Home EV chargers installed in 15 minutes.

[I Think]

It also helps connect up solar generation.

Good catch, had not considered that connecting renewables to your home would ever be a big deal in Canada. My experience with PV & wind turbines is 95% with yachts and RV's. We do not have many KW scale PV installs here yet as the cost is still too high to be really economic, in most cases, but it surely is coming.

Interesting that what started out as a cost savings device for connecting renewable energy to your house/grid is also very effective at connect your EV to the grid for charging.

Obviously will not work for everyone, but for those who can use it, it offers great savings.

Believe that I mentioned before, being used with a smart meter, the utility can charge the vehicle on its own time, and can borrow power when needed from the vehicle to stabilize the grid. SDG&E has entered into a deal with 2500 Tesla owners near San Diego to be able to borrow power from the cars. I believe that SDG&E will never discharge the cars past the 80% full mark.

[I Think]

It would have to be installed by the service provider as they can only remove/install the meter from the base. If you look at yours, there is a tamper tag installed so they know if it's been, well, tampered with.

That's right. Bypassing my panel for example bypasses a 150,000A Siemens surge suppressor. I use this to protect everything in the home from lightning, or dirty power. Many older homes do not always bring a ground connection to power receptacles so surge suppression is not at option unless you do it at the panel, or pull new wiring.

I'm not sure what level of protection an EV charger has. Certainly there is some degree of filtering and isolation.

Your surge suppressor will not be bypassed at all, your suppressor should be between the meter and the house panel, this is not bypassed, the meter addition simply creates a branch circuit. Any surge will be dealt with exactly as in the past.

[captkirkcanada]

It also helps connect up solar generation.

Good catch, had not considered that connecting renewables to your home would ever be a big deal in Canada. My experience with PV & wind turbines is 95% with yachts and RV's. We do not have many KW scale PV installs here yet as the cost is still too high to be really economic, in most cases, but it surely is coming.

Interesting that what started out as a cost savings device for connecting renewable energy to your house/grid is also very effective at connect your EV to the grid for charging.

Obviously will not work for everyone, but for those who can use it, it offers great savings.

Believe that I mentioned before, being used with a smart meter, the utility can charge the vehicle on its own time, and can borrow power when needed from the vehicle to stabilize the grid. SDG&E has entered into a deal with 2500 Tesla owners near San Diego to be able to borrow power from the cars. I believe that SDG&E will never discharge the cars past the 80% full mark.

Yea i just started reading about that , i think they call it a virtual grid . Thats a excellent point

[LovemyBolt]

the one question i do have that i cant answer since i don't have a ev at the moment, i wonder if ilovemybolt could answer , is this would have to have a built in breaker i suspect if its bypassing the inside breaker panel?

Been out of town and very poor to non-existent internet and not a fan of typing very much on a mobile but following along a little bit here and there.
Just to acknowledge the call...I'm not an electrician or engineer. The product does seem intriguing though. It looks like it's before the panel. I would think one would still need to be aware of overall capacity like if the entrance cable was only good for 100 amps and everything in your house was electric, adding a 40A load could be problematic.

[TylerM4]

Late to this party.

To clarify some points:
- Your average home electrician isn't allowed/able to replace meters. You need to contact your Hydro company for that. When electricians build a new home, they install the meter base/socket and mast (if overhead) or conduit (if underground). The technician from the hydro company (usually a linesman) runs the electrical cables connecting the meter socket to the electrical grid as well as installs the meter into the socket/base.
- Capacity of the "feeder lines" is absolutely a consideration. One of the reasons why it's a linesman who needs to make this swap. Generally speaking, the feeder lines aren't oversized and would need to be replaced but at least you're replacing just the feeder lines vs feeder lines and the main panel.
- as mentioned, cabling from the meter socket to wherever you park your vehicle could be a problem. Great if your meter is in your garage. Not so great if you're like me and the meter is on the opposite corner of the house.

I think it's a great idea/solution but it's not homeowner installable (even if you are an electrician) and rarely will it be as easy as "just replace your meter with this fancier one".

[I Think]

Late to this party.

