Important information about home electric car chargers in South Africa
South Africans installing electric vehicle (EV) chargers at home should be aware that an important safety component adopted in developed markets was often missing from local installations.
A MyBroadband reader recently explained that he had previously used a portable EV charging adapter that plugged into a standard socket. In South Africa, these can draw up to 16 amps (16A) of current.
Electrical installations in South Africa use 230 volts, which means the maximum power achievable on these chargers is therefore 3.7 kilowatts (kW).
With his EV’s battery capacity being around 63kWh, it would take roughly 18 hours to charge from empty to full.
While sufficient to recharge for his daily commute in three hours, unexpected power cuts sometimes left him unable to charge to 100% for longer road trips.
He also wanted a slightly faster option for emergencies. The fastest speed achievable on his single-phase connection was 7.4kW, which would cut the total time for a full recharge below 10 hours.
This charger would need to be connected to a 32A caravan plug or directly to the distribution board, requiring professional installation.
He sent the scope of work and requests for quotes on a home EV installation to multiple qualified electricians.
The amounts quoted varied from R4,500 to as much as R14,000, despite having largely similar components.
There was one consistency in the responses — none listed any residual current devices (RCDs), which were listed as a requirement in the installation manual for the 7.4kW charger he bought.
In Europe and countries in other regions where EV adoption has reached an advanced stage, safety regulators were mandating RCDs in fixed charger installations.
RCDs measure the balance between the live and neutral wires and trip if the current flowing out does not equal the current returning, preventing electrocutions and fires.
There are three types of RCDs with varying capabilities:
- Type AC — Detects only pure sinusoidal alternating (AC), suitable for basic resistive loads but susceptible to blinding by smooth direct current (DC)
- Type A — Detects pure sinusoidal AC and pulsating DC
- Type B — Detects pure sinusoidal AC, pulsating direct current (DC), and smooth DC
The reader’s preferred electrician advised that they were struggling to find RCDs in South Africa, and when they did, they tended to cost thousands of rands.
They had therefore resorted to installing regular voltage earth leakage circuit breakers (ELCBs), arguing they had not given any trouble.
RCDs expensive in South Africa
MyBroadband also searched for these devices and found that the few options on the market were very expensive.
Type A models from prominent brands like ABB, CBI, Hager, and Schneider cost around R2,000, while Type B models cost over R5,000.
A prominent and knowledgeable electrical component distributor also told MyBroadband that many installers were opting to use ELCBs due to the high prices and limited range of RCDs.
While also intended to prevent electric shock through earth leakages, ELCBs can only detect voltage on the earth wire, which means they won’t trip the connection if current leakage occurs.
Despite this, it should be noted that using RCDs in EV installations is not yet mandatory under South African electrical installation regulations or standards.
Several South African websites have stated that EV installations should include RCDs, but none have cited any credible legislation to that effect.
Electrical Contractors Association of South Africa (Ecasa) technical advisor Grant Seeman confirmed to MyBroadband that RCD integration was not yet a mandatory requirement in South Africa.
However, he said the industry was moving towards standards used for EV chargers in the United Kingdom, which included the mandatory integration of RCDs in these installations.
For the lowest risk installation and future-proofing, Seeman recommended that homeowners get an RCD installed.
Some more expensive EV chargers feature built-in protection for smooth DC, enabling users to save on the cost of installing a Type A RCD.
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