Which at home charger?

[Bam Bam]

what is the advantage of having the charged compatible with home solar? I do not have solar panels but not sure why is important to have the charger integrated if I install them in the future. Apologies as I guess this can be trivial for the people who has solar panels...
My understanding is that the power from the solar panels will be stored in a home battery and from there you use it at home or you sell it to Octopus/NG/SP... I guess that the compatibility would be to connect the battery directly to the car but not sure.
Thanks again!

Sorry for causing unnecessary confusion! I just meant that the Zappi is the best charger to have with solar (it can work out how much is spare and put it in the car), so if you are planning to get solar it might be worth thinking ahead and prioritising the Zappi.

Usually people get a home battery with the solar but if you can fit a lot of panels on your roof you might fill up your battery quite quickly on a sunny summer day and you could then potentially put the rest in a car.

We have Octopus Intelligent Flux, where Octopus control our home battery, which provides generous payment for export, but doesn't have a cheap period overnight for car charging.

Sorry for muddying the waters further, but seeing a few comments from others about charger regrets it is worth thinking ahead when selecting one.

 

[johnb80]

I don’t call 9 p a kWh paying over the odds do you

Comparing 7.5p for 6 hours and more to 9p for 4 hours, yes, youre paying over the odds in this situation.

I imagine almost any charger would be fine for the standard Go tariff but you mentioned Intelligent, which only works for a few cars (not MG, but VW) and a few chargers (not Rolec at present).

The charger has to have a basic scheduling feature - a timer for GO to operate in the 00:30 to 04:30 window. Intelligent works by Octopus controlling the schedule (additional times to the 23:30 - 05:30 window) either by talking to your EV or the wallbox.

Kraken controls our house battery updating the settings every 30 minutes or so - it is an amazing thing!

Octopus have done an amazing development but need the co operation of other manufacturers to make work with the third party products, car manufacturers like VW, BMW, JLR and many more have integration, EVSE like MyEnergi, Ohme and Wallbox have also done the work.

@sapixx - do you still have the ID4? I don't know how it works if you've got one compatible car and one non-compatible car. You might then be able to get the intelligent tariff but you should check with Octopus whether there might be problems charging the MG.

If you have a compatible car and a non compatible one you run the non compliant one of a schedule 23:30 to 05:30 and the compatible one with no schedule. Or, you use a compatible wallbox, job done!

Not aware of the features, just that it seemed to have the same sort of features, looked nicer and was cheaper when I was looked (before the Givenergy one came out). The prices might have got closer together since.

Aye, Zappi is not the best looking unit for sure, it is robust and reliable though.

British Gas is doing midnight to 5 am at 7.90p and 29.65p peak... best to shop around, I guess

The major disadvantage is in your first two words.

 

[Edilvise]

Since I was not happy with the 13amp socket for MG4 Trophy charger, since there where instances where it was getting hot, I opted to purchase a BMW charger which has a 16amp industrial socket connection. I have been using it for the last 4 months and have no objections. Is this compatible with the MG4, since I was told that I should not take the risk of changing chargers.

 

[fred12345]

Since I was not happy with the 13amp socket for MG4 Trophy charger, since there where instances where it was getting hot, I opted to purchase a BMW charger which has a 16amp industrial socket connection. I have been using it for the last 4 months and have no objections. Is this compatible with the MG4, since I was told that I should not take the risk of changing chargers.

Unless I'm wrong for some reason - if it works, it works. There are so many different chargers out there so BMW one should not be any different...
I bought 13A (home plug) charger on Amazon and it can be set from 6A to 13A so the socket never gets hot. Unless you say the charger gets extremely hot?

 

[Edilvise]

It works and I can choose which current to charge it with. I usually use the 16amp one. No problems so far. But I read around that batteries are very sensitive "animals" and one should always use their respective oem's charger.

 

[fred12345]

It works and I can choose which current to charge it with. I usually use the 16amp one. No problems so far. But I read around that batteries are very sensitive "animals" and one should always use their respective oem's charger.

Not sure that can be in real life, what do you do when you go somewhere, you have to use other chargers... Don't stress too much about it.

 

[Edilvise]

Fully agree. That was my reasoning initially. Thanks.

 

[johnb80]

It works and I can choose which current to charge it with. I usually use the 16amp one. No problems so far. But I read around that batteries are very sensitive "animals" and one should always use their respective oem's charger.

Hi Edilvise, what you read is complete tosh and really shouldnt be spread around online .

The wallbox or granny charger as they are called are not chargers at all. They're EVSE: Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment. These AC units plug into domestic supplies and connect to the car. There is a signal line called the pilot line, it carries a 1kHz square wave and the pulse width (the on time) sets how much current the unit can supply. The charger is actually built into the car so youre not in danger of damaging your batteries by plugging in a different make of wallbox. The wallbox and granny charger simply switch on the 240V to the car when any safety issues have been adjusted. The Battery Management System built into the battery will have a converstaion with the cells directly and control the charger with regards to balancing, charge stop and other safety issues etc.

DC charging is as different again, DC Chargers are indeed chargers and they do talk directly with the battery's cells.

 

[Vipar]

I have OHME Pro well pleased with it and great after sales service

 

[Edilvise]

Hi Edilvise, what you read is complete tosh and really shouldnt be spread around online .

