"Green'Up: Enhanced charging for electric cars - Everything you need to know!"

An economical alternative to the Wallbox is the Green'Up socket, which increases the charging capacity of an electric vehicle on a domestic socket.

The Green'Up Legrand socket was introduced in 2014 to offer a home charging solution between the standard household socket and the Wallbox. It looks like a regular household outlet, but it's reinforced and capable of handling higher power.

To operate at full power, the socket requires the use of an occasional charging cable compatible with this system. This makes it possible to offer a recharging system on a domestic socket offering an acceptable yield.

When the first Zoé was launched in 2013, no home socket charging solution was included as standard. However, it was possible to do so using third-party hardware such as the Maxicharger or the Minicharger, available on our partner Mister-EV's online store.

What benefits can be drawn from using the Green'Up plug?

Charging time can be halved compared to a household outlet, making it an economical charging solution. Moreover, it is easy to install and use.

What are the disadvantages of using the Green'Up socket?

A compatible charging cable is required, but is not included with the car. If you use your electric vehicle frequently, the charging time remains quite long.

How does the Green'Up plug work?

The Green'UP socket offers the possibility of slow charging up to 3.2 kW using single-phase alternating current under a maximum of 16 A. Unlike a conventional household socket used to charge a car, which is limited to 2 .3 kW and a maximum current of 10 A. Although the mention of 16 A may seem to indicate a higher capacity, it really refers to the current that the outlet can withstand for short periods of time.

In order to achieve this level of performance while maintaining the dimensions of the socket and remaining compatible with conventional sockets, several steps were necessary:

1. Improved conductivity of the materials used.
2. Addition of a system allowing the socket to be identified by the charging cable, in order to avoid the risk of charging at too high a power on a conventional socket.

To improve conductivity, the contacts of the socket have been treated with silver, which gives them a distinctive shiny appearance compared to those of a conventional socket. The detection system consists of a simple magnet integrated into the Green'UP wall socket, which will be detected by the compatible charging cable.

In summary, for the Green'UP system to work fully, it is necessary to have both a Green'UP wall socket and a charging cable compatible with this system. Not all cables supplied by manufacturers are compatible. If one of these two conditions is not met, charging will take place at a power of 2.3 kW, similar to that of a conventional household socket.

The initial configuration of the electrical installation provided by the manufacturer is designed to allow for later improvements. The circuit breaker and the cables are dimensioned to support a maximum load of 3.7 kW or 16A at 230 volts. Consequently, the Green'UP socket can be replaced by a wallbox capable of maintaining this power continuously.

How long does it take to charge an electric car using a Green'Up socket?

Since the Green'Up socket offers more power than a household socket, it considerably reduces the charging time of electric and hybrid vehicles. In other words, compared to a household socket, the charging time is cut in half.

Here is a table illustrating an example of charging time - from 10 to 100% - of a Renault Zoé equipped with a 52 kWh battery.

How much does the Green'Up plug cost?

According to Legrand's website, the Green'Up socket is available from around €300 excluding tax in a pack with the circuit breaker. On other sites such as Mister EV, the pack is offered at €200. It is recommended that the product be installed by a qualified professional.

Attention ! The pack does not include the Green'Up charging cable, which is essential to take full advantage of the charging power. However, finding this cable can be difficult if it is not included with your car. This is why some opt for other solutions, such as the use of a charging station.

Are Green'Up sockets available for public charging? The Green'Up system is not widely used in public charging infrastructures. Moreover, it is difficult to identify it because there are few distinctive elements between a Green'Up socket and a classic socket, in particular when it is integrated into a terminal. The Green'Up system remains mainly designed for private installation.