Toyota (ABB) Wall Charger

[adidev]

Just now, philip42h said:

Can you clarify? Do you mean that the distance between the consumer unit and the planned site of the charger is "too far"?

As I understand, the basic deal is to install the charger using no more than 10m of cable - and that's what we should get for free / paid by Toyota GB. If it requires more that 10m of cable, then the difference is chargeable to us. Or maybe you mean something entirely different ... ?

But to your point, the world would be a better place if we could get a survey and commitment to install before we get committed to purchase an EV ... any EV, we don't want and shouldn't need to be pioneers any longer! 😉

It's approx. 40m, and I offered to pay the difference, the whole conversation, to be honest, from the start I had the feeling that they were just looking for the excuse to not proceed with the job.

When I was discussing the purchase of bZ, I was told that this won't be a problem. I clearly stated what is the deal with the charger.

[Kopper Bopper]

6 hours ago, MarkTheSpark said:

I'm a bit further down the road with the install process. For me BG has sub-contracted the video call, and possibly install, out to another EV charger company to speed things up a bit.

Out of interest they have told me on the video call that the Toyota charger (ABB OEM) does not support the DNO setting the charging period, so another box has to be mounted on the wall next to it to allow this. I was a bit perplexed at this but he said regulations now say all chargers have to be smart in the sense they are able to be controlled by the DNO.

A bit annoyed I'm going to have two widgets on the wall. Still wondering if should still get a podpoint.

🤔🫣

 

Hi Mark 

Don't know what they actually mean by setting the charging period

i have the extra box beside my meter i had two choices from BG one for £50 to use my filter that I already have in the consumer unit or £150 if they installed one (its separate from consumer unit) but means if I have something go wrong with the house one the car is still able to charge 

one thing i will say its to protect the Wall Charger and your car in case of a lighting strike etc and the government recommend you fit one 

the way i see it I've done what they asked so in the unfortunately event it ever did happen i could claim      

[Kopper Bopper]

UPDATE 

well so far so good on the charging front 

every time I've put it on charge it has done it (So it could of been a faulty charger) 

but here are my settings 

on the Toyota App MY GARAGE / CHARGERS / OFF-PEAK CHARGING both are set to OFF

on the car (or app) setup a SCHEDULE you want the START/STOP 

as im with (Octopus 00:30-05:30) have set mines to 00:35 - 05:25

then VERIY the charge on the app or fob that's it 

 one thing to remember when you charge your car at a public charge point is to change the setting to charge now 

[MarkTheSpark]

7 minutes ago, Kopper Bopper said:

Hi Mark 

Don't know what they actually mean by setting the charging period

i have the extra box beside my meter i had two choices from BG one for £50 to use my filter that I already have in the consumer unit or £150 if they installed one (its separate from consumer unit) but means if I have something go wrong with the house one the car is still able to charge 

one thing i will say its to protect the Wall Charger and your car in case of a lighting strike etc and the government recommend you fit one 

the way i see it I've done what they asked so in the unfortunately event it ever did happen i could claim      

If I recall the conversation correctly, the extra box was to allow external load limiting, i.e the ABB charger is not capable of accepting load limiting commands from a third party. Most smart chargers are able to do this the guy tells me since 2022. He implied the DNO is concerned that if we all get EV's the local electricity network wouldn't cope and they then would use this to manage the loads by switching chargers off and on. On smart chargers the DNO would be able to tell the charger to reduce the charging rate, rather than just switch the charger off. 

I believe what you are referring to is the surge protection device (SPD). In my conversation the guy could see I had SPD on my consumer unit already, and so he said a separate unit wasn't needed. My consumer unit is quite new though.

[wivenhoe]

MarkTheSpark- when I had my Simpson Partners charger installed last year, the installer said that all chargers would have to be capable of being “throttled back” presumably by the DNO to balance demand. He said if you were in an area of great demand in the future you could wake up to find your overnight charge may have only charged to say 50%. He also said, the chargers would not necessarily start changing immediately on connection - as previously (this was my 3rd charger since 2015).  The software had to connect to the supply system to ensure it could start and it was this that caused my previous charger to fail as its software couldn’t do this. 

