EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment) for Home Use

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4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3039451 20-Feb-2023 15:28

Yeah the Tesla Gen 3 is a great price. They can’t be making much on those, but a good way to get the brand inside a lot of garages I guess. Unfortunately it sounds like they don’t handshake well with a KIA EV6, so you have to faff around connecting and disconnecting. I’m torn about getting one anyway and hoping KIA or Tesla fix the software.

Trade Depot’s supplier is likely these guys: https://www.qdxb-evcharger.com/ev-charger-manufacturers-cheap-cost-of-charging-electric-car-at-home-22kw-3-phase-car-charger-2-product/ (thanks Google reverse image search). Still not much info there.

Good call on EVNEX, I’ll get a quote to compare. The Wallbox Pulsar Plus also looks like a great option and is very pretty, but at a rather large premium.

michaelmurfy

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#3039947 21-Feb-2023 10:48

The Tesla wall connector gets a tonne of software updates (average one per month). Where are you based? I'm sure you could likely test one.

But for the EV6 I'd go towards the EVNEX unit as it is one that does work well plus I do personally like supporting "designed and made in NZ" even if it is a few dollars more. EVNEX also have a pretty good app and the wallbox connects via a 4G connection from memory.

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GV27

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#3039957 21-Feb-2023 10:57

EVNEX unit is great, if I didn't already have the EV POWER unit sitting in a box waiting for my next house, I'd be getting that fitted.

dklong

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Master Geek

#3040046 21-Feb-2023 13:46

Perhaps a bit late to throw something different in but I've got the ABB Terra unit installed, mainly for use with my EV6 and from a point of view of plug it in and it starts charging... it just works. 7.2kW makes a big difference over the 3-pin plug 1.8kW charger!

Comes with Bluetooth app from your mobile which does restrict how far away from it you can be to get stats. Also can be used with up to 5 swipe cards (one provided) if you need to restrict access or can be set to 'plug and charge'. Defaults to 'swipe card' mode so was slightly confusing at first why it wasn't charging! RTFM time. :-)

Did require updates to my fuse box to fit the 30amp circuit breaker but that would have been the same with any of them.

ABB are big internationally and make many of the DC chargers arounf the world so they hopefully know how to make these things.

Have also tried it with visiting Polestar2 and MG ZS EV and both also just worked.

JonoNZ

274 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3040049 21-Feb-2023 13:59

We have a couple of the ABB Terra units too. Very good quality units, and recent firmware updates mean you can access models equipped with ethernet, WiFi, or 4G remotely (even away from home) - so no reliance on the bluetooth connection. Good stats in the app and the device, and I like the live details on amps/voltage pulled and result kW provided to the car.

everettpsycho

614 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3040278 21-Feb-2023 18:42

The evnex by default uses mobile signal and that's how they left both of mine set up. I ran in to an issue on the indoor one that I couldn't see it, and then had the same thing with the outdoor one later. We live right on the edge of sparks coverage so suspect they are using that network and it just crapped out on a particular bad day.

Luckily you can just jump in to the app, connect to them using Bluetooth and set up wifi as your main connection with mobile as the backup. Why they don't do this by default I don't know as I feel it would be more reliable and cheaper than the mobile system.

I'm happy with ours, I have them set to charge at 9:05pm to 7am and now charging is something we barely think about which means they are just doing their job as needed. My only concern is what happen if anything happens to evnex and the app is rendered unusable. Not an immediate concern but we aren't paying them anything ongoing to sustain the app or mobile connection so it'll be interesting to see how their business model matures with more units out there.

SaltyNZ

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#3040456 22-Feb-2023 08:35

everettpsycho: My only concern is what happen if anything happens to evnex and the app is rendered unusable. Not an immediate concern but we aren't paying them anything ongoing to sustain the app or mobile connection so it'll be interesting to see how their business model matures with more units out there.

Pretty common issue I guess. Our Wallbox also has only app-based connectivity, no buttons or displays on the unit itself, nor web interface. I suppose you have to hope that if it looked like they were going out of business they'd push one last firmware update to give it a local web interface, which would give it a bit more life.

