Advice
The dangers of not having a dedicated charge point
Jun
With a lack of public charging points for electric vehicles, drivers are being forced to take risks at home by charging their vehicles from household sockets. This method has been banned from the rest of Europe as it constitutes a fire risk and a risk of electrocution.
The problems arise from the car battery, which can demand high currents over a constant period which the average domestic 3 pin socket cannot cope with.
Household sockets if not up to the current regulations may not have the correct overload protective device fitted and may not be protected by a residual current device, meaning that the supply will not disconnect should a fault appear.
Drivers also resort to “Daisy chaining” which is when an extension lead is used and then another lead is plugged in until the driver can reach the point at which they need to be to charge the car.
Because it has “worked until now” is not acceptable and puts thousands of homes and families at risk.
With the electric car industry growing day by day it is a matter of time before serious injury, damage to property, will become a common occurrence in the task of charging cars at home if nothing changes.
The car manufacturers supply a 3-pin charge cable but take no responsibility for your supply at home and have no knowledge of the condition of your household electrical supply.
Do you know the condition of your household electrical installation?
IN MOST CASES THE SOLUTION IS EASY
Always choose an electrician qualified to (city and guilds 2919-01) a specially designed course to show the correct installation methods of a dedicated car charging point. Once trained they have access to Office For Low Emission Vehicle grant funding, put in place to help the electric vehicle owner to charge their car safely from the comfort of their own home, whatever the weather.
A dedicated car charge point assures the user, safety, convenience, speed of charging and peace of mind, allowing the user to carry on with our increasingly busy lives.
Andrew Baker.
Technical Director
Eco Chargepoints UK Ltd.
Andrew has been an electrician for over 2 decades and is highly qualified including (city and guilds 2919-01) and is greatly respected amongst his peers.
Andrew oversees all ECPUK installations, so you can rest assured you’re in safe hands.