Granny Charger Included

[NormanCross]

Right, so for some reason I assumed that the Born, and indeed all EVs, would come with a 3pin charger as standard, almost as a last resort option for those who didn't/couldn't have wallboxes at home etc.

However, it seems that is not the case and you need to have specified the cargo pack (in the UK at least).

A) is that right?

B) is that common for EVs?

Or

C) Am I am idiot?

[monkeyhanger]

Granny charger is usually bought separately as VAG have determined that to most users, a type 2 cable for charging with untethered chargers is more useful than a granny charger. I'm in agreement there - pulling 10A on a household plug for many hours on end is not ideal.

[daern]

A) is that right?

Yes

B) is that common for EVs?

Yes. They generally come with a type 2 charging cable (i.e. the one you'd use at almost any AC charger - e.g. most supermarkets) but not a UK domestic plug version (aka "granny charger")

C) Am I am idiot?

Nah. It's an entirely sensible question to ask.

[dp100]

Hi
I think it is a fair question, especially if this is your first EV.

I can't get my preferred wall box until spring 23 (not yet released), so i'm stuck using a basic granny charger I picked up online.
It gets plugged into an external weatherproof 13A socket on a new 32A line i had installed.

To be honest, with only driving 20-40 miles per day, charging over night hasn't been an issue, even though I've stuck it on lower power charge mode (~2KW).
I will buy a wall box, as i want to feed my excess solar into it during the summer, but until i'm fine.. All depends on your daily milage and time of day you'll be using the car.

[Daveion]

The Granny Charger is an optional extra in my understanding for the Born and ID3.
The ID3 was my first EV and the dealer included one in the deal. It had a zero cost on the invoice.
I used the Granny for around 10 months until I was able to get a 7kW charger. The Granny is now in the boot of the Born and I charge with it once every 6 or 8 weeks. If you have an emergency backup you have to be confident it's in working order.

[Shahev]

I want to buy a granny charger as a back up. I note that you can only charge at 2.3kwh with the VW charger. Is this correct,? Best to buy the ID3 version?

[Kim H]

I want to buy a granny charger as a back up. I note that you can only charge at 2.3kwh with the VW charger. Is this correct,? Best to buy the ID3 version?

Depends how long you need it. I needed 10m for home and the official version is only 6m? So I went for the Screwfix one at £200

[knightnet]

The Screwfix one is cheaper than Amazon as well. It will be the one we get when the car arrives in a couple of weeks.

[Spud1926]

I only use a 13A granny charger. It’s set to 80% on octopus and is always ready to go. That said I rarely do more than 100 miles in a day. If necessary I will pop into town and put it on a faster charger but haven’t needed to yet. The intelligent part of octopus extends the charging time to suit which has the advantage of putting the whole house on the low rate so laundry/ showers etc are cheaper(14:30 to 0600 yesterday). I can’t see the case for spending £1000+ on a 7 kW charger

[daern]

I only use a 13A granny charger. It’s set to 80% on octopus and is always ready to go. That said I rarely do more than 100 miles in a day. If necessary I will pop into town and put it on a faster charger but haven’t needed to yet. The intelligent part of octopus extends the charging time to suit which has the advantage of putting the whole house on the low rate so laundry/ showers etc are cheaper(14:30 to 0600 yesterday). I can’t see the case for spending £1000+ on a 7 kW charger

It's all down to your own usage, really. You'll probably get around 2.5kWh/hr charge rate, which is less than 10 miles per hour, so even at 100 miles per day, you'd struggle to get that back in during the 6 hour of guaranteed IO cheap power. At the moment, weather is mild and it's quite windy, so there's a lot of cheap power around, hence more cheap slots on IO and you'd have no problem keeping things topped up regardless of charge speed. This won't last through the winter, of course, so I'd always budget on this as a bonus rather than as a regular part of my regular charging patterns.

The only other thing to keep an eye on is the cabling and socket - there have been reports of overheating from the sustained, high-current power draw and while both socket and wiring *should* be up to the job, they often aren't, so it's worth keeping an eye on to make sure everything is in good order.

Personally speaking, my own charger was chucked in free with the lease, so wasn't really a consideration for me. It's good to know it's properly rated for the job though, and it's very convenient, located as it is on the outside of the house. As I'd expect this to last for multiple cars, even paying a few hundred quid, the cost is pretty negligible compared to the price of both the car, and the electricity when considered long term. And of course, there are times when back to back busy days make it very convenient to have the higher power charger - 6 hours @ 7kW is more or less 75% of the capacity of our car, so normally ok to get from "empty" (rarely go below 20%) to more or less 100% within the minimum IO time window.