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Dingbatt

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#3040465 22-Feb-2023 09:05

Although I still haven’t got my EVSE installed yet, I have been really impressed with the helpfulness (and patience) of the people at Evnex in answering my numerous questions. The benefit of “buying local” in my view. They also said they would be responsive to reasonable “app enhancements”.

In my case I want something that can be integrated into a future whole house energy system. Initially for protecting the pole fuse by turning the EVSE off when other household loads push it close to the limit. In the future, for PV and battery.

In the end, once the wiring is installed (with adequate distribution board protection), if the company goes bust and support ceases, you can install a new EVSE from a different supplier relatively simply.

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Dratsab

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#3040479 22-Feb-2023 09:53

I found Evnex to be really good to deal with as well. My install was done mid Jan. Had an electrician do some upgrades on my switchboard at the back of the house and a 32A circuit was run to the front. Evnex contractor did what they call a fix and commission which only took him about an hour to do. It's in an area which is [extremely!] slowly being reno'd.

ipv0

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3040553 22-Feb-2023 14:53

SaltyNZ:
everettpsycho: My only concern is what happen if anything happens to evnex and the app is rendered unusable. Not an immediate concern but we aren't paying them anything ongoing to sustain the app or mobile connection so it'll be interesting to see how their business model matures with more units out there.

Pretty common issue I guess. Our Wallbox also has only app-based connectivity, no buttons or displays on the unit itself, nor web interface. I suppose you have to hope that if it looked like they were going out of business they'd push one last firmware update to give it a local web interface, which would give it a bit more life.

It’s always a risk when buying hardware from startups. It’s one reason I look for equipment which uses open standards rather than proprietary ones. EVNEX support OCPP so it should be possible to control the equipment via the network interface even if their cloud offerings ceased to exist. However that would require some suitable hardware on the same network and a considerable amount of experimentation.
The statement on their website about requiring cloud connectivity to function does ring alarm bells. https://docs.evnex.io/docs/cloud-connectivity Even an AWS outage or cell network blip could prevent me charging my car?
It will be interesting to see how their business model evolves. They seem to be gambling on network operators wanting demand-side load management (and being willing to pay it to fund all those mobile connections). So far there doesn’t seem to be much take up. Even if a few retailers get onboard it would need a highly beneficial tariff before I’d consider sacrificing control of my charging times / max draw to the power companies.

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#3040560 22-Feb-2023 14:59

ipv0: Even an AWS outage or cell network blip could prevent me charging my car?

I doubt that would be the case, unless by 'prevent' you mean you set a schedule, but you need to charge now and would have to use the app to force it to start. For me complete loss of access would mostly just mean it was stuck on whatever amperage I last left it set to (generally 22A).

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everettpsycho

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Ultimate Geek

#3040671 22-Feb-2023 20:28

Dingbatt:
Although I still haven’t got my EVSE installed yet, I have been really impressed with the helpfulness (and patience) of the people at Evnex in answering my numerous questions. The benefit of “buying local” in my view. They also said they would be responsive to reasonable “app enhancements”.

In my case I want something that can be integrated into a future whole house energy system. Initially for protecting the pole fuse by turning the EVSE off when other household loads push it close to the limit. In the future, for PV and battery.

In the end, once the wiring is installed (with adequate distribution board protection), if the company goes bust and support ceases, you can install a new EVSE from a different supplier relatively simply.

Evnex were good and I can confirm their load control works as I've had mine shut off once when I must have hit over 60A. Unfortunately they still haven't managed to get the two chargers to both offer this so one of mine has it and the other is soft locked to 16A, which as we own leafs is fine as I can't draw more than that anyway.

They definitely did a good job I'd the install, ran the wire in the ceiling, dropped down in the cavity and did one inside and one outside back to back, there's a small switch up high where it's reachable but the cable from it to the evnex is back inside the wall. I really can't complain how neat they made it.

Hopefully as they do offer local control if anything goes badly they can publish instructions on how to use that even if it needs some messing around with.. that as an option would be cheaper than buying a full new evse.

cthombor

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#3040709 22-Feb-2023 21:49

ipv0:

... It will be interesting to see how [EVNEX's] business model evolves. They seem to be gambling on network operators wanting demand-side load management (and being willing to pay it to fund all those mobile connections). So far there doesn’t seem to be much take up. Even if a few retailers get onboard it would need a highly beneficial tariff before I’d consider sacrificing control of my charging times / max draw to the power companies.

