Talk to me about EV chargers

I have my Zappi hidden around the corner in a shaded area that no one can see, still looks as goos as the day I bought it despite being white, best place for it, should last a while not getting baked in the Sun, my charging handle though is white and has weathered into a lovely yellow over the last 4yrs :rolleyes:
 
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sandys said:
I have my Zappi hidden around the corner in a shaded area that no one can see, still looks as goos as the day I bought it despite being white, best place for it, should last a while not getting baked in the Sun, my charging handle though is white and has weathered into a lovely yellow over the last 4yrs :rolleyes:
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i like my zappi... but, lets face it, it does look a bit like hanging a toilet seat on your wall :D

i did go for the black one however..... we have white surrounds around the porthole lights in our bathroom and they have all gone yellow... from now on i am keeping away from white where possible.
 
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panthro said:
It's compatible with Intelligent Octopus. I don't have IO but got an email from them saying it is (when I bought it, it wasn't but that did not bother me).
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i think you are mistaken mate.
from the powerverse FAQ

For customers on the “Octopus Go” tariff, you can use the Powerverse app to manually input the per kWh price information by timeband, before setting the schedule for the times you want to charge. The Powerverse app is not currently integrated with Octopus Energy’s “Octopus Go”, “Agile Octopus” or "Intelligent Octopus" time-of-use tariffs.
 
bigmike20vt said:
i think you are mistaken mate.
from the powerverse FAQ

For customers on the “Octopus Go” tariff, you can use the Powerverse app to manually input the per kWh price information by timeband, before setting the schedule for the times you want to charge. The Powerverse app is not currently integrated with Octopus Energy’s “Octopus Go”, “Agile Octopus” or "Intelligent Octopus" time-of-use tariffs.
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Sorry you're right, it's Agile Octopus, I just found the email in my bin:



We’ve got exciting news (you might have already heard)!

We're now compatible with the Agile Octopus tariff, so you can save more with the help of Raya, our smart energy assistant, in your Powerverse app.

What is Agile Octopus?

Agile Octopus is a dynamic tariff where prices change every half hour based on grid demand.

That means you can take advantage of Plunge Pricing, this is when the grid has excess energy which is cheap and you can even be paid to use it.

How do we help?


Raya, our smart energy assistant, handles all the decisions to maximise your savings with Agile Octopus.

If you charge your EV at home and/or have solar panels and a battery, Raya ensures you charge at the cheapest times and sell energy back to the grid when prices are highest.

So you can spend more time thinking about the important stuff… like what's for dinner!

Don't wait. Select the tariff in your app today.

Looking for more information? Get in touch with our Customer Support team who will be more than happy to help.
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to be fair if it works that sounds like a really good app...... can it connect to your inverter if you have one and charge / stop discharge of a home battery etc? (kind of like home assistant does - something i still have not got around to setting up?)
 
bigmike20vt said:
to be fair if it works that sounds like a really good app...... can it connect to your inverter if you have one and charge / stop discharge of a home battery etc? (kind of like home assistant does - something i still have not got around to setting up?)
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I don't know, but I was told when I bought it that it works with solar, so presumably it would have to connect to the inverter? I don't have solar, I'm very basic and use use it to charge on a British Gas tarriff! But the app has been improved a lot in the 6 months I've owned it with a lot of additional features.
 
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The feed cable is more of a concern with chargers IMO, it can turn an otherwise clean looking charger in to a bit of an eye sore if done badly.

Also, the convenience of tethered makes it difficult to recommend untethered IME, every time I rent a place with a untethered charger, the faff of unpacking and repacking the charge cable from the car just makes me appreciate the ease of use of a tethered charger..

b0rn2sk8 said:
If you want something that looks like nice, your choice is basically Anderson or Simpson and Partners.

If you want something that looks fine and is reasonably well featured look at Hypervolt

If you want something that has all the features but looks like a toilet seat, then there is the Zappi

If you want good value then probably the Ohme Pro (works with Octopus and Ovo smart tariffs) or any of the other myriad of chargers on the market these days.

