GivEnergy EV Charger vs Simpson & Partners Home 7: Battery Brains vs Built to Last

The Battery Specialist vs the Long-Haul Contender

These two chargers sit at the more affordable end of the UK home charging market, but they couldn't be more different in philosophy. The GivEnergy EV Charger is purpose-built to work hand-in-glove with home battery storage, letting you charge your Tesla from energy you banked earlier in the day. The Simpson & Partners Home 7, meanwhile, is a premium-feeling British-made unit that bets big on longevity, with a 10-year enclosure warranty and the option of three-phase charging — features you'd normally expect at a much higher price.

If you're weighing these two up, chances are you're after good value without sacrificing smart features. Perhaps you've got solar panels on the roof, or you're planning to install them. Maybe you just want a charger that'll still look and work great a decade from now. Either way, both are OZEV-approved and priced well under £700, making them genuinely compelling alternatives to the usual suspects like Ohme and Hypervolt.

In a nutshell:

• GivEnergy EV Charger (£478): The best budget charger for homes with battery storage — it can charge your EV from stored solar energy, not just live generation.
• Simpson & Partners Home 7 (£649): A beautifully built UK-made charger with a 10-year enclosure warranty, three-phase capability, and smart tariff support at a price that undercuts premium rivals.

Spec Comparison

Solar and Battery Integration

This is where the GivEnergy charger truly shines — and where it justifies its existence as a specialist product. Its battery-to-EV charging mode is a genuine differentiator. Most solar-compatible chargers can divert excess solar generation to your car in real time, but the GivEnergy goes further: it can draw from energy stored in your home battery. That means you can charge your Tesla from solar energy you captured at lunchtime, even if you don't plug in until 7pm. If you've got a GivEnergy battery (or indeed any compatible home battery system), this is a game-changer for minimising grid reliance.

The Simpson & Partners Home 7 is listed as solar compatible, but it doesn't offer the same depth of battery integration. It's a solid choice if you have panels and want to schedule charging around generation peaks, but it won't pull stored energy from a home battery the way the GivEnergy can.

For context, a typical 4kW solar array in the UK generates roughly 3,400 kWh per year. If you're driving the average 7,400 miles annually in a Tesla Model 3 (which uses about 3.5 miles per kWh), you need around 2,100 kWh — well within reach of a decent solar setup. The GivEnergy charger, paired with a home battery, lets you capture and use far more of that generation than a standard solar-divert charger would.

Smart Tariff Integration

Here the tables turn decisively in favour of the Simpson & Partners Home 7. It supports smart tariffs including Octopus Go, OVO Charge Anytime, and EDF GoElectric — the kind of integration that can save you hundreds of pounds a year. On Octopus Go, for instance, you're looking at around 8.5p/kWh during the 00:30–04:30 off-peak window, compared to a standard rate of roughly 24p/kWh. That's a saving of about £330 annually for a typical EV driver doing 7,400 miles per year, according to proev.co.uk.

The GivEnergy charger, by contrast, has limited smart tariff integration. It offers scheduled charging — so you can manually set it to charge during off-peak hours — but it lacks the direct tariff API connections that let chargers like the Simpson & Partners (or the Ohme Home Pro) automatically optimise around your energy deal. If you're not running a home battery system, this is a notable weakness.

Build Quality and Design

The Simpson & Partners Home 7 is a genuinely handsome piece of kit. UK-manufactured with an anodised aluminium construction, it comes in multiple finish options including Accoya wood and distinctive colours — a nod towards the premium aesthetic territory usually occupied by the Andersen A3, which costs £995. The 10-year enclosure warranty is the longest on the market and speaks to real confidence in build quality, though it's worth noting this covers the enclosure specifically, not all internal electronics.

The GivEnergy is a more utilitarian proposition — compact, lightweight at 4.5 kg, and perfectly functional, but it won't win any design awards. On the plus side, it carries an IP65 weatherproofing rating, which is actually a step above the Simpson & Partners' IP54. IP65 means it's fully protected against water jets from any direction, while IP54 protects against splashing water. Both are perfectly adequate for a UK driveway, but if your charger is particularly exposed to the elements, the GivEnergy has the edge.

Power and Charging Speed

On a standard UK single-phase supply, both chargers deliver 7kW — enough to add around 25 miles of range per hour and fully charge a 60kWh battery in roughly 8.5 hours. That's more than adequate for overnight charging, as highlighted by wyelectrical.co.uk.

However, the Simpson & Partners Home 7 has a trick up its sleeve: it's three-phase capable, delivering up to 22kW if your home has a three-phase supply. At 22kW, that same 60kWh battery charges in about 2.7 hours. While fewer than 5% of UK homes currently have three-phase power, this is a genuinely future-proof feature — and unusual at this price point. The GivEnergy is single-phase only, with no upgrade path.

The Simpson & Partners also offers both tethered and untethered versions, giving you flexibility if you have multiple EVs with different connector preferences or simply prefer a cleaner wall-mounted look. The GivEnergy is tethered only.

Price and Value

The GivEnergy is £171 cheaper at the unit level, and that gap holds through installation. For a homeowner with a battery storage system, the GivEnergy represents extraordinary value — you're getting battery-to-EV charging for under £500 before installation. Without a home battery, though, the limited smart tariff support and basic app make it harder to justify over rivals.

The Simpson & Partners, at £649, is still well under the market average for a charger with premium build quality, a 10-year warranty, and three-phase capability. Compare it to the Andersen A3 at £995 and you're saving over £300 while getting a warranty that's seven years longer on the enclosure.

Who Should Buy Which?

Buy the GivEnergy EV Charger if:

• You have a home battery system (GivEnergy or otherwise) and want to charge your EV from stored energy
• You're on a tight budget and want a reliable, weatherproof charger under £500
• You already use the GivEnergy monitoring portal for whole-home energy management
• You have solar panels and want genuine solar divert functionality
• Security matters — the RFID card access is a handy touch

Buy the Simpson & Partners Home 7 if:

• You want a charger that'll last — the 10-year enclosure warranty is unmatched
• You're on a smart tariff like Octopus Go or OVO Charge Anytime and want automatic integration
• You have (or plan to get) a three-phase supply and want 22kW charging capability
• Aesthetics matter — the premium finishes and design options are a cut above
• You want the flexibility of choosing between tethered and untethered versions

Our recommendation: For the majority of UK homeowners without a home battery, the Simpson & Partners Home 7 is the better all-round buy. Its smart tariff support will save you more money day-to-day, the build quality is superb, and that 10-year warranty provides genuine peace of mind. But if you've invested in a home battery system — particularly a GivEnergy one — the GivEnergy EV Charger becomes a no-brainer. The ability to charge your Tesla from stored solar energy is a feature most chargers simply can't match, and at £478, it's a bargain for the right setup.

Read our full GivEnergy EV Charger review or Simpson & Partners Home 7 review.

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