Topidiotboy wrote:I want to replace our local runaround with a Nissan Leaf, but really puzzled about charging. I understand I can use a 3 pin socket or a dedicated charger. What I don't understand is will I need different cables for these options, and if so how much will it cost? Any advice or even a pointer to a website that provides an idiots guide would be much appreciated.
The car, whether new or used, should come with both a 'granny' cable to plug into a normal three pin socket and also a 'type 2' cable.
The 'granny' cable is really for occasional / emergency use for two reasons. 1. It takes an absolute age to charge the car - think days to fully charge from empty to full. 2. Regular use can put a strain on the house electrics and it isn't unknown for people to melt the sockets or house wiring if it isn't up to scratch.
The 'type 2' is the normal cable you would need to charge at home, where with a 7.2kW charger it will take around 8 hours to charge from empty to full (or obviously less if you are just topping up). Type 2 are also used at 'low power' (7.5 kW or 22 kW) public chargers as they tend not to be 'tethered' (have an attached cable), but higher powered chargers 50kW+ tend to have the charging lead built in.
If you are buying or leasing an EV (new or used) then you can get a grant towards the cost of a charge point installed at your home, but it is still likely to cost you around £500+ after the grant if you are in England. In addition, when you get an EV charge point installed you will also need the main fuse upgraded from 60 amps to 80 or 100 amps and some regional electricity companies (different from your electricity supplier) do this for free, but some charge.
If you don't want to pay for a charger (or have nowhere to park off the road to be able to charge) then you could use public charge points. These range from free to 25p/kWh or you can take out a subscription with some of the charge point companies where you pay a monthly fee for a reduced or free unit cost.
Some workplaces are providing chargers for their employees to use.
Some public car parks have chargers installed and allow you to park for free whilst paying to charge (so it can work out the same cost).
You might want to do some maths and work out how often you are likely to need to charge it to see if paying to install a charge point is worth it. With a range of (say) 200 miles, if you are only doing (say) 6000 miles a year, that is perhaps topping up once a week.
Having a home charger does provide some benefits other than simply charging, in that you can 'pre-condition' your car by heating or cooling it whilst it is still connected to the mains supply, which means that the battery isn't used and the range is not compromised.
If you get a home charger installed there are several energy companies who do tariffs aimed at EV owners, Octopus and EDF spring to mind, but as this is a growing market then I am sure more will jump on board. EDF's tariff is really just old-fashioned economy 7 tariffs slightly updated, but the Octopus tariffs are far more different and take advantage of smart meters, and they do two(ish) tariffs, Octopus Go and Octopus Agile.
Octopus Go is reasonably straightforward - you pay a 'normal' rate for electricity used during most of the day (around 15p kWh depending on your region) and then 5p kWh between 00:30 and 04:30 when you will want to charge your car to take advantage of those rates. 5p kWh works out at around 1p per mile for most EVs. You need a smart meter to go onto that tariff so they know what electricity you have used when. They do variations on Octopus Go with shorter overnight charging hours at cheaper prices (4.5p for 3 hours) or longer hours at more expensive prices (5.5p for 5 hours).
The Octopus Agile tariff is rather 'unique' in that you pay a marked up wholesale rate of electricity for each 1/2 hour during the day that you used the electricity. That means electricity is very cheap, or even occasionally falls into negative prices where they pay you to take it away, at off-peak times overnight. But... goes extraordinarily expensive at peak times such as 5.30pm to 7.30pm when you could be paying 30p kWh. You don't know the price you will be paying in advance, and only know the price afterwards - "do you feel lucky punk". However the smart chargers talk to the smart meter and make sure that the car is only charged at the cheapest rates.
If you do go with Octopus then look around for a referral code from an existing customer which will earn you £50 credit on your account.
The 'Fully Charged' channel on YouTube with the presenter Robert Llewellyn (Kryten if you are old enough!) is not too bad for advice. There is a dedicated EV forum but it is a bit 'meh' and there are various FaceBook groups, but again rather 'meh'.