Charging your electric vehicle is easy, but finding the perfect home charging unit may seem a little difficult. That’s why we’re here to guide you through the process, to help you find the perfect charging unit for your home and car.
In this blog, we’ll review one of the best home EV charging unit manufacturers, Rolec.
Rolec is known for its powerful units and sleek designs. Their home charging points come in many types, sizes, shapes and colours to fit any home and budget.
About Rolec Services
Rolec Services is one of the world’s leading specialists in outdoor electrical equipment. It has been a world-leading specialist in the design, manufacture, installation and supply of an extensive range of outdoor electrical equipment for three decades.
Their products include electrical connection, charging, hook-up and distribution equipment.
Rolec EV Charging
With over 10 years of experience in the EV industry, Rolec has designed, manufactured and installed electric vehicle charging points across some of the most renowned locations amongst numerous industries.
From EV charging solutions for the home, commercial locations, workplaces and fleets, Rolec EV provides an exceptional service led by a team of dedicated experts. Whilst offering the UK’s largest range of AC Fast and DC Rapid charging points, Rolec has the reputation for delivering cost-effective, scalable solutions to suit all budgets and requirements.
Rolec also manufactures a vast range of OZEV grant-funded charging points, allowing both EV drivers and businesses to take advantage of significant cost savings when purchasing and installing EV charging points at their homes and workplaces.
Rolec EV Charging Product Range
Rolec WallPod:EV
With over 100,000 WallPod:EV charging units installed across the world, the WallPod:EV proves to be a reliable and popular charging solution for a variety of requirements.
Some of Rolec WallPod:EV Variations
1. Rolec WallPod:EV HomeSmart
The WallPod:EV HomeSmart is a home electric vehicle charging point, allowing EV drivers to control and manage their charging behaviour and activity whilst also having the ability to monitor their consumption data. All done seamlessly with their mobile phone/smart device.
Available in Type 2 tethered lead or Universal socket versions offering 3.6kW and 7.2kW charging speeds.
The WALLPOD:EV HOMESMART is complete with built-in TruePEN PME fault detection, eliminating the requirement for earth electrode/rods. This charging unit is also integrated with
dynamic electrical load balancing which adjusts the rate of charge to prevent overloading the home’s electrical supply.
Compatible with all EV/PHEV models, the WallPod:EV HomeSmart enables electric vehicle drivers to operate their charging with the tap of a finger. The user interacts with the charging point via their mobile phone or tablet using the free ev.energy app.
Rolec WallPod: EV HomeSmart offers
- GPRS connectivity
- Analytics & insights
- Secure communications
- Exportable charging data
- kWh metering
- Optimises your charge with energy tariff & renewables
Rolec WallPod: EV HomeSmart Key Features
Live Charging Activity
- Charging status
- Stop/start charging
- Smart & boost charging
- Charging notifications
Charging History
- Total energy used
- Historical data
- CO2 savings
Advanced Settings
- Tariff optimisation
- Green charging
- Grid services
- Fleet management
Rolec WallPod: EV HomeSmart Options & Accessories
- Corporate branding (colours, logo badge, etc)
- Ground mounting post
- EV charging cables (Type 1 to Type 2 or Type 2 to Type 2)
- High gain, remote or unit mounted GPRS signal antenna
- EV consumer units:
| EVIN0010 | 20A Single Phase EV Consumer Unit with Type A RCBO |
| EVIN0015 | 40A Single Phase EV Consumer Unit with Type A RCBO |
Rolec WallPod: EV HomeSmart Style and Design
The WallPod:EV HomeSmart is a cost effective and stylish electric vehicle charger, available in a range of colours and fitted with the latest smart technology which can be integrated with any smart mobile phone.
Each charger has a built-in modem and GPRS SIM card which automatically and securely connects over the Vodafone (or other) mobile phone network to a smart charging back-office platform.
What’s included with your WallPod: EV HomeSmart unit?
- Quick installation
- Simple and easy smart set up with ev.energy (typically <2 minutes)
- Dedicated software & hardware technical support
- 3-year hardware warranty
- 3-year connectivity and support from ev.energy**
**At the end of 3 years, customers are free to either continue (charges may apply) or cancel the ev.energy subscription.
ev.energy Smartphone App
The ev.energy app is a greener, cheaper, simpler way to charge your EV, and this is how it works;
- Set your ready by time; they’ll communicate with your car and take care of the rest.
- Save money and CO2 by automatically charging when greener, cheaper energy is more readily available.
- Keep track of the cost, energy and carbon of your charging sessions, at home and away
With the smart ev.energy app, you can track your usage, get rewarded for charging and charge your EV with solar energy – as the solar smart charging algorithm uses your self-generated solar power to deliver 100% renewable energy to your EV.
