EV charger - home installation

Hi - can anyone recommend someone to install a home EV charger in Grosbreuil, Vendee?

Hi Tim. Do you need a special EV charger? I use a conventional domestic outdoor plug connected to a separate fuse in my fuse box (or whatever the modern equivalent is called). It is nailed to the post of my mail box at the front of the house where I usually park. It can be installed very quickly and cheaply by a competent electrician or, if you are more confident than me, do it yourself. There are plenty of experts on the forum who can help with advice if you are not sure how to do it.

It is worth having a fully installed dedicated charger as it can supply more power do quicker charging.

Not my patch to recommend anyone from I’m afraid, but…

…Please note that anyone installing any EV charging capable of delivering more than 3,7kW (i.e. more than a a standard monophasé 16A outlet) or above must have the necessary certification.

Very true, but given the cost of installing a Type 2 charger an EV owner might find that using a simple ‘granny’ charger is sufficient for most of their day to day needs.

A standard plug-in 2,3kW charger will deliver 18,4kWh into an EV battery during an overnight 8 hour cheap rate (Heures Creuses) period. That’s about 120 kms of range for my Leaf - some other EVs have better efficiency.

A dedicated charger can supply more power quickly but only your personal circumstances will determine if it is worth it.

If for example you have a long daily commute which means that you cannot replace the energy used by a simple overnight charge (in my case using cheaper off peak domestic charging) then perhaps the expense of a dedicated charger is worth it.

In my case I prefer convenience. Almost every time I park, I pop the car on charge. It takes 15 seconds to connect. It is set to only charge at off peak times costing around €0.20 per Kwh. The car is always fully charged (90%) ready for any trip.

If for any reason I have no time to recharge for a following trip, there are plenty of fast DC chargers around for a quick fix but at a cost of around €0.60 KwH (still a lot cheaper than petrol/diesel)

I have a granny lead permenantly connectted and stored in a box under my post box.

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We have a wallbox, positioned so ok for us and for our gîte. I’m happier having a dedicated system that delivers 7kWh.

And you also get up to €500 credit impôt, which you don’t get just for a socket.

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I think a gĂŽte is a good example of where a 7KwH charger is useful. You would anticipate customers doing significant daily mileage.

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I’d say select your charger and ask the supplier for local installer recommendations.

On charger selection, @Mik_Bennett and @Badger are right, all one needs is charging capacity that handles day to day use. I didn’t understand that when I installed a 22kWh “Wallbox Copper Business” before :roll_eyes: buying the car, or understanding our real charging requirements. It was overkill for two reasons, one, we only do about twenty or thirty km a day and two, I don’t know of any car that can actually AC charge at more than 11kWh, certainly neither of ours can.

That said, now that we have two EVs I am installing a cheap Lidl charger to avoid having to swap cars around. The guy that installed the Wallbox will install the Lidl one too.

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I thought Renault offered a free wallbox charger last year for those that ordered a Renault 5 E-Tech ? It also supports V2H and V2G. Or did you miss out on the offer ?

You’re right @hairbear they did offer a charger, but to get it you have to pay for installation by a firm Renault specify. They did contact me and my contact was a very polite and nice young lady, but the tenacity with which she followed up made me decide they were not the sort of firm I would want to deal with. Far too pushy. I suspect they recoup the charger cost in an excessive installation quote. I’ll stick with my electrician, who I know and trust.

So the offer had strings (cables) attached :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions - much appreciated