EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment) for Home Use

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Dingbatt

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#293309 13-Jan-2022 08:22

There are multiple threads with disparate information about Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) spread across Geekzone (from Climate Change through to DC home charging). I have started this thread to try and collate just the charging side of things. It is not a discussion of the relative merits of a particular EV or PHEV, or really how to live your life.

To that end, I’m interested what equipment GZers have installed to feed their electrified vehicle. Why they chose a particular charger, how it is integrated into their household power supply. I know some wag will post a picture of a standard 10A 3-pin wall socket (for use with a mode 2 IC-CPD). Don’t bother. However, anything above that is worth a mention, including things like caravan plugs.

I am currently (no pun intended) considering the best approach to take in our 1980s built home. The main distribution board for the house is pretty full and is at the other end of the house from the garage where the cars are parked (8 to 14m depending on which side of the garage). There is no room left on the board for a 32A(?) RCD that I think an EVSE would need, so that end of the supply chain will need changing. At the other end of things (in the garage) I ultimately see an EV and (at least initially) a PHEV being parked. While we could probably just get away with a mode 2 solution for the PHEV, my concern is the overall control of the load on the house as a whole. Some of the blurbs I have read about EVSEs call them ‘smart’. But I was unsure as to whether that refers to the charger to vehicle communication, or further. So would be interested in the particular brands of equipment people have gone with, and why.

The ultimate would be to have PV and batteries integrated into the mix, which is what I think @LinuxLuver has. Powering vehicles directly from the Sun is appealing. But a system such as that would require some serious planning.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

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#2849647 13-Jan-2022 08:35

I am charging with a normal plug socket on 8 amps with a mobile charger.

I have a wall box (supplied by tesla) I've not yet fitted because I've had no need and it being Gen 2 I would need a $500 rcd, fitting would be $1500

Gen 3 doesnt need this.

hamish225

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#2849649 13-Jan-2022 08:55

I have a Schneider Evlink wallbox with a type 2 socket, it's not smart, no ethernet port on this one, no app or anything. Currently living at dads and when we move out in the coming months he will buy this one off me by giving me a new one at my new house, however i think I'll go for something with an app of some sort to control charging, for the convenience of not having to get up to check if the car is charging or to start the charging manually.

Currently I just use the built in charge timers on my kia soul EV which are great as they work and are in english, but there's no app support for those in New Zealand, so remote charger activation would be a nice to have.

Something like a zappi because you can integrate those in with solar and have specific charging modes that allow you to only charge on solar, would be very cool to have for the day we do get solar installed as well.

It would also be cool to get something that will load share as one day we will get a second EV im sure and we might want to charge them both up at the same time without blowing the pole fuse.

https://www.se.com/ww/en/product/EVH3S7P04K/evlink-wallbox-plus-t2s-socket-outlet-with-shutters-1-phase-32a-7-4kw/?parent-subcategory-id=80408&range=62395-evlink-wallbox&selected-node-id=12534028446

This is what I'm using currently, it's about 4 years old, no complaints from me!

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Obraik

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#2849661 13-Jan-2022 09:24

It's hard to beat the Tesla Gen 3 Wall Connector on value as it includes the RCD Type B protection in the $800 purchase cost, which saves you $400-$500 on the install cost.

However, if you have solar and you want intergration where it will intelligently send excess solar output to the car then ironically, the Tesla charger isn't the best solution as it can't (currently) intergrate with that, even their own Powerwall or Solar installs.

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Dingbatt

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#2849662 13-Jan-2022 09:25

RobDickinson:

I am charging with a normal plug socket on 8 amps with a mobile charger.

I have a wall box (supplied by tesla) I've not yet fitted because I've had no need and it being Gen 2 I would need a $500 rcd, fitting would be $1500

Gen 3 doesnt need this.

I had lurked on the NZ part of the TMC and saw your thread about Gen 3 Tesla chargers (including a useful reply from AB Electrical about type B RCDs). In it LinuxLuver posted a question about other EVs being able to use Tesla home chargers. It remains unanswered. Anybody know the answer? I’m sure there are advantages to a Tesla charger to Tesla Car configuration (app monitoring maybe?) and things like opening the charge port by pushing a button on the charger. But I’m assuming any certified, professionally installed EVSE would work with a Tesla, even if the opposite isn’t true? The last comment is at odds with what the sales specialist at the Tesla showroom in Auckland told me. He seemed to imply that a Tesla wall charger was required for the Model 3.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

RobDickinson

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#2849664 13-Jan-2022 09:29

Gen 3 will work with other cars, there have been issues with MG's I think but in general it will work with any other type 2 car.

Teslas (in NZ) will charge from any type 2 charger.

hamish225

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#2849665 13-Jan-2022 09:30

Dingbatt:

RobDickinson:

I am charging with a normal plug socket on 8 amps with a mobile charger.

I have a wall box (supplied by tesla) I've not yet fitted because I've had no need and it being Gen 2 I would need a $500 rcd, fitting would be $1500

Gen 3 doesnt need this.

I had lurked on the NZ part of the TMC and saw your thread about Gen 3 Tesla chargers (including a useful reply from AB Electrical about type B RCDs). In it LinuxLuver posted a question about other EVs being able to use Tesla home chargers. It remains unanswered. Anybody know the answer? I’m sure there are advantages to a Tesla charger to Tesla Car configuration (app monitoring maybe?) and things like opening the charge port by pushing a button on the charger. But I’m assuming any certified, professionally installed EVSE would work with a Tesla, even if the opposite isn’t true? The last comment is at odds with what the sales specialist at the Tesla showroom in Auckland told me. He seemed to imply that a Tesla wall charger was required for the Model 3.

