Wall charger questions

Hi,

I am UK based and have 2 questions re the iWallbox, possibly other wall chargers.

1. At installation, is there a possibility to extend the range of the standard 4m lead? I usually drive onto my drive forward, so would end up nose-first by the charging unit. Since the car is 4m long I'd probably struggle to charge that way.

2. Do any other charger (apart from the Wallbox Pro) offer an input from PV solar panels? I might consider these in the future and am wondering whether there is a particular model to look out for.

Thanks,
P

Not seen anything about lead extenders.

Not sure I understand the PV input question - my PV feed directly into the house system so anything drawing power when the PV is producing is using the PV output…….

I read somewhere else on this forum that the iWallbox Pro has a direct input for PV, but maybe that was wrong.

Your point is interesting though. I guess this option only makes sense when the car charges during the day from PV. However most car charging is generally doing the night.

If you need a cable longer than 4m it would make sense to buy a non-tethered charge point and a separate cable. You will also find many suppliers cheaper than BMW: some are at http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/scotland/domestic/improving-my-travel/chargepoint-grants (note the information here applies to Scotland only, but the supplier list would still seem accurate). I had a very poor experience with British Gas and successfully sued them to get my money back from them.

There are many places you can buy cables. http://evconnectors.com/ has a good range.

PhilH said:

If you need a cable longer than 4m it would make sense to buy a non-tethered charge point and a separate cable. You will also find many suppliers cheaper than BMW: some are at http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/scotland/domestic/improving-my-travel/chargepoint-grants (note the information here applies to Scotland only, but the supplier list would still seem accurate). I had a very poor experience with British Gas and successfully sued them to get my money back from them.

There are many places you can buy cables. http://evconnectors.com/ has a good range.

Click to expand...

+1!

The PV input is an interesting question..

I don't know where I read it, the idea is that it tells the car to charge only when the PV is outputting. The PV still hits the house system, but usually a lot of it just heads back to the grid. Letting the car knows it's not in use and is available for charging seems a great way to use the energy on site and save you buying more energy at night. IIRC you only get about 5p/kWh for exports (if they still give you that, on top of the FiT rate). Where as Economy 7 is about 8p/kWh. Whether the cost of the iBox vs other EVSE points stacks up I don't know.

This assumes of course you haven't driven the car to work in the day time .

Still if the primary i3 driver is retired and/or a house wife/husband who doesn't do much mileage and has a PV system it's an option to investigate.

I've gone with a free 32A one from Rolec which you can have a 5m Type 1 lead, 5m Type 2 lead, or a Type 2 socket. Haven't decided yet whether to get the Socket of the type 2 lead. If I need to use public stations I need to buy a type 2 lead anyway and the socket is more future proof. But if I don't plan on public charging with AC and use CCS instead, I may as well get the unit with a lead built in. Type 2 seems to be common on newly release models.

Decisions decisions. Rolec also let you have a 13pin socket on the EVSE (for jet washers and lawnmovers). Yet to find the price, but I'd pay up to about £50 extra - as it's much cheaper than getting a new IP65 fused spur installed on its own.

The following link to a BMW press release refers to the claims for the Wallbox Pro.

https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/global/pressDetail.html?title=fast-convenient-smart-the-bmw-i-wallbox-pro-the-new-home-charging-station-for-electric-and-plug-in&outputChannelId=6&id=T0193947EN&left_menu_item=node__8601

With regard to PVs, I guess that most people who haven't researched the UK Govt's incentive scheme would assume that you get paid for whatever surplus you feed into the grid. Not so, there are two elements: the misnamed Feed in Tariff (14.38p per kWh for installations of up to 4kW last time I looked) whereby you get paid for everything you generate regardless of whether you use it yourself; and the export payment (4.77p per kWh last time I looked) for the surplus you feed in to the grid. However, rather than meter the latter, for all but very large domestic installations there is an assumption that you will use 50% yourself and feed the rest into the grid.

Bizarrely this means you get paid 1x14.38 + 0.5x4.77 for everything you generate regardless of who uses it. So the ideal is to use everything generated as it doesn't reduce the incentive payment. Hence the desirability of having a set-up which channels any surplus to the EVSE which would ideally draw no more than the surplus if the surplus will give sufficient charge by the required time.

You could use one of these -http://www.powerdiverter.com. Just adapt so the output is to the EVSE.

Interesting idea and a similar unit might well be applicable to the EVSE. But this one says "Controllable load types: resistive only" which I would be very surprised if the EVSE is.

Thanks for all the responses above. I am about to have another test drive (24h this time!) in a REx and will use the opportunity to ask about the Wallbox Pro.

As an aside, a friend of mine, who works for a PV manufacturer, said that his company's long term plan is to provide smaller PV systems which serve only the electricity needs for the installed household. This is because over time the feed-in subsidies will disappear. As my roof space is limited, such a system -including a EVSE supply- would be ideal for me.

Will report back if I hear more.

P

if it helps I had to look for a longer cable solution as well.

In end plan is to go for a rolec charger station with just a socket. The BMW station is just too big for where I park the cars. No all space

Then buy a https://evconnectors.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=115

They do 3M 5M and 10M cables. Have emailed them if plans to do 7M as well which woudl be good