Best Home EV Chargers

Introduction

There are a few considerations to be made when choosing the best home EV charger for your electric car.

First you need to work out which charger type you need. We have written a page all about charger types here.

In general, we recommend you install a Mode 3 charger (dedicated socket and circuit), and we generally recommend you install a 32A charger, giving a power output of 7.2kW on single phase (but check this works with your car first, and make sure you choose correctly between Type 1 tethered, Type 2 tethered and Type 2 universal socket - again our charger types page should help).

Note "Should I get tethered or untethered?" is one of the questions we get asked the most.

We have historically recommended universal socket chargers as it gives flexibility if you move say from a Type 1 (e.g. old Nissan Leaf) to a Type 2 vehicle. A lot of users however do prefer a tethered unit as it is so much more convenient - lifting the cable in and out of the car every time you want to charge it can become onerous after a while.

With EVBox's Elvi you can buy a tethered charger and if you swap from Type 1 to Type 2 or vice versa, you can buy a replacement cable and swap it out yourself. There’s a security pin inside the unit that holds the cable in place.

With EO's untethered chargers you can get around the hassle of taking out the cable by simply leaving your car charger cable attached. This doesn't negate the access security, however you need to be happy to leave the charger cable trailing on the floor, or find your own way of securing it to the wall.

Once you have sorted the basics of your charger, you need to work out what functionality you require:

• is a 'dumb' charger suitable (a 'dumb' charger is essentially a dedicated car charging socket, without monitoring, remote stop-start etc)? 'Dumb' chargepoints are no longer eligible for the OZEV home chargepoint grant, so a smart charger is definitely worth considering!
• do you want to monitor charger time or kWh consumption (e.g. if you need to get reimbursement from your grown-up kids or your employer), and if so do you need a MID approved kWh meter, and how will reimbursement work?
• do you have solar PV and if so is there excess solar PV that could be diverted into your car?
• do aesthetics matter?
• future proofing - can your 'dumb' charger be upgraded with intelligence, or Type 1 tethered swapped for Type 2 tethered etc, or would you need to rip it out and start again?
• is the charger approved for the OZEV grant and what's its warranty (OZEV grants require 3 years)?

Which charger?

Some electric car manufacturers also supply chargers. We are often asked to install chargers by Tesla, Porsche or Mercedes for example. But by far the majority of chargers that we install are independent of the car make.

The myEnergi zappi is our most popular charger among solar PV system owners.

A recent addition to our recommended home chargepoints is the Andersen, arguably the most stylish option, with a unique hidden cable and premium construction.

In the past we have also installed chargers by EO, EVBox and Rolec.

To enable you to make an informed decision as to which charger is right for you, we have dedicated a page to each of these charger manufacturers (click on links by charger name above), and we have also prepared the following home charger comparison table to compare them.

While this table doesn't give a comprehensive list of every charger available, it does highlight functionality to be aware of, and the different approaches being taken in the market. You may also be interested in our equivalent commercial charger comparison table.

Home charger comparison table

Here is a comparison of the key features of our most popular domestic EV chargers:

Request a quote

Please note that we only install domestic EV chargers when fitting a new solar PV system at the same property. If you would like a quote for the supply and installation of solar and an EV chargepoint, please complete our online form: