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PHEV charging which company / what do I need to know

5 replies

UpABitLate · 27/12/2017 12:38

Hi there

We are picking up a Mitsubishi Outlander on Friday 2nd hand - DH has finally triumphed after years of wanting something more like a tank and me being very not keen.

Anyway Mitsubishi are teamed with Chargemaster and I suspect we didn't ask the right questions when we bought the car. Chargemaster just called to book the appt and they told me the £149 the car dealer said was not any good as we'd have to buy a cable on top £120. So now I've started googling and there are other companies and other considerations.

Has anyone been through this?

What sort of type did you go for and what do I need to know?

We're going to be charging it at night so I guess we don't need mega speed. It'll be on the drive. I only do about 3 miles a day stop-start (school run / train / home from train) so I think this is the right thing for us but having thought carefully about the car (and with the pleading eyes from DH) I am now back to square 1 with the bloody electricity!

OP posts:
UpABitLate · 27/12/2017 12:45

Just googling some msg boards - anyone had experience with rolec?

Do I need 16 or 32 A?

Tethered or untethered?

bloody hell.

OP posts:
TalbotAMan · 27/12/2017 15:37

Hi

Take a look at speakev.com/categories/mitsubishi-ev-forum.128/

The Outlander should come with a 5 metre special cable with a standard 13 amp plug on the end. It can charge with that from any decent outside socket. I have a Leaf and at home I charge it with the equivalent cable from the outside socket we put in for the lawnmower. A full charge from empty, according to Mitsubishi, takes 5 hours. If the car doesn't have this cable I would be suggesting to the dealer that they should be replacing it.

The Outlander has two charging sockets. They are a Type 1 and a ChaDeMo. Both are Japanese standards, as you might expect -- the European standard is Type 2. The standard 13 amp cable goes into the Type 1 socket. The ChaDeMo socket is only used with what are called 'rapid' chargers of the kind you find at Motorway Service Stations, IKEA and some hotels.

A dedicated home charger will have its own circuit off the fusebox. It can either be 16 amp (which is around the usual power of a power circuit in the house) or 32 amp. However, current Outlanders can only charge at 16 amp (taking about 3.5 hours empty to full), so there is no immediate need for 32 amp, though going for 32 amp may provide some future-proofing as this is becoming the standard on the latest electric cars.

A tethered charger is one which has a cable built-in, so you simply unwind it and plug it into the car. For an Outlander, a tethered charger would need a Type 1 plug to match the Type 1 socket. The disadvantage to installing one is that Type 1 plugs and sockets are being phased out in Europe, and future electric cars are going to have Type 2, so if and when you change the car you would also have to change the charger.

An untethered charger will simply come with a Type 2 socket and you will need a cable with a Type 2 plug at one end and a Type 1 at the other to use it. That is a little less convenient as it means plugging in at both ends, but has the big advantage that most public charging points have Type 2 sockets, so you can keep the cable in the boot and charge away from home. It's more future-proof since a Type 2 car can also charge using a Type 2 - Type 2 cable and has the advantage that, should the need arise, it is easier for other cars to be charged there.

Mitsuibishi do not include a Type 2 - Type 1 cable as standard but these can be bought from various suppliers, not just a Mitsubishi dealer, and probably cost around £125. A lot depends on how you will use the car, but I would probably go for an untethered and cabled solution. I'm afraid I have no experience with Rolec.

If you have solar panels there are further considerations, but I won't set them out just now!

TalbotAMan · 27/12/2017 15:39

Also see

www.mitsubishi-cars.co.uk/new-cars/outlander/charging/

UpABitLate · 27/12/2017 16:00

Thanks ever so much talbot we will check out those links and do some more research.

Your advice is very much appreciated Smile

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UpABitLate · 31/12/2017 11:55

We've done some more research and posting in case anyone else reads this. Ecotricity seem to have quite a good offer that we're looking at which bundles:

At home

You’ll get our Green Electricity + EV tariff, the cheapest EV tariff on the market, saving you £120* on your electricity bills vs the standard Big 6 tariff.
Our partners Rolec can also install their excellent charge point in your home for the Ecotricity exclusive price of £99 – saving you £180* vs a similar home charge point.
On the road

Ecotricity customers receive a 50% discount on the Electric Highway – paying just 15p per kWh, with no connection fee or monthly subscription. For the average user, that’s roughly a £50 saving every year*

Website is here: www.ecotricity.co.uk/for-the-road/at-home-and-on-the-road

I don't know what lead time there is on getting the installation so need to talk to them as if it's when the switch competes that's about 6 weeks usually so not much use!

I think we're going to go for a 32A tethered as people seem to find faffing around with an untethered lead a right PITA. We usually keep our cars for about 8 or 10 years by which point I expect the tech will have moved on and many more electric cars on the road so futureproofing in terms of leads is not such a worry. You can also get type 1 to type 2 adaptor for tethered cables so that's useful to know.

Thanks again to Talbot Smile

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