Making Use of 3-Phase

[shovelhead]

Hello Electricians!

I have a 3 phase fuse board in my home with only one of the phases being used to power the house. I would like make use of all three phases so that I can get a 22kw EV charger installed at home.

My question is, where do I start?
I have phone the DNO (Western Power) to ask, but they just sent me a brochure of how to notify them when I get an EV charger installed.
I have phoned my supplier Bulb, as I presume that it would be bulb that need to take all three "tails" off of the fuse board to a three-phase metre, but the person on the phone said "three phase installs are on pause at the moment" and didn't say when they'd be available again.
I have phoned a couple of EV install companies but they didn't seem particularly confident in advising how I go from the house being single phase to three phase being available to attach to an EV channel (presumably via a three phase consumer unit).

Who I'd need to deal with first, my thoughts are it would be my supplier, as they would own between the fuse board and the metre, right?

Thanks for taking the time and for any advice you can give!

 

[JohnW2]

I have a 3 phase fuse board in my home with only one of the phases being used to power the house. I would like make use of all three phases so that I can get a 22kw EV charger installed at home.

You have a 3-phase service head/'cutout', but are you certain that all three phases are present within it? Has it ever (to your knowledge) been used as a 3-phase supply?

I have phoned my supplier Bulb, as I presume that it would be bulb that need to take all three "tails" off of the fuse board to a three-phase metre, but the person on the phone said "three phase installs are on pause at the moment" and didn't say when they'd be available again.

Only a supplier could/would install a 3-phase meter - so I fear you'll either have to wait until Bulb can do it or else switch to a different supplier. You'll probably also need an electrician to connect the 3-phase output of the meter to something.

Kind Regards, John

 

[sparkwright]

As said, you may not have three phase there at all, seems unlikely.

Do you live in a detached house, or is it a semi or terrace?

Where exactly is your meter?

I see the tails appear to go through the wall.

Send more pics please.

 

[flameport]

. I would like make use of all three phases so that I can get a 22kw EV charger installed at home.

Before getting involved in what is likely to become an expensive and time consuming effort:

do you actually need a 22kW EV charge facility
do you have or are you going to obtain an electric vehicle which can make use of it (the majority of electric cars cannot)

 

[shovelhead]

Hey, really appreciate your replies guys.

I have contacted an electrician who is going to come out Monday and take a look. He also mentioned the other two may just be blank. There is no evidence of it ever previously being three phase - I was ignorant of that being possible.

Probably just like your average punter, I am going to get an electric vehicle, looked into chargers and read difference between 7kw and 22kw, looked at what a three phase supply would look like and figured I'd start asking questions. I'd love a 22kw charger if it was possible to run a couple of extra leads off of the fuse board (which prior to info of them maybe being blank I thought it would be), but of course it's actually going to require replacing loads of infrastructure, ground work and tens of thousands of pounds worth of work I fully agree it is 100% not worth it.

In all honesty, I just thought it would be pretty cool if it wasn't a massive hassle. I figured at first it was 3 phase because of the three fuse plugs (though two of them are blanks) and the big fat cable running into the bottom.

Edit: Sorry also, it's a large 4 bed semi-detached, circa 1930's. Metre & consumer unit is single phase off the lead you see and they sit the other side of the wall past the pink foam in the garage.

 

[flameport]

Very few electric vehicles can use 3 phase. Any electric vehicle can connect to a 3 phase AC supply, but most will just use one phase, and charge at about 7kW, just as if it was a single phase supply.

If the 3 phase supply exists at the property, it will need to be confirmed (via the DNO) that there are actually fuses in the fuse holders for the other 2 phases, and that all 3 phases are actually suitable for use.
If they are, the electricity supplier will need to fit a 3 phase meter.
You will also need a 3 phase distribution board installing, which are significantly more expensive compared to a domestic consumer unit.

 

[ericmark]

We have a 22 kW charging point at work, but it seems only the Tesla draws the full 22 kW, most the other can only charge at 7 kW with an AC supply, as they only use one phase, it does seem to be a problem, people put their cars on charge and go for a train ride for an hour, and expect it to charge 3 times faster than at home, but no the car only uses one phase, so they then go for food to give it a little longer, this causes the two charging points to be over subscribed and people can't charge their car as the car before them is accepting the charge so slowly.