The ongoing saga of trying to get a chargepoint

[Coedy]

I want to get my charger fitted at my parents house (I have no off road parking, but don't want to waste the grant).

My dealer sent my details to a local installer who said they could install but I would need to pay the £350 the grant would pay as o would be ineligible for the grant (as not my house). Fine.

On the survey they said they wouldn't be able to fit it as the current house wiring is not up to code.
They said we would need to bring it up to code before installing the charger at a cost of £1900....

They gave me a list of items needed doing (fusebox changed to consumer unit, tails sorted out, earth bonds fitted to gas and water main), tried getting a quote elsewhere who said "I don't know why the installers couldn't install a seperate breaker from the existing fuse box and run off that" but then said that to do the items I asked for (that the first installers said needed completing) he wouldn't be able to quote as "the consumer unit is in the worst possible place, the mains couldn't be more awkwardly placed if they tried, and the entire thing would need to be done around a brand new installed kitchen".

I then looked at running an extension cord into an outside socket to use the granny cable each night instead.
But after looking on SpeakV loads of people not to use granny cables overnight regularly as there have been many instances of the socket boxes overheating/melting.

This whole thing is completely insane. I though the hardest thing about an EV is public charging. As it is I'm very tempted to completely cancel the purchase.
I can't afford multiple thousands of pounds to have a "free charger" installed, I can't risk having my parents brand new kitchen trashed even if I could afford the work to be done.
And I can't even go the cheaper option of using the included granny charger as apparently it isn't safe to do so regularly.

I should be excited about going to pick up my first ever brand new car in 6 days time. Instead I'm discovering the entire thing is a complete nightmare and I don't even have the actual car yet.

Rant over....

 

[lee graham]

I understand your frustration, heres an idea can your parents ask electricity supplier to upgrade supply because of electric car? A free upgrade to 80amp and maybe they will redo the old wiring?

Might be worth finding out why those granny chargers failed.

If it makes you feel any better I’m sat in a public car park slurping up a free charge. I don’t intend to use my home charge point or granny charger.

edit: I’ve been cruising all over today, car is totally worth it.

 

[GordieG]

Congrats Lee - welcome to team black!

 

[KasEV]

I want to get my charger fitted at my parents house (I have no off road parking, but don't want to waste the grant).

My dealer sent my details to a local installer who said they could install but I would need to pay the £350 the grant would pay as o would be ineligible for the grant (as not my house). Fine.

On the survey they said they wouldn't be able to fit it as the current house wiring is not up to code.
They said we would need to bring it up to code before installing the charger at a cost of £1900....

They gave me a list of items needed doing (fusebox changed to consumer unit, tails sorted out, earth bonds fitted to gas and water main), tried getting a quote elsewhere who said "I don't know why the installers couldn't install a seperate breaker from the existing fuse box and run off that" but then said that to do the items I asked for (that the first installers said needed completing) he wouldn't be able to quote as "the consumer unit is in the worst possible place, the mains couldn't be more awkwardly placed if they tried, and the entire thing would need to be done around a brand new installed kitchen".

I then looked at running an extension cord into an outside socket to use the granny cable each night instead.
But after looking on SpeakV loads of people not to use granny cables overnight regularly as there have been many instances of the socket boxes overheating/melting.

This whole thing is completely insane. I though the hardest thing about an EV is public charging. As it is I'm very tempted to completely cancel the purchase.
I can't afford multiple thousands of pounds to have a "free charger" installed, I can't risk having my parents brand new kitchen trashed even if I could afford the work to be done.
And I can't even go the cheaper option of using the included granny charger as apparently it isn't safe to do so regularly.

I should be excited about going to pick up my first ever brand new car in 6 days time. Instead I'm discovering the entire thing is a complete nightmare and I don't even have the actual car yet.

Rant over....

Well....... I will suggest
1. look up all free public chargers in your area and use them.
2. Try the granny charger yourself and assess if this overheating occurs. It should not if you use a standard outdoor 13amp plug.
3. Invite more quotes. And reassess cost.
4. Refer situation to electricity company
5. Check if you can be the owner of the car but you dad the registered keeper and if that will then give you assess to the grant for your dad's address.
6. Check on Zap Map if there is a Zap-Home near you. You can agree charging times and cost with the Zap-Home owner.

