Have you ever heard of a granny charger? In this article, we are going to explain the definition of "granny charger" and the safety problem of this kind of charger.

What is a granny charger?

The vast majority of electric cars will come with at least one charging cable, so make sure they are present if you're buying a used vehicle. A 'granny cable' is a colloquial term for the ICCB (In Cable Control Box) cable that should be supplied with the car.

There are two theories about the origins of the term 'granny charger'. The first theory is that 'granny' refers to the slow speed at which charging occurs when using this type of device. The second one is that this type of charger is used when you are visiting your elderly relatives and they don’t have a regular wall charger for you to charge your EV – leaving you with a simple wall outlet as the only choice.

Is it safe to use the granny charger?

It would seem easy to plug this into an outlet in your home, run an extension cable outside, and start powering up your EV for the roads. Unfortunately, the granny charger is not designed for that purpose. It's designed primarily for occasional use.  The power output is limited to around 2kW to prevent overloading the domestic circuits and using them constantly can put a strain on your wiring and fuseboard. The granny charger has always been intended by the manufacturer to provide an EV charging option when a conventional charging point is out of range.

When used properly and in line with the instructions given by the manufacturer, and as long as they aren't used with unsafe extension leads, then granny chargers are perfectly safe to use. If you are intending to charge using a granny, it’s crucial that an electrician checks to make sure your socket is up to the task.