Everything you want to know about the NRGkick

Frequently asked questions

Answers to the most frequently asked questions about the NRGkick, safety, charging power, OCPP, taxation and more. Can’t find your answer? Feel free to contact us.

The difference with …

When it comes to charging electric cars, you have plenty of choice: a mobile charging unit, a permanent charging station, a public charging point, or a private wallbox. What exactly are the differences?

Mobile charging unit

Isn’t installed permanently, but simply plugged into a socket. With a capacity of up to 22 kW, but with the added benefit that you can unplug it and take it with you — on a trip, to the office, or to any socket along the way.

Permanent charging stations

The charging cable is permanently built into the station. After authorisation (for example with a customer card), charging can begin.

Public charging point

Publicly accessible, but without a fixed charging cable. Usually only Type 2 connectors — you bring your own charging cable, which isn’t included as standard with every car.

Private wallbox

Permanent wall-mounted charging station, with charging power up to 22 kW. Often a low purchase price, but requires its own residual-current protection and a costly installation. Not portable.

Smart Attachments: which one do you need?

Not sure which Smart Attachment you need in combination with the NRGkick? Below is an overview of the types.

Type 32A – 5-pole 32A – 3-pole 16A – 5-pole 16A – 3-pole 230V Schuko
Phases 3 1 3 1 1
Max. charging current 32A 32A 16A 16A 13A
Max. charging power 22 kW 7.4 kW 11 kW 3.7 kW 3 kW

In practice: tested on 5 cars

The NRGkick isn’t just a speed monster on paper: the results below show the fastest charging time per car (with the best-fitting Smart Attachment) compared to a regular emergency charger.

Car Battery On-board charger Fastest charging time Time saved
Tesla Model 3 Standard 50 kWh 3-phase, 11 kW 4.5 h 17 h
Renault Zoe R135 52 kWh 3-phase, 22 kW 2.3 h 20.2 h
e-Golf (2018) 31.5 kWh 2-phase, 7.2 kW 4.4 h 9.1 h
Peugeot e-208 54.3 kWh 3-phase, 11 kW 5 h 18.5 h
Nissan Leaf e+ 62 kWh 1-phase, 6.6 kW 9.4 h 17.6 h

All frequently asked questions

Grouped by topic — click a question to see the answer.

General

When building a new home, we recommend installing a 3-phase connection in the meter cupboard. Many new electric cars can charge 3-phase, letting you charge much faster. Check with your contractor before building whether this is possible.

To avoid communication errors, you should always first unplug the NRGkick from the car before removing it from the socket. A recent update has resolved this issue.

Every NRGkick has a contact button that lets us read out your device remotely. This allows us to analyse a potential fault in advance. In fact, we’ve rarely had to use this feature in the past!

The NRGkick mobile charging cable can remember up to 100 charging sessions. However, due to the lack of GPS/SIM functionality, the WiFi version doesn’t attach a location to these.

You choose between the NRGkick 32A — WiFi & Bluetooth (standard) or the NRGkick 32A — WiFi, Bluetooth & SIM/GPS. Both are almost identical in terms of hardware and function; the difference lies in how charging data is sent to the Cloud.

WiFi: the standard cable sends via WiFi and doesn’t use geolocation, but does remember up to 10 WiFi networks, so you can still tell, to some extent, when and where you charged.

GPS/SIM: this version doesn’t connect via WiFi and determines the charging location exactly via geolocation, making your reports more complete. On purchase, SIM costs are included for 2 years; after that, a subscription price applies.

Yes. Our NRGkick charging cable is thermally protected at every socket: as soon as the pins get too hot, the cable automatically switches off to protect the socket.

OCPP & business

Check whether you’ve (accidentally) activated the OCPP function. If you want to use that function, you need an active membership with the configured OCPP network. If that’s not the case, charging will start but will stop again after a few seconds. So check whether the OCPP function is activated, whether you want to use it, and whether you have valid login details/membership.

Reimbursement can be handled in two ways. Method 1: via the automatically generated charge reports from the NRGkick, which you retrieve and forward yourself via the app, or automate so you receive a monthly/weekly report. Method 2: via OCPP 1.6, where a third-party company such as Mobiflow, LMS or Newmotion handles the reimbursement for you once you’ve linked the CPO (Charge Point Operator) account in the app.

NRGkick 32A — WiFi & Bluetooth: the employee ensures a stable WiFi signal at the charging location and marks this network in the app as a private charge point. Every time the cable is plugged in, it connects automatically and records the charging session. The NRGkick remembers up to 10 different WiFi networks.

NRGkick 32A — WiFi, Bluetooth & SIM/GPS: this version remembers the exact location of every charging session via GPS, and is fully suited to use with OCPP services. WiFi connection remains optionally possible, but is usually not needed.

This legislation is still very much under development and there is currently no concrete decision. EV-quip maintains close contact with the relevant authorities and we hope to be able to provide clear advice on this in a timely manner.

Technical

Upgrading is adapting your energy connection from single-phase to three-phase. With single-phase, current flows through one wire, with three-phase through three wires — which increases charging power and therefore charging speed. Check whether your car can charge 3-phase and whether your home connection is single-phase or 3-phase. Do you have a single-phase connection but a 3-phase capable car? Then you can choose to have your meter cupboard upgraded.

When installing the NRGkick, you provide a cable between the meter cupboard and the power point to which you connect the NRGkick. Residual-current protection is already built into the cable itself and therefore doesn’t need to be installed separately.

For all models: the NRGkick only receives updates via a WiFi connection, never via mobile data (SIM card). So connect your NRGkick to your WiFi network to always stay up to date and have access to all new features.

The NRGkick connects directly to your solar panel inverter via the available WiFi network. Several major brands are already supported; if in doubt, it’s best to contact our product experts. With future updates, more and more inverters will be supported. For more details, see our solar charging page.

Ordering

Don’t worry: we may still have extra stock in our warehouse. Please always contact us by phone or email about this. The average delivery time for the NRGkick is around 8 weeks due to global supply chain disruptions — but our own stock is usually substantial!

Yes, custom branding is possible from a certain minimum order quantity: a custom logo on the housing from 500 pieces, a custom cable colour (standard blue) from 2,500 pieces, and personalised packaging from 500 pieces. Get in touch to discuss the extra cost for personalisation.

First check your spam or junk email folder. Not there either? Call or email us and we’ll send you a copy of your order. In most cases email delivery runs smoothly, but should an email go missing, we simply resolve this manually for you.

You don’t need a smart meter to charge at home, although a smart meter does offer some advantages. Don’t have one yet? We recommend requesting one from your grid operator — in most cases this is free.