Zappi vs Project EV

[Ian Key]

I'm having a wall charger installed by my electrician for my MG4 and he's offered me a choice of two chargers, Zappi or Project EV.
Has anyone any experience of either of these chargers particularly Project EV?

 

[tsedge]

I'm having a wall charger installed by my electrician for my MG4 and he's offered me a choice of two chargers, Zappi or Project EV.
Has anyone any experience of either of these chargers particularly Project EV?

I have a Zappi, though no MG4. It is flexible and configurable but not simple to learn.

 

[BugEyed]

The ProjectEV is made by Growatt who have huge experience of the power electronics market in China. The unit consists of a couple of PCBs so if anything goes wrong it'll be hard to repair. The App is rubbish to the point where they recommend that you use a different one with less features and doesn't support solar.
Zappi is part of an ecosystem with a fanboi following similar to Tesla. The manufacturers are British but have previously phoenixed from a related company. Like the ProjectEV it's not discreet components, but their design is very elegant. If going for a solar installation with batteries it would be my choice despite the cost.
Personally I would go for a Veridian unit made of discrete components. It's not as fancy but likely to be the best choice in the long run.

 

[Ian Key]

The ProjectEV is made by Growatt who have huge experience of the power electronics market in China. The unit consists of a couple of PCBs so if anything goes wrong it'll be hard to repair. The App is rubbish to the point where they recommend that you use a different one with less features and doesn't support solar.
Zappi is part of an ecosystem with a fanboi following similar to Tesla. The manufacturers are British but have previously phoenixed from a related company. Like the ProjectEV it's not discreet components, but their design is very elegant. If going for a solar installation with batteries it would be my choice despite the cost.
Personally I would go for a Veridian unit made of discrete components. It's not as fancy but likely to be the best choice in the long run.

Thanks for your reply.
The Veridian unit says it's not for sale in England, Scotland or Wales due to government regulations.
During my research I've seen that the Project EV app is rubbish too and I did wonder who was actually making the components and although the company is just down the road from me in Burton-on-Trent I think I'm going to go for the Zappi.

 

[JohnInFrance]

The Veridian unit says it's not for sale in England, Scotland or Wales due to government regulations.

Probably due to the new law/regulations that came into force this summer that require all new chargers to be 'smart' and implement randomised delays when starting charging and be able to be remotely stopped when the grid is near peak capacity etc. (many existing chargers will support this and if they have the ability to be remotely managed may have this fucntionality pushed to them, but there is no requirement to upgrade existing chargers).

 

[Bluesparky]

I use a Zappi, great if you have solar, app works well & customer services/tech very helpful and easy to deal with.

 

[r1chardbwrn]

I have solar so got a Zappi to go with the Renault Zoe we currently have. If you have solar, battery storage, and or intelligent immersion heater it makes sense. We charge our Zoe for free in the summer because of the Zappi.

 

[BillyWhizz]

the project ev pro is a good charger the app is not rubbish its easy to use and works well after the last update

 

[Ian Key]

A quick update:
I have gone with the Zappi which is booked in to be installed at the beginning of January. It's costing a little more than expected mainly because I have to have an additional consumer unit (fuse box).

 

[tsedge]

A quick update:
I have gone with the Zappi which is booked in to be installed at the beginning of January. It's costing a little more than expected mainly because I have to have an additional consumer unit (fuse box).

Good choice. Always worth having the electrics done properly, I will never understand why some people want to spend a small fortune on a car but quibble about changes to their wiring.

 

[Ian Key]

Good choice. Always worth having the electrics done properly, I will never understand why some people want to spend a small fortune on a car but quibble about changes to their wiring.

I don't get it either. They'll spend extra on paint, wheels etc. but quibble spending extra on getting a decent charger.
I did ask about upgrading my old fuse box but he said he'd have to check the wiring for the whole house and as my light switches aren't earthed it'd probably ending up with a total rewire. So he's not touching it and just splicing into the meter tails. If it works don't fix it

 

[tsedge]

I don't get it either. They'll spend extra on paint, wheels etc. but quibble spending extra on getting a decent charger.
I did ask about upgrading my old fuse box but he said he'd have to check the wiring for the whole house and as my light switches aren't earthed it'd probably ending up with a total rewire. So he's not touching it and just splicing into the meter tails. If it works don't fix it

Yes, wiring standards have improved a lot over the years. We did a complete renovation about 7 years ago and rewired ready for a charge point so it took no more than 30 minutes to do the install.