Posted 31 December 2023

Buying an electric car - home charger advice

Hi,

I am about to get an electric car. (VW golf ID4)

I need advice about chargers.

Octopus energy is my supplier

I can buy a charger from octopus
they can supply

wallbox pulsar max with 5 m charging cable "from £960"
ohme home pro with 5m charging cable "from £999"
Ohme eOid no charging cable "from£899"
Myenergi Zappi 2.1 (no charging cable) "from £999"
Myenergi Zappi 2.1 (with 6.5m charging cable) "from £1049"

The octopus website says that Myenergi Zappi is best if you have solar panels and battery storage


Currently, I do not have solar panels but intend to buy solar panels (and a battery) later in the year

What is my best option for charging?
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  1. paul1005's avatar
    We have an EV, solar with Battery and a Zappi.
    All work perfectly and the Zappi now supports Intelligent GO so you get a guaranteed 6hours cheap rate.

    Zappi is excellent, had it for 18 months and not a single issue, easy to use, good and easy to use app and it can ‘trickle charge’ the car when there’s enough excess solar.

    The tethered (with cable) vs un-tethered is always debatable and really a personal choice.
    I have a tethered Zappi so the cable is always there and I don’t need to get it out of the boot each time.
    But untethered looks slight tidier as you haven’t got the cable wrapped round it.
    That’s really the only difference as far as I’m aware.

    Also I’d recommend joining a few of the EV FB groups, especially a ID4 group, 99% of any questions you have will have been asked in those groups and I’ve found they’ve been really helpful - especially the 1st few weeks as there is a bit of a learning curve - mainly public charging.

    Enjoy your EV, they are great fun to drive. (edited)
    _stan's avatar
    I also have a tethered Zappi. Had it for 3 years and it has given me no problems.

    I initially chose it as it had good features, looks OK (as nice as a car charger can look) and it had very good reviews for both the hardware, and the company too. It also had a longer cable than most.

    I went for tethered as I didn't want to mess around with putting wet/muddy cables in my boot in winter/rain.

    One big thing is the integration with solar. At the time I had no real plans to get solar. I'm now looking at getting solar installed. It can use any excess to charge the car which is a bonus.

    As it got added to the Intelligent Octopus a couple of months ago it's fantastic, minimum of 6 hours @ 7.5p/kwh for the whole house. I have put 60kwh into the battery in 1 night before now (about a weeks worth of driving) and often get 8 hours of cheap energy for tumble drier, washing machine etc.

    EV's are great!

    Agree with everything Paul says above!
  2. bigwheels's avatar
    I don’t have an EV, but my friend has an MG ZS EV.
    I did all the research for him.
    He does not have solar or battery backup.
    He opted for podpoint, works great. Price was the cheapest also.
    He opted for the 10m cable as intended to buy a second EV at some point, saves moving cars around to charge on the drive.
    Also, if you intend to charge free at Tesco, Sainsburys etc get a 10m cable as the extra 5m makes a big difference, reverse in or park forward the cable will reach.
  3. yasg's avatar
    I was looking at ohme home pro buying it and then getting an installer to fit it. Works out cheaper. Like zappi it doesn’t need earth rod. 

    on another note have people switched to intelligent go for ev charging or octopus agile? Or tracker. octopus customer service was advising agile. 

    anyone has any experience? 
    paul1005's avatar
    Probably best to ask this on the Octopus smart tariff FB group, lots of useful recommendations and guidance there.
  4. fiestasteve44's avatar
    Had podpoint for years. Good price and reliable. It won’t work with intelligent octopus go but your ID4 will so that’s fine.
    Get on intelligent octopus. 7.5p for 6hrs a night and they give you extra hours if your car needs it to reach your set limit before the cheap rate ends. (edited)
  5. theITguy's avatar
    I’ve got the OHME home pro. Works well but the app is temperamental, often get errors that it could not connect to my car so doesn’t know the capacity and when to stop.
  6. Uncommon.Sense's avatar
    Have an Ohme for many years, but in your position would get a Zappi without question.
  7. f0rtune's avatar
    I’d recommend a tethered charger, yep Zappi seems best out of that selection. Untethered can be stolen or it’s a faff having to loop/unloop it into the car each time you use it (and remember to take it with you when you travel).
  8. Rugrats's avatar
    How much is battery replacement on VW golf ID4?
    Rugrats's avatar
    Replying to miself:

    cars245.co.uk/ite…ry/

    High-voltage battery Art-Nr: 0Z1915910N £18,112.38 no VAT req.
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