Solved

Just bought my first Electric Vehicle (EV) - Which home charger is best to use with a Tesla?

  • 12 October 2021
  • 16 replies
  • 1138 views

Hi everyone,

 

Just recently bought my first electric car. I’m look at having a home charging port installed.

 

I’m currently looking at the Easee One (https://proev.co.uk/easee-one) & The Zappi (https://proev.co.uk/myenergi-zappi).

 

Is there any advantage of using one over the other? The car is a Tesla if that helps.

 

Thank you,

 

Sam

icon

Best answer by Jess_OVO 13 October 2021, 12:15

View original

16 replies

Userlevel 7

Updated on 08/12/23 by Abby_OVO

 

Hi @ZapMyBrain and Welcome to the OVO online community!

 

Great first question this one - we love hearing from new EV members and you’ve come to the perfect place to get some great first hand advice from other EV owners too.

 

If you haven’t already we’d really recommend checking out the exclusive offers we have on EV smart chargers over here. If you decide to go for a compatible charger you may also be able to access an extra low charging rate on our Charge Anytime.

 

@tesla_model_3, any charger recommendations for a new member of the Tesla club? :red_car:

 

Guys!

 

I didn’t expect the replies and help to be this good! Thank you so much for this. From what you guys have said, I’m leaning towards the Zappi now. I spoke to the people at https://proev.co.uk today about the Zappi charger, I brought up everything you guys have said (points 1 - 8 Tim) and they pretty much said the same, the Zappi would be recommended over the Easee. They did mention the Hypervolt Home 2.0, but to save any confusion (as I’m clearly a layman with this!), I said let’s go with the Zappi if that’s what’s going to sort the Tesla out.

 

Thank you so much everyone!

 

Thanks

 

Sam 

Userlevel 4
Badge

Hi @ZapMyBrain and Welcome to the OVO online community!

 

Great first question this one - we love hearing from new EV members and you’ve come to the perfect place to get some great first hand advice from other EV owners too.

 

If you haven’t already we’d really recommend checking out the exclusive offers we have on EV smart chargers over here. If you decide to go for the Indra Smart Pro you may also be able to access an extra low charging rate on our OVO Drive + Anytime plan (current energy market conditions and other eligibility criteria permitting). I know @Gingernut49 loves her Smart Pro as well!

 

@tesla_model_3, any charger recommendations for a new member of the Tesla club? :red_car:

 

Have the Indra smart pro and have mixed feelings as it stopped working after a year which they eventually replaced but still don't know why it can't charge at 32A

Any updates @Tim_OVO ?

https://forum.ovoenergy.com/electric-vehicles-138/what-s-the-max-amp-charge-rate-of-the-kaluza-ev-smart-charger-9245

 

Heard most people with Tesla's have a zappi or Tesla wall connector installed.

https://shop.tesla.com/en_gb/category/charging

 

Advantage with the Tesla one is like the mobile UMC when you press the button at the end the charging flap opens.

 

 

Userlevel 5
Badge +1

My SmartPro works really well as does the Kaluza app.

I struggled with the granny charger through the window from December to March and I hated faffing around with the thick cable, especially when it was cold and wet, trying to get it back into its bag. I upgraded my order to a tethered charger and I'm so glad I did. 

Userlevel 7
Badge +2

You may want to take a look at the Ohme Home Pro https://www.ohme-ev.com/

I’ve got their cable with an old non-smart charger and it works well to optimise charging at the cheapest or greenest times.

However, as you have a Tesla, I believe you can use their app to optimise with other chargers without actually having their specific unit.

If you have or are thinking of getting solar panels you’d need to look at how well the chargers integrate. I know the Zappi is good at this.

 

Userlevel 7

I love it when actual people share insight into their charging preferences. Advice you can trust, @ZapMyBrain! Hope it helps :)

 

@tesla_model_3 my understanding from your thread was the following:

 

Why does the charger go up to only 31 A even in boost mode (i.e. why does it never report beyond 32A) - The charger will be limited to 30.2A after it connects to Kaluza when charging without boost. When boosting it will go to 32A. You might only see 31A if the CT clamp on the charger is miscalibrated slightly.

 

and

 

 

As for CT Clamp calibration, I’ve been advised that:

 

‘If the consumption figures appear to be incorrect by a certain factor or erratic then the house CT clamp may need to be re-calibrated.


Follow these steps to ensure the SC can re-calibrate.

  1. Ensure an EV is available with SoC below 80% and it is able to accept charge
  2. Ensure a RBT is set for the next morning
  3. Disconnect the SC from the EV
  4. Turn the SC off at the RCD for 30 minutes
  5. Turn the SC back on and allow to boot up for 10 minutes
  6. Plug the SC into the EV and leave it alone
  7. CUSTOMER MUST NOT BOOST
  8. SC will recalibrate before the RBT that has been set

 

What’s the latest with this?

