Help Please - Which home charge do I need

[MrDinky100]

Just had a Phev 5 and I am arranging for a home charger unit to be installed via Chargemaster.

They have given me various difference option which of course have various different costs.

Some refer to 16 amp and 3kw chargers others are 32amp 7kw.

From the information I have read am I correct in understanding that the PHEV will charge at 16 amp 3kw regardless if the higher rated 7kw unit is installed?

So there is no point in going for the higher 32amp 7kw unit as its not going to charge any quicker?

Thanks in advance and sorry if this question has been raised before

 

[jaapv]

32 Amp will not charge quicker but might be handy for a future electric vehicle.
Nor does one really need speed for charging at home. Normally one will charge overnight.

 

[user 1877]

I had to make the same decision a couple of months ago. I should first say that Chargemaster were excellent throughout; good communication, clear explanation, a personable fitter who arrived on time and did a good job fitting what seems to be a good product.

Chargemaster offer a Basic 16amp unit. Their Premium unit costs an additional £95. This is a 32amp unit but also has a key lock and it communicates your usage to an accessible website. I have found this latter feature very useful and more comprehensive and accurate than the "Charging cost" menu page in the car. The 32amp feature is not helpful for the Outlander PHEV that will only draw a max of 16 amps. However, 32 amps does future proof the system for subsequent EVs.

The other choice you have to make is "tethered" or "socketed". I chose socketed because this means that if I have a visitor with a European EV they can use the charger and should I buy a different EV in the future, all I need is a different cable. Of course it does mean you need a Type 2 to Type 1 cable to connect your Outlander to the Socketed Charger but then you need such a cable to connect to public fast chargers anyway. I only infrequently use public chargers so most of the time I leave the cable connected to my home charger with the cable wrapped round the charger just is if it was tethered. I chose to buy Mitsubishi's own charging cable (MZ314772). It is 6m long, very good quality but expensive at about £300. I believe you can buy third party cables for about £150.

This link will take you to a photo of my installation https://flic.kr/p/WUGCXV

In summary, having invested a considerable sum in an excellent car I decided to spend a bit more to get a really good charging system.

 

[maby]

Some people have justified the extra cost of the 32A as "futureproofing" but I'm not convinced about this. The 16A charger is the highest rating that the PHEV will use and recharges its little battery in less than 4 hours. The "future" must be a car with a genuinely large battery - Tesla range or better - and fast charging - even the 32A single phase 240v charger is not going to get that fully charged in the five or six hours overnight. A new generation of pure EVs that are genuinely usable must surely take a significantly different charging solution?

 

[anko]

Some people have justified the extra cost of the 32A as "futureproofing" but I'm not convinced about this. The 16A charger is the highest rating that the PHEV will use and recharges its little battery in less than 4 hours. The "future" must be a car with a genuinely large battery - Tesla range or better - and fast charging - even the 32A single phase 240v charger is not going to get that fully charged in the five or six hours overnight. A new generation of pure EVs that are genuinely usable must surely take a significantly different charging solution?

I think in general and on average, cars spent way more than 5 to 6 hours on a driveway at night. When I do not have to out in the evening, it is more like 12 hours.

I hope to get an Ampera E early 2018. It has a single phase 32 amps OBC and with a 32 amps charger, it will be very usable.

 

[user 1877]

Maby maybe correct that those of us who have opted for 32amp chargers are paying a premium for extra capacity that may not be useful. If I am honest, I was locked into Chargemaster because it was the "free" offer with my new Outlander. I rationalised that the extra £95 to upgrade to 32amp plus data communication was well worth it and less than I save in petrol every month.

But with the rate at which EV technology is developing, my bet is that within 5 years there will be an affordable electric only car with a 300 mile range that can be fully charged in 12 hours. Tesla Model 3 isn't far from that today.

 

[Lance]

I got a 32amp rolec with tethered cable. The fact it was tethered only added £30 to the price (and the cable is easy enough to swap to another type if required), and there was no price differential compared to the 16amp. I paid £179 all in.

I'm really pleased I got the tethered as I would soon get bored of the faff of gathering the cable each time I go out somewhere with a charging opportunity (e.g. Work 3 or 4 times a week)