You can download the app on the App Store or get it on Google Play.
2. Rolec WallPod:EV charger
A cost-effective EV charging solution ideal for the home and workplace. Complete with integrated automatic dynamic load balancing and built-in TruePENPME fault detection. Available in Type 2 tethered lead or Universal socket versions, offering 3.6kW and 7.2kW charging speeds.
Rolec WallPod:EV HomeSmart installation process
Who can install a home electric charge point?
The installation of an EV charging point should be carried out by an experienced and certified installer who specialises in electric vehicles and chargers, for two reasons;
- To ensure that the electric charge point gets installed safely.
- Some EV charging points will lose their warranty, if not installed by a certified electrician.
Things to consider before installing an EV charging point
Before shopping around for an electric car home charging point, you’ll need to make sure you’ve got these requirements covered
- Have a Wi-Fi connection
- Legally own the property you’ll install the charging point in, or get permission from the landlord.
- Have your own off-street parking. Lots of people choose to put their charger in their driveway or garage if they have one. This is convenient because it’ll be easy to connect to the mains electricity, while also being close to where you park your car. Alternatively, if you live in a block of flats, you’ll have to have your own private parking space.
The day before installing the home EV charge point
To prepare for the installation, make sure you do the following;
- Ensure the area around the distribution board/electricity supply meter is clear from clutter and easy to access. Don’t forget to clear out the cable run route too.
- Have your Wi-Fi password ready for your installer. It will be used to connect your new home charging point to the internet.
On the day of installing your electric car charge point
We’ve put together a step-by-step guide on what will usually happen on the day of installation so you’ll know what to expect.
- Our installer will arrive at the agreed installation time.
- The installer will help you choose the best position for your EV car charge point and consult with you before moving on to the next step – this is based on the power supply and where you park your car.
- The installer will position and fix the charge point to your wall just before turning off the power supply temporarily.
- The installer will safely connect the charge point to the power supply, do a safety test, turn the power back on, and make sure your home charging point is ready to use.
- They’ll then connect the charge point to your home Wi-Fi.
- Last but not least, the installer will demonstrate how to use the charging unit and all its features. They’ll also explain what the different lights mean and how to get in touch if you have any questions later on.
Why connect the home charging point to Wi-Fi?
By connecting your home charger to Wi-Fi, you can unlock these features;
- Remote diagnostics, remote support issue resolution.
- “Over the Air” software updates.
- Energy usage reporting and associated features.
- Access to new smart features.
Here at WarmZilla, we assure you that your data will be treated at the highest level of security. Our electric car charge points comply with data security, regulations and protocols.
The cost of charging an electric vehicle at home is dependent on various factors;
- When you charge your vehicle
- How you charge your vehicle (3-pin plug or charging point)
- The size of the vehicle’s battery
- Tariffs/charging networks used
- How much energy do you need
Charging your electric vehicle at home is a cost-effective alternative to charging at public locations, especially when charging is complete during the night when energy rates are low.
This depends on both the battery size in the car as well as the kW output of the charge point. Most electric vehicle drivers will recharge their vehicles at home from empty to full and most will also ‘top-up’ their charge if a charge point is available at their workplace or at a public destination.
The Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) Grant*, specifically named the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS), provides up to £350 off the cost of buying and installing a home charging point. This was reduced from £500 to £350 on the 1st April 2020, so a further reduction might be around the corner.
The current EVHS grant ends on the 31st of March 2022 and can’t be claimed for installs completed after that date.
You can only claim one charging point per eligible vehicle and up to two eligible vehicles per household. Bear in mind that not all plug-in cars are eligible for the EVHS grant. Put simply, all full-battery electric cars are eligible, but plug-in hybrid cars’ CO2 emissions must be calculated below 50g/km for eligibility. Take a look at the list of OLEV eligible vehicles on the UK Government website.
If you live in Scotland, a can receive an additional grant of up to £250 (or £350 for those in the most remote areas of Scotland), via the Energy Savings Trust (EST) Scotland. To qualify for this grant, the installation must be carried out by an OLEV-accredited and EST approved installer, so make sure to check out the list of approved installers in Scotland here.
There are hundreds of locations with charge points available for electric vehicle drivers to use. This year, the number of public electric vehicle charge points has increased by 18% so far – according to the Department of Transport, there are now 19,487 public EV chargers available to use across the UK (time of writing). Some public chargers offer free charging, whilst others will ask you to pay a fee – prices will vary due to pricing models implemented by the car park. Most public destinations will offer AC Fast charging (anything from 3.6kW to 22kW), however, there are now hundreds of DC rapid chargers located across the UK for public use and this figure is set to increase in the near future.
