Home Charger

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Brianh
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2018 11:22 am

Post by Brianh »

As I have the Niro PHEV I'm looking at options around charging the car when necessary. It's only at home that i think I will need to plug the car in to charge as on my local trips are fairly short (around 10 miles round trip to the nearest town). My day to day work journeys are much longer so in HEV mode it charges the battery from the petrol engine.

The car is parked on my drive under a car port. Fortunately there is an external 3 pin mains point under the car port so I can charge using the 3 pin charger that came with the car. So far I've only had to do it once as I've only had it a few days and it charged from 75% to full in around an hour.

I suppose the first question is do I need to get a 'proper' home charger installed or is it OK to carry on using the current (no pun intended) mains point? The handbook says the 13A charger is only for 'emergency use'.

The Kia dealer recommended a company called Charged-ev. Does anyone have any experience of them? The price seems OK with the £500 grant but the small print states max 10Metres from the consumer unit which is not enough as my car port is on the other side of the house.

Any experiences/recommendations welcome

Thanks
Brian

MerlinXL
Posts: 18
Joined: Sun Dec 03, 2017 3:28 pm

Post by MerlinXL »

I had a fast charger fitted at KIA expense when I bought the Niro PHEV. (Perrys-Burnley)
Works a treat. Beats a 13A socket under a bucket.
niroal
Posts: 183
Joined: Thu Jun 29, 2017 11:22 am
Location: North Kent

Post by niroal »

I have used the 13A charger when visiting family & had no issues, but agree a dedicated charger would be better.

Our 7kW home charger (a Chargemaster one) was provided by Renault (our other car is a full electric Zoe) and it works fine, but apart from future compatibility I would not pay the extra for a 7kW one for a Niro as it only pulls about 3.7kW.

My understanding is 10m is not a max distance, but above that a contribution to the extra cable price may be asked for. My only recommendation is shop around. If I was getting a 2nd one (so both cars can be charged simultaneously), I would ask prices from PodPoint & Chargemaster.
Niro 3 PHEV Graphite
Topicalcat
Posts: 49
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2017 12:43 pm

Post by Topicalcat »

Has anyone, with solar PV looked at the Zappi charging station from myenergi? This is geared up to vary the charging rate depending on the level of solar generation.

http://myenergi.uk/product/zappi/

If it is sunny then letting your car charge for free using your generated solar PV looks smart? It would probably only provide free charging for 5 or 6 months and only of course if you are at home during daylight hours, that lets of anyone with a day job! Could be a good option for anyone retired or working from home.
🚙
exguitarman
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2018 11:33 am

Post by exguitarman »

I get my home charger installed today by Mc Nally it is a Rolec tethered one.Kia were doing a special offer of a free home charger when I bought my Kia Niro3 which I am loving.Previous car was a Toyota Rav 4 hybrid which I found to be a little big for my needs.
Brianh
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2018 11:22 am

Post by Brianh »

I have the Chargemaster one now from ChargedEV - I went for the 7KW one as it was only £20 more than the 3.6KW one so hopefully will see some benefit from it in the future. You'll notice how much quicker it charges on a dedicated charger.
NiroMax
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Apr 08, 2018 6:45 pm

Post by NiroMax »

I've now had my PHEV Niro 3 for 21 days. ChargedEV fitted a Chargemaster 3.7kW charger on Tuesday. I had been using the 13A lead that came with the car, the longest charge I had to do was 3hrs. 50 min. when I had a range of 10 miles left.
Yesterday I ran down the electric charge to a range of 2miles. The Chargemaster took 2hr. 15 min. to recharge the battery to full.
pjm5755
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Apr 28, 2018 9:29 pm

Post by pjm5755 »

I am arranging for a Home Charger from ChargedEV to be installed, who seem like good vfm, although my car is still on order and has yet to arrive.
A couple of questions please:
What cables comes with the car, is it just a 3 pin domestic lead, or is there a 3.7kw lead too?
If I have to have a tethered charge point (not my preferred set-up) what is the car connector - a type2 ? Or should I buy a separate cable.
exguitarman
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2018 11:33 am

Post by exguitarman »

Hi,My Niro Phev came with a 3 pin domestic lead & and a type 2 charger cable.
I had the non tethered one because if you change your car there is chance that the car may have a different type of charge cable to the Niro.
It is cheaper to buy a new cable than a new charger.
pjm5755
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Apr 28, 2018 9:29 pm

Post by pjm5755 »

Thanks for that information on the cables that come with the car. I agree that a non-tethered charge point gives most flexibility in the future, and now decided that's what I'm going to have fitted by Charged EV.
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