 

[Mark Holmes]

Hi Coady,
Whilst I have a 7 kWh charger installed and (I needed the earthing rod added) I still tend to use the granny charging when possible overnight and I’ve never had any issues with overheating, but let’s face it that what the charging devise is designed for.
I would suggest you get your parents see if they can get the free update, but prior to that I would suggest you get another quote; have you discussed this matter with your MG dealer to see if they can help or support?

 

[Mgkev]

I use the granny cable all the time for hours on end, even though I have a wall box fitted.
I suggest that any 13amp socket outlet that has melted had loose connections inside

 

[Noraf142]

If you're going to use the granny for regular charging, there are a couple things I'd make sure of first.
The socket you use, should be the only one on that fuse.
The fuse should have an ground fault protection, and a DC protection added to it.
And it needs to be inspected.
The granny needs a hook so that it won't add stress to the socket.

Here in Norway you can't regularly charge on a granny, without the fuse being dedicated to charging.

 

[Kithmo]

edit: I’ve been cruising all over today, car is totally worth it.

naughty boy

 

[Coedy]

RIGHT!
I've had 24hours to calm down and re-assess. I just needed to rant after effectively just getting knocked back repeatedly for about 4 days straight.

Following the advice (thanks all!) I got in touch with a local chargepoint installer myself, They came today to have a look and said our wiring looks fine (old, but safe as far as regs are concerned). They are happy to just add a separate breaker in a self contained unit specifically for the chargepoint. They are going to quote for many different chargers (though I will be going for the cheapest).
They said I probably wouldn't be given the grant, however they are happy to complete the paperwork for me and submit it anyway (Their own words were - "you never know").

I'll be phoning my dealer on Monday to check that the collection is still on for Thursday (going to book the day off work to play with it!) and i'm going to ask about the HV Fuse and BMS updates the same time.
I will also ask them to cancel any paperwork they receive from the original installers as frankly I don't trust them and I will arrange it myself with the other third party, I will offer to forward the invoice to them (given they advertise a free install under the "peace of mind promise") and that it should be cheaper/on par with what they have already received.

The downside is these installers are getting hammered so it may be a 4 week wait for the installation, He also checked over the socket I planned to use the granny cable on via a heavy duty extension (far from the drive) and said he "wouldn't use it if it were his house". He just suggest I use it as a chance to get comfortable with public charging..

 

[lee graham]

@Coedy Best update ever.

 

[Mark Holmes]

Well done for getting that sorted out, all the best and I’m sure you’ll be yet another proud owner of the MG ZS EV...welcome to the family.

 

[chowbenter]

I want to get my charger fitted at my parents house (I have no off road parking, but don't want to waste the grant).

My dealer sent my details to a local installer who said they could install but I would need to pay the £350 the grant would pay as o would be ineligible for the grant (as not my house). Fine.

On the survey they said they wouldn't be able to fit it as the current house wiring is not up to code.
They said we would need to bring it up to code before installing the charger at a cost of £1900....

They gave me a list of items needed doing (fusebox changed to consumer unit, tails sorted out, earth bonds fitted to gas and water main), tried getting a quote elsewhere who said "I don't know why the installers couldn't install a seperate breaker from the existing fuse box and run off that" but then said that to do the items I asked for (that the first installers said needed completing) he wouldn't be able to quote as "the consumer unit is in the worst possible place, the mains couldn't be more awkwardly placed if they tried, and the entire thing would need to be done around a brand new installed kitchen".

I then looked at running an extension cord into an outside socket to use the granny cable each night instead.
But after looking on SpeakV loads of people not to use granny cables overnight regularly as there have been many instances of the socket boxes overheating/melting.

This whole thing is completely insane. I though the hardest thing about an EV is public charging. As it is I'm very tempted to completely cancel the purchase.
I can't afford multiple thousands of pounds to have a "free charger" installed, I can't risk having my parents brand new kitchen trashed even if I could afford the work to be done.
And I can't even go the cheaper option of using the included granny charger as apparently it isn't safe to do so regularly.

