Charging with an extension cable

[aab203]

I have a T8 on order and am looking at my charge options at home.

I do not have off-street parking so I would be running a cable from the house to the car. The problem is that the distance from the front of the house to the car is more than 8m. Therefore I have planned to purchase a 13A cable reel to run close to the car and plug the car's charging cable into the extension reel.

I have assumed this would be fine as the extension cable is rated as 13A and accepts up to 3120 Watts. I believe the car only goes up to 10A? However I am no electrician and the official recommendation is not to use an extension cable.

I have asked my council if they would put a charge point on the road, but I don't think that will go anyway. Short of this I don't really have much of a choice but to use an extension cable.

I'd be interested if anyone else has used this method at all and if so whether any problems were experienced?

[jimbg]

How are you going to cross the pavement?

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by aab203

I have a T8 on order and am looking at my charge options at home.

I do not have off-street parking so I would be running a cable from the house to the car. The problem is that the distance from the front of the house to the car is more than 8m. Therefore I have planned to purchase a 13A cable reel to run close to the car and plug the car's charging cable into the extension reel.

I have assumed this would be fine as the extension cable is rated as 13A and accepts up to 3120 Watts. I believe the car only goes up to 10A? However I am no electrician and the official recommendation is not to use an extension cable.

I have asked my council if they would put a charge point on the road, but I don't think that will go anyway. Short of this I don't really have much of a choice but to use an extension cable.

I'd be interested if anyone else has used this method at all and if so whether any problems were experienced?

I charged off a cable when I was waiting for my POD point at work.

A 13amp rated cable that is fully unwound will work perfectly with the Volvo charger to charge in about 3.5 hours.

The issues I forsee are these:

- The trip hazard of a member of the public tripping over your cable and then taking legal action against you - there should be some 3rd party liability insurance on your house insurance.
- Additionally the council may take exception at you running a cable across the pavement.
- The plug on the volvo charger is a standard indoor 13amp plug. It is designed for plugging in indoors in the dry. If you plug this in outside and leave in the wet then there is a chance of a shock. The rest of the charger is sealed and seems weather proof (I assume IP67 rated but not sure). You could get round this by cutting off the 13amp 3 pin plug and replacing with an IP67 blue outdoor plug and then plugging this in to an appropriate extension lead.

[FooMan]

I use a Masterplug CT1513P/IPS 15 m Extension Lead with In-Line weatherproof Socket all the time as I have a UK T8 but live in France. I swapped the UK 3-pin plug for a European one. I normally only charge on the lowest setting, but it's been no problem on the highest setting if I want a faster charge time.

You can also buy the socket on it's own to wire your own cable. I've done that as well on a short lead with an EU plug to use at public charging stations.

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by FooMan

I use a Masterplug CT1513P/IPS 15 m Extension Lead with In-Line weatherproof Socket all the time as I have a UK T8 but live in France. I swapped the UK 3-pin plug for a European one. I normally only charge on the lowest setting, but it's been no problem on the highest setting.

You can also buy the socket on it's own to wire you own cable. I've done that as well on a short lead also with an EU plug to use at public charging stations.

I think with the British weather I would want more than an IP54 rated socket, I would be looking at IP67, especially if there is a risk that a member of the public might touch it.

[aab203]

Thanks for the replies. I hadn't thought about an IP rated extension reel - so many thanks for this as it now clearly a must-have!

In terms of minimising risk to people walking /cycling over the cable, I was planning on getting on of those cable ramps (initially a rubber one) that would span the width of the pavement.

My front garden is about 8m, then its an asphalt pavement, then a small grass bit and then the road.

There is a government scheme that part funds the installation of charging points for on-street residential use, but so far no one in the council has any clue about this (judging by the fact that I have not had anyone reply to my enquiry a month ago), which would be my preferred option but as I said previously I won't hold my breath that this comes to fruition.

[Philip Fisher]

Btw, in case you don't know, when you lock the car it locks the plug in to the car, so no one can steal your charger, and if your extension lead is plugged in inside the house then this means it is protected also......

[Lexman8]

For safety reasons the extension cable must be RCD protected. If you have a whole-house RCD fuse box (fairly common these days) this will be good enough. The disadvantage of relying on a whole house fuse-box is that if the extension circuit trips the main fuse box because of damp/rain/snow/etc, the whole house will shut down meaning that your fridge/freezer/ heating could be off for many hours if, say, it happens during the night.

Alternatively, every circuit in the house may have individual RCD protection which is a much better setup but fairly unusual still. (Don't confuse individual trip modules with RCD trip modules, the former act just like old-fashioned fuses and don't offer additional protection.)

[cheshired5]

Interfering with a public right of way is just plain selfish.
People manoeuvring pushchairs, wheelchairs, mobility scooters, toddlers, people with visual impairment...... all potentially struggling.

[jimbg]

I would be surprised if you were allowed to have a semi-permanent ramp on the pavement?