Having had the DNO require me to find an electrician to calculate the total demand for our house, they’re now sending a technician (time and date unknown) to check the fuse. You really can’t make this up! We want people to have EVs, we want them to be able to charge at home because it’s cheaper for them and doesn’t require providing very high draw chargers to be pinned everywhere but what we’ll do is allow every company involved to make life as awkward as possible. Then you look at the fact this is a Motability funded install, so designed for disabled people. I know we’re not all the same but you must be prepared that the disable person will not have a clear understanding of the electrical requirements for home and charging, will not have undergone years of electrical training to suitably and safely understand what all these terms and requirements are and, most importantly, may not even be able to point a camera at the right thing and hold it steady enough to take a decent picture.
There has to be a better process, not necessarily a cheaper one but one that gets everything right first time. That process could well look like Motability finding a network of electricians all over the country who can visit homes locally and perform these surveys. That information can then be forwarded to the charger provider of the day who can then take the install back to that local installer if they don’t have a preferred one close. That local electrician can charge a flat rate for an hour’s survey (and that hour will be much better used over me, you or someone else hunting through the house and taking dodgy photos of the electric cabinet) and we’ll know full well what needs doing to get the charger installed. The charger provider simply posts the chargers out, which they do anyway, and then push the work back to either their local installer OR the electrician who did the survey so that we’re no dealing with a company who is 200 miles away or more and can only visit when they have a team in that rough vicinity which could well be months away. That give the DNO time to do a standard tail/fuse upgrade if required and mean that the customer isn’t required to do something that could well cause mental and physical wellness issues. Just read the number of threads on here where getting an install done is a properly painful experience and something someone in between Motability and the installer could easily have dealt with ensuring the information provided is correct first time, the questions can be phrased more technically, understood and answered correctly and that better flow of information can result in improved, quicker and more positive outcomes for the customer AND Motability. I wonder just how many BEVs have been ordered and returned/cancelled because the charger install has been declined causing a cost to Motability in losses on a very new vehicle?
I'm Autistic, if I say something you find offensive, please let me know, I can guarantee it was unintentional.
I'll try to give my honest opinion but am always open to learning.
Mark