That of electric cars is; a market to which to do more and more; attention , also and above all in view of the changes that await us in the coming years; one above all the one decreed by the European Parliament, which gave the green light to the proposal to stop the sale of endothermic cars starting from 2035.
Leaving aside for now the controversies that have accompanied this turning point, & egrave; undeniable that the path traced is that towards a mobility; more sustainable, of which the electric car becomes standard bearer. Who has tried to use one – by the way, this was my experience with my first electric car – in addition to the necessary adjustments that a paradigm shift as this dictates, it will have; had to deal with the topic of charging.
A cogent theme, because & eacute; if & egrave; It is true that the network of public charging stations is; has been expanding in recent years, & egrave; It is also true that, for those who have the possibility, the home recharge is; much more; advantageous in terms of costs and convenience. If the early days you can & ograve; adapt to the supplied cable ending with a Schuko, in the long run it is worth considering the purchase of a wallbox. We tried to install one: this is how it is; gone.
WHAT? A WALLBOX? 
First of all, a little bit context: wallboxes are devices with which to recharge the batteries of electric cars at home ; in practice, they take the current from the domestic user and transmit it via cable to the car.
By default electric cars are supplied with a charger for charging at home with the Schuko : however, if they are not of those evolved with the temperature sensor at the socket – and they are very few – there is; however a remote but concrete risk of letting current flow constantly and ending up overheating.
Unlike a normal Schuko socket for & ograve; wallboxes safely support and withstand much more power; high , or the same power more & ugrave; for a long time without the risk of overheating of the 10/16A plug. For example, when I tried my first electric car (a Twingo ZE Full Electric) it took longer; 12 hours to recharge the small 22 kWh battery at home with the cable.
Aesthetically, these devices are reminiscent of public charging stations, but are smaller in size; compact and are mounted on the wall: the technology & egrave; however the same. The power of a wallbox can up to 7.4 kW in single-phase , or a maximum of 22 kW in three-phase. Some models also have the Dual function, to carry out two recharges at the same time if suitably calibrated with the electrical system.
In addition to the basic technology that unites them, the wallboxes can be more & ugrave; or less elaborate: those more & ugrave; economic are simple fuse boxes with cable, without other equipment, while the more models & ugrave; smart devices measure energy consumption, can be shared with more & ugrave; users and consumption can be quantified and broken down. The smart wallboxes can be controlled via the app and do not make you skip the home meter when you turn on the oven and washing machine while charging.
WHAT? THE PATH TO INSTALL ONE? 
The first step & egrave; inquire to choose the model that's right for you. In our case we have chosen Silla Prism Basic because & eacute; & egrave; a solution that can grow over time but & egrave; already well equipped : the basic version can & ograve; load without “ blowing the counter '' because & eacute; automatically manages the power. Moreover, with an accessory, it transforms into an intelligent wallbox when we want to complete our energy transition with photovoltaics and storage battery.
Back to us, once the technician is called, the technician will arrive. to your home, and make & agrave; an appraisal; it is necessary to establish the right size of the cables to then have the certification , which for example is; useful in a condominium context.
If you & egrave; homeowners you can & ograve; freely decide to have the wallbox installed . Generally no authorizations are needed, but it is always advisable to inquire about the required documents and the related possible costs of the latter, which is why & egrave; it is useful to contact a qualified technician who is aware of procedures at the municipal level and can & ograve; advise how to respect them.
If you live in a condominium there are specific rules : if you have a fixed parking space, for example an underground garage, you need to check if it is already; present the necessary line and if this is; connected to your meter or to the condominium one; if you & egrave; in rent you have to talk to the landlord.
If you do not have a garage owned & agrave; or if you want to install wallbox in an & rsquo; area belonging to the condominium the project must be presented – that is; the installer's report explaining what will be going on; to mount – to the condominium administrator, who will have to; call a condominium meeting where you can & agrave; obtain the sharing of all condominiums in the expenses for the wallbox that will become; of common use for all the inhabitants of the building.
In this case we will choose & agrave; a wallbox that works with individual cards equipped with an Rfid chip because & eacute; everyone pays for the energy they take. If the condominium says no or does not pronounce it within 3 months you can & ograve; proceed to mount it at your own expense and will remain owned individual. At a later time, other interested condominiums can share it by reimbursing the share of expenses to those who originally installed it.
