Installed a 11kW home charger for the Mahindra XEV 9e: My experience

The installer was very knowledgeable and also found a missing ground to my existing DB and added it. He also gave tips on the importance of a good ground

BHPian driver641 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Today, Mahindra EV charger team visited our place for installing the charger's DB.
Few days back they had visited and checked the feasibility for installation and based on my current max demand, they recommended me to upgrade my EB line's max load by +5kW, which I did.

Below is a summary of my experience today:

• Mahindra is becoming more systematic, my sales guy was saying, every process is in email, and true to that, I also got email notifications when the charger installation site survey got completed.
• Mahindra had assigned their Mahindra Powerol team for the charger installations. This is the same team that had done installations for XUV 400 and hence they were experienced and knowledgeable. The team also had done the charger installations in the showroom and were already experienced in the XEV's charger setup.
• The charger installation is not as simple as it was for my Ather scooter. The team ensured that the diameter of the incoming power line, those of the cable coming out of the EB meter to my mains were all right sized. In my place the incoming cable was Aluminium 25 and the cable to my main was Copper 10. The installer said Copper 5 is the minumum needed and luckily the supply cable to our house were all well spec'd.
• The 11kW charger is 3 phase charger and hence the existing cables share 16A each and is relatively easier on the power line. They mentioned the 7kW charger is a single phase, and since all the current flows through one cable, single phase chargers need the incoming cables to be of large dia, and in many cases it might need rework from the EB itself. Long story short, if you have a 3 phase line it's better to go with the 11kW charger.
• Today, they only installed the Distribution Box - the actual charger will come with the car and they will install it at the time of delivery. The DB installation is what takes more time so they had visited much ahead to ensure there are no delays.
• The quality of the distribution box components were good - it had Surge protection, MCB and RCB. All switchgear were of good quality (from L&T I think). The DB also had a hybrid 16A and 5A socket. They suggested to use the DB even when say using the portable 5A charger because of the protective switchgear. Also, since the DB is directly connected to the mains, the rest of the home circuit and the EV's circuit are distinct.
• Interestingly the the power socket alone was of an unknown brand (Vinay) and the installer explained why they have gone with that. It's common for switches to overheat and melt and personally I have seen this with my Geyser switches at home even if they are from a good brand. Mahindra has tested this switch for 500+ iterations and hence have gone for this particular model as it's heavy duty.
• The installer was very knowledgeable and also found a missing ground to my existing DB and added it. He also gave tips on the importance of a good ground and mentioned that the EV charger won't work if the ground is not working. He also gave ground maintenance tips that I was not aware of - he said the ground should be moist and we can occasionally add rock salt to retain the moisture. He also explained how to keep an eye on surge protector and check if it needs replacement.
• Mahindra have explicitly instructed the installers to not use insulation tapes, but use sleeves that can be heated and fused together. Overall the setup was very professional. I am not sure if other manufacturers also have these standard practices, but Mahindra had put in process to ensure the setup is done right. The installer had to take pictures at multiple steps to ensure the standard is met, They also checked the voltage across phase-to-phase, phase-to-neutral, and ground were all good and uploaded those pictures. They also ensure there are no loose contacts as that's the number #1 enemy for electrical issues.
• The cabling was also done as neat as possible, they used spirit levels and clamps to ensure the cabling is neat. Usually they use a black pipe, but requested them to use a PVC pipe so that I can paint it. They suggested that's not the best practice, but still for my sake went with using PVC piping.

I know it's a long story just for the DB installation, but overall experience was good, and also I think there is some sense in why they insist using their own chargers for longer life - because they can ensure they do the right setup.

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