In this review, I look at the QIAO Portable 3kW Type 2 EV Charger. You can buy this electric vehicle charger for £149.99 from Amazon UK – https://amzn.to/41TMg06, for $239.99 (with a coupon) from Amazon US – https://amzn.to/42p89Ev that features a replaceable plug.
TLDR: The Qiao portable EV charger is easy to use but has some limitations. Its 5.5-meter cable is flexible and sufficient for most needs, though longer cable options aren’t available. The plug is quite thick, which may cause issues with outdoor sockets. It offers adjustable current settings (6A-16A) and performed well in tests, delivering 2.7 kW (≈10 miles per hour) at 13A. However, its built-in timer is confusing, as it only delays charging start times but doesn’t allow scheduling a stop. IP65-rated for outdoor use, but weatherproof sockets are needed. Best suited for users who don’t rely on its timer and can work with the fixed cable length.
Charging my EV with the Qiao charger is simple. You first need to find a suitable plug socket that’s no longer than the 5.5 metres of cable length that is on the charger to reach your EV charging socket.
One issue I soon faced when using the Qiao charger was due to the thickness of its connected plug. My outdoor socket has a rubber seal around it, and the thickness of the plug kept pushing it away from making a good connection into the socket. So I had to find a more traditional indoor socket to plug into.
Once connected to the socket, the charger powers up and displays its selected current. Tapping the current button on the charger allowed me to alter the current used between 6,9,10,13, and even 16A if your socket can support it. The higher the current is set, the faster the charging speed. I tested the charger at 13A and I had no issues with my plug socket overheating. My car was receiving around 2.7 kW from the Qiao charger, which is roughly 10 miles of charging per hour to my 77 kWh battery.
I found the 5.5-meter cable more than suitable for my needs, but anyone seeking a much longer cable length may struggle with little to no options for extra lengths of cable from this brand. Its charging cable was fairly soft and not as rigid as some other portable charging cables I have tried, which makes it easy enough to loop the cable back up and stow it back into its rather oversized zippable carry bag.
The two mounting brackets that came with the charger will make it very easy to neatly mount the charger on a wall for easy storage and for regular use; however, I didn’t need to do this myself. I do like the latched plug socket, which helps secure the end of the charger nearly without any worry of falling out, and the angled top edge of its casing would easily help to stow the 5.5 metres of coiled cable away neatly also.
Charging my EV with the Qiao charger was easy. As long as you have scheduled charging in the car system or an energy supplier with a scheduling function in their app. Using a smart energy tariff such as Intelligent Octopus Go from Octopus Energy, you can schedule charging with the Qiao charger at cheap rate charging times. Otherwise, without this, you may have to rely on using this charger’s quite confusing built-in timer.
The charger’s built-in timer will only delay the start of charging, and it cannot be told when to stop the charge. So you can delay the start of charging until the start of an off-peak charging period, but without a way to set the charging length on the charger, you would have to make sure you’re up bright and early to stop it without being charged at peak-rate prices.
Due to its limited display of LED lights, I found setting the timer quite difficult to understand. I’m sure over time I would get used to it, but the way the timer is presented can be very confusing, even with their user manual in hand.
Each press of the timer button on the charger will light up an hour segment. Up to five hours are initially displayed on the display, and after five presses, it will start to build up an additional layer of lights to illustrate the extra hours being added. I found this design very confusing to set the timer beyond five hours. So in conclusion, I would recommend using the car or energy scheduled charging over the timer on this charger. This way, you can also schedule when to stop charging, which this charger should also be capable of doing.
This charger is IP65 rated, so I have no concerns when leaving this charger out in the rain; however, unless the home socket is weatherproof, its cable length and charging point location may limit your options during wet weather.
Overall, this portable EV charger from Qiao is a good way to charge your EV from a home wall socket or whilst away on holiday. Just as long as you’re not looking to rely on its timer function, and its 5.5 metre cable is sufficient for you. I liked its included and well-designed home mounting accessories, and I found its general build quality and performance of the charger itself were great too. If you can look over this charger’s limitations and confusing timer adjustment, this portable charger may be worth considering.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – Brief overview
0:34 – Unboxing
2:42 – How to use a portable EV charger
3:09 – Setting charging current
3.33 – Cable length
3:52 – Mounting accessories
4:12 – Scheduled charging
4:31 – Charging timer function
5:-15 – Durability & build quality
5:39 – My Final Impressions
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