EV Charger Installation Guide

Choosing the Right EV Charging Equipment

A licensed and certified electrician will need to install your new EV charger. EVSE New Zealand does have a network of trusted installers, but conversely, you may opt to use your own electrician. Before they come for a site assessment and installation, determine where you intend to park your EV while it’s charging. Ideally, you want the charging station to be no more than 3m from the connection port on your car. In terms of charging a vehicle in the future, we are seeing newer generation EVs coming out with faster onboard capacity utilizing the more powerful 3 phase connections. If the building has access to 3 phase power then we would highly recommend that this is made available to your home with an outlet in your garage. If not, then choose a single-phase connection with a capacity of 32Amp to give you a power available of 7.4kW. Your installer will determine what your home has and if any updates are needed.

Our EV chargers come with configurable outputs so they will work on both single and 3-phase connections.

Please place the outlet of the EV Charging Stations close to the garage door or area where you intend to charge the car to give you flexibility so that the cable can charge the car when it’s parked inside or outside and remember to give space for the charger to be mounted on the wall.

What needs to be considered before Installing EVSE equipment

Your electrician can provide an on-site quote and can begin installing your EV charger at your Home or Office. Regardless of who you choose to install your EV Charger in New Zealand, make sure they are a licensed electrician and provide you with a quote before beginning any work. Please remember cable length will determine how flexible your parking options are. Conversely, the cable becomes heavier. Generally 3kg for 5m cable & 6kg for 10 m cable

1. E-Mobility Charging Stations Must Be Connected Utilising Its Own Cable.
   No additional appliances should be connected to the cable leading from the fuse box to the charging station. Further appliances would include lights, washing machines & general appliances. The utilization factor will be systematically estimated to 1, as it takes a long time to completely load the batteries of an electric vehicle.  The dedicated circuit feeding the charging station or wall box will be required to follow the AS3000 standards. The connected load of the charging station must be 100% respected.
2. Use The Right Cable For EV Charging Load Required.
   If cables are too thin, they become hot, and there is a danger of the cables burning. If the charging current is 16A or above we recommend a cable with a minimum cross-section area of 2.5 mm2 or more, allowing the vehicle to be charged with a charging power of 11-22 kW. For a three-phase charger, a 5-conductor supply cable must be used. The inner diameter of the cable depends on factors such as cable length, potential drop, environmental temperature, and type of installation. It is, therefore, best to get a qualified electrician to determine what diameter cable you require. We recommend preparing cables for a three-phase connection (when possible), in order to be future-proof your development. The electric cars of the future will have quicker charging speeds and larger battery capacities.
3. The Residual Current Device (RCD) for Safety in EVs
   The residual current device (RCD) is there to avoid electric shocks. An RCD balances the electric current in the live and neutral wires to/from the appliance, in the electric car. If these currents are no longer balanced, for example, if a residual current flows through the bodywork of the car or the driver to the floor, the RCD is triggered and breaks the circuit. To ensure that this is the case, where an RCD is not already integrated into the charging station, each charging station must be fitted with its own individual RCD. For protection, there is a diversity factor of 1.0, which means that each circuit must be individually protected.
   Which Types of Residual Current Devices Are There?
   A residual current device of Type A at least is required for each charging station. The Type A RCD is a standard RCD protection switch that is carried by qualified electricians and which only registers particular fault currents. Some electric cars may generate smooth DC fault currents during charging. If you cannot exclude this possibility, then an appropriate DC residual current protection must be installed. There are various options for this.
   • RCD Type B: A Type B RCD is “sensitive to all currents”, recognizes all types of AC and DC residual currents, and is very well-suited for charging station installation. This is the recommended RCD device.
   • Various chargers in the EVSE range come with an in-built RCD Type A or B
4. Installing the appropriate circuit breaker for your charger

   The circuit breaker ensures that the circuit is broken if too much electricity flows through the cable. This ensures that damages caused to the cables as a result of heating up can be avoided. As with the RCD, an extra circuit breaker is required for the charging station circuit.

   Manufacturers of our EV charging stations recommend circuit breakers with the tripping characteristic C.

   The circuit breaker must be in alignment with the nominal current, in the case of the required charging power. It presents a potential safety hazard, meaning that the installation should only be carried out by a qualified electrician. They are responsible for ensuring that all existing standards and installation regulations have been observed.

   The nominal current is the current absorbed by electrical devices. The nominal current of the circuit breaker you have chosen must never fall below the reading on the charging station’s label.

If you want more information on EV Charging Stations in New Zealand, get in touch with us today.