Hypervolt Home 3 Pro vs Rolec EVO

The £269 question — and the hidden gap that makes it wider

On paper, the Hypervolt Home 3 Pro at £625 and the Rolec EVO at £356 look like different tiers of product. They are not. Both deliver 7.4kW single-phase, both integrate with solar via CT clamp, both offer dynamic load balancing, and both are built in the UK. The Hypervolt is tethered; the Rolec is untethered. That distinction aside, the spec sheets are uncomfortably close for a £269 gap.

• Hypervolt Home 3 Pro — £625, tethered, IP66 + IK10, three-year warranty (five for £100 extra). The all-rounder that does everything competently.
• Rolec EVO — £356, untethered, IP54 + IK10, five-year warranty standard. The budget-smart charger whose install savings make the gap even larger.

Install cost is where the Rolec pulls away

The Rolec EVO has built-in PME/PEN fault detection, a Type A RCD, and surge protection — all inside the unit. On a typical install, that removes the need for a separate PEN device or earth rod and an additional RCD in the consumer unit. The saving is £150–£250, depending on your board and your installer's pricing.

Add that to the £269 unit-price difference and the real-world gap between these two chargers sits somewhere between £420 and £520. That is a second charger's worth of money. The Hypervolt, by contrast, requires standard ancillary protection — nothing unusual, but nothing free either.

For grant-eligible buyers (renters and flat owners), the maths tilts further. The £500 OZEV grant covers the Rolec EVO's £356 unit price outright and contributes to the install. Applied to the Hypervolt, the grant reduces it to £125 — still reasonable, but the Rolec's total installed cost will be materially lower.

Tethered vs untethered — the one real difference

The Hypervolt Home 3 Pro is tethered with cable options of 5, 7.5, or 10 metres. The Rolec EVO is untethered only — you supply your own Type 2 cable. This is the fork in the road.

A tethered charger means you grab the cable, plug in, walk away. No boot rummaging, no coiling a cable back into the car. For a single-vehicle household with a dedicated parking spot, the convenience is genuine. The Hypervolt's 10-metre cable option is the longest available on any charger in our selection, which matters if your consumer unit is on the wrong side of the house.

An untethered socket suits households with two EVs using different cables, or drivers who prefer to keep their cable locked in the boot. It also means one fewer thing exposed to weather. The Rolec's IP54 rating is adequate for a sheltered wall; the Hypervolt's IP66 handles a fully exposed position better. Both share IK10 impact resistance — a kicked football or a stray wheelie bin won't trouble either.

Solar, tariffs, and the features that overlap

Both chargers divert surplus solar. The Rolec EVO offers Eco and Eco+ modes — the latter charges only from solar surplus, much like the myenergi Zappi GLO's approach. The Hypervolt's solar diversion is more basic by comparison, though functional. Neither matches the Zappi GLO's granularity, but both do enough for a standard solar array. CT clamps are included with both units.

For smart-tariff scheduling, both handle fixed off-peak windows without fuss. Set either to charge between 00:30 and 05:30 on Octopus Go at 8.5p/kWh and the job is done. Neither offers the half-hourly price-chasing of the Ohme Home Pro — if that matters, this is the wrong comparison. The Rolec's OCPP 1.6J support does leave the door open for future third-party integrations, which the Hypervolt lacks.

Warranty and support

The Rolec EVO ships with a five-year warranty from a manufacturer with a decade of commercial EV-charging history. The Hypervolt Home 3 Pro starts at three years; extending to five costs £100. That £100 is easy to overlook at purchase time and annoying to remember later. Rolec's consumer app is newer and still being refined — a fair caveat — but warranty coverage is not a software question.

Hypervolt's phone support is notably responsive, which counts when something goes wrong at 7 a.m. on a Monday. Rolec sells through its installer network, so your first call is typically to the company that fitted it. Neither approach is wrong; they suit different temperaments.

Which to buy

Buy the Rolec EVO if you:

• Want the lowest total installed cost for a fully smart 7.4kW charger
• Are comfortable with an untethered socket and your own cable
• Value a five-year warranty without paying extra

Buy the Hypervolt Home 3 Pro if you:

• Want a tethered cable — especially the 10-metre option for awkward driveways
• Have a fully exposed, unsheltered mounting position where IP66 matters
• Prefer direct phone support from the manufacturer

For most buyers, the Rolec EVO is the charger to fit. It costs £269 less, saves a further £150–£250 on install, carries a longer standard warranty, and matches the Hypervolt on every core function. The Hypervolt earns its premium only when you need a long tethered cable or superior weather sealing — real needs, but not universal ones. If you want a tethered cable at a lower price, the Sync Energy Wall Charger 2 at £400 or the VCHRGD Seven Pro at £430 are worth a look.