If you're thinking of, or have, made the switch to an electric vehicle, it's important to ensure you have a car charger at home to ensure you're benefiting from the convenience, and cheapest way, of charging your new car or van.
Charging your electric vehicle at home works out much cheaper than filling up a traditional vehicle with petrol or diesel. It also saves you trips to the petrol station, and it's also cheaper and more convenient than using public car chargers.
Whilst you can use a regular three-pin plug, this will mean your car charges very slowly - hence why most opt to have a dedicated EV charger installed at home.
We at Volta Green Energy Ltd are then often asked, "which EV charger is best?". We're happy to discuss individual needs with you to find out the best charger for you but we work with a handful of brands that we think are great recommendations.
Wallbox Chargers
We recommend Electric Vehicle Wall Charging Units - wallboxes, for short! These come in a huge variety of models and power strengths but they drastically reduce your charging time in comparison to a regular three-pin plug.
To understand the best wallbox charger for you, we will work with you to understand:
Tethered, or untethered?
Type of plug
Rate of power
Smart charger, or not?
While we are fully qualified to install all EV Chargers, we are big fans of the zappi and the SyncEV chargers.
The zappi EV charger
zappi is a smart EV charger that operates as a standard car charger but with some added benefits
Firstly, there's a "fast charge" option if you need to get moving in a hurry, but if you're happy to wait, you can charge your vehicle using 100% renewable energy
The biggest selling point for us is that zappi can operate from your own home solar panel & battery system - using 100% green energy...something we're big believers in at Volta Green Energy Ltd.
zappi has three EV charging modes
eco charging - mixing green energy and energy from the grid. This mode minimises the use from the grid, taking advantages of cheaper overnight rates, but can also charge using 100% green energy - giving you the ability to charge your car for free! The power to charge is adjusted automatically based on power being used elsewhere in your home. Clever, right?
eco+ charging - similar to eco charging, eco+ is continually adjusted based on power usage elsewhere in your home. Your car charging will pause of there is too much imported power, and will continue when free power is available.
fast charging - as you'd expect, this means your vehicle is charged at maximum power, either from renewable energy, or the grid.
If you don't have solar panels (or wind generation), zappi will charge like a normal Mode3 charging point.
You can also set timers on the zappi - so you can charge your vehicle when energy tariffs are cheaper
zappi is smart too!
The myenergi app allows you to access and control your devices from anywhere in the world, and it's pretty cool to monitor your information on the graphs
The system is also pin-protected, preventing people from using your EV charger without permission, or changing your settings
zappi EV chargers come with a 3 year warranty - once we've installed your zappi EV charger, it's important to register your product(s) to take advantage
The zappi app is also super-slick and sophisticated, showing you the solar and energy usage in your home.
The SyncEV charger
The SyncEV charger is another great option, but not recommended for those with solar panels or looking to invest in a solar PV system in the future, as it does not have a solar surplus energy function.
There are a number of models available, but these chargers are all WiFi connected with smart functionality.
The SyncEV is known as the smallest and most light-weight home EV chargers
The WiFi connectivity means you'll get software updates automatically and the SyncEV can also charge dynamically, up to 7.4kW
Similar to the zappi charger, the SyncEV charger also has a 3 year warranty available
The SyncEV charger will automatically charge your vehicle during off-peak or cheaper periods, but you also have the flexibility to override the smart charging schedule by tapping the "boost" button on the app.
The app, while quite basic, also communicates with your EV's battery, making sure your vehicle is ready to go when you next need it.
You can easily track your usage on the app, looking at the costs, energy usage and carbon impact of your charging sessions. The SyncEV app also rewards you for charging by giving you reward points for at least 10kWh chargers, which you can use to redeem rewards!
Whilst we think the zappi and SyncEV are just a few of our favourites, there are loads of other fantastic EV charging brands we can recommend and install in your home.
Simply visit our EV Charger page here, and fill out the form to get in touch!
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