To clarify some points:
- Your average home electrician isn't allowed/able to replace meters. You need to contact your Hydro company for that. When electricians build a new home, they install the meter base/socket and mast (if overhead) or conduit (if underground). The technician from the hydro company (usually a linesman) runs the electrical cables connecting the meter socket to the electrical grid as well as installs the meter into the socket/base.
- Capacity of the "feeder lines" is absolutely a consideration. One of the reasons why it's a linesman who needs to make this swap. Generally speaking, the feeder lines aren't oversized and would need to be replaced but at least you're replacing just the feeder lines vs feeder lines and the main panel.
- as mentioned, cabling from the meter socket to wherever you park your vehicle could be a problem. Great if your meter is in your garage. Not so great if you're like me and the meter is on the opposite corner of the house.

I think it's a great idea/solution but it's not homeowner installable (even if you are an electrician) and rarely will it be as easy as "just replace your meter with this fancier one".

Good points Tyler, would note that it is very simple to pull and place a meter, back in the '70's had a circuit breaker freeze closed (live), in order to do the repair I cut the wire on the no tamper tag and pulled off the meter, replaced the breaker and put the meter back on. Phoned BC Hydro to tell them what I had done, they indicated that next time they had someone in the area the tag would be replaced. As I recall when I sold the place and moved on, there was still no tamper tag.
But yes the utility will control who can have the collar, based on the power available at the house and at the street, and any installations will likely be done in house or by a contractor licensed for the work.
Have been discussing the collar with a European and an Australian, (bless the net).
The Collar seems to be targeted at North America as in Europe the normal single phase voltage is around 230 volts +/- and the standard wall outlets are between 10 and 20 amps with 30 amp outlets being quite common, So EV charging at 2.3KW to 6.9KW is readily available. May explain why EV's are being readily adopted in Europe, compared to NA.

[TylerM4]

Good points Tyler, would note that it is very simple to pull and place a meter, back in the '70's had a circuit breaker freeze closed (live), in order to do the repair I cut the wire on the no tamper tag and pulled off the meter, replaced the breaker and put the meter back on. Phoned BC Hydro to tell them what I had done, they indicated that next time they had someone in the area the tag would be replaced. As I recall when I sold the place and moved on, there was still no tamper tag.
But yes the utility will control who can have the collar, based on the power available at the house and at the street, and any installations will likely be done in house or by a contractor licensed for the work.
Have been discussing the collar with a European and an Australian, (bless the net).
The Collar seems to be targeted at North America as in Europe the normal single phase voltage is around 230 volts +/- and the standard wall outlets are between 10 and 20 amps with 30 amp outlets being quite common, So EV charging at 2.3KW to 6.9KW is readily available. May explain why EV's are being readily adopted in Europe, compared to NA.

Absolutely agree - meter swap is easy and just about anyone handy with a pair of Kleins could do it in a couple of minutes. I watched them install the smart meter in my house. Took longer to unbox the new meter than it did to do the swap.

I don't know a heck of a lot about European household power. In North America we have 230/240V available just like in Europe. You just need to wire the circuit accordingly. We have 2 hot wires and a neutral. Hot to neutral = 120V Hot to Hot = 240V. What I don't know is if in Europe they also have 2 hot wires (which combined could give you 480V) or if they just have the single 240V hot wire. However, I suspect the latter as once voltages exceed 300V AC they start to get pretty deadly. I suspect they just have the single 240V hot wire with no ability to wire a 480V circuit. If that's the case, Europeans wouldn't really have an advantage in this scenario.

[Jlabute]

My understanding is Europe is three wires, one hot wire @ 230VAC. (and 50hz)

[I Think]

Good points Tyler,

Absolutely agree - meter swap is easy and just about anyone handy with a pair of Kleins could do it in a couple of minutes. I watched them install the smart meter in my house. Took longer to unbox the new meter than it did to do the swap.

I don't know a heck of a lot about European household power. In North America we have 230/240V available just like in Europe. You just need to wire the circuit accordingly. We have 2 hot wires and a neutral. Hot to neutral = 120V Hot to Hot = 240V. What I don't know is if in Europe they also have 2 hot wires (which combined could give you 480V) or if they just have the single 240V hot wire. However, I suspect the latter as once voltages exceed 300V AC they start to get pretty deadly. I suspect they just have the single 240V hot wire with no ability to wire a 480V circuit. If that's the case, Europeans wouldn't really have an advantage in this scenario.

As I understand it, they have available 230+/- volt wall outlets as standard with amp ratings from 10 amps and up, we have very few 230 volt wall outlets, as these days most of our 220 volt loads get hard wired. It just seems to me that NA is a very fertile market for the collar.