For example in our case there were two steps: the first saw the box connected, already equipped with an electric socket, with the private meter of the apartment. The second concerned the sizing of the cables because & eacute; those & ldquo; standard & rdquo;, unless the house is very recent, are usually underpowered . The electrician then installed a 6 mm square cable to connect the meter and the box, strengthening the system for a single-phase wallbox with maximum 7.4 kW
WHAT KIND OF WALLBOX TO CHOOSE? 
In our case, the wallbox we have chosen is; Prism Basic with Solar RFID Smart Cover : already; in the basic version it is a single-phase wallbox that manages up to 7.4 kW of power depending on the home line, working on the classic 230 V, and & egrave; equipped with a sensor that reads the power required by the house at any time.
SILLA PRISM SOLAR SINGLE-PHASE
When this increases, sends an automatic command to suspend charging or reshape the power to the column: cos & igrave; the counter no longer jumps (as it had happened to me the first evening when I had recharged the car in the garage at home and then I had turned on the washing machine). In our case it is; was installed while maintaining a meter of only 3 kW (3.3 kW effective with the tolerance).
The difference between the Basic version and the Solar version installed here is; that this & rsquo; last & egrave; also equipped with a connection, so it also has an ethernet input and a WiFi module that also works as a hotspot, and & egrave; designed to monitor household consumption together with those of the garage and car and the production of photovoltaics; to switch from the first to the second just buy the Smart Cover and upgrade, even at a later time.
WHAT ARE THE COSTS? 
the cost varies according to house to the contract : by calculating a cost between 0.25 and 0.30 euros per kWh , you can do the calculation based on the size of the battery of your electric car.
< p> Obviously the cost of home charging does not change whether you decide to use a Schuko or a wallbox , because & eacute; you pay according to consumption. What changes are the recharging times, which with the wallbox could be shortened a bit.
The saving, on the other hand, c & rsquo; & egrave; compared to public columns , where the price per kW can & ograve; also be double, even if it drops a bit & rsquo; with the subscriptions or packages of each operator. For example, when I was testing the ZE Electric I found the home charging so & igrave; uncomfortable and slow to prefer to spend an hour connected to the columns (even free) of certain supermarkets rather than recharging it at home. The situation is; for & ograve; different with a wallbox with load control: I have access to more power, the Arera experimentation allows you to have the power increase for free in the evening and I don't have to worry about unplugging the car when I activate the oven or washing machine. In this way the mobility electricity becomes really stress-free: I connect the plug and I don't have to think anymore; to nothing.
Prices for a 7.4 kW wallbox start at around 600 & euro; , ours costs 790 but already has; the sensor for loads. With € 395, we can upgrade it to Solar RFID connected to the internet and ready for photovoltaics, RFID cards for shared use and storage batteries. Unscrew some screws and the game is; done, there is no need to call the technician again.
SHOP SILLA WALLBOX AND ACCESSORIES
In addition to the cost of the wallbox it is necessary to add the costs for installation which must be performed by a professional. The amount of costs depends on various parameters: how far the wallbox is from the electrical panel, how many openings in the wall must be made for wiring, how far the lines must be laid. With 30 meters of cable to be replaced, we spent between 400 and 600 euros, but ask your electrician for a quote because costs vary from area to area.
In this regard for the installation of a wallbox & egrave; It is also possible to take advantage of the incentives, which for & ograve; instead of being disbursed at the time of purchase as for electric cars, they follow the path of the tax credit; they are assimilated to normal building renovation interventions.
NEED A SECOND COUNTER? 
You may not need to install a second counter , indeed it would be better to do without it. In this case, in fact, everything falls on a single meter which also includes the other consumptions, as if charging the car were an appliance.
From this point of view, if you choose a wallbox with integrated load sensor as in our case, the & quot; home column & quot; will be able to understand when the house requires more & ugrave; energy and diminish; the power delivered to the car automatically. When the oven or washing machine has finished, the wallbox will return; automatically to deliver the maximum to the car .
If, on the other hand, you live in a condominium the situation changes because & eacute; recharge in the garage & egrave; possible and not & egrave; it is necessary to have a condominium resolution to do this, but installing a second meter increases fixed costs. Better to find a way to connect to that of the apartment , if you can.
Also is not; said that it is necessary to increase the power of the system : if you have a small city car (or you only drive a few kilometers), the 3kW of the domestic system may also be enough, but even if not, you can generally do it; opt for 6 kW which do not require an expensive system adjustment. For example the Prism Solar RFID & egrave; connected to the internet and compatible with the ARERA experimentation which increases power at night and on holidays to 6kW, all for free.
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Content created in collaboration with Silla Industries
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