Pod-Point info?

[Tipper]

I've picked up a used UK home 'Pod-Point' for use with my PHEV. It's rated at 3.7 kW so should give faster charging than the standard cable and has the correct tethered cable and plug for the car. I will get my electrician to install it outside on a wall near the car. All fine thus far.

I took the cover off to check out the fixings, etc and find it has a circuit board that includes a SIM card to communicate with someone? Pod-Point or power company?

Can anyone advise what the Pod-Point set up is and how it works? Can I run it without the SIM card or does it need cell phone communication to work? If so I live in a near dead cell phone area (in the shadow of a big hill even with the cell mast on the top!) so it may not work anyway!

Can anyone advise?

 

[maby]

I'm pretty sure it will run without the SIM card. It tries to send usage data back to a central server which provides MI reports for the government and this was a requirement if you were going to receive the government subsidy on charging point installation. I guess it's debateable whether or not the previous owner had the right to sell it to you - the government could claim that they paid most of the cost of it. Probably best to remove the SIM and thus block the feedback to the servers that might trigger some embarrassing questions!

 

[jthspace]

When mine was fitted, I was told the SIM card reported back to the Government to ascertain how many people were using the charger / when they were using it etc. to see if the subsidiary was worth the effort.

Jeff