I think Eon actually has the best EV charging tariff on the market currently (Eon Drive Next) and any charger will work with it, you just need a working smart meter.

Octopus Intelligent Go is the most popular tariff which is only slightly more expensive than Eon but you can get additional cheap slots when you need to charge and Octopus Savings sessions can get you some credit back so its hard to say which is better. You need a working smart meter and either a compatible car or charger (Hypervolt, Ohme Pro, Zappi) - see their website.
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I'd not put the S&P alongside Anderson since the S&P is untethered, the tethered option looks like a dogs dinner with nowhere to put the cable, it has to be looped alongside on a hook..

And if clean and untethered are a priority, there are many nice ones I've used that are compact and look quite neat (e.g. the ICS W7C).

Each to their own of course, I regularly use destination chargers at rented properties and see a lot of ugly installs and have to deal with tethered/untethered, some untethered chargers I've used someone has just left the charge cable plugged in and coiled up alongside because they clearly didn't want the hassle of unpacking/packing the cable everytime (and in the rain, anything that prolongs that makes it unwelcome).
 
Meatball said:
I said the plastic one supplied is buckling under the weight of the cable and included a picture. They replaced it, no quibbles!
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Well, I sent a couple of pics:
wb4ufujm.jpg

OoO6o8cm.jpg


and they replied with:-


Thank you for sending that picture through.
We appreciate your feedback and understand your concern about the holster’s bending.
After review, we have determined that the bending of the holster does not impact the functionality of the charger, and the holster remains fully operational. As such, we are unable to provide a replacement holster at this time.
Thank you for your understanding and are committed to ensuring your satisfaction with our products. If you have any further questions or need assistance with any other matter, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Any chance you can post your pic that you sent?
 
Keeping an eye on this, as we're looking at a PHEV soon.

Don't really care all that much on the looks (not sure why people do tbh). So long as it's sturdy with decent functionality (not sure what they can do in terms of remote monitoring etc).

I assume forward compatibility is generally okay, assuming we get a BEV in the future?
 
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They all use the same plug these days. The exceptions are pretty old at this point.

P.S. why PHEV and not full BEV if you can charge at home?

Now is the golden age of cheap motoring with BEVs, it’s only going to get taxed more from this point. There are some incredible bargains on the used market and new cars at the moment.
 
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b0rn2sk8 said:
They all use the same plug these days. The exceptions are pretty old at this point.

P.S. why PHEV and not full BEV if you can charge at home?

Now is the golden age of cheap motoring with BEVs, it’s only going to get taxed more from this point. There are some incredible bargains on the used market and new cars at the moment.
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Cool beans.
On the fence currently, not discounting completely just yet. Lets not open this thread to derailment though :P
 
Yaayuh! said:
Keeping an eye on this, as we're looking at a PHEV soon.

Don't really care all that much on the looks (not sure why people do tbh). So long as it's sturdy with decent functionality (not sure what they can do in terms of remote monitoring etc).

I assume forward compatibility is generally okay, assuming we get a BEV in the future?
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Some people care because it is stuck on the outside of your house, often in a very visible place from the street. You spend a six or seven figure sum on your property, I can see why many would be reluctant to hang a garish piece of plastic tat off it!

I've been looking into charging for a similar reason as there may be a PHEV company car incoming and I can't see any point in getting a charger at all. Unless you need to charge more than 16kWh you can do all of your charging in the off peak window with a 3 pin.
 
There is another thread on EVs if you want a recommendations.

Hopefully the posters discussing VED and ULEZ will put their handbags away :p
 
lordrobs said:
Some people care because it is stuck on the outside of your house, often in a very visible place from the street. You spend a six or seven figure sum on your property, I can see why many would be reluctant to hang a garish piece of plastic tat off it!
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I’d be more concerned about safety than the looks tbh.

I don’t know much about EV’s, won’t be in the market for one anytime soon but I seen an indy car dealership set ablaze taking probably half a million worth of cars with it(RR’s and the like) because a Jag was left on charge(during working hours too!). Shocked me but I assume it was a poorly installed or inappropriate charger.
 
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