Welcome to our dedicated FAQ page
Home Charging
LESS EXPENSIVE Charging your EV at home is cheaper than charging at public charging stations. Providers can offer specific off-peak rates that are significantly lower than the standard rates offered during peak hours when demand for power supply is higher.
CONVENIENT With a Ratio charger you can control and monitor your charging process through its smartphone app. Having an EV home charger is convenient, as there is less reliance on public charging stations, where there is an increased risk of charging spots being occupied by other drivers or out of order.
Yes, the io6 can communicate with the company’s main site management platform allowing the business to view charging activity and keep track of costs and energy usage.
No, it is protected via the Ratio app. The app enables installers to commission the charger and provides end users comprehensive insights into their charger’s performance, charging history, and the EVs that have utilised the charger. It also prevents use by unauthorised parties and the ability to configure charging times each day, harness solar power for charging and the option to quickly override the timed charging sessions to instigate a quick top up when required.
EV Charging FAQs
A tethered EV charger cable is permanently attached to your charging unit whereas an untethered charger cable is kept loose and needs to be connected to the charging unit and the car to complete a charge. Ultimately, the best charger for depends on the individual preferences, requirements, and charging habits.
Slow
3 pin plug, up to a 16A commando (camping) socket. Max 3.7kWh, full charges an EV in circa 24 hours. Typically used as a failsafe for an EV driver just-in-case.
Fast Destination Charging
Ratio’s core marketplace. Single and three-phase, up to 32A (7.4kW and 22kW).
Rapid/Ultra Rapid
DC energy starting from 40kW to 350kW. Main use-case would be motorway services etc. when you need a charge in 20 minutes whilst getting a coffee.
EV load management is the ability to control how much energy an EV charger dispenses to a vehicle; controlling when electricity is used, where it goes and how much goes to each vehicle.
Load management ensures that each vehicle is charged as much as possible, without threatening the electricity grid, building infrastructure or risking high demand charges, by specifically addressing the even distribution of electrical loads within the power distribution system to maintain stability and prevent issues related to imbalances.
Static load management involves the installation of EV charging equipment on a dedicated power supply that has a known fixed power capacity. The EV chargers are designed to effectively manage this power supply by evenly distributing the load between them as more sockets are utilised. This can be done at Cloud level (using back-office software) or locally to the chargers using the Ratio Sense.
For example, a site that has 22kW available in total and 4 sockets; each charge point will receive the maximum power available i.e. 5.5kW for 4 vehicles, 7.3kW for three vehicles, 11kW for two vehicles.
Dynamic load management monitors the building’s energy supply and usage, calculating the power available and distributing it equally to the EV charger installation. As the building power consumption increases (heavy machinery being switched on or off for example), the additional dynamic load management hardware will increase or decrease the power available to the EV charger installation.
OZEV stands for the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles. It was previously known as OLEV the Office for Low Emission Vehicles. To be approved by OZEV for installation, all chargepoints must meet a minimum set of technical requirements.
There are various government OZEV grants for charging available, designed to encourage the uptake of EVs and to help businesses with the upfront costs associated with installing charge point equipment, as well as the infrastructure needed.
- Workplace Charging Scheme
- Chargepoint Grant for Renters or Flat Owners
- Chargepoint and Infrastructure Grants for Landlords
- Infrastructure Grant for Staff and Fleet Carparks
There are also government funds set up for councils with a pool of money set aside to enable councils to install chargers for public use either on-street or in charging hubs for example. Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) funding and On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) grants. These funds and grants will rely on the Charge Point Operator, often either a large business or being backed by investment, to fund a significant proportion of the installation (regularly up to 60%).
There are various government OZEV grants for workplace charging available
OCPP (Open Charge Point Protocol) is an open-source communication protocol that standardises the communication between EV charge points (CP) and charge point management systems (CPMS).
RFID stands for radio frequency identification. An RFID card lets you start a charge at a public charging point by tapping your card against a reader. The card contains unique data that is transmitted to the charging station, allowing it to identify the user and initiate the charging process.
Ratio utilises an innovative electric vehicle charge point management software, known as Fuuse, which allows for a flexible workplace EV charging platform. This system allows the business owner to decide whether to keep their charge points private for employees, or to be discoverable by members of the public. Fuuse offers multi-tariff options which means you can charge different rates for various user groups – for example, you may wish to offer EV charging to employees at no cost, whereas customers and visitors can be charged for their usage which will open a brand new revenue stream for the business.
Commercial installations may require 4G connectivity to keep the charger installation away from the building Wi-Fi network.
Ratio for Business FAQs
Ratio ticked all these boxes and more
At Garage Play we turn tired and run-down garages into a genuine new space for the home, this could be a gym, an office, or simply a neater, nicer garage space. As part of our offering we wanted to supply EV charging equipment, but we need it to be smart enough to cope with differing power availability and solar interoperability, reliable and robust enough to cope with everyday living, plus good looking to fit in with our total proposition. Ratio ticked all these boxes and more!
Malcolm Stapleton
Garage Play
Ratio provide us with the back-up and support to give us the confidence to install these solutions
We have been working with Ratio for a couple of months now promoting and installing their domestic chargers to our customer base. Customer satisfaction is vital to our business as word-of-mouth and repeat business is an important part of our overall marketing plan. Ratio provide us with the back-up and support to give us the confidence to install these solutions. I would happily recommend Ratio to any business looking for a reliable partner.
Ben Smyth
Director EV PowerPoint
The guys at Ratio give us the tools and support we need
We are looking to grow the EV side of our business for both domestic and commercial installations. The guys at Ratio give us the tools and support we need from one manufacturer to provide a leading solution for our customers in both these markets.
Ross Shore
RSS Electrical