Trouble with the tesla wall units is that they are tethered type 2. If you want to charge a japanese import of some sort then you are out of luck. I would skip any and all tethered options and go for socketed type 2 as this is universal and will charge all EV's

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RobDickinson

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#2849668 13-Jan-2022 09:34

Yeah thats a downside to tethered if you have a used leaf, I think there are adaptors but not sure if they are certified for nz use

Obraik

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#2849670 13-Jan-2022 09:36

hamish225:

Trouble with the tesla wall units is that they are tethered type 2. If you want to charge a japanese import of some sort then you are out of luck. I would skip any and all tethered options and go for socketed type 2 as this is universal and will charge all EV's

I guess that concern depends if you buy second hand vehicles or new. If you only buy new, then thinking of charging vehicles that aren't Type 2 isn't worth worrying about. I also wouldn't be surprised if something is done in the near future to make sure that importers convert EVs to match our local standards.

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Dingbatt

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#2849681 13-Jan-2022 09:42

hamish225:

Trouble with the tesla wall units is that they are tethered type 2. If you want to charge a japanese import of some sort then you are out of luck. I would skip any and all tethered options and go for socketed type 2 as this is universal and will charge all EV's

You can obviously tell I’m a noob here, but isn’t the advantage of a tethered plug come down to ease of use? Come home, plug it in. Unplug it and leave. With a socketed type 2 lead, which I assume would live in your car for use at public AC chargers, there is additional steps required to connect and use it(first world problems, I know).

However the point about the EVSE you linked is noted and I will investigate.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

Obraik

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#2849682 13-Jan-2022 09:44

I mean...you can always buy two Type 2 cables - one to stay permanently attached to the charger (which kind of defeats the purpose...) and one to keep in the car.

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Dingbatt

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#2849685 13-Jan-2022 09:50

Obraik:

I mean...you can always buy two Type 2 cables - one to stay permanently attached to the charger (which kind of defeats the purpose...) and one to keep in the car.

Kind of like having a dog and barking too!

Certainly socketed vs tethered isn’t going to be the ultimate decider. More the configuration of the system that best integrates with the house.

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timbosan

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#2849686 13-Jan-2022 09:51

Obraik:

I mean...you can always buy two Type 2 cables - one to stay permanently attached to the charger (which kind of defeats the purpose...) and one to keep in the car.

I have a 2013 Leaf and looked extensively a options, and have settled on just having an outdoor power point and connecting my current EVSE to it semi-permanently. I will box it in a bit to make it more weather proof and I found one of these as well:

I thought this was a good / cheap solution (as the external power point can be used for other things such as outdoor lighting), unless I get a newer car (MG looks appealing). I MIGHT buy a second EVSE but I have used it ONCE when out and about - all other times I just use fast chargers and (try to) plan trips well.

hamish225

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#2849687 13-Jan-2022 09:55

Obraik:

I mean...you can always buy two Type 2 cables - one to stay permanently attached to the charger (which kind of defeats the purpose...) and one to keep in the car.

This is what I have, one long 10m one connected to the charger permanently so that we don't have to play musical carparks on the driveway when i want to charge my car (to say we have a few cars would be an understatement)

I also have a kia one that came with the car that I use for public chargers that lives in the car. It's good because if i borrow or upgrade to a car with a type 2 socket I just plug in the cable that came with that car instead.

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Dingbatt

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#2849716 13-Jan-2022 10:35

Timbosan’s post has confused me a little.

The assumption I had made was the mode 2 chargers, ie 3 pin plug-in ones (IC-CPD) had all the control and protection in the cable. For mode 3 all the protections and control were in the wall box itself and the ‘type 2’ cable was just a dumb cable. Is that not the case?

However, to summarise my initial question of what home chargers people are actually using,

RobDickenson: Mode 2 3 pin plug-in.

Timbosan: A proprietary Leaf charger?

hamish225: EVlink Wall box (mode 3), which I assume is connected via a 32A RCD to the distribution board. And a type 2 socket lead.

Obraik: ???

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

timbosan

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#2849724 13-Jan-2022 10:51

Dingbatt:

Timbosan’s post has confused me a little.

The assumption I had made was the mode 2 chargers, ie 3 pin plug-in ones (IC-CPD) had all the control and protection in the cable. For mode 3 all the protections and control were in the wall box itself and the ‘type 2’ cable was just a dumb cable. Is that not the case?

However, to summarise my initial question of what home chargers people are actually using,

RobDickenson: Mode 2 3 pin plug-in.

Timbosan: A proprietary Leaf charger?

hamish225: EVlink Wall box (mode 3), which I assume is connected via a 32A RCD to the distribution board. And a type 2 socket lead.

Obraik: ???

Sorry about that!

Short version - I have a standard charger - this one actually - I might just be mixing up the terminology. My plan is to use THAT charger in a semi-permanent way (outdoor 240v power point, just standard 10 amps) and leaving it outdoors with the cable management solution in my previous post with some added weather protection. Seems easier and cheaper than anything else I looked into.

Hope that clarifies things :-)

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