I’ve been living with a smart EV charger - and it’s transformed how (and when) I charge at home
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With most EV charging now done at home, one smart charger is quietly changing how drivers save money on energy - we’ve tested it
With sales of electric vehicles accelerating at pace, and around 80% of EV drivers charging at home, the choice when it comes to home charging systems is starting to become a bit bewildering.
These wall-mounted powerhouses can represent a significant investment, so it's important to choose the right one to suit your needs.
Smart technology is very much a thing now, and it's definitely something to look out for, as is wide vehicle compatibility, safety, and after-sales support.
One of the longest-established and most innovative players in this market is Ohme, which has become a trusted partner for a wide variety of motoring brands, including Mercedes, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Suzuki, and Polestar.
And it's Ohme I've been working with to learn more about what it's like to live with a smart home charger that's integrated with not only the technology in your car, but the flexibility in your tariff.
The latter is slightly more expensive than the ePod, but only by £50, and it has a built-in display and it has an integrated cable, rather than just a socket. That's the one I've been testing.
Both units cost around £1,000 including installation, and the £999 Home Pro comes with a five-metre cable as standard, while the £949 ePod is compatible with the older Type 1 cable as well as the more current and ubiquitous Type 2 system.
But they're both smart systems, and that matters for a variety of reasons. Not only does it give you remote connectivity through an app, it also communicates with your car, and links up to your energy tariff.
I'm an Octopus customer, for example, and Octopus has a range of tariffs tailored specifically for EV users, and for users with solar panels.
The Ohme platform is so clever it can tailor your charging pattern automatically to capitalise on the cheapest phases of your dynamic energy tariff. So if Octopus is giving you cheaper electricity in the evening, your wall box will know, and it'll provide maximum current to your car during this period.
Ohme says this can save you hundreds of pounds per year, which effectively makes every journey cheaper. And, if you're lucky enough to have solar panels at home, you can use the clever Solar Boost system, which capitalises on the energy you generate to power your car.
What's really clever about the Ohme system and its brilliant little app, is how autonomous you can make it. It takes a while to set up and get used to, but you have a clear indication of what's happening and when, how much each stage of your charging cycle is costing, and you can watch patterns emerge over time.
If you just want to let the app get on with it, that's fine. If you'd like a bit more control over your charging cycle, or if you just need to hose power into your car for a quick top-up, that's fine too.
This flexibility, of course, isn't unique to Ohme's system, but I've been testing out similar smart chargers while I've been living with the Ohme Home Pro and Ohme's interface is very intuitive. I also love the display on the Home Pro. It gives you "at a glance" information you can check while you're passing to save you opening your phone up.
I chose the Home Pro for a few reasons. The display is one of its most useful features, but I like the convenience of having an integrated cable. I review cars as part of my job, and having to dig out the car's charging cable each week, and then carefully pop it back before the car is collected, would become a bind.
I also went for the eight-metre upgrade, and I'm glad I did. The longer cable means I don't have to think too much about where I park the cars I've got on test, despite the fact charging sockets could be on any side of the vehicle, sometimes at the front, sometimes at the back.
The only downside to this longer cable is that there's more to wind up when you've finished with it. And that's not a fun job in wet weather.
Ohme's Home Pro package comes with a cable hook, which is neat, but you'll need to get used to the sight of lots of black wire wound up on your wall. It doesn't bother me, but fans of a more minimalist home aesthetic ought to bear this in mind.
If you do choose the Home Pro with its integrated cable, though, the cable hook comes with a very nicely-made magnetic "socket" to mount your plug into. It's a neat touch, and reaffirms the strong build quality aspect of the overall design.
The other point to mention is the installation of the device. From the point of making an order, to the point of signing off the job and getting a guided tour of the features, the whole process was a pleasure.
You have to fill in a questionnaire, and send some photos and a video off to help the contractor, but you can do all of this with your smartphone and it takes moments.
On installation day, a friendly young chap completed the job in just over an hour. He was professional, tidy, explained everything very clearly, and left absolutely no mess.
My wife and I were dreading having the electricity switched off during the process because we both work from home but, remarkably, it was only off for 20 minutes and we were kept informed of the progress at every stage.
If you buy your car from certain dealers, you might be offered a home charging box as part of the package. It's becoming a common sweetener to close an EV sale.
And there's a good chance, given how many brands are working directly with Ohme, that you'll be offered a Home Pro or an ePod.
There are cheaper charging boxes out there, and there are certainly prettier charging units out there, but the sheer versatility of the Ohme pods, coupled with the friendly service and the after-sales support, not to mention the reassurance that it's a trusted brand for so many companies in the EV sector, makes it a very appealing prospect.
It's a great time of year to try and save a bit of money on our energy bills and, while switching to an EV will obviously see your electricity rate shoot up, any saving is worth having. And the Ohme wall boxes make it as easy to see those savings mount up.
It’s not flawless, and a few of its smart features are very dependent on compatible vehicle data, but as a smart home EV charger with real tariff intelligence and handy controls it’s hard to fault for what it’s designed to do.