RAV 4 PHEV - is a fast charger worth it?

[Adsf]

Hi all

I have a 3pin mains charger installed at the front of my house and am wondering whether it's worth me getting a 7kw fast charger (around £550). 3pin charge will take me 5 hours I believe and the 7kw will take me 2.5. 

Seems quite expensive to switch to a fast charger for the sake of such little time difference, particularly given the fact that I won't be draining the Battery completely before it's charged - I will charge it every evening.

What have you guys done?

[ernieb]

It will depend on whether you feel you will need to turn the car around so you can drive on EV only. If like me you don’t normally need to quick charge then an overnight charge is much better value as you can buy a lot of charges for your potential £550 outlay.

I set my charge based on when I want to leave and have the car ready it then decides when to start the charge.  A full charge will be approx 7.5 hrs at 2.4kW against 2.7 hrs for a 7.4KW charger.  I get a full charge for about £3 so I can get approx 180 charges for the cost of the fast charger you are thinking about.  Yes, it would be nice to have one but if and when I go full EV the charger may well have to be very different from what is on offer today?

[Adsf]

Thanks v much for this and agree that chargers are probably going to change as time goes on and batteries become even bigger! 

You mentioned that you set charge times - is that something you can do in the car or is it something specific to your own setup?

[ernieb]

7 hours ago, Adsf said:

Thanks v much for this and agree that chargers are probably going to change as time goes on and batteries become even bigger! 

You mentioned that you set charge times - is that something you can do in the car or is it something specific to your own setup?

You can set the charge time in car or via the MyT app.. In the end I just set mine up in the car via the MID Vehicles settings or setting I can not remember which but it's clear.  I set mine for a departure time rather than a start time.  I can modify these in the app as well as set the cabin conditioning.  I can also go to the app and 'Start the charge Now' which I generally do if I need just a relatively small top up and want to use the car later.

I've often used the app to precondition the cabin but triggered it about 20 mins before leaving, connected to the house mains it draws the current from the house rather than the traction Battery, a small but useful saving especially in the winter.  The preconditioning stops the moment you open a door or it reaches the 20 mins time limit.

[Adsf]

This is great! Thanks v much!!

[TonyFR]

I was gung ho to install a fast charger and then realised that a) it is very expensive as an item and b) I needed to pay an electrician to connect it and c) as I have a three phase power supply, the electrician costs became even higher.

Then I saw sense - as the RAV PHEV is not a full EV, the charging time from a three pin socket is acceptable, even from "empty": easily done in the (mostly overnight) time between hooking up and leaving in the morning.

But if I ever get a full EV then I would definitely get a fast charger.

[Flatcoat]

I have come to similar conclusion. We will probably charge twice weekly on average so £550 buys nearly 2 years charging.