attached to a junction box so disconnection was just a matter of take of the lid, unscrew three wires, job done.

I have just won a new older-style Ohme on eBay and collected it. It has a cable with three wires which I know I can attach to my junction box. The paperwork says it needs an earthing rod but I am inclined to not bother. Apparently it is a very rare combo of circumstances which can cause an issue, and there are thousands out there without. Unrelated I know, but the cabling from my consumer unit to the box was done professionally. I wouldn't have done that myself.

I'm sure some will admonish me for 1) fitting it myself and 2) without an earth. I won't need a certificate as I won't be moving. And life wouldn't be much fun if you didn't take a modest risk once in a while

 

[Lovemyev]

Just out of curiosity, is it the original dumb Rolec ( like mine ) or the latter smart Rolec unit ( like my brothers ?.)
Strangely, both were installed professionally by the same EV company, but about 3 years apart.
Mine does not have any earth rod installed ( likely not required regs back in 2016 ) but my brothers more recent one does.
His charging schedule on the Gen1 ZS EV was set by using the EV.Energy App on his phone for smart charging, but is on a still rate tariff ???.
Two weeks ago, he collected his new facelift Trophy LR.
The smart Rolec is still controlling his charge schedule, even thought the Gen2 has the inbuilt timer delay and set to 80% SOC for shorter trips.
If he sets the slide bar to 80% in the car, it appears to disregard this command and still obeys the smart Rolec schedule ?.
Can this facility be turn off in the EV.Energy App, effectively making his Rolec a dumb unit.
Then he can set the SOC slide bar to 80% for his more regular short trips.

 

[Lguk]

Just out of curiosity, is it the original dumb Rolec ( like mine ) or the latter smart Rolec unit ( like my brothers ?.)
Strangely, both were installed professionally by the same EV company, but about 3 years apart.
Mine does not have any earth rod installed ( likely not required regs back in 2016 ) but my brothers more recent one does.
His charging schedule on the Gen1 ZS EV was set by using the EV.Energy App on his phone for smart charging, but is on a still rate tariff ???.
Two weeks ago, he collected his new facelift Trophy LR.
The smart Rolec is still controlling his charge schedule, even thought the Gen2 has the inbuilt timer delay and set to 80% SOC for shorter trips.
If he sets the slide bar to 80% in the car, it appears to disregard this command and still obeys the smart Rolec schedule ?.
Can this facility be turn off in the EV.Energy App, effectively making his Rolec a dumb unit.
Then he can set the SOC slide bar to 80% for his more regular short trips.

You need one smart function only.

Either use the in car smartness to take a charge when it wants one, and set the rolec to dumb, or set the car to dumb and use the rolec smart.

Otherwise its like chaining timer sockets together, both have to align to on at the same time to have power.

 

[Lovemyev]

You need one smart function only.

Either use the in car smartness to take a charge when it wants one, and set the rolec to dumb, or set the car to dumb and use the rolec smart.

Otherwise its like chaining timer sockets together, both have to align to on at the same time to have power.

Are you able to switch off the “smart” features in the Rolec App and return the wall box into a dumb function ?.

 

[Lguk]

I have a Rolec, works perfectly well but I have a hankering (yes hankering is allowed in polite society) to change it so that I can switch to Intelligent Octopus from Go when my fix ends.
Financially it doesn't make sense but my sense of wellbeing might be.

When the Rolec was installed it needed an earth rod, but since the ground was impossible they installed a Matt:e instead. So question is if I get something with pen protection built in, such as an Ohme Pro do I still need that ?
Also what else is involved, is this a possible DIY job (like but not like replacing a socket ) swapping the boxes.
I suspect though with connecting to EVSE networks etc it will not be, so how much should this cost to have done professionally ???????
Any thoughts, particularly our resident electricians.

My chargedEv installer didn't hook up my charger properly, I isolated and popped the front off, essentially you'll have 3 wires and a pair from a CT clamp. Should he as simple as swapping the box over.. However, to get the smart capabilities working it will likely require an approved installer to activate the device before you can pair it up. I discovered EO do this and when the guy accidently paired it to his own account (because he hadn't wired it up properly) I found that EO assume that the device will remain with you as the customer and would expect you to take it with you when you move. That said, I think you will find you can get one installed significantly cheaper as it will be supply and connect to existing provisions.

 

[Gomev]

Just out of curiosity, is it the original dumb Rolec ( like mine ) or the latter smart Rolec unit ( like my brothers ?.)
Strangely, both were installed professionally by the same EV company, but about 3 years apart.
Mine does not have any earth rod installed ( likely not required regs back in 2016 ) but my brothers more recent one does.
His charging schedule on the Gen1 ZS EV was set by using the EV.Energy App on his phone for smart charging, but is on a still rate tariff ???.
Two weeks ago, he collected his new facelift Trophy LR.
The smart Rolec is still controlling his charge schedule, even thought the Gen2 has the inbuilt timer delay and set to 80% SOC for shorter trips.
If he sets the slide bar to 80% in the car, it appears to disregard this command and still obeys the smart Rolec schedule ?.
Can this facility be turn off in the EV.Energy App, effectively making his Rolec a dumb unit.
Then he can set the SOC slide bar to 80% for his more regular short trips.