It will be interesting to see how (if!) the Minister for Energy & Resources responds to the EECA's report on its consultation of last year (which closed Sept 2022) on "improving the Performance of Electric Vehicle Chargers". See https://www.eeca.govt.nz/about/news-and-corporate/consultations/improving-the-performance-of-electric-vehicle-chargers/

Option 4 in this consultation is to enact a regulation similar to the one in the UK, which requires all newly-purchased EVSEs to have particular forms of "smartness". See https://blog.evbox.com/uk-en/smart-charging-regulations.

One of the required forms of "smartness" in UK EVSEs is called "Connectivity":

"A core requirement of the new regulation is that all EV chargers must have an integrated data connection that measures and communicates electricity usage during the charging session. At the same time, this monitoring system allows the charging station to automatically delay or slow the charging, for example, if electricity demand is too high."

Another form of "smartness" is called "Off-peak charging":

"To combat peaks in electricity demand, all new chargers sold from 30th June 2022 must be set by default to avoid charging during peak hours, specifically between 8am and 11am and 4pm to 10pm.

"This is aimed at increasing grid stability and allowing grid operators to produce electricity more evenly by smoothing out peaks in demand. It is also intended to manage future EV sales growth, ensuring they don’t overload the power grid and cause disruptive blackouts.

"Of course, this default setting won’t limit the user, as it can be overridden manually by an EV driver if needed. This way, the user will still be allowed to charge whenever they want but will be nudged to charge at times that are more optimal for the grid – and their wallet.

"Indeed, it’s worth considering that many utilities offer cheaper off-peak tariffs at night when electricity demand is lower. As such, this default setting can generate important savings for EV drivers, without them even realising it."

--

It's pretty darn important for lines companies -- and their customers -- to have some demand-control on EVSEs, so that the lines company has a better option than a blackout when a local line exceeds its thermal limit. In urban areas, it's perhaps not terribly expensive to "strengthen" the line (e.g. by upsizing its transformer, using bigger-diameter distribution lines). In rural areas, strengthening a line can be quite expensive, especially if you compute the expense on a per-customer basis for each line.

My *hope* is that this Minister -- or some future Minister -- will push for regulations which throw this very tasty and nutritious "bone" to our nation's lines companies, *and* which require them to give back something of value to their customers... perhaps an assurance of a financial payment whenever a local line delivers less than 20kWh to a controlled EVSE in any overnight charging session. Remote-controlled hot water cylinders in homes never drew that much energy overnight... and having the occasional luke-warm shower was only an inconvenience; whereas having EV owners unable to drive 100km the next day because their EVSE was heavily-throttled overnight would be quite new territory for the lines companies, their regulators, and their consumers. Fortunately: we can learn from the experience in the UK... and I'm *hoping* that the lines companies are required to wait another year or two for their desired regulatory "bone"... which I guess will delay the eventual payoff to EVNEX for offering this technology before many lines companies were ready to take it up!

ipv0

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3041643 24-Feb-2023 22:38

Interesting link, thanks for sharing. I hope they don’t wait too long. The installed base of EVSEs is growing fast and it will be a real shame if a bunch of them don’t support whatever features the govt eventually decide to mandate in NZ. Not to mention I don’t want to spend $2000 only to discover I can’t participate when a retailer finally launches a novel scheme with reasonable incentives to let them slow down your charger at will.

cthombor

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#3041673 25-Feb-2023 10:07

ipv0: Interesting link, thanks for sharing. I hope they don’t wait too long. The installed base of EVSEs is growing fast and it will be a real shame if a bunch of them don’t support whatever features the govt eventually decide to mandate in NZ. Not to mention I don’t want to spend $2000 only to discover I can’t participate when a retailer finally launches a novel scheme with reasonable incentives to let them slow down your charger at will.

Hmmm... indeed retailers must also come to the party! That'll complicate matters, even if they don't have to cope with lines companies having different ways to communicate their pricing-signals to the retailers... and then the retailers must somehow pass on those pricing signals to their customers. But ... at least some of the lines companies in NZ are highly motivated to get rolling on demand-controlled-EVSEs sooner rather than later.

https://www.vector.co.nz/articles/ev-smart-charging-trial

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