T8 charging

[Moonlanders]

Originally Posted by Philip Fisher

If you want to charge further away from the socket than the length of the lead then you will need to improvise. Volvo dont sell a longer lead, nor do they recommend using extension leads. If you must use an extension lead then I would cut off the 13amp plug and change to a 16amp round blue ip66 plug and then use an equivalent extension lead with some beefy cable (Prob 2.5mm stranded flexible 3 core). This will of course void the warranty on your charger.

Or find a way that your 13amp plug is inside, even if it then goes into an extension lead then.

Dont use a stock 'cable reel' or leave the 13amp charger plug outside in the elements. Alot of the stock cable reels are value engineered these days and have thinner cable than is ideal.

Or of course install an IP67 socket on an outside wall within 4.5m of your car.

Your charger will pull a high current and will do so continuously.

Philip, I assume when you say the charger "will pull a high current and will do so continually" it does stop once the battery is fully charged? Especially if you plug it in overnight but your Podpoint charges in around 2.5 hours.

[Automatic Only]

Originally Posted by Philip Fisher

Depends on what amps you set it at. Simply take the number of amps and multiply by 0.230 (0.230 is basically 230v supply divided by 1000 to convert Watts to Kilowatts). This will give you the kWh which is transfered. In the case of 6 amps you get approx 1.4 kW per hour. Then divide this into the size of your battery. So a 10kW battery would take 7hr 15 mins to charge fully from completely empty.

13amps (if it draws the full 13amps) comes out at about 3 hours. My 16amps Podpoint does it in about 2.5 hours.

This assumes no loses and assumes that the 10kW battery is completely discharged but is a reasonably good ready reckoner.

Thanks - I presume I wouldn't need to change the plug if I get an external IP67 socket installed? That is looking like the best option as we often have an electrician around who could potentially do it.

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by Moonlanders

Philip, I assume when you say the charger "will pull a high current and will do so continually" it does stop once the battery is fully charged? Especially if you plug it in overnight but your Podpoint charges in around 2.5 hours.

Yes it cuts off when charged and then draws nothing or very little.

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by Automatic Only

Thanks - I presume I wouldn't need to change the plug if I get an external IP67 socket installed? That is looking like the best option as we often have an electrician around who could potentially do it.

Correct. All you need to think about is how to keep the 13amp plug dry. An external socket which is big enough to clip over the outlet when a plug is inserted (like the MK ones) would do the job.

Thinking about it, so would some sort of IP rated enclosure. BandQ are knocking out some at the moment for Christmas lights which might work. When I was waiting for my PodPoint to be fitted I waterproofed my plug and trailing lead by double bagging it and zip tying it to the fence but what I do yourself is different to what I would recommend to others.....

[SimNugget]

It is also worth noting some of the other T8 benefits.

Namely Company Car Tax if applicable.
I find electrical charging out and about gives other benefits, the locations are normally very good - for example I charged in Brighton just at the end of the pier for 4 hours for £1. No other parking in Brighton would be as good or as cheap.

But generally I charge at home as our car does many short local journeys.

Not sure the T8 sounds like the ideal solution for you to be honest.

S

[Automatic Only]

Looks like I'll have to buy a longer cable - have found one online for £200 + VAT which is 10m which should be more than long enough and I can probably sell the original Volvo one to recoup some of the cost.
My only slight concern is whether using a 3rd party cable would invalidate the warranty - does anyone have any knowledge on this front?

[Director76]

Originally Posted by Automatic Only

My T8 XC60 is due to arrive in the next few weeks - I hope to charge at both work and home with just a 3 pin plug at both (at least initially) but will likely need a longer charging cable to achieve this, at least at work.
Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations for where to get this from (which isn't stupidly expensive) - do Volvo offer the option of a longer cable for an additional amount in lieu of the 4.5m standard cable?
I could potentially use just an extension lead but as it would end up outdoors, I don't want any risk of bad weather causing a short circuit or something and sending the whole buildings power off!

Heavy duty 2.5mm2 ‘arctic’ cable with 3 pin on one end and weatherproof single trailing lead socket on other.

I’ve used same on numerous occasions for charging at relatives, holiday homes etc. For 2-3 weeks at a time in some instances. I leave the weatherproof trailing lead under the car for extra rain protection. Now I’m not saying I would use 365 days a year as a permanent solution but it’s entirely workable. My solution is actually slightly refined further as I use a commando plug socket on each end with a fly lead to continental or UK plug for foreign holidays, this allows me to use a proprietary caravan heavy duty extension lead, which also doubles up when necessary when we are camping.

Total cost, including the caravan heavy duty extension lead from go outdoors, commando plugs and sockets from Amazon … About 40 quid

[Moonlanders]

Originally Posted by Director76

Heavy duty 2.5mm2 ‘arctic’ cable with 3 pin on one end and weatherproof single trailing lead socket on other.

I’ve used same on numerous occasions for charging at relatives, holiday homes etc. For 2-3 weeks at a time in some instances. I leave the weatherproof trailing lead under the car for extra rain protection. Now I’m not saying I would use 365 days a year as a permanent solution but it’s entirely workable. My solution is actually slightly refined further as I use a commando plug socket on each end with a fly lead to continental or UK plug for foreign holidays, this allows me to use a proprietary caravan heavy duty extension lead, which also doubles up when necessary when we are camping.

Total cost, including the caravan heavy duty extension lead from go outdoors, commando plugs and sockets from Amazon … About 40 quid

Now that is good information, thanks. I was wondering how to efficiently charge at our static caravan in Wales if I do go for the T8.

[Daveh1000]

We recently had a few days away in T8 no charging possible, must have covered 700 miles. I don’t generally drive fast as I worry about fuel costs (I know crazy in a 80k car).
So driving around 50 / 60 mph I have raged mid to high 30’s from north Devon to Portsmouth.
Also I left Plymouth with 10 miles battery range on the car and got to north Devon with 17 miles by toggling hold off and on and using B on the gearstick downhill.
Also with T8 if you get stuck in traffic and crawling you seem to go on battery for ages.
Appreciate the savings probably won’t cover the extra cost of a T8 but you can sometimes get away without charging

[Moonlanders]

Originally Posted by Daveh1000

We recently had a few days away in T8 no charging possible, must have covered 700 miles. I don’t generally drive fast as I worry about fuel costs (I know crazy in a 80k car).
So driving around 50 / 60 mph I have raged mid to high 30’s from north Devon to Portsmouth.
Also I left Plymouth with 10 miles battery range on the car and got to north Devon with 17 miles by toggling hold off and on and using B on the gearstick downhill.
Also with T8 if you get stuck in traffic and crawling you seem to go on battery for ages.
Appreciate the savings probably won’t cover the extra cost of a T8 but you can sometimes get away without charging

Sounds like I need to learn a whole new way of driving!