Posted by: @majordennisbloodnok

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As a quick reality check, any wallbox with a display (sadly a minority) and a button or two does allow you to sort out the charging entirely manually. It is only the (majority) units with no buttons or display that rely entirely on an app. I should also say that I have no idea if plugging the car in and then using the car's "charge immediately" function would control the wallbox in any way since I haven't tried doing that; anyone else here who can comment on that?

Interestingly mine (vchargd) has a Bluetooth connection for the installer that does not appear to rely on any cloud.  One of the installer settings is 'charge whenever plugged in'.  I am hoping that this bypasses everything except the cable presence sensor, it certainly appeared to when it was left like that by the installer!

Posted by: @jamespa

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For me the granny charger was the only thing I used.  I let the battery discharge to say 30% before charging for several successive nights.  I

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Posted by: @jamespa

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For me the granny charger was the only thing I used.  I let the battery discharge to say 30% before charging for several successive nights.  I only used/use a public charger when away from home.  A good friend of mine with a Tesla does the exact same.

Thanks, a friend of ours says that this is what they do. I expect that Mrs Rusty will use around 50% total vehicle charge per week, and so a low power charger with occasional public charging should suffice at least initially, taking the pressure off any permanent solution. We are currently with Octopus, so I also need to consider the suitability of EV tariffs and also get a smart meter installed at that point.

Could I ask if you used a 13A 3-pin charger, and if so did you have any issues with domestic sockets? I could get a 16A charger with a CEE plug and mains adapter and wire in a CEE socket (assuming that is safe/allowed and subject to limiting the current rating).

 

Posted by: @majordennisbloodnok

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That said, we don't really know what your appetite is for tinkering; whereabouts on a scale of technophobe to gadget freak do you sit?

Probably middling, I’m not really a gadget freak, though I’m happy to tinker where I have the time, which is generally the issue.

Posted by: @jamespa

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Interestingly mine (vchargd) has a Bluetooth connection for the installer that does not appear to rely on any cloud.

A few units seem to have Bluetooth, from my research, but as you say, they seem to use it to enable installer mode and WiFi pairing. I was hoping that there might have been a way of using this for control if WiFi/cloud went down, but my impression is that it can’t be easily used by the end user though I might be wrong.

Posted by: @rusty

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Thanks, a friend of ours says that this is what they do. I expect that Mrs Rusty will use around 50% total vehicle charge per week, and so a low power charger with occasional public charging should suffice at least initially, taking the pressure off any permanent solution. We are currently with Octopus, so I also need to consider the suitability of EV tariffs and also get a smart meter installed at that point.

Could I ask if you used a 13A 3-pin charger, and if so did you have any issues with domestic sockets? I could get a 16A charger with a CEE plug and mains adapter and wire in a CEE socket (assuming that is safe/allowed and subject to limiting the current rating).

No first hand experience, but from reading around you can purchase EV rated 3 pin sockets that are presumably of a higher grade.

What I can tell you is that a regular plug / socket can get VERY hot. In the past when Octopus Agile had negative pricing (they pay you to use electricity), I repeatedly boiled a 3kW kettle in the kitchen, and the plug and socket got quite hot over 5-10 mins. I would not want to pull 3kW through a regular plug and socket for extended periods, so at the very least I'd want to swap in an EV rated socket at the point I intended to plug in. But if you're replacing the socket anyway, may as well replace it with something dedicated to charging that is rated higher (such as a CEE socket) just to be safe, although obviously you would still be limited by the cabling and any MCB ratings as you say.