Granny charging

[Rod Tucker]

My home electrics are not up to running a wall charger.
My useage is mostly local with monthly trips of around 200 round trip and annual around 300 one way, returning within a week.
Is charging via three pin plug going to be up to the job with occasional public charging station topups?

 

[LenEV2016]

Granny charging only is possible but if your home electrics aren't up to a wall charger I'd be careful with granny charging and keep and eye on it, especially if you are using any kind of extension cable

 

[kenneth104]

It can be used, but pay attention to the power the cable can withstand and whether the charger has the function of skipping the ground wire detection. Many ground wires may not be reliable enough for charging electric vehicles, resulting in failure to charge.

 

[ozzz]

Hi I have used my granny charger for 12 months during the day when sun is pumping out solar with no issues, it’s my main way to charge my MG4 and had no problems 1.4kW every day for 6 hours. 19,000 km travelled and total electric bought AU$30 absolutely awesome.

 

[Ian Key]

My home electrics are not up to running a wall charger.
My usage is mostly local with monthly trips of around 200 round trip and annual around 300 one way, returning within a week.
Is charging via three pin plug going to be up to the job with occasional public charging station top ups?

I assume you mean you have an old fuse box. I did have one of those but the power supply for the EV wall charger was split off from the supply after the meter and before the old fuse box into it's own fuse box.
Make sure the socket you plug into is on the ring circuit and not a spur. You will probably need an extension cable so make sure it's a good quality one that is rated high enough.

 

[ReintjeWA]

We’re building at the moment, so we didn’t feel like it was worth the hassle with the strata company to have a charger put in at our apartment, I just charge publicly and it’s been fine so far. I’m lobbying for a charger at work but it’s state government so the gears turn slowly unfortunately

 

[Rolfe]

My home electrics are not up to running a wall charger.
My useage is mostly local with monthly trips of around 200 round trip and annual around 300 one way, returning within a week.
Is charging via three pin plug going to be up to the job with occasional public charging station topups?

I charged with a granny charger for the first year I had the car. I also had a cheap DC charger within walking distance if I was in a hurry. It worked fine, but eventually (after they doubled the price on the DC charger) I got a Zappi to charge faster and take advantage of the very low EV tariffs available.

As others have said, just make sure your wiring is up to the job and watch out for the plug heating.

 

[Tight Git]

Exactly why are your home electrics not up to running a charger? Most/all chargers can be set to limit the charge to the car, so setting it to something like 3kW instead of 7kW may be a possibility?

If the existing electrics are old and not up to it then it's possible that using the granny may also be an issue.

I would get an electrician who installs chargers to come and check and give you some advice. Don't use one from the big companies as they won't want to get involved in anything slightly different.

 

[LenEV2016]

Exactly why are your home electrics not up to running a charger? Most/all chargers can be set to limit the charge to the car, so setting it to something like 3kW instead of 7kW may be a possibility?

If the existing electrics are old and not up to it then it's possible that using the granny may also be an issue.

I would get an electrician who installs chargers to come and check and give you some advice. Don't use one from the big companies as they won't want to get involved in anything slightly different.

Probably an old consumer box, which to be fair should be replaced every 10 years or so, maybe more not 100%

 

[Rod Tucker]

Probably an old consumer box, which to be fair should be replaced every 10 years or so, maybe more not 100%

I live on a park home estate. We technically get 100kw supply but it is pretty marginal. Putting two rings on my induction hob is 50/50 likely to trip the consumer unit.

 

[salty]

Granted, I've only had my MG4 about 6 weeks. I've only used the Granny Charger, to charge it, so far.
Used it 2/3 times a week. Doesn't even get warm. Longest charge I did was,
20 hours in One go. And again never even got warm. But I still check it every so often. Just be on the absolute safe side. But so far, so good. So, yes the Granny Charger is up to the job. But as others have said, check it every so often.

 

[HazardLights]

I don't know if an electrician could do a decent wallbox install and if this would trigger an upgrade to the local supply but it may be worth asking one about your options.

I am granny charging at the moment. I usually only do about 30-40 miles in a day during the week with longer journeys at the weekend. The granny charger is doing the job however I would say that when my 7kW charger is installed it will be more relaxing for the following subjective reasons that may or may not apply to you:

1. My granny charger needs me to park in a slightly more awkward position for my wife parking her car than the ideal position that the Ohme will be installed in.
2. The granny charger gives me 10% of charge every 3 hours whereas I estimate the 7kW charger will give me roughly 10% an hour. This makes it easier to "top up" to a healthy charge after a longer trip. It also means I can top up and be ready for unexpected journeys faster. This flexibility will reduce the planning and make life with an EV more chilled.

