Electric vehicle owners may not be able to rapidly charge their car at home at the same time as boiling a kettle, National Grid has warned.
The grid operator said that using a fast charger, which can be installed at home to reduce charging times, is likely to trip a house’s main fuse if used simultaneously with other ‘high demand’ items such as kettles, ovens and immersion heaters.
The average household has a main fuse of 60 to 80 amps and an above-average sized 11kW EV charger requires 48 amps, so adding a small number of 13A appliances risks exceeding the limit, according to the company.
In a report on the challenges to increasing the uptake of electric cars in the UK, National Grid said household electricity capability is a ‘pinch point’ for motorists who want to charge their electric car fully at home. It added that compromises may need to be made between the speed of home charging and the capacity of household electricity supplies.
• Electric car growth to ramp-up pressure on energy providers
But Erik Fairbairn, founder of charging company Pod Point, told the Financial Times that a 32A 7kW charger would be powerful enough for most home charging needs because EV drivers rarely drain their battery fully during daily use. He added that only five per cent of UK homes would be able to accommodate a charger more powerful than 7kW.
National Grid estimates that a 7kW unit would charge a long-range EV such as the Jaguar i-Pace from 25 to 100 per cent in 10 hours, and a smaller 3.5kW unit would take 19 hours. Government grants of up to £500 are available for motorists to install fast electric car charging units at home.
Would you have concerns about charging an EV at home? Tell us in the comments below...
from Featured Articles http://ift.tt/2il2o76
No comments:
Post a Comment