Which charger works best with OVO Charge Anytime?

Hi @heselectric  I can't say if any one is better than another if it's on the list of compatible charge points, however, the total load drawn by charging two cars at the same time, 7kW+ 2kW, plus any other substantial load at the same time could cause damage to the consumer unit / house electrics. In that respect the 7kW unit should be capable of load monitoring and set at a level to protect the incoming supply especially if you are looped with a neighbour. Unless you know what to look for only a qualified electrician would be able to advise. You may think the incoming house fuse would protect against overloads but a sustained high current above the fuse rating is entirely possible and a lot of thermal damage could result before the fuse intervenes.

If you have solar then I think the Zappi is the only unit capable of managing this as well. All units have different levels of reliability and suvivability in outside environments. My own particular bugbear is that no one seems to repair charge points atm. You have to buy another one if it fails. Cheaper may be better. A solid connection to the internet is also required otherwise it may not charge reliably. Research is everything.

Peter

For what ever unit you decide meets your needs it's worth typing in the word ‘problem’ to see what the issues are. You will inevitably find links to Speak EV and this is a very good source of user experience and what fixes are available when it misbehaves. E.g. internet connection problems, car not waking up when the EVSE starts a charge, back end server problems, companies going bust because they have no business model for maintaining the servers which the unit depends on when they run out of sales, units filling up with water, overheating when in direct sunlight, not responding to customer complaints, being locked in to an energy supplier because of the unit you have chosen, reconnecting if you change your broadband supplier or even just the router, GMT/BST changes etc. Unfortunately it a bit like the wild west atm.

You could say that the manufacturer will help you with problems during the warranty period but it has been known that they will blame the installer and vice versa with no resolution. After the warranty period you are most definitely on your own and very little in the way of manufacturer repairs (they will often just offer to sell you another unit) and no third party repairs possibly because of liabilty insurance costs.

If you were to ask me to choose a path I would go for a low cost, dumb unit with the intelligent charging being controlled by the car. However, I don't think this is compatible with solar but I may be wrong. Take a bit of time to make the right choice. After three years of EV ownership charging is, by a long long way, the issue that needs the most thought. In comparison the car was easy. I really didn't expect that to be an outcome in moving to an EV because when I started out I hadn't realised that the single most important aspect of charging at home is RELIABILITY and what is your Plan B if the car doesn't charge overnight?

Peter