A third reason that doesn't apply to me but does to others is that a more powerful charger can make better use of over night rates.

We all have different circumstances but for me I have found the granny charger to be fine and my wiring to be robust however I am looking forward to being able to restore charge faster so I am never caught out. With a granny charger, when your charge state isn't recovered sufficiently most people can fix this with a visit to a DC fast charger. So, I conclude a granny charger is fine for most people but a fast charger does have benefits and for me will be more convenient.

If planning on using public chargers then you will want to find somewhere cheap to minimise running costs. A cheap destination charger in a good location is your best bet but a cheap fast charger is a god send. I was lucky that I have two Tesla fast charging sites near (and nearish) me which outside four peak hours give very reasonable fast charging that is cheaper than petrol.

 

[Mark Hewitt]

My home electrics are not up to running a wall charger.
My useage is mostly local with monthly trips of around 200 round trip and annual around 300 one way, returning within a week.
Is charging via three pin plug going to be up to the job with occasional public charging station topups?

Yes. Shouldn't be a big issue as long as your plug sockets are up to the job and no extension leads - or at least good extension leads.

Granny charing gives 10% every 3 hours which for me is more than enough. I have mine scheduled 12am-5am for cheap eletricity which gives 15% per night which again is enough, even if occasionally it needs a second night.

 

[APMG]

Whilst I was waiting for my EV Charger to be installed (tomorrow) I used the Granny once or twice but rarely ever got more than 1.6 kW out of it very very slowly. Its ok if you can set and forget however I was overly conscious of it being on a shared RCA circuit with downstairs white goods and avoiding turning anything else on in that period.

I did end up trying out some fast chargers at higher cost of course, however you're paying convenience at this rate. The info around using them long term is skewed, my electrician said they should be more emergency use only vs daily use.

I did make up a 2.5mm² screw fix outside plug which I ran from indoors, this seemed to never get hot only the inside plug warm but I never ran it for more than a few hours when testing it out.

Some have said prior its cheaper to get a commando socket installed and pull more power via this, however your mileage may vary with that too. I Am lucky enough to get the grant for my ev install due to being a shared ownership "renter" which made it a lot cheaper.

Switching tariff tomorrow to Tomato's 5p/kWh nightly rate + charger should make it peanuts and charger pays for itself in fuel in a few months.

 

[Buster72]

Granted, I've only had my MG4 about 6 weeks. I've only used the Granny Charger, to charge it, so far.
Used it 2/3 times a week. Doesn't even get warm. Longest charge I did was,
20 hours in One go. And again never even got warm. But I still check it every so often. Just be on the absolute safe side. But so far, so good. So, yes the Granny Charger is up to the job. But as others have said, check it every so often.

I have only ever used the MG supplied granny charger for almost 2 years without any known problems. Although I would not be so happy about doing it with an extension lead.
I charge from 12.00 to 05.00 using the BG EV Driver tariff.

 

[gbrspratt]

I installed a tough leads extension lead on the outside of my garage. Instead of plugging it into the socket in the garage, it's wired directly in to a socket (I await the comments). First week I used the MG supplied charger but that only inputs about 1.7kW. After lots of research I bought a second granny charger that inputs 2.7kW. I have checked after it being on charge for 8 hours and nothing is warm let alone hot!

I have also switched to tomato energy. 13p from 10pm until 0000 and 5p from 0000 to 0600.

Approx 40 miles a day.

 

[JonnyG]

I have also switched to tomato energy. 13p from 10pm until 0000 and 5p from 0000 to 0600.

Are all their prices inclusive of VAT, it's not clear on website ?

They look good if so, with a standing charge of just 45p per day and peak of 24.31p

 

[APMG]

Are all their prices inclusive of VAT, it's not clear on website ?

They look good if so, with a standing charge of just 45p per day and peak of 24.31p

Yes, vat included. I swapped today and EV charger being installed as I speak!

They locked me to an even better deal (east of england)

 

[Rod Tucker]

Thanks everyone. I have concluded that the MG3 Hybrid + will suit my needs better. Also it is a lot cheaper to buy and insure.

 

[salty]

Thanks everyone. I have concluded that the MG3 Hybrid + will suit my needs better. Also it is a lot cheaper to buy and insure.

No Brainer then. Enjoy your new motor, when you get it.