To think charging an electric car with just the 3 pin plug for 4 months is not a good idea

[Catsinacot]

DH has ordered himself a new electric car. We have spoken about it for a while and agreed it's a good call for us. However, he's ordered the car and then arranged for an at home charger to be installed through our energy supplier who have told us it's likely to be 16 weeks until they can install.

DH says this is fine, we'll just charge it at home using the 3 pin plug. DH does a lot of miles, probably 300 a week so this feels completely unfeasible to me given the charge will be so slow. Also, im worried trying to change that much on a normal plug will overheat the plug. We did have our electric mains fuse board upgraded 3 years ago so DH says there's no risk but I'm worried.
WIBU to tell him to cancel the order and just wait until the at home charger arrives? He ordered through an online retailer so he can cancel.

It will be slow and may not give enough charge overnight but he can also use public fast chargers until yours is installed.

He can ask other local electricians to quote to see if they can install earlier than 16 weeks. Where we are in midlands, my husband asked several local electricians to quote (we are supplying our own charger). The electrician came around two weeks ago and we are getting it installed next week.

alternatively as he drive loads, he must drive past some super chargers? Can he charge there for a bit instead?

I would be a bit uncomfortable charging and electric car on a house hold plug for 4 months too. Not based on any electric knowledge but just fear of unknown

We charged off a normal plug for a while once we moved and needed to wait to get it installed, it's perfectly safe, just very very slow. You can supplement with fast local chargers, but it's then something he'll need to plan for into his week.

The 3 pin charger should be ok safety wise , but the bigger issue is that they are incredibly slow and given the mileage he is doing, unlikely to suffice. Ie mine is 2.3 KW output per hour. My car is large and heavy and real world mileage means I would get about 5 miles range from that per hour. He may get more but frankly ignore what the manufacturers say you get in range as it varies so hugely and also on how cold it is. A good example is mine should have a range up to 330 miles. So far the max with a 100% charge is 220 miles. For me that needs 100 KW (although you never charge from 0-100%) which would take 48 hours using the 3 pin

So he will be dependent on the super fast public chargers which usually cost 80 pence per KW which is vast. Are you paying for charging or his employer because it could be extremely expensive

It's safe, just slow. Just Google it and you'll see the energy companies, electric car manufacturers and motoring organisations all give the same answer.

To add to my previous, make sure you can go in one of the intelligent electricity tariffs when he does get it installed. We are paying 7.5 pence per kilowatt but that also means for the time that is charging and also always for 5 hours overnight the whole house is charged as a reduced rate so I run our dishwasher etc overnight. I reckon we pay about £10-15 per month to charge our car net of other reductions in house electricity

Do you not have any local charging points? We have some on lampposts in every street, he would just need a parking permit. Otherwise any electrician could do the work to fit it, so no need to wait 4 months.

The essential thing is to keep it topped up. Could he do it every night, overnight?

Whats the range of the car though? Our electric car is 220 so don't need to charge every night with proper charger. So it will be fine for a few months to charge every night with regular plug if he's going to do 300 miles a week. It's perfectly safe just slow. And try to change the tariff. Charging costs us more than I thought it would.

I hope you haven't bought that car, leasing maybe, but not actually bought.

The value of EV's is going to crash dramatically over the next 12 months, most industry people are predicting at least 40 percent.

And a 3 pin plug isn't even a consideration, tell your DH to forget that fantasy. It's public chargers for the next few months.

There are no safety concerns in doing this.

We used a 3 pin charger for a few weeks while we waited for our PodPoint. Just plug in overnight.

Totally agree with you. My mother in law had an electric car explode outside her house and she wasn't able to go out as advices by the police due to the black smoke. If it can explode like that no way put it into the electricity in the house unless it has the proper charger.

My neighbour has charged via 3 pin plug for over a year. It's slow so he just does it overnight but perfectly safe. I have a charger, from point of enquiry to install, with pod point, was about 3 weeks. Your wait time seems excessive.

Its fine. Until our charger was fitted dh would do big charges at public fast chargers while having a coffee/ shopping and just charged at home as a top up every night. But a friend lives in a city terraced house and has charged on a three pin for years now as theres no other option for him apart from always driving to a charger

We live in London with no off-street parking and manage this. It never occurred to us that charging off the normal home socket (which we’ve done for just over two years) was an issue. DH runs the cable under a trip protector , through the tiny front garden and either through the letterbox to a switch by the front door or through the front window to a switch. It’s not our main mode of charging - there’s a great fast charger in our local supermarket (so rather than paying to park I’m paying for charge) and if I go shopping I choose an on street charger if I need it rather than paying £4+ per hour to park. There’s so much negativity about EV and people do love to point out why they’d be impossible, but we just crack on and it’s the best car we’ve ever had.

Should be fine. As a pp has said, if you get 2.3kW, that is about 5 miles of range per hour. If it is on charge for 13 hours, that would be 65 miles per day or 455/week.

There are zero safety issues. Mains plugs have earth wires, circuit breakers and fuses. In addition, they are designed to run at up to 13 amps without overheating.

He should sign up to at least one of the public charger networks just in case.

It didn't explode because it was on a three pin plug though did it?

Loads of people, including several on this thread, have charged from a 3 point plug for months and years on end. Are they all fantasising?

It's completely possible, just a PITA, and may need a couple of overpriced fast charge top ups if he's doing any long single trips.

It's totally fine. We charge two cars that way. Slow overnight but cheaper rates overnight.

He should be fine he can use a public charger if he needs it, but he is doing 60 miles a day not 300 in one go so overnight to pups should suffice.

Will his car be supplied with a 3-pin plug setup? Mine wasn’t - it was an optional extra.

I would make a 45 minute ish visit per week for a full charge at a local charging station (one with super fast charging) part of my week until the home charger is fitted.

What's the range on his car model?
I trickle charge only which is great for the battery and cheaper than rapid chargers out on the road. Prices vary significantly out and about.
He should be fine

That's a very long lead time. We ordered our car mid December and had a charger installed (Ohme) a month later.

The 3 pin plug is safe, just a PITA.