Background story: had an OpenEVSE since 2021. But it was hidden in the crawl space under the house since then. No attached cable, it was a Type 2 socket installation.
Recently got an issue with the aforementioned female Type 2 socket (no more ground, faulty lines, etc…) so I decided to move everything back into the sunshine.
That’s not the prettiest installation, but it’s working and the attached cable makes it way easier to use.
Next step would be to move it inside an old gas pump for decoration and laughs!
Next step would be to move it inside an old gas pump for decoration and laughs!
Once ive got an EV, this is definitely the route I’d go! Though they can be pretty expensive, I’d probably make one to create the look (and maybe stick some led in it with wled, to trigger over mqtt when charging is occurring)
I’m pretty it would be possible to control leds simply using OpenEVSE capabilities. Worst case scenario, a bit of MQTT should be enough.
Probably, but with HA it can get some limits (like turn down the brightness during these hours, or just shut it off if between these hours, whatever)
What are the certifications of that thing?
I mean, I guess it is a 11kw line, there are a few things that the system needs to fulfill about the regulation.
How are those things done?
EU (French) user: 7.2kWh line (32A@230V), no particular regulation, this is a standard installation for oven in France. The only mandatory thing that comes to mind is: it has to be hardwired.
And no safety regulation? No CE marking, no refuse to operate if the gnd line is not well established, no gracefully fail without degrading the safety?
Edit: fast Google search returns several iec (62955), CE marking, and some other low power directives (this is country dependent) which may be enforced via Sw.
I don’t know OP, I am by no mean an expert, but I would spend a bit of time navigating for the terrible passionating world of regulations and directives :(
And no safety regulation? No CE marking, no refuse to operate if the gnd line is not well established, no gracefully fail without degrading the safety?
Safety is builtin: https://openev.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/6000113537-openevse-safety-features
There are some information about ground line. I’ve experienced it myself while my type 2 socket was malfunctioning: OpenEVSE cuts everything pretty quickly in case there is more than 150ohms on ground or more than 20mA leak to ground.
My brother is an electrician and helped me install it 4 years ago. Basically, as long as you have the right panel, there should be no issue.
Interesting, thanks.
Last question, is it necessary to have the safety/ standard compliance certified by an external authority? If yes, how is it done? Same for the sw/FW updates
As far as I know in France specifically, your installation must be done by a certified installer if and only if you want to take advantage of the tax credit for installing an EVSE at home.
Basically that would mean paying 1200€ to have 600€ back in tax credit. Better install it yourself for less than 300€ and a big afternoon of work IMHO.
If you don’t call a certified installer, any electrician can do it and, as far as I know, no one can force you to have a certification for this. Same installation as an electric oven, so basically something pretty standard overall.
Regarding software/firmware updates, I honestly don’t know. It’s open, so I guess you could see if the security part is done properly (or touched at all for that matter…).
Thanks for the answers
Very cool that you succeeded! Are there any benefits compared to just buying a general one and installing that? Like costs or features?
OpenEVSE doesn’t cost very much (I imported it back then for less than 250€ total, including tarrifs). Doing the installation yourself saves you a lot of money too.
And finally, you are in control of your EVSE and can expose it to Internet or not, upgrade the firmware or not, etc…
I chose the openevse for my car charger because all the parts are available and can be repaired or upgraded as needed. Because I just changed cars (EV9) it is now a nacs port. So I could in the future when I am more annoyed with the adapter swap the j1772 cord for a nacs cable. Could also upgrade the display to a full color better screen or swap out the brains for something better, could add Ethernet if my WiFi was spotty. It’s open.
I went through 3 other (very expensive) EVSEs before purchasing an OpenEVSE. Used daily now for several years, left on the ground in the sun and rain. I only ever had one problem and that was with the J1772/NACS adapter. Got some water in it and started causing some faults. Removed it and left it in the sun to dry out and then it was back working again.
Connected mine to Home Assistant and now I have all sorts of automations available as well.
Curious about the automations? Linked to solar panels?
I connected mine to Home Assistant via MQTT but could find any meaningful use to it since.
One use I have is when frigate sees a car in my driveway and it’s not plugged in to send me an alert right before bed time. Before I had a vehicle I could do a proper schedule on the vehicle settings I had scheduled charges for my EV and used HA to add extra charge before a trip.
Well I have a unique situation where I have a bunch of large loads on the same circuit so I just use the EVSE as a sort of load balancer, along with a whole home energy monitor, so it will automatically decrease charging current when large loads come on.
Nice! I’m planning on doing the same thing but they don’t seem to sell the kit with a Type 2 cable, where did you buy it?
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AliExpress https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/1005008729849918.html
It’s also apparently available at Amazon DE https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Charging-3-Phase-Wallbox-Station-Replacement-11-kW-16/dp/B0DB5XX6K3
Sorry I couldn’t find it on an independent respectful online store
Thanks for the info!