I should be excited about going to pick up my first ever brand new car in 6 days time. Instead I'm discovering the entire thing is a complete nightmare and I don't even have the actual car yet.

Rant over....

Hello everyone First post, I'm really looking into getting a MG ZS ev in February 2021 when my lease is up. But reading this thread has got me worried as I live in an old house that isn't up to code on the electrics either, I have off road parking as well as a double garage but It's still got the old bakerlite fusebox and the electric supply enters the house at ceiling height and ne'er a consumer unit in sight

The expense of modernizing the electric supply would be too much and I'm wondering if using a "granny cable" permanently would suffice!
Thanks.

 

[Mark Holmes]

Hello everyone First post, I'm really looking into getting a MG ZS ev in February 2021 when my lease is up. But reading this thread has got me worried as I live in an old house that isn't up to code on the electrics either, I have off road parking as well as a double garage but It's still got the old bakerlite fusebox and the electric supply enters the house at ceiling height and ne'er a consumer unit in sight

The expense of modernizing the electric supply would be too much and I'm wondering if using a "granny cable" permanently would suffice!
Thanks.

What sort of daily mileage do you complete?

 

[chowbenter]

What sort of daily mileage do you complete?

Hello Mark, We do around 100 miles/week on average as we're both retired we have no commute. I was wondering if there would be any adverse effect to the battery just using this charging method.
It will be our first BEV as the Kia Niro hybrid will be going back at the end of January.

 

[Mark Holmes]

Then you’lll have absolutely no issue at all with the granny charging as you can just plug it in and top it up at anytime or overnight.

 

[Mark Holmes]

Also the slow charging is better for battery conditioning, but who cares with a 7 year warranty.

 

[Kithmo]

Hello everyone First post, I'm really looking into getting a MG ZS ev in February 2021 when my lease is up. But reading this thread has got me worried as I live in an old house that isn't up to code on the electrics either, I have off road parking as well as a double garage but It's still got the old bakerlite fusebox and the electric supply enters the house at ceiling height and ne'er a consumer unit in sight

The expense of modernizing the electric supply would be too much and I'm wondering if using a "granny cable" permanently would suffice!
Thanks.

Upgrading the mains fuse may not cost anything, not sure if you need to have a consumer unit, maybe not as they take the feed from the meter and install a switched fuse to the charger.
Our 1956 semi detached had a 60A Bakelite main fuse, although we did update the rubber insulated wiring and install a consumer unit about 30 years ago. The PodPoint installer was ok with the Bakelite fuse and installed the charger with no problems.
I did decide shortly after to update the fuse just in case I needed more load and opted for the free 80A upgrade offered by my electricity distributor, they said a 100A may involve digging up the road and drive and involve more costs. When they'd gone I checked the fuse and it was a 100A, apparently my supply was adequate for the 100A anyway.

 

[chowbenter]

Upgrading the mains fuse may not cost anything, not sure if you need to have a consumer unit, maybe not as they take the feed from the meter and install a switched fuse to the charger.
Our 1956 semi detached had a 60A Bakelite main fuse, although we did update the rubber insulated wiring and install a consumer unit about 30 years ago. The PodPoint installer was ok with the Bakelite fuse and installed the charger with no problems.
I did decide shortly after to update the fuse just in case I needed more load and opted for the free 80A upgrade offered by my electricity distributor, they said a 100A may involve digging up the road and drive and involve more costs. When they'd gone I checked the fuse and it was a 100A, apparently my supply was adequate for the 100A anyway.

Thanks for the reply, This house was built around 1906, It's had the rubber cable replaced with the newer cable around the 1970's, I think the best thing I can do is If & when I get the MG ZS ev is wait until the electrician comes out & says yeah or nay to my electric supply.

Thanks again.

 

[Chrispydoc]

I recon you could live quite happily with your Granny charger.

 

[chowbenter]

Thanks for the replies all, it's put my mind at ease. I will replace the underground electric cable from the house to the garage with some better cable as I've just put the spade through it the other day digging a base out for a greenhouse ? It was over thirty years ago when I laid that under the lawn & I forgot just where it was D'oh!