Posted by: @majordennisbloodnok

↑

Posted by: @batpred

↑

Posted by: @majordennisbloodnok

↑

I agree, but a word of caution. V2X is also sometimes used in a different context making for quite a confusion. My VW ID3 supports V2X in the sense that it as a vehicle talks to other vehicles (the X meaning any other vehicles) to share information about speed, position, traffic incidents and so forth. This is a far cry, of course, from V2X in the sense of bidirectional charging. If you’re researching V2X compatibility, double and triple check which V2X the document is referring to.

😆 😆 marketing vs precision...

...

No. It's the use of the same acronym for different concepts.

We're well aware that AI, as another example, could mean both Artificial Intelligence or Artificial Insemination. However, the context of any AI conversation makes it unlikely you'd confuse the two except for comedic effect. The problem with V2X is both concepts are applicable to electric vehicles, so it's necessary to exercise far more care in understanding which is being referenced.

I appreciate that it is very likely to cause confusion. Just the cynical in me has seen this lack of precision in plenty of marketing materials and when it does not work as you'd expect, someone points out: "ah, but did you not read this was a lab feature?"  🤣 

@majordennisbloodnok I stumbled upon a Google for BBC the other day, suffice to say you would need to prove you're over 18 to view the site now, back then anyone could view the content.

I have PV, ASHP, UFH, Battery storage and no Gas (yaay for no Gas).

Im looking to add an EV Wall Box, they're not a charger as that is built into the vehicle.

it needs to sense the load on the house as with all electric gadgets running Id be close to the DNO limit of 19.2kW on the incoming supply.

It would also be good to have PV awareness so it charges the car on Sunshine.

Can members of the forum with EVs share their experience with their make of charger, what they like about it, and what they would improve.

There are alot of Chinese boxes on sale thru eBay, which are cheap, but is cheap any good.

Id like to stick to a brand name for reliability and functionality, ie it charges when it says it will and doesn't fault if you stare at it too long.

Well you’ll probably have seen from my signature that I’ve got a MyEnergi Zappi and I’m very happy with it. I was particularly happy that the company dictates quite a high bar for the installers to demand of the customer’s home when they survey it. The strictness of requiring, for instance, appropriate isolation switches and so forth means the installation may be a slightly more involved process but it’s dar more likely to be done right first time and end up safe and reliable.

It can certainly be PV aware and has operating modes that explicitly only draw from available home-grown electricity; I use that functionality a great deal on sunny days so my wife and I can claim we’re driving on sunshine.

It is perfectly capable of adapting to a smart tariff’s price to optimise charging costs, and it is also possible to change device priorities to, for instance, still allow some export from PV even when the rest is piling into the car. I know it’s aware of the total house load, but don’t know (haven’t researched) if it’s possible to dynamically limit charge rate to keep below a whole load maximum.

Personally, I use the charger almost exclusively through Home Assistant. This also allows me to address the one key flaw; the inverter sees the charger as a load, so it’ll use the home battery to service that load if the battery has charge. I can use HA to change the battery’s minimum charge level to 90% as soon as HA sees the charger is charging so that the battery’s charge is preserved.

I looked at the issue of home battery seeing the EV as a load and offering itself as a sacrifice.

There is a simple solution, but requires careful wiring of the CU.

Put the EV CU on its own feed from the meter, put the Current Clamp around the other feed wire to the house CU, which houses the ASHP and PV.

What is foxing me with doing this is getting the type B rcd for CU I have, so I cant move the ASHP from its Cinch CU which has the type B in it :-/

My electrical knowledge isn’t a strong suit, so I may be wrong, but if you wired it up like that wouldn’t you also isolate the charger from the PV?

As far as I can see, if my inverter can see the charger as load, it’ll service it with PV, battery and grid exactly like any other load; there’s no way I can tell my inverter it’s a car charger, not an oven. If I want to keep the battery away from it (apart from the Home Assistant hack I’m using) I think I have to put the charger between the inverter and grid, so hiding it from the inverter totally.

As I say, I may have it all wrong in which case I’m happy to have it explained better to me, preferably in Noddy terms.

Ill get my Big Ears out of storage for your Noddy explanation.

ive not implemented the hack yet, so its only theory.

ill have to draw a sketch so its clearer where the currents and sultanas go.

Perfect, @agentgeorge. I’m always up for some edification.

Posted by: @agentgeorge

↑

Im looking to add an EV Wall Box, they're not a charger as that is built into the vehicle.

it needs to sense the load on the house as with all electric gadgets running Id be close to the DNO limit of 19.2kW on the incoming supply.

The EV wall chargers implement the checking for dno limit with a CT clamp.

As I posted elsewhere, when I look for a 2nd charger, I am looking for a different brand from what I have at the moment. I believe the Wallbox brand is one that seems solid. 

Many chargers are able to take into account when pv is producing. 

Im looking at Anderson or Simpson and Partners, something with style, function and reliability

Posted by: @agentgeorge

↑

Im looking at Anderson or Simpson and Partners, something with style, function and reliability

They certainly look stylish! 

But it seems that Andersen chargers are not (currently) supported by Octopus for their Intelligent Go tariff. Strange as they have been around for a while. I am not sure what sort of app or other interface they have? 

Simpson includes three phase options, up to 22kw. But in some cases, it cannot charge the car. Hopefully it's not in beta testing mode? 

For my charger, my main goal was reliability and functionality, as it is a modern looking house. I stopped trying to get the issues fixed... 

Posted by: @batpred

↑

...

But it seems that Andersen chargers are not (currently) supported by Octopus for their Intelligent Go tariff. Strange as they have been around for a while. I am not sure what sort of app or other interface they have?

...

Not sure how you got that information, @batpred. As of today (4th November 2025), pride of place on Andersen's home page ( https://andersen-ev.com) is an advertisement for an Intelligent Octopus Go offer. I also went to the Octopus web site and checked compatibility from their end and there are several Andersen chargers that Octopus say work with IOG.

The only thing I can see as any kind of downside to Andersen is that any integration into a smart home is not particularly mainstream. I believe there is something for Home Assistant but it's a custom integration that's recently been developed and is not widely used yet. Nonetheless, that doesn't mean it can't work in that way and may yet prove very good; just not a great deal of history behind it yet.