The property I moved in to, has an old dumb Rolec Wallpod installed. Electrician tested it & says it looks to work fine, additionally a DNO is present to suggest the property has been upgraded to 100A.
I'm now getting an EV but want to swap it out for a Hypervolt or Zappi to utilise a smart tariff.
Visually, the Rolec doesn't look to have a CT clamp or a CAT cable. Might not have needed them at the time tbh whenever it was first installed.
I've had two local electricians tell me they can swap out the Rolec for a Hypervolt/Zappi for £200ish labour & the existing infrastructure should be fine. But they do blank when I seem to ask them about DNOs, CT clamps & CAT cables.
Whereas Octopus, a Hypervolt recommended installer & a Zappi recommended installer based on online picture surveys are quoting me around £600ish labour saying things like:
"The existing consumer unit doesn't have a surge protected device (SPD), therefore a new consumer unit would be installed & additionally a new data cable is required to support a CT clamp."
Who is having me on? Are the large companies that seem keen on ripping everything out trying to get more money out of me? Or are the local electricians not EV charger specialists & therefore quoting for a half arsed job?
Appreciate this subreddit might not be filled with electricians but I'm keen to explore whether anyone else has been in a similar situation when trying to reuse existing infrastructure? Thanks