Guys!

 

I didn’t expect the replies and help to be this good! Thank you so much for this. From what you guys have said, I’m leaning towards the Zappi now. I spoke to the people at https://proev.co.uk today about the Zappi charger, I brought up everything you guys have said (points 1 - 8 Tim) and they pretty much said the same, the Zappi would be recommended over the Easee. They did mention the Hypervolt Home 2.0, but to save any confusion (as I’m clearly a layman with this!), I said let’s go with the Zappi if that’s what’s going to sort the Tesla out.

 

Thank you so much everyone!

 

Thanks

 

Sam 

Has anyone any experience (good, bad or ugly!) of the Sync EV home charger?  I’ve been offered a good deal but would value any advice before I say go.  Thanks

Userlevel 7

Great place to ask this one, @AMO - we’ve got some great EV experts here who might be able to give their view.

 

Have you already got an EV, if so what wheels are you driving? Not only do we love hear about what made you choose this model, it might help our community members offer the best advice.

 

Any thoughts on the Sync charger, @nealmurphy or @tesla_model_3?

 

Userlevel 7
Badge +2

Hi @AMO ,

I’ve not come across this home charging unit myself. First impressions are good as it’s nice and compact.

I recommend you look at Nicolas Raimo’s review on YouTube: 

 

I’ve not watched this myself, but I trust his views as he knows his stuff. He also has another video comparing 9 different charging units which may be of use to you.

 

Great post. This is really good. Thanks for sharing this information.

Userlevel 4
Badge

I love it when actual people share insight into their charging preferences. Advice you can trust, @ZapMyBrain! Hope it helps :)

 

@tesla_model_3 my understanding from your thread was the following:

 

Why does the charger go up to only 31 A even in boost mode (i.e. why does it never report beyond 32A) - The charger will be limited to 30.2A after it connects to Kaluza when charging without boost. When boosting it will go to 32A. You might only see 31A if the CT clamp on the charger is miscalibrated slightly.

 

and

 

 

As for CT Clamp calibration, I’ve been advised that:

 

‘If the consumption figures appear to be incorrect by a certain factor or erratic then the house CT clamp may need to be re-calibrated.


Follow these steps to ensure the SC can re-calibrate.

  1. Ensure an EV is available with SoC below 80% and it is able to accept charge
  2. Ensure a RBT is set for the next morning
  3. Disconnect the SC from the EV
  4. Turn the SC off at the RCD for 30 minutes
  5. Turn the SC back on and allow to boot up for 10 minutes
  6. Plug the SC into the EV and leave it alone
  7. CUSTOMER MUST NOT BOOST
  8. SC will recalibrate before the RBT that has been set

 

What’s the latest with this?

Tried that previously and again recently but still maxed out at 31A rather than the 32A, confirmed by the car and the app.

Not a major issue just rather annoying

Userlevel 7

 

Tried that previously and again recently but still maxed out at 31A rather than the 32A, confirmed by the car and the app.

Not a major issue just rather annoying

 

Sorry to hear those trouble-shooting steps didn’t resolve the issue with your charger, @tesla_model_3 - I’ve made sure to feed this one back to the team to check whether there’s any further actions we could suggest.

 

Bear with us as we’ll pop back with any further updates. :thumbsup:

Userlevel 2
Badge +2

I like the podpoint charger because it has timer that can be set via app. My podpoint is only set to charge from 01:00 to 08:00 on overnight electricity. If you have large solar bank the the Zappy would be better. Sorry Ovo one well know supplier has 4 hours at £0.05 a Kwh.

Userlevel 7

Some great EV charger tips there, @k1ms - Is that a shiny new ‘EV volunteer’ badge I notice there? (this is awarded to community members who offer tip-top EV advice and knowledge sharing) so Well Done!

 

Worth popping a quick link to our exclusive EV charging rate as part of the OVO Drive + Anytime plan which sounds like it might compete well with other suppliers over-night charging rate offers.

 

Had a chance to check out the other EV chargers our community members recommend over here yet?:

 

 

 

Badge

We’ve just joined OVO with the intention of adding Charge Anytime to our account. A smart meter is being fitted this week and I just wondered if anyone else had any experience with this set up?

I realise that the billing option requires OVO to link to our Tesla account as opposed to the charger itself, but is that possible when we have two cars? In Tesla world, the cars are owned by two different accounts and usage of them is shared cross account, however the charger resides on my account, whilst it will be my wife that will mainly be using the home charger for her car.

I presume it’s my account (which is associated with the charger) that needs to be paired with OVO?

Userlevel 7
Badge +5

Not sure if this is of any help but there are a few Tesla users here 

There are a few other subjects which relate to Tesla as well 

 

Reply