The wallbox or granny charger as they are called are not chargers at all. Theyre EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment. These AC units plug into domestic supplies and connect to the car. There is a signal line called the pilot line, it carries a 1KHz square wave and the pulse width (the on time) sets how much current the unit can supply. The charger is actually built into the car so youre not in danger of damaging your batteries by plugging in a different make of wallbox. The wallbox and granny charger simply switch on the 240v to the car when any safety issues have been adjusted. The Battery Management System built into the battery will have a converstaion with the cells directly and control the charger with regards to balancing, charge stop and other safety issues etc.

DC charging is as different again, DC Chargers are indeed chargers and they do talk directly with the cells

Thank you so much for the clarification, because I was worried that I can damage my battery. Why do they write this rubbish is beyond me. Thank you so much once again.

 

[johnb80]

Thank you so much for the clarification, because I was worried that I can damage my battery. Why do they write this rubbish is beyond me. Thank you so much once again.

No problem at all, there 's a lot of rubbish online about all aspects of EV's. When I first got my EV I designed, built and used my own wallbox, it was a very steep learning curve but interesting project.

 

[markglawrence]

I believe Octopus Intelligent Go is only compatible with 3 chargers Ohme Home Pro, Ohme ePod and a MyEnergy Zappi.
If you have solar and batteries then get an electrician who can fit a henley block before your 'fuseboard' and then a second 'fuseboard' to feed the charger. That way the current clamp for your solar system can just monitor the feed going to the main 'fuseboard' and it cant see the load coming from the charger so it won't drain the battery.

I’ve found my MG4 to be not compatible with the Zappi and Octopus Intelligent Go.
At least it will not charge to anything other than 100% which is not ideal for battery life I’m told.

 

[RichT]

I’ve found my MG4 to be not compatible with the Zappi and Octopus Intelligent Go.
At least it will not charge to anything other than 100% which is not ideal for battery life I’m told.

I am surprised.
I change the setting in the car (a Trophy in my case).
This can be either 80% or 100%.
Then Octopus honours this as the maximum and stops.

It is probably the worst bit of user interface I have ever seen as it looks like a description rather than a piece of UI, is very small and offers no feedback that you have actually made a change.
Let me know if you need a picture.

 

[JohnV6]

I have the Ohme Home Pro. It is linked to Octopus IGO.

It sets a % charge you want to add.
I then set the max in the car e.g. 80 %
The ZS isn't a car the charger recognises so you can only set % to add not an end target.

It does have solar boost but it makes no financial sense given I get 15 p for export and can buy at night for 7p.

The charger is on a separate supply effectively to the house as advised by the fitter as best practice.

 

[johnb80]

I’ve found my MG4 to be not compatible with the Zappi and Octopus Intelligent Go.

MG4 will work fine with Zappi and Zappi will work with IOG.

At least it will not charge to anything other than 100% which is not ideal for battery life I’m told.

You need the car to stop the charge at 80% (Zappi has no way of knowing the SOC). In our MG5 it can be selected on the charging screen 80% (normal mode) or 100% (Long journey).

 

[Grith]

You would need a 3 phase supply to your house. At minimum that would be 3 x the standing charge plus a few £K for installation. Then I believe the UK ZS even the LR can only charge at 11kW on 3 phase so not much faster than standard 7kW.

I believe that Octopus Intelligent Go has the cheapest off peak electricity at 7.5p/unit (it does vary region to reigon). You can only go on that tariff if you have a compatible charger (assuming you are talking about the MG ZS).

As for people who use excess solar to charge their batteries it always confuses me. i.e. on Octopus fixed export you get paid 15p/unit vs off peak import at 7.5p/unit. So it's cheaper to charge the car over night than use your solar panels to charge with 'excess' power. Obviously if you are not on Octopus or don't have a compatible charger then the charges will be different and then charging using 'excess' solar might be more cost effective.

As Ched points out,
Solar can generate you 15p per kWh whereas charging using Intelligent Octopus Go at 7p per kWh (my rate here in Yorkshire) means you can charge overnight and sell back during the day at better rates. I also charge my solar battery overnight at 7p when the weather is not great like now.
I opted for the Hypervolt Pro 3 which I had fitted by Octopus, I looked into having an electrician fit the unit but they need signing off by a certified fitter and testing with specialist equipment with type 2 connection.
I also went for the Hypervolt as it fits flatter to the wall in restricted areas such as mine.

 

[johnb80]

I opted for the Hypervolt Pro 3 which I had fitted by Octopus, I looked into having an electrician fit the unit but they need signing off by a certified fitter and testing with specialist equipment with type 2 connection.

Theyve had you over there.

 

[Grith]

Theyve had you over there.

View attachment 34921

well can’t win ‘em all John

 

[johnb80]

well can’t win ‘em all John

True but worthwhile letting others know so they dont get mugged as well

 

[Exdro]

It doesn't have to be compatible - an electrician should hopefully get it all working ok. Ched has suggested a method.

But it might make your life easier, particularly if you want to divert excess solar into the car and not involve your home battery with that.

It's worth considering I expect.

I’ve recently changed my EO charger (DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT GETTING ONE). Pls excuse capitals. I now have a Zappi charger which is compatible with my solar panels and battery pack. Only had it since January but it has been much more reliable than the EO before. ( Just in case you are foolish enough to consider an EO charger, please read the trust pilot reviews first).