Granny Charging - New owner soon!

[Caramaddy]

Good morning everyone!

I have been lurking on the forum for some time trying to get as much information as possible. I have now dipped my toe into EV ownership - a MG5 SR which I pickup next weekend.

QUESTION:- Does anyone charge their car at home with JUST the Granny Cable? If so, how do you find the experience?

Being our second car it will not be doing long journeys.

I had a 2 hour test drive in the car and was blown away by the drive quality.

Thank you in advance for your replies.

 

[GaryMG4]

Had my car a year now (8k miles) and only have the granny at home. I occasionally use ac destination charging and the last time I used DC was the end of last year. It has worked out fine. Because I try to use my solar I decided to wait and see how I got on in the winter only using the granny with the fallback of getting a 7kW installed if I found it too restrictive to only use the granny with the odd DC charge if needed. It has worked out fine.

 

[Verdigris]

I've had my MG5 a year, too, and have only granny charged it. Today I am being paid to fill it up, thanks to Agile Octopus.

 

[5teep]

Used the granny for 3 months or so till I got the wall box, it was no problem.

Usual caveats, make sure the socket you use is a good one, properly wired and any extension cable you use should be completely unwound and heavy duty.

The granny only puts out about 2.5kW but it does it for many hours at a time and than can generate a lot of heat in the wire and socket. So, for the first few times you use it, check it regularly at the plug to make sure it's not overheating.

 

[Fokmg]

Hi
Welcome aboard. I have had my MG5 for over 3 years now.
Great car no problems to report.
For the 1st year I used the granny charger with no problems , one tip always try to place the body of the Charger on a large flat cool surface to help heat dissapate. (it get quite warm if left on for a long time). Also keep it shaded from the sun!
After a year I swapped to using a Zappi2 charger as I have solar panels. One other advantage of using the Zappi2 is it allows me to use Octopus Go inteligent (7.5p a unit 11.30Pm - 5.30am). (The early 5Evs have a less sophisticated charging software that will not work with some of the smart tarrifs, the Zappi2 gets over the problem.
I do appreciate the faster charing speed over the granny charger. basically i can load 30 miles of travel every hour, the granny lead is about 10 miles every hour.
Enjoy your new purchase

 

[Caramaddy]

Thank you very much for all your replies. The main reason I asked was because I believe I will have to have my electric meter and fusebox moved to the outside of the house to accommodate a 7kW charging point.. The cost for doing that seems astronomical. I should have researched this first but my enthusiasm to have an EV took over!

I do not have solar panels but was still considering getting a Zappi charger, as that can be controlled via an App - I presume to set a time or % charge?

I am a little concerned that I still have so much to learn - too late now! I have fallen down the rabbit hole.

 

[Bam Bam]

Thank you very much for all your replies. The main reason I asked was because I believe I will have to have my electric meter and fusebox moved to the outside of the house to accommodate a 7Kw chareging point.. The cost for doing that seems astronomical. I should have researched this first but my enthusiasm to have an EV took over!

I do not have solar panels but was still considering getting a Zappi charger, as that can be controlled via an App - I presume to set a time or % charge?

I am a little concerned that I still have so much to learn - too late now! I have fallen down the rabbit hole.

That's a shame that you need so much electrical work done. We had to have some of fuses for the circuits in our consumer Unit upgraded to fit in the EV charger. This added to the cost but it was still ok. I saw it as an investment in the house that would need to be made anyway.

The amount of work that needs doing will depend on your pre-existing electrical setup. Most EVSE (charger) companies provide a quote assuming a simple install but it will increase from there the more work needs doing.

Labour time can be a big part of the cost!

It might be that chargers from other companies would require less electrical work - maybe you need certain things to have a Zappi. I can see why you would want a relatively smart charger though that you (or your energy company if Octopus) can control the timings of to take advantage of cheaper/greener energy.

 

[Verdigris]

I believe I will have to have my electric meter and fusebox moved to the outside of the house to accommodate a 7kW charging point..

Unlikely. You may need an additional consumer unit, which could be an external weather-proof one, if there are no spare ways in your existing CU, or no room to fit an additional CU. The meter can stay where it is but the main company fuse could require uprating.

 

[Caramaddy]

I have no spare ways and no room to fit an additional consumer unit. The meter and consumer unit are in the middle of the house in a kitchen cupboard, after an earlier extension. This, I believe, would make a long cable run very difficult to conceal. The wife would not be keen on a black cable running around the outside (or inside!) of the house.

I need to have a survey from my DNO as my main feed cable is underground - that costs £89.

 

[Bam Bam]

Thank you very much for all your replies. The main reason I asked was because I believe I will have to have my electric meter and fusebox moved to the outside of the house to accommodate a 7Kw chareging point.. The cost for doing that seems astronomical. I should have researched this first but my enthusiasm to have an EV took over!

I do not have solar panels but was still considering getting a Zappi charger, as that can be controlled via an App - I presume to set a time or % charge?

I am a little concerned that I still have so much to learn - too late now! I have fallen down the rabbit hole.

I would get a couple of quotes. It might be that one company thinks of a cheaper solution that the others did not.

We had one company quote a bit lower, thinking they could work with some of the existing old equipment that others wanted to replace at great expense. I think they regretted it based on the swearing during the job and the fact that they had to add some extra things (at their expense because I paid the quote price).

But we got a cheaper install as a result!

Have a look at local installers of Zappi, ohme or other smart chargers.

