The special 'top up' cable for the ZOE - My Renault ZOE electric car

ZOE Domestic Charging Cable (Image: Surya)

Today I received my ‘top up’ cable, or the granny charging cable as it is being called by some. Not only does this mean that yes, the cable does indeed exist, but it also means I have an extra charging option when I make my trip to the UK starting tomorrow.

In Belgium the cost was €737. Not cheap for a cable that you will use as little as possible, but especially not cheap if you consider that the cable is supposed to come standard with every ZOE in the future.

In the box you will find
– The cable with on one side the domestic socket, on the other side the Type 2 connector and in between a control unit with 3 indicator LEDs.
– An extra cable storage bag (identical to the one that comes with the car)
– An instruction manual in English, French, German and Spanish.

ZOE Domestic Charging Cable waiting to be unboxed (Image: Surya)

In the manual there are a lot of things they tell you to look at before using a socket, but of course on the road this will not always be possible. I hope the control unit is smart enough to detect problems and prevent damage, because I will not always be able to check the thickness of the cable the socket is attached to, or the kind of differential used among other things.

Complete ZOE Domestic Charging Cable (Image: Surya)

I also wish the control unit (or the car) had a way to control the amount of current drawn to prevent problems.

I have yet to test the cable, but there you have it: it exists, and if you want one, contact your Renault dealer, they might be able to help you out, just as mine was.

This topic contains 47 replies, has 16 voices, and was last updated by reboot 11 years, 5 months ago.

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July 1, 2014 at 17:12 #9117

Surya
Participant

@strangerover
Thanks a lot for the offer. I won’t be making it that far north on this trip as we only have a week to spend over here, but I hope to go back to the Lake District next time. I’ll let you know if I’m in the area 🙂

I didn’t bother with any other cards except the Ecotricity one. Mainly out of time constraint, but also because I felt I would need a lot of cards that I probably wouldn’t use and I might end up relying on chargers that might not actually be there or work. It seems Ecotricity is, pretty reliable and when you limit yourself to the area surrounding those you should have little problem.

I’ve encountered a number of other EV owners at chargers now (all Leaf owners, were are you ZOE owners?) and all of them where quite surprised to see someone from Belgium here, but I must say that it has, been less of a challenge than I expected. Very doable indeed. The other way around might be harder, allthough Belgium shouldn’t be too much of a problem for anyone with the Blue Corner (only AC 22kW though) and Ikea chargers… And the short distances.

July 5, 2014 at 11:00 #9128

Trevor Larkum
Keymaster

Surya, it was a pleasure to meet you and your wife on Wednesday. I hope the remainder of your trip went as well as it sounded like the first part did!

A couple of pics – two ZOEs together, and Surya’s new magic cable:

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July 6, 2014 at 09:05 #9139

Surya
Participant

We didn’t encounter any major problems. We had one more ‘circuit breaker’ error on a charger that was supposedly up and the next charger was reachable but it was a bit of a stretch. In the end we made it.

I must also say that having this cable on the trip and being able to charge to car over night on camp sites was very handy. In stead of having just enough charge to get back to the first Belgian charge point, we had plenty. I’d certainly recommend getting one of these if you plan on going camping!

July 7, 2014 at 07:38 #9144

Surya
Participant

Wops, I only responded to half your reply

Yes, it was great to meet you in real life. Sorry for keeping you from work for so long 🙂
Your glove box is indeed a sad thing.

July 7, 2014 at 21:44 #9146

Trevor Larkum
Keymaster

I’m glad you got home safely (and I’m sure we’re all looking forward to you writing up your adventure!).

July 10, 2014 at 10:21 #9174

Buzzar
Participant

Just purchased one of these for £390.
Lets see if it works 🙂

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251582478184?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

July 10, 2014 at 10:31 #9175

Surya
Participant

Cool, let us know if it does!

July 12, 2014 at 11:09 #9207

andyfras
Participant

Discounted to £360 until 14th July

http://nuworldenergy.co.uk/shop/product/portable-mode-2-evse-charger

July 24, 2014 at 20:35 #9284

squirejo
Participant

I have not yet got my expensive Granny cable to work despite using 3 different sockets and locations. Of course when the car went to the dealer to be looked at as a result of this, it worked just fine….at least that’s what they said.

I was amazed they did not / could not interrogate the car to find why charging had tripped and BCI come up (within 5 mins of starting charging – one 2 sockets it just goes straight to BCI)

July 25, 2014 at 06:35 #9289

Surya
Participant

That is strange. What do the lights on the cable indicate when you plug it in? Mine goes to ‘ready to charge’ in under a second.
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