Mine is the smart Rolec using the ev.energy app.
Just turn off smart charging in the app, (toggle off the the 'only charge off peak' in the smart section) it then acts like a dumb charger, plug and play.

 

[BugEyed]

When the Rolec was installed it needed an earth rod, but since the ground was impossible they installed a Matt:e instead. So question is if I get something with pen protection built in, such as an Ohme Pro do I still need that ?

No.

Also what else is involved, is this a possible DIY job (like but not like replacing a socket ) swapping the boxes.

Just swapping the EVSE is debatably allowed but changing the circuit is not allowed unless you are qualified under Part P. So removing the Matt:e would not be.

I suspect though with connecting to EVSE networks etc it will not be, so how much should this cost to have done professionally ???????

They are too busy not to make a charge of more than the work justifies. Get a few quotes or buy one that self installs.

 

[Lovemyev]

Mine is the smart Rolec using the ev.energy app.
Just turn off smart charging in the app, (toggle off the the 'only charge off peak' in the smart section) it then acts like a dumb charger, plug and play.

Thank you @Gomev !.
I will pass on the info to my brother ?.

 

[5teep]

Not an expert but my old PodPoint (installed yonks ago, before earthing was a requirement) failed and I had it rebuilt, but with the latest Viridan internals, which do not need earthing. I sent the box away. It is attached to a junction box so disconnection was just a matter of take of the lid, unscrew three wires, job done.

I have just won a new older-style Ohme on eBay and collected it. It has a cable with three wires which I know I can attach to my junction box. The paperwork says it needs an earthing rod but I am inclined to not bother. Apparently it is a very rare combo of circumstances which can cause an issue, and there are thousands out there without. Unrelated I know, but the cabling from my consumer unit to the box was done professionally. I wouldn't have done that myself.

I'm sure some will admonish me for 1) fitting it myself and 2) without an earth. I won't need a certificate as I won't be moving. And life wouldn't be much fun if you didn't take a modest risk once in a while

It's possible the charger will not work, i.e. not start a charge on your car if it thinks the earth is bad.

 

[smokie]

I meant an earth rod. But I see your point.

 

[BugEyed]

Or the car will not. The Renault Zoe is notoriously sensitive to this testing for a maximum impedance of 150 Ohms.

 

[Gomev]

No.



Just swapping the EVSE is debatably allowed but changing the circuit is not allowed unless you are qualified under Part P. So removing the Matt:e would not be.



They are too busy not to make a charge of more than the work justifies. Get a few quotes or buy one that self installs.

Many thanks @BugEyed answered concisely.

 

[djh]

I have an Ohme Go that plugs into an old dumb charger. I'll just note that the Ohme is not very smart in my situation. It can't read anything from the MG (there's a list of car brands it does support) so is fairly dumb to start with. I have an E7 tariff so I just program it to charge during the cheap period and that's what it does. It turns on at 30A at 00:30 and normally switches off sometime during the night when the car tells it it is fully charged. Otherwise it will switch off at 07:30. Any charge rate adjustment is just whatever is done by the car.

 

[Gomev]

I have an Ohme Go that plugs into an old dumb charger. I'll just note that the Ohme is not very smart in my situation. It can't read anything from the MG (there's a list of car brands it does support) so is fairly dumb to start with. I have an E7 tariff so I just program it to charge during the cheap period and that's what it does. It turns on at 30A at 00:30 and normally switches off sometime during the night when the car tells it it is fully charged. Otherwise it will switch off at 07:30. Any charge rate adjustment is just whatever is done by the car.

Can any charger read anything from the MG, my Rolec can't ?
More important to me is that it can run dependent on my tariff.

 

[smokie]

I've not done much public charging but I'm sure some of them knew my SoC.

 

[djh]

More important to me is that it can run dependent on my tariff.

It can do that, but the user interface is poorly designed IMHO. The daylight savings adjustment doesn't work (or rather it is always applied, which my tariff isn't) and the price cap is disabled whenever you make any change to the tariff. And not displayed on the same screen.

 

[Gomev]

I've not done much public charging but I'm sure some of them knew my SoC.

The DC ones do, but not the AC in my experience.

 

[Lguk]

My understanding was the protocol doesn't support it (bit shortsighted imo) so no cars can actually communicate with the charger about charge states when charging on AC.

Those that do know the charge state are most likely pulling the data via an Internet based api, for vehicles with apps whose manufacturers have a process of you accepting the data share.

 

[Mack1410]

I have a Rolec, works perfectly well but I have a hankering (yes hankering is allowed in polite society) to change it so that I can switch to Intelligent Octopus from Go when my fix ends.
Financially it doesn't make sense but my sense of wellbeing might be.

When the Rolec was installed it needed an earth rod, but since the ground was impossible they installed a Matt:e instead. So question is if I get something with pen protection built in, such as an Ohme Pro do I still need that ?
Also what else is involved, is this a possible DIY job (like but not like replacing a socket ) swapping the boxes.
I suspect though with connecting to EVSE networks etc it will not be, so how much should this cost to have done professionally ???????
Any thoughts, particularly our resident electricians.

I have the ohme Home pro installed, no earth rod required.