Smart chargers are connected EV home chargers that let you create schedules and set kWh price caps to unlock the cheapest possible charging rates.
In contrast, dumb chargers are glorified power sockets that are on or off. However, you can still control charging via your vehicle or vehicle’s OEM app.
The question of whether a smart charger is necessary for an EV has a simple answer: no. Any power socket will charge your electric vehicle, but smart chargers are better at it. You can use a 3-pin socket but Type 2 chargers are faster and safer over the long term. We recommend getting a smart charger if you need faster charging speeds than a 3-pin socket allows.
Why are smart chargers better?
The reason smart chargers are better is that you can monitor and control your charger from your smartphone and set it to take advantage of specific charge times and kWh prices.
Smart chargers also have strict safety devices to ensure charging is safe in any weather, and that demand never exceeds the maximum load rating. The best EV chargers such as those from EO and Ohme let you set a schedule and integrate your energy tariff to take advantage of variable prices that go up and down. Octopus Agile is a good example of such a tariff. You can also get a standard EV tariff, which gives you cheaper rates between certain times.
We can recommend a smart charger for your needs. At ecoEV, we install smart chargers from the likes of EO, Project EV and Podpoint because we are OZEV approved installers, and only smart chargers are on the OZEV scheme. We highly recommend smart chargers because they make EV charging a piece of cake.
The alternative to a smart charger is a dumb charger or a powerful socket like a Commando socket. Of course, you can also use a 3-pin, but this is very slow.
Free EV charger advice
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Happy charging!
