Which charging cable is recommended for my Volvo XC90?

Question

Hello, since I am one of the lucky ones who ordered their car before corona crisis, my XC 90 will be delivered at the end of April / beginning of May. I ordered a Type II charging cable from the factory, but I also need one for at home. Then I will probably choose a Schuko plug charging cable, because it is simply more convenient and variable. Alternatively, I would also have the option of using a "high-voltage socket", but do not know whether my car can handle so much charge.

Since I have already searched for various manufacturers on the Internet, the price difference seems clear to me. A Mennekes cable costs three times as much as eg. a Duosida cable.

Hence my question to the experienced of you. Is the markup justified?

Thank you for an answer.

Answer 1

A cable alone is not sufficient for a power socket (16A or 32A). You need either a wallbox or a mobile charging station (e.g. NRGkick, Juice Booster, Go-echarger) for charging with a Type 2 plug for your car. In short, you need more than one cable between the power socket and the charging socket on the car. You should also inform yourself about how much power and how many phases your vehicle can charge. With a PHEV like the Volvo, the charging from the safety socket should be enough.

Answer 2

This is either a CEE blue (1p, 16A) camping socket or what I imagine with "Starkstrom": a CEE red 16A (3p, 16A). The even stronger ones: CEE red 32A (3p, 32A) are rare in garages, they would be a little bigger in diameter.

And measure out how far your sockets (Schuko and also the "heavy current") are from the place where the vehicle will then be in its preferred parking position. Because you also need the right cable length for an ICCB (In-Cable Control Box), because it must not be extended with extension cables.

Where would the cable run long? Would it bother people or would it be a trip or security risk?

And how many people have access to your car when it is charging in the stall? Is this a public area (where ICCB charging cables are often stolen or damaged) or is it completely private?

Also: which electricity meter circuit are the sockets connected to? So both the safety socket and the power socket? The interaction is important here, whether it is a private home or just a home ownership community.

Also: is your car driving business or private? For commercial or business purposes you want to somehow have your electricity costs paid again or tax deductible. And then you should be able to separate your kWh for the car well and be able to count reliably.

Also: who should be able to charge everything there at home using the charging solution?

Do you want or need to prevent others from stealing electricity at your charging point?

How long will you have the car. Do you want to be able to use the ICCB on the following car too?

What is more important to you? 3h charging time instead of 4.5 hours charging time? Or would you prefer lower investments in the charging solution?

Do you want some form of charge monitoring / control? So for example via WLAN or Bluetooth?

Do you want cheap night electricity from a 2-tariff contract?

Do you still have stuff like photovoltaics and want intelligent charging?

Do you need load management, where, for example, 6 cars will share a 22kW uplink in an underground garage in the future? So that the others do not complain that you have withheld the charging solution.

The whole thing now looks systematically:

The XC90 PHEV has an on-board AC charger with up to 3.7 kW: one phase, 230V, up to 16A.

The XC90 PHEV model year 2020 has a battery of approx. 11.6 kWh gross, of which approx. 8-9 kWh can be used. With charging losses, approx. 10 kWh must be recharged when the PHEV battery is empty.

Volvo itself lists:

Volvo XC90 accessories charging cable

Mennekes ICCB with Schuko plug (Mode 2)

Volvo 32208596 8 meters, max. 10 A - EUR 371.77 gross

Volvo 32208595 4.5 meters, max. 10 A - EUR 337.86 gross

Mennekes ICCB with CEE-blue 16A plug (Mode 2)

Volvo 32208594 8 meters, max. 16 A - EUR 371.77 gross

Volvo 32208593 4.5 meters, max. 16 A - EUR 337.86 gross

The prices at the back are gross retail prices from AMB-Trade. The Volvo dealer should say something similar. Unless he turned up the factors in his billing. Then he likes to ask for moon prices. Especially if someone has ordered an XC90 T8. :-)

What is interesting is your savory roll mentality: a car will be procured for EUR 84,000 (!) Plus special equipment. But the charging solution from Mennekes for around 400 EUR is estimated to be three times more expensive than a Duosida from China.

What are your basic options at home:

1) Don't charge at home. You do not want to. I think it's good. But it would be an option if, for example, the other people are stressed or if your electricity costs are not clearly allocable and then go to an operating cost electricity bill for the house because the power socket would go to a house meter.

2a) An ICCB with a fixed Schuko plug on a Schukodose. Then find out the length and get the thing from Volvo.

2b) An ICCB with fixed CEE blue 16A to CEE blue 16A. Then find out the length and get the thing from Volvo.

3) An ICCB with fixed CEE red / 16A on a socket CEE red / 16A. Since Volvo has nothing. Alternatives were named: nrgKick, JoiceBooster, go-e Charger.

4) The installation of a wall box at home.

4a) A wallbox without a cable and then with the Type2 to Type2 cable that is already included in the car.

Or with a second cable, then one can keep in the car and other at home.

4b) A wall box with a fixed type 2 cable.

Please answer the questions, then we will continue.

Answer 3

Your vehicle takes what is possible, which means a high-voltage socket can only deliver 2A on one phase (approx. 0.5 kW). In other words, an outlet can never be too strong for the consumer. At most too weak, which leads to the second point. The normal socket or the supply line if, for example, old or long or in parallel with other electronics could be too weak if a vehicle draws maximum current for hours.

If a mobile solution charging solution on a Schuko socket, make sure that the charging current can be limited to 10, 8 or 6 A. Charging takes a correspondingly long time, of course. With 8A charging current, for example, approx. 6 hours per 10 kW.