Home charge FAQs

Some car manufacturers are offering a home charge solution in their dealerships. For example, Nissan have put together a complete home charge and installation package which is available to order through their EV dealership network so we recommend speaking with them in the first instance.

If your dealership is not offering a POD Point home charge unit, or you would prefer to buy product-only and arrange installation yourself, you can order directly from POD Point.

The POD Point solo charge unit is not designed to be upgraded. If you would like to buy a 16a unit, but think you may want a 32a in future, a compomise may be to ask your electrician to use wiring that is suitable for a 32a unit. This will mean the install costs of the second unit will be reduced.

Solo charge units will charge all cars that support “Mode 3” charging, and that have a socket for a J1772 gun. This includes most current and upcoming car launches such as the Nissan LEAF, Mitsubishi i-MiEV, Renault Kangoo, Peugeot iOn, Vauxhall Ampera, and many more.

There are some models of EV that do not have a J1772 connector on the car, and instead will have what's called a Type 2 Mennekes socket. It appears to be that German car manufacturers are favouring this standard, so EVs from Smart, BMW and Audi are likely to go this route.

This depends on the size of your battery, and whether you have a 16A or 32A charger.

Take this example:

A Nissan LEAF has a 24kWh battery.

A 16A charger charges at 3.6kW. Assuming that the battery draws a constant 16A current, a full charge will take 24/3.6 = 6.7, so just under 7 hours.

A 32A charger charges at twice this rate, 7.2kW.

The current Leaf can only charge at 16A, but if a future variant could charge at 32A, and had the same size battery, a full charge would take 24/7.2 = 3.3, so about 3 hours 20 minutes.

Note that the current LEAF model, if you charge it by plugging in using a 3-pin plug, is limited to charging at 10A (2.3kW). In this case, a full charge will take a minimum of 24/2.3 = 10.5, so 10 hours 30 minutes.

POD Point does not offer an installation service for domestic charge units at this time, but any NIC-EIC certified electrician can install the unit for you.

Installation costs will depend on your existing household wiring and where you choose to position the unit. We strongly recommend asking for a quote from your electrician before ordering the charging unit so that you are happy with the complete installed cost before committing to buy.

You can view and download the solo charge installation manual in the documentation section; this should provide all the information your electrician will need to provide a quote.

Yes absolutely, the charge point is fully sealed & waterproof so can be installed on your driveway or in your garage as you prefer. Take a look at the installation manual on the Documentation page for some tips on the best location for your charging unit.

If you are installing your POD Point on your driveway where others can access it, you may wish to consider locking the unit. However, please note that the connector on the unit can only be used with another electric vehicle, so in order to take any energy from the unit someone would need to park up and plug in!

The POD Point solo charge doesn’t come with a lock, however the J1772 gun (which connects to the car) can be padlocked. This prevents unauthorised people from using your charge point, and also prevents people removing the gun whilst it is attached to the car.

The POD Point with GPRS communications allows you to set a PIN code online, which prevents any unauthorised use of your charge point.

POD Point solo charge units have been designed to be highly energy efficient, so the maximum possible amount of electrical energy is transferred to your car’s battery.

As most home Electric Vehicle charging is predicted to take place at night, if you are on a dual rate tariff you will be able to take advantage of cheaper off-peak electricity.

With all the latest generation of EVs, electricity is only drawn to the car when the battery requires charging. When the battery is full, the flow of electricity stops. As such there is no risk of harm to your car or unit from overcharging or overheating.

The source of the electricity used to charge your vehicle depends on your existing energy supplier. If you would like to use exclusively renewable energy you can either ask your energy supplier to switch you to a green energy tariff, or change to a different supplier. Ecotricity is an energy supplier that uses only green energy.

We advise that you first contact the installation electrician, to check that the unit has been installed correctly. If you have any questions, you should contact us on 0207 247 4114 and we will replace the unit if it is under warranty (all units come with a minimum 12 month's warranty).

The cable is permanently wired to the unit, but neatly wraps around the unit when not in use.

Developed in response to feedback from customers, the holster (also called a cradle) is a wall mounted attachment that will hold the J1772 gun to a wall when not in use. The holster also means that you can store the charge gun a short distance away from the unit if that's a more convenient place and closer to where you park your car.

While it is usually more cost effective to wall mount the units, we can supply a free standing mount for POD Point Home.

In addition, POD Point offers a free standing mount that can hold two POD Point Home units. This offers a low cost fast charging solution for fleet vehicles.

Please contact POD Point for pricing details on free standing mounts.

As standard, the solo charge units sold directly by POD Point have a metallic silver finish, and black gloss door. We have produced a range of colours and branding options but currently these are just for bulk orders. If there is a large demand for alternative colour options we may introduce these - please let us know!

Some regions are launching schemes to provide up to 50% grants towards the cost of home and workplace charge points. To find out if you are eligible, and how to apply for a grant, please contact our sales team on 0207 247 4114, or email sales@pod-point.com.

Only in the case of charge points with GPRS communications. These units contain a SIM card, the same as your mobile phone will have, so there are ongoing charges to cover the ongoing data fees and online account maintenance.

The home chargers that are currently available from POD Point all have a tethered J1772 gun. This is the socket type found on most EVs, such as those from Nissan, Renault, Vauxhall, Ford, Peugeot & Citroen. There is a different type of connector called a "Type 2" connector (sometimes referred to as "Mennekes" as that is one manufacturer of the socket). Some car makers (primarily German makes) have chosen to use the Type 2 connector on the car instead of J1772. Examples include the Mini-E and Smart EVs - so for those cars you would need a home charger with a Type 2 socket not a tethered J1772 gun.

The POD Point solo charge point is fixed to the wall using three screws - so apart from three small holes there will be no permanent damage. In addition, the charge point comes with a holster to hold the gun; this is mounted separately next to the unit, using four small screws. More details about installation are provided in the installation guide, on the Documentation page.

All our products should be installed by a certified electrician who will be able to calculate the cable size and fuse required. There is a section on "The size and type of cable supplying the home charge unit" in the installation guide, which can be found online on the Documentation page.

Membership RFID tags for the POD Point Open Network can be purchased online from our webshop.