EVSE Grant Scheme in UK - Any confirmed details yet?

[rabster]

Joy of all joys, after weeks of being promised by Chargemaster that my installation date for my EVSE is confirmed, they now email me telling me that they cannot install it on the agreed date and that I now need to pay £195 for something that I was otherwise getting for free... Bad form on them.

Now, looking forwards I'm getting mixed messages about what the new grant scheme looks like. I've been told by one company that the new scheme will be pretty much the same as the existing scheme and that there's just a few extra policies that affect how the installers fit the system so it should still be free of charge to me. However, this contradicts what Chargemaster are saying. They're advising that the new rules mean that it will cost me £195.

Bearing in mind it starts in just a few weeks time, I would have expected much clearer info by this point. So what gives? does anyone actually know what the new grant scheme looks like?

 

[RJSATLBA]

Surely the 1 Sep 2014 scheme https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electric-vehicle-homecharge-scheme-guidelines-for-households isn't being superseded already.

 

[jackt]

The grant is being reduced to £750 I think, there is nothing confirmed yet. Will take effect at the new tax year.

 

[psquare]

Not sure if this is even remotely connected, but there appear to be grant payment issues between some installers and the government agency.

http://www.airqualitynews.com/2015/02/18/anger-over-late-ev-home-charge-grant-payments/

 

[MikeS]

Try the Little Green Energy Company.

 

[Plodder]

I received the following email dated 26/02/2105 from OLEV which may be of interest

"...You should note that £15m is being made available to continue the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme, supporting EV drivers to charge safely at home. EV buyers will receive a 75% grant up to an initial maximum of £700 towards the installation of a chargepoint, effective from 13th April 2015. We will be updating our guidance to reflect this shortly...."

The maximum grant 'til 12th April is £900.

The Energy Savings Trust has not yet updated their site.

 

[DJCeeJay]

That's annoying. Have you signed a contract yet ? If not it's worth chatting to rolec. http://www.rolecserv.com/ev-charging/product/free-ev-home-charging-points

They offer free fast charger until end of March and can advise about the new scheme I am sure. As above poster, The little green energy company will likely be the local installer as you are only 5 miles from where you live. And that's the route I went in February.

 

[Plodder]

No, I haven't yet signed a contract. Does The Little Green Energy Co. install home charges? Any way as I live in Dumfries, I'm probably outside their area of interest. I'll have a word with rolecserve. Thanks.

 

[GlasgowSi]

I had my wallbox pure installed by (or rather on behalf of) Schneider electric last month when I got my i3. At the time they told me they had a supply issue with the connected meters that are supposed to report usage, however they said they would continue with the install of the wallbox and return at a later date to fit the meter. So far I have not had to pay them anything (I was due to pay the extra £300 odd which I was the going to be able to claim back from the Energy Saving Trust in Scotland as we got the whole cost covered up north of the border). I already had the paperwork from the EST but in order to claim back I need the invoice and certificate of installation, which I was expecting to get when the meter got installed. Haven't been too fussed about it so far as I hadn't had to pay anything out yet anyway, but wondering what will happen if they don't fit the meter until after the cut off date. May phone them up to see when they plan to fit the meter!

 

[rabster]

I'm finding this all so frustrating.

I've got the pricing details through from some of the suppliers and they're now telling me it's going to cost £245 plus VAT plus another £50 plus VAT for an extra 10 meters run from cable box to the charge point plus another £80 plus VAT for a 3G extender bcs the signal isn't so great in this area. This is on top of the £1000 I've already spent building a car bay next to the house in order to comply with the requirements of the grant.

This is all turning into a bloody nightmare...an expensive nightmare at that. And I've not even taken delivery of the car yet!

What is most annoying is the lack of transparency in the true costs for the installation. I did a google and found a company selling the exact same Rolec Wallpods for £450 inc VAT - that retail price. So I'm assuming that the installers get these units for a lot less.

Assuming the Gov't grant covers £750 and the customer has to pay £300 that's just over £1k in parts and labour costs. Take away, lets say, £350 for the Rolec unit, where on earth is the remaining £700 going? it doesn't cost £700 in parts and labour to install a 10m cable run!!!!!!

THIS is where I'm losing faith; I feel like I'm being taken for a ride. I don't mind so much the money, I can find £300 no probs at all but I just feel like things just aren't adding up...

Does anyone here actually know? If someone could explain it all, then hopefully I might feel better about this.

 

[PhilH]

£80 plus VAT for a 3G extender bcs the signal isn't so great in this area. This is on top of the £1000 I've already spent building a car bay next to the house in order to comply with the requirements of the grant.