[Jlabute]

Australia is different yet. There are probably a number of standards to conform with. Another issue in Australia is electricity providers inject an off-peak 750hz or 1050hz ripple to indicate off-peak times. This can cause lighting to flicker and can wreak havoc on electronics.

It could be nice that as everything after your meter is bypassed, including signal filtering, that the EV charger might have to add filtering too, maybe.

B6AFCF74-F847-47EC-B931-40E203ECCA2C.jpeg

[GordonH]

Once OP product hits the Canadian market, knock yourselves out installing it on your own.

[TylerM4]

As I understand it, they have available 230+/- volt wall outlets as standard with amp ratings from 10 amps and up, we have very few 230 volt wall outlets, as these days most of our 220 volt loads get hard wired. It just seems to me that NA is a very fertile market for the collar.

Still not following you,

In Europe the collar is at the meter, the meter has access to a 230V.
In North America the collar is at the meter, the meter has access to a 115V or 230V.

Why would the downstream household wiring have any impact on how useful the collar will be? Are you thinking that the collar having access to both 115 and 230V in North America offers a benefit? If so - what would that benefit be?

[I Think]

As I understand it, they have available 230+/- volt wall outlets as standard with amp ratings from 10 amps and up, we have very few 230 volt wall outlets, as these days most of our 220 volt loads get hard wired. It just seems to me that NA is a very fertile market for the collar.

Still not following you,

In Europe the collar is at the meter, the meter has access to a 230V.
In North America the collar is at the meter, the meter has access to a 115V or 230V.

Why would the downstream household wiring have any impact on how useful the collar will be? Are you thinking that the collar having access to both 115 and 230V in North America offers a benefit? If so - what would that benefit be?

Tyler, am saying that since in many European countries they have much more power available in their wall outlets, so a simple plug in charger can supply up to 6.9 KW, their need for the collar is not as urgent as in NA where our wall outlets are mostly in the 1,5KW range or lower. Thus NA is a bigger market because we have few 220 wall outlets. Of course the collar taps in to the 220 volts before it gets split at the service panel.
Cheers, and thanks for the interest.

[TylerM4]

Tyler, am saying that since in many European countries they have much more power available in their wall outlets, so a simple plug in charger can supply up to 6.9 KW, their need for the collar is not as urgent as in NA where our wall outlets are mostly in the 1,5KW range or lower. Thus NA is a bigger market because we have few 220 wall outlets. Of course the collar taps in to the 220 volts before it gets split at the service panel.
Cheers, and thanks for the interest.

Oh, OK. While that's technically true, there's some other factors at play.

Most of their circuits are 10amp. Although you can find up to 16A in newer homes. A 30A outlet in the UK is not a standard outlet, it's a specialty outlet just like most 240V circuits are in North America.

Also it's important to note: They have higher capacity circuits, but they also have fewer circuits. It's unlikely you'll have an outlet in the garage that isn't shared with other spaces and you can dedicate the full circuit capacity to the charger. Whereas in North America it's much more likely that you'll have a circuit dedicated just to the garage space.

So yeah, they have a bit of an increased opportunity but the reality is that it's still very unlikely that a home in the UK is going to have an outlet that can be practically used for an EV charger just like in North America. Where I think UK and the rest of Europe have a bigger advantage is in the smaller size of their vehicles. Those smaller battery packs make smaller capacity charging circuits much more viable.

[I Think]

Oh, OK. While that's technically true, there's some other factors at play.

Most of their circuits are 10amp. Although you can find up to 16A in newer homes. A 30A outlet in the UK is not a standard outlet, it's a specialty outlet just like most 240V circuits are in North America.

Also it's important to note: They have higher capacity circuits, but they also have fewer circuits. It's unlikely you'll have an outlet in the garage that isn't shared with other spaces and you can dedicate the full circuit capacity to the charger. Whereas in North America it's much more likely that you'll have a circuit dedicated just to the garage space.

So yeah, they have a bit of an increased opportunity but the reality is that it's still very unlikely that a home in the UK is going to have an outlet that can be practically used for an EV charger just like in North America. Where I think UK and the rest of Europe have a bigger advantage is in the smaller size of their vehicles. Those smaller battery packs make smaller capacity charging circuits much more viable.

All true, I was going on what an Aussie and a European told me, have no actual first hand knowledge of their actual power supply. Smaller cars, and closer cities also play a part in the acceptance of EV's in Europe. Visiting with someone much more knowledgeable than I next weekend, will let you know what he says about the collar.