Charger via aliexpress

[aiskylos]

Hi! First post. I have ordered a Outlander PHEV (all maxed out in options), delivery in 5 looooong weeks. I was thinking about an additional charger. Looked at the kits at openEVSE, but my time for DIY projects are a bit scarce at the moment.

Found this: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/ELECTRIC-CAR-CHARGER-EVSE-OEM-J1772-AC220V-16A-European-Standard-Plug/32215403035.html

What do you think? I have ordered all kinds of things from aliexpress, mostly LEDs and other small electronics. Quality is varied, but at least ok so far.

 

[maddogsetc]

Personally I wouldn't risk it. Okay you're saving a hundred quid or so but if it did prove to be dodgy and damaged the batteries or charging system you could have a fight on your hands to get Mitsi to honour the warranty.

Why would you need an extra charger anyway?

 

[aiskylos]

Thanks for your reply!

The one supplied with the car i rated for 10 A as I understand. Great for overnight charging, but maybe better with a 16 A charger when on the way. On the other other hand, almost all Schuko-equipped charging stations here seems to be rated at 10 A. Well, well, I think i will wait a bit to see how I will be using the car.

Personally I wouldn't risk it. Okay you're saving a hundred quid or so but if it did prove to be dodgy and damaged the batteries or charging system you could have a fight on your hands to get Mitsi to honour the warranty.

Why would you need an extra charger anyway?

 

[maby]

Thanks for your reply!

The one supplied with the car i rated for 10 A as I understand. Great for overnight charging, but maybe better with a 16 A charger when on the way. On the other other hand, almost all Schuko-equipped charging stations here seems to be rated at 10 A. Well, well, I think i will wait a bit to see how I will be using the car.

Personally I wouldn't risk it. Okay you're saving a hundred quid or so but if it did prove to be dodgy and damaged the batteries or charging system you could have a fight on your hands to get Mitsi to honour the warranty.

Why would you need an extra charger anyway?

The charger you are referring to is only used when the car is plugged up to a domestic power socket - which is not rated to deliver 16A. In theory, you could draw up to 13A from a UK domestic socket, but this would be off-spec for the J1772 charging socket - officially, that only supports 6A, 10A and 16A charging rates. I suspect that you could use a homemade charger to tell the car to charge at 13A, but nobody has tested that yet.

 

[aiskylos]

Thanks for your reply!

The one supplied with the car i rated for 10 A as I understand. Great for overnight charging, but maybe better with a 16 A charger when on the way. On the other other hand, almost all Schuko-equipped charging stations here seems to be rated at 10 A. Well, well, I think i will wait a bit to see how I will be using the car.

Personally I wouldn't risk it. Okay you're saving a hundred quid or so but if it did prove to be dodgy and damaged the batteries or charging system you could have a fight on your hands to get Mitsi to honour the warranty.

Why would you need an extra charger anyway?

The charger you are referring to is only used when the car is plugged up to a domestic power socket - which is not rated to deliver 16A. In theory, you could draw up to 13A from a UK domestic socket, but this would be off-spec for the J1772 charging socket - officially, that only supports 6A, 10A and 16A charging rates. I suspect that you could use a homemade charger to tell the car to charge at 13A, but nobody has tested that yet.

Actually, i have a 16A socket just adjacent to my garage - meant for use with a electric motor heater.

 

[Eggtastico]

i buy quite a few items from aliexpress.
mostly good experiences, but also some bad experiences.
Especially when you get something faulty (tracked package to mail back to china is about £40!)
Faulty items are fit for the bin rather than sending back.

Would I trust a charger from china on a £30k car?

No, I would want to buy something from the UK, that has hopefully passed all british & european testing legislation.
Where at least you may have some sort of legal protection.

 

[maby]

Don't go overestimating the risks - there is very little in a charger