I have no spare ways and no room to fit an additional consumer unit. The meter and consumer unit are in the middle of the house in a kitchen cupboard, after an earlier extension. This, I believe, would make a long cable run very difficult to conceal. The wife would not be keen on a black cable running around the outside (or inside!) of the house.

I need to have a survey from my DNO as my main feed cable is underground - that costs £89.

Ahh I see the issue then.

Our installer found an extra 'way' by switching some RCD protected circuits to RCBO, thus freeing up a slot.

Ask a few electricians if they can think of a way around it.

If that doesn't work and you have an outside 16A plug then I'm sure you can get by. Our MG4 can do scheduled charging from the ISmart app so maybe the MG5 can as well.

 

[Moonraker244]

Good morning everyone!

I have been lurking on the forum for some time trying to get as much information as possible. I have now dipped my toe into EV ownership - a MG5 SR which I pickup next weekend.

QUESTION:- Does anyone charge their car at home with JUST the Granny Cable? If so, how do you find the experience?

Being our second car it will not be doing long journeys.

I had a 2 hour test drive in the car and was blown away by the drive quality.

Thank you in advance for your replies.

Just do it

 

[MickeySw]

Our MG4 can do scheduled charging from the ISmart app so maybe the MG5 can as well.

Yes, in all FL MG5s one can set a charge limit/schedule via the app or in the car.

The Mk1 or preFL model (looks a bit like a Passat from the front) don’t have that functionality and the scheduling is best done via a smart EVSE.

 

[Gomev]

Thank you very much for all your replies. The main reason I asked was because I believe I will have to have my electric meter and fusebox moved to the outside of the house to accommodate a 7kW charging point.. The cost for doing that seems astronomical. I should have researched this first but my enthusiasm to have an EV took over!

I do not have solar panels but was still considering getting a Zappi charger, as that can be controlled via an App - I presume to set a time or % charge?

I am a little concerned that I still have so much to learn - too late now! I have fallen down the rabbit hole.

Any charger you buy new now (apart from possibly dodgy ones from China/Ebay) will be smart chargers and will have an app, it's illegal to sell one that isn't.
If you want to use Intelligent Octopus Go for the 7.5p overnight rates then you will currently need one of Zappi, Ohme, or Wallbox branded chargers (EVSEs). For other cheap overnight tariffs any smart charger will do.
If your car can do, and probably most can, it can set a charging schedule itself so no app needed.

 

[Bam Bam]

Any charger you buy new now (apart from possibly dodgy ones from China/Ebay) will be smart chargers and will have an app, it's illegal to sell one that isn't.
If you want to use Intelligent Octopus Go for the 7.5p overnight rates then you will currently need one of Zappi, Ohme, or Wallbox branded chargers (EVSEs). For other cheap overnight tariffs any smart charger will do.
If your car can do, and probably most can, it can set a charging schedule itself so no app needed.

Do all chargers now need to be compatible with variable rates of charge and open to being able to be controlled by third parties (like Octopus or My Energy Optimiser (MyEO)) ?

That would be great!

That was what I meant by a smart one, not really any official definition or anything.

 

[moth71]

Do all chargers now need to be compatible with variable rates of charge and open to being able to be controlled by third parties (like Octopus or My Energy Optimiser (MyEO)) ?

That would be great!

That was what I meant by a smart one, not really any official definition or anything.

Unless it's the granny charger they are not smart & don't have to be

 

[ozzz]

Good morning everyone!

I have been lurking on the forum for some time trying to get as much information as possible. I have now dipped my toe into EV ownership - a MG5 SR which I pickup next weekend.

QUESTION:- Does anyone charge their car at home with JUST the Granny Cable? If so, how do you find the experience?

Being our second car it will not be doing long journeys.

I had a 2 hour test drive in the car and was blown away by the drive quality.

Thank you in advance for your replies.

10,000 km and most charging on granny, no problems. I use the sun, probably only spent $20 on electricity; can’t get better than that .

 

[Ian Gould]

Good morning everyone!

I have been lurking on the forum for some time trying to get as much information as possible. I have now dipped my toe into EV ownership - a MG5 SR which I pickup next weekend.

QUESTION:- Does anyone charge their car at home with JUST the Granny Cable? If so, how do you find the experience?

Being our second car it will not be doing long journeys.

I had a 2 hour test drive in the car and was blown away by the drive quality.

Thank you in advance for your replies.

Hello, I registered with my energy provider and get cheap overnight electricity. I have only used the granny charger and get 20 per cent top in the 7 hours charging. I program the charging via the app and as am a low mileage driver it works fine for me.

 

[ozzz]

I just changed from AGL to Red energy (Australia) cheap rates + 4 hours free electricity on the weekends 12pm -2 pm Saturday and Sunday nice if it’s cloudy and no solar power at least 4 hours is better than none.

 

[Bam Bam]

I just changed from AGL to Red energy (Australia) cheap rates + 4 hours free electricity on the weekends 12pm -2 pm Saturday and Sunday nice if it’s cloudy and no solar power at least 4 hours is better than none.

There is increasingly going to be free electricity in the middle of the day as more and more solar gets rolled out.

First it will be Summer weekends. Then Summer weekdays and non-summer weekends. Then non-summer weekdays.

Except probably December and January in the UK where solar will struggle. Then the free electricity will be windy nights.

EVs are perfect for this new renewable world as you can charge them at the times of surplus.

 

[ozzz]

I get lots of surplus that I feed back to the grid as I cannot use what I generally produce from my solar.