Indra Smart PRO vs Enphase IQ EV Charger 2

£395 against £1,050 — and the question that answers itself

These two chargers deliver identical power to a UK single-phase home: 7.4 kW, Type 2 tethered. Both offer solar-surplus charging, app control, and weatherproof enclosures. The Enphase IQ EV Charger 2 costs £1,050. The Indra Smart PRO costs £395. That £655 gap is not a typo — it is the entire argument.

• Indra Smart PRO — £395, surge protection and CT clamp included, smart-tariff scheduling, 6-metre cable, 3-year warranty. The budget solar-capable charger with British manufacturing credentials.
• Enphase IQ EV Charger 2 — £1,050, 7.5-metre cable, MID-certified metering, 1A-increment solar chase, 5-year warranty. The charger that completes an Enphase energy system — and makes little sense outside one.

The Enphase tax: who pays it willingly

The Enphase's solar-surplus mode is genuinely sophisticated. It adjusts in 1A increments, reacting to PV output roughly every 30 seconds, and can begin charging from as little as 1.38 kW of excess solar. Paired with Enphase IQ microinverters and an IQ Battery, the whole system — panels, storage, car — sits inside one app with AI-led source selection across solar, battery, and grid.

That integration is the only scenario where £1,050 makes financial sense. If you have already spent several thousand pounds on Enphase hardware, adding their charger is a logical last piece. The single-app convenience, the MID-certified metering (±1% accuracy), and the 5-year warranty are real. OCPP 2.0.1 and ISO 15118 hardware readiness suggest the unit is built for a longer life than most.

Without the rest of the Enphase ecosystem, though, the charger is just a 7.4 kW unit with a long cable and no UK smart-tariff integration. No Octopus Intelligent Go. No Octopus Agile. No OVO Charge Anytime. For a charger costing over a thousand pounds, that is a notable absence. And OZEV approval is not confirmed — so the £500 grant that eligible buyers rely on may not apply.

What the Indra includes that others charge extra for

The Indra Smart PRO's headline price of £395 undersells what arrives in the box. Surge protection — an SPD that most installers add separately for £100–£150 — is included. So is the CT clamp for solar diversion, which typically costs another £50–£100 as an add-on with other brands. On a typical install, these inclusions can bring the effective unit cost down to somewhere near £150–£250 before labour.

The Indra also integrates with UK smart tariffs directly: Intelligent Go, Octopus Go, OVO Charge Anytime, and EDF GoElectric. The Enphase offers none of this. For a household on Intelligent Go at 8p/kWh, the Indra schedules charging automatically into the 23:30–05:30 window. The Enphase would need manual scheduling or a separate workaround.

The trade-offs are real but proportionate. The Indra's app is basic compared with the market leaders. Its 3-year warranty is two years shorter than the Enphase's five. Its installer network is smaller than those of Ohme or myenergi. And its 6-metre cable, while longer than many, is 1.5 metres shorter than the Enphase's 7.5 m. None of these shortcomings cost £655.

Solar buyers without Enphase panels

If you have solar panels from any manufacturer other than Enphase and want a charger that diverts surplus to your car, the Indra does the job at £395 with the CT clamp included. For more granular solar diversion and a broader ecosystem, the myenergi Zappi GLO at £599 is the established choice — still £451 less than the Enphase. Our best EV charger for solar guide covers this ground in detail.

The Enphase's 1.38 kW solar-chase threshold is lower than most competitors, which is a technical advantage for smaller arrays. But it only works to its full potential with an Enphase IQ Gateway on site. Without one, you are paying a premium for hardware that cannot do what it was designed to do.

The verdict

Buy the Indra Smart PRO if:

• You want the lowest all-in cost — £395 unit, SPD and CT clamp included, OZEV-approved for the £500 grant
• You use a UK smart tariff and want direct scheduling with Intelligent Go, Go, OVO, or EDF GoElectric
• You have non-Enphase solar and want basic surplus diversion without paying over £1,000

Buy the Enphase IQ EV Charger 2 if:

• You already own Enphase microinverters and an IQ Battery and want single-app control over the whole system
• You value MID-certified metering and 1A-increment solar chase from 1.38 kW surplus
• You want a 5-year warranty and are comfortable paying £1,050 for ecosystem completeness

For the vast majority of UK buyers — those without an Enphase energy system already on the wall — the Indra Smart PRO is the obvious choice. It costs £395, includes parts that other manufacturers charge extra for, and talks to the tariffs that actually save money overnight. The Enphase is a fine charger locked inside a narrow use case. If that use case is yours, it earns its price. If it is not, you are paying £655 for features you cannot use.