[Kopper Bopper]

20 hours ago, MarkTheSpark said:

If I recall the conversation correctly, the extra box was to allow external load limiting, i.e the ABB charger is not capable of accepting load limiting commands from a third party. Most smart chargers are able to do this the guy tells me since 2022. He implied the DNO is concerned that if we all get EV's the local electricity network wouldn't cope and they then would use this to manage the loads by switching chargers off and on. On smart chargers the DNO would be able to tell the charger to reduce the charging rate, rather than just switch the charger off. 

I believe what you are referring to is the surge protection device (SPD). In my conversation the guy could see I had SPD on my consumer unit already, and so he said a separate unit wasn't needed. My consumer unit is quite new though.

 

[Kopper Bopper]

That's it just couldn't remember the name (SPD)

my system is all up to date as well and my main box has the Surge protection but they wanted £50 for something to connect to it that's why I went for the separate unit, which was £150

 

 

[adidev]

On 10/15/2024 at 12:51 PM, Kopper Bopper said:

That's it just couldn't remember the name (SPD)

my system is all up to date as well and my main box has the Surge protection but they wanted £50 for something to connect to it that's why I went for the separate unit, which was £150

 

 

If you're talking about the clamp meter (the blue device around the incoming mains), it's mainly to prevent blowing the main fuse. It's usually in the houses with 80A in and/or if you have an electric shower, cooker and hob. Imagine taking shower, cooking something and charging the car then pop, no electricity in the house 😉 The clamp meter tell the charger to limit charging current to stay below set limit 80A/100A

[Sportyneil]

On 10/14/2024 at 10:08 AM, Sportyneil said:

So I took my car in to the dealer last Monday (7 Oct) to get the second key sorted and while I was there I spoke to them about the problems I was having getting the free charger installed. Hopefully this has done the trick as my new install date is this Friday (18 Oct) arranged personally by the British Gas regional EV planner. I'll let you know how I get on. Hopefully they'll at least turn up this time!

So, a lovely guy turned up having driven from North London (100 mile round trip) to install the charger. After testing my home electrics he carried out the installation and painstakingly took me through the charging process. Happy to say all works well and I use it in conjunction with an overnight schedule. Have to remember to authorise the session via the app first though (yet to try the RFID tags). Now organising the install of smart meters so I can migrate to the Octopus Go tariff!

[cviclark]

I have been posting on the RAV 4 club as that's where the subject had the most info.

My BG installation was straightforward and good. I have solar so went for extra surge isolation protection. All certificates arrived today and the engineer persevered when after installation solar was not going to the grid.  My solar app diagnosed this a a sticky relay in the inverter after he had left. It's been fine since.

The car is great but like my previous Toyotas the software is not great. There is a delay imposed by UK suppliers to check area capacity before charge starts. Using the app the charge now button will start the charge, after the delay. Its not so simple with the RFID tags.  The cable doesn't lock until it has power, once you get green lights on the box lock the car it will start flashing and green light on the car indicates charge. Once started do not unlock to check or it stops. 

The problem is standing around in the cold,wet and dark waiting for the delay is a pain. No way will I risk relying on scheduled remote charging.

 

 

[cviclark]

On 10/14/2024 at 4:26 PM, MarkTheSpark said:

If I recall the conversation correctly, the extra box was to allow external load limiting, i.e the ABB charger is not capable of accepting load limiting commands from a third party. Most smart chargers are able to do this the guy tells me since 2022. He implied the DNO is concerned that if we all get EV's the local electricity network wouldn't cope and they then would use this to manage the loads by switching chargers off and on. On smart chargers the DNO would be able to tell the charger to reduce the charging rate, rather than just switch the charger off. 

I believe what you are referring to is the surge protection device (SPD). In my conversation the guy could see I had SPD on my consumer unit already, and so he said a separate unit wasn't needed. My consumer unit is quite new though.

If you have solar panels it's advisable to get the spd from the panel supply to the supply meter. I have a new fuse box with spuds and while it may not be strictly necessary best be safe. After installing we had a sticky relay but he got it working eventually.