I can't see how a 3G extender will help: I understood the data was carried over GPRS: this is 2G. Why is a car bay needed?

 

[rabster]

£80 plus VAT for a 3G extender bcs the signal isn't so great in this area. This is on top of the £1000 I've already spent building a car bay next to the house in order to comply with the requirements of the grant.

I can't see how a 3G extender will help: I understood the data was carried over GPRS: this is 2G. Why is a car bay needed?

I could well have got the 2G/3G mixed up. They just said that I'd probably need one as the cell signal is poor where I'm living.
The parking bay was required as ChargeMaster told me that they could only install the point next to a real parking bay. My parking bays are actually not connected to my house so I had to build one on the land beside my house otherwise they said that they would just walk away come installation time. I can understand both of these needs.

 

[PhilH]

The parking bay requirement seems odd. I had my charger installed lasy FY and have no specific bay for my i3: it's on the drive about 15m from the charge point. Unless the regs have changed this year, they're winding you up.

 

[GlasgowSi]

Why did you need a carport for the grant?! First I've heard of that being needed!

 

[MikeS]

Who did you use? I used the Little Green Energy Company and they were great. I park mine on the drive but no specific parking bay. I guess if you normally park the car somewhere other than next to the house they want to be sure it is yours?

 

[noodle]

Do you even NEED a charger? I use a 3-pin plug on a dedicated ring. Installed by a trusted electrician at a fraction of the cost of a type-2. I can use public type-2's and CCS's (or ReX petrol) if I need a quicker charge, but generally speaking if I'm parking at home I'm not going to be using the car for several hours which is why a 3-pin plug is more than adequate.

Don't get sucked into the hype about the chargers. They aren't essential and some companies are clearly earning a healthy profit from the OLEV scheme which may bias their objectivity when it comes to recommending particular equipment for you. Having said that, I've had a fair bit to do with The Phoenix Works and have always found them honest and reliable, perhaps have a chat with a smaller company like them rather than one of the big boys?

Good luck and enjoy your parking bay!

 

[MikeS]

Do you even NEED a charger? I use a 3-pin plug on a dedicated ring. Installed by a trusted electrician at a fraction of the cost of a type-2. I can use public type-2's and CCS's (or ReX petrol) if I need a quicker charge, but generally speaking if I'm parking at home I'm not going to be using the car for several hours which is why a 3-pin plug is more than adequate.

Don't get sucked into the hype about the chargers. They aren't essential and some companies are clearly earning a healthy profit from the OLEV scheme which may bias their objectivity when it comes to recommending particular equipment for you. Having said that, I've had a fair bit to do with The Phoenix Works and have always found them honest and reliable, perhaps have a chat with a smaller company like them rather than one of the big boys?

Good luck and enjoy your parking bay!

I would hate to be without my home EVSE. Its very convenient to charge the car in less than 4hrs. More importantly, when I get home expecting not to go out again that day and maybe only a few very short trips planned for the next few days so have run the car down its been very useful to be able to plug it in for an hour or so over lunch when my wife has told me we are going out! So for me the EVSE is both convenient and offers greater flexibility that a 13A plug.

 

[rabster]

Do you even NEED a charger? I use a 3-pin plug on a dedicated ring. Installed by a trusted electrician at a fraction of the cost of a type-2. I can use public type-2's and CCS's (or ReX petrol) if I need a quicker charge, but generally speaking if I'm parking at home I'm not going to be using the car for several hours which is why a 3-pin plug is more than adequate.

I'm definitely coming around to that way of thinking. I'm going to install a 13a 3-pin socket outside and use this for a while. If I find that I need a quicker charger then i'll come back to the OLEV scheme as an option.

...some companies are clearly earning a healthy profit from the OLEV scheme

This is what is really annoying me. I've done a LOT of digging around and it seems clear to me that the companies are making a very, very healthy profit on the back of this scheme. The govt is fronting up a fairly reasonable grant but as usual the customer gets a bum-deal out of it. I could quite easily source and get the charge box installed for a lot less than what the new Govt grant allows but I'm not allowed to. The only option I have is to use one of the small number of companies that are approved under the scheme who then charge a ridiculous amount of money for it.

For example...Last summer, I had a 25M run from my fuse box to the shed. this cost me £320 including all materials etc. Whereas to provide a 10M run from the fusebox for the OLEV scheme, the installers are charging the equivalent of £700 (assuming the wallpod costs ~ £400 trade). That's over FIVE TIMES more expensive for the exact same job. Both require armoured cable, etc.

I'll stop ranting now

Good luck and enjoy your parking bay!

LOL thanks!