Best Smart Charger for Home

[Bootneckshuffl]

Got a tethered Zappi here.

if you don’t mind me asking, did you get your Zappi direct from MyEnergi and also do you have to purchase the Hub with it too?

 

[beansnchips]

Anyone use the Ohme? That was going to be my favourite as I like having the charger holder in a different location to the actual charging unit. Was going to mount the holder on a post in the ground.

 

[Chanser]

if you don’t mind me asking, did you get your Zappi direct from MyEnergi and also do you have to purchase the Hub with it too?

Third party Installer bought the Zappi. You don't need a hub to run it, but you should get one for OLEV grant and receive firmware updates.

 

[ukevowner]

8 months old and no issues.

More I had it installed in April 2018!
My wife had a Hybrid, Plug in.
We used it for that now it’s on the Etron.
So can honestly say In over 2 years so problems at all. That’s an untethered unit, with a cable left plugged in since day one too.

 

[chamsters]

Anyone try project Eva or ohme? Lots cheaper then zappi and integrate with octopus agile tariffs

 

[ukevowner]

Rolec - Smart, unobtrusive, good value using grant. The installer was excellent. Using it in combination with the ev.energy app and the Tesla and so far all working well. Untethered with a 10M lead. Added the Karcher cable/hose holder on top for £12 with an evonestop.co.uk charge gun holster riveted to the cable holder, also £12. Holder and cable can be removed if on hols.

I do like the Karcher hack, nice touch. I just wrap fine round the unit=, seems to work for me.
RE: The gun holster, can you leave the cap on the gun (the one that comes attached to the cable)?

 

[Sphinxhunter]

Anyone know if they have gone with any large or small companies - are they charged VAT?

got a quote from a local installer for the Ohme Charger and he is charging £550+Vat (£660!)
Is this normal?
I've been on the Ohme website and they are stating £500 but no mention of VAT.
Happy to go with the local installer if Ohme also charge VAT.

 

[geordie12]

I shopped around a little and looked at EO, Podpoint and Rolec. Podpoint came out cheapest at £550 (direct from them, from a local agent it was about £400 more), Rolec was about £200 more and the Eo one came in about £300 more

 

[Jason71]

I shopped around a little and looked at EO, Podpoint and Rolec. Podpoint came out cheapest at £550 (direct from them, from a local agent it was about £400 more), Rolec was about £200 more and the Eo one came in about £300 more

I guess it depends where you are. I had a Teathered Rolec for £400 after grant. That was last year though before grant went down

 

[mrobins64495]

I shopped around a little and looked at EO, Podpoint and Rolec. Podpoint came out cheapest at £550 (direct from them, from a local agent it was about £400 more), Rolec was about £200 more and the Eo one came in about £300 more

yeah was going to say, Rolec should be the cheapest.

 

[geordie12]

yeah was going to say, Rolec should be the cheapest.

Agreed, this was what I was expecting and planned to go with the Rolec....but the quotes were different enough it was worth just going with the Podpoint.

 

[dan223]

I got an EO mini pro (tethered) from a local company. Personally I would suggest avoiding pod-point, when i enquired with them twice they didn't even have the decency to reply, they grew too fast and sales/after service is affected because of that. Plus I also did a bit of googling and there are some pretty horrific and in some cases illegal installs, and quite a lot of the time you see posts online about them not charging at the right speed because the installer hasn't adjusted the switch inside (though i see the same for tesla ones to). While the unit is OK (although quite big and a bit ugly), some of the installers they use are not, and while they are technically smart, the app lacks basic "smart" features such as time of charging, and apparently the usage info is buggy to. EO are UK built and have great customer service, alongside my local installer recommended it. Zappi is good if you have solar, but from what I have seen the tech side of the company is very amateur, they had a power outage in there office a while back which brought down there servers (shouldn't be hosting it in an office..) then it seems they moved them to a datacenter which also had a power outage (which potentially suggests a cheap datacenter with little to no redundancy) and this caused issues with there server and they were down for a while I believe. However the charge point itself seems reliable. Rolec seems to get a bad name as there were some issues in earlier models. I believe the newer models are better now, the plus side with them is they use ready available parts and if something goes wrong with it out of warranty it is fairly easy for a sparky to replace a component in it.

 

[Jason71]

I don't understand why so many people go to the manufacturers of the charger for installation?
If I wanted an electric shower I would not be asking Triton to install it. Same with pretty much any piece of domestic electrical equipment.
As far as I can see most of them just send the lowest bidding subcontractor at a high fixed price to you (unless your installation turns out to be tricky then they up it to an even higher price).
Just seems like a rather pricey lottery.
Surely a local firm of electricians (OLEV approved) who will come around and give a taylored ( individually negotiable) price is likely to be better in most cases irrespective of the brand chosen.

 

[Sphinxhunter]

Anyone know about the VAT?
Will all companies charge VAT on top?

 

[dan223]

Anyone know about the VAT?
Will all companies charge VAT on top?

There will be VAT applicable, normally when companies provide quote to consumers they will include VAT within the price.

 

[Sphinxhunter]

There will be VAT applicable, normally when companies provide quote to consumers they will include VAT within the price.

Thanks Dan
So £660 inclusive of VAT is expensive for a Type 2 Tethered Ohme black home charger?

 

[geordie12]

I don't understand why so many people go to the manufacturers of the charger for installation?
If I wanted an electric shower I would not be asking Triton to install it. Same with pretty much any piece of domestic electrical equipment.
As far as I can see most of them just send the lowest bidding subcontractor at a high fixed price to you (unless your installation turns out to be tricky then they up it to an even higher price).
Just seems like a rather pricey lottery.
Surely a local firm of electricians (OLEV approved) who will come around and give a taylored ( individually negotiable) price is likely to be better in most cases irrespective of the brand chosen.

I assumed that too, so when I was looking for prices I went to a local authorized PodPoint installer, they wanted over double the cost of going to PodPoint directly.

 

[darkNstormy]

Anyone use the Ohme? That was going to be my favourite as I like having the charger holder in a different location to the actual charging unit. Was going to mount the holder on a post in the ground.

Yes, has worked very well. I don't know about how seamless it works with Octopus Agile as my smart meter installation is tomorrow and then it's likely it will take a few days for Octopus to pick up readings from it. I've read other postings from people who have said it works great with Agile for charging at the cheapest times.

 

[FlyingTimbo]

Pod Point coming to install on Friday. They've been very good to deal with and seem very 'correct' with the Covid rules.

 

[Medved_77]

I'd like to vouch for PodPoint too.

Communication was fine. Didn't wait long for installation. Unit was installed in requested location. Compared to others it isn't the prettiest, it is perfectly functional though. 3 year warranty for parts and labour. I've not had to reset the device in the 5 months I've owned it.

After UK and Scottish grants I paid £59 for the unit with installation so definitely good value for money.