{"id":645716,"date":"2026-05-08T13:05:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T11:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=645716"},"modified":"2026-05-08T13:09:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T11:09:20","slug":"important-information-about-home-electric-car-chargers-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/motoring\/645716-important-information-about-home-electric-car-chargers-in-south-africa.html","title":{"rendered":"Important information about home electric car chargers in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Electrical installations in South Africa use 230 volts, which means the maximum power achievable on these chargers is therefore 3.7 kilowatts (kW).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With his EV’s battery capacity being around 63kWh, it would take roughly 18 hours to charge from empty to full.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This charger would need to be connected to a 32A caravan plug or directly to the distribution board, requiring professional installation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He sent the scope of work and requests for quotes on a home EV installation to multiple qualified electricians. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The amounts quoted varied from R4,500 to as much as R14,000, despite having largely similar components.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was one consistency in the responses \u2014 none listed any residual current devices (RCDs), which were listed as a requirement in the installation manual for the 7.4kW charger he bought. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Europe and countries in other regions where EV adoption has reached an advanced stage, safety regulators were mandating RCDs in fixed charger installations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are three types of RCDs with varying capabilities:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
Type AC <\/strong>\u2014 Detects only pure sinusoidal alternating (AC), suitable for basic resistive loads but susceptible to blinding by smooth direct current (DC)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Type A<\/strong> \u2014 Detects pure sinusoidal AC and pulsating DC<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Type B<\/strong> \u2014 Detects pure sinusoidal AC, pulsating direct current (DC), and smooth DC<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They had therefore resorted to installing regular voltage earth leakage circuit breakers (ELCBs), arguing they had not given any trouble. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
RCDs expensive in South Africa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
MyBroadband also searched for these devices and found that the few options on the market were very expensive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Type A models from prominent brands like ABB, CBI, Hager, and Schneider cost around R2,000, while Type B models cost over R5,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite this, it should be noted that using RCDs in EV installations is not yet mandatory under South African electrical installation regulations or standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several South African websites have stated that EV installations should include RCDs, but none have cited any credible legislation to that effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the lowest risk installation and future-proofing, Seeman recommended that homeowners get an RCD installed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
South Africans getting EV chargers installed at home should be aware that an important safety component adopted in developed markets was often missing from local installations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341042,"featured_media":645798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29366],"tags":[52237,23519,101917,13871,92300,88598,105056],"class_list":["post-645716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motoring","tag-electric-car-charging","tag-electrical-contractors-association-of-south-africa-ecasa","tag-electrical-installation-regulations","tag-electricity2","tag-ev-chargers","tag-ev-charging","tag-residual-current-devices-rcds"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645716"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341042"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=645716"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":645894,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645716\/revisions\/645894"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/645798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=645716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=645716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=645716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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