NexBlue Point 2 vs CTEK Chargestorm Connected 3: £556 apart, worlds apart

£556 and a phase question

The NexBlue Point 2 costs £530. The CTEK Chargestorm Connected 3 costs £1,086. That £556 gap is not a premium for polish or a better app — it buys a fundamentally different class of hardware. The CTEK is a three-phase, 22kW commercial-grade unit that happens to mount on a house wall. The NexBlue is a 7.4kW single-phase charger packed with smart features and weighing less than a bag of sugar.

Most readers here own a single-phase home. If that describes you, the decision is already over. But the minority with three-phase supply — or a firm plan to upgrade — should keep reading.

What the NexBlue Point 2 does with its £530

At 2.1 kg and 235 × 230 mm, the NexBlue barely registers on the wall. What it packs inside is disproportionate: EcoPilot tariff automation that talks to Octopus Intelligent Go, Octopus Agile, and other time-of-use tariffs; a CT clamp in the box for dynamic load balancing *and* solar surplus charging; OCPP 2.0.1; ISO 15118 readiness; and a lifetime-free 4G eSIM so it stays connected even if your Wi-Fi wobbles.

That feature list, at £530, undercuts the Ohme Home Pro by £5 while matching or exceeding its protocol support. The caveat is brand maturity. NexBlue is new to UK driveways. The five-year warranty helps, but there is no five-year track record behind it yet. Buyers who sleep better with a proven name should look at the Ohme Home Pro comparison for a like-for-like weighing of that trade-off.

What the CTEK's £1,086 actually buys

The Chargestorm Connected 3 is not trying to compete with the NexBlue on a spec sheet. It is built for a different job. Native three-phase at 22kW means a full Model Y Long Range charge in roughly three and a half hours rather than eight. It carries a built-in MID-approved energy meter — useful if you need auditable billing for a business or shared parking. The integrated MRCD Type B protection saves the £150–£250 an installer would otherwise charge for an external Type B RCD board. And it operates from −30°C to +50°C, which is overkill for Surrey but tells you something about its engineering margins.

The weight — up to 24 kg — tells you something too. This is infrastructure, not an accessory.

Where the CTEK falls short is software. There is no first-party app for tariff scheduling. No direct integration with Octopus Intelligent Go or OVO Charge Anytime. You manage it through Monta or another third-party OCPP backend. For a charger costing over a thousand pounds, the absence of native smart-tariff control is a significant gap. The NexBlue, at half the price, does this out of the box.

Dynamic load balancing also requires the separate NANOGRID Air gateway — an additional purchase the NexBlue does not ask for, since its CT clamp is included.

Installation costs widen the gap further

The NexBlue's typical install runs £400–£600. The CTEK's runs £900–£1,300, reflecting heavier mounting, potential sub-main work, and the three-phase wiring itself. Add the units and you are looking at roughly £930–£1,130 all-in for the NexBlue versus £1,986–£2,386 for the CTEK. Both are OZEV-approved, so eligible renters and flat owners can claim the £500 grant — but even after the grant, the total cost difference is stark.

If three-phase charging is the requirement, the Zaptec Go 2 at £500 deserves a look alongside the CTEK. It also supports up to 22kW three-phase, is lighter, and has a broader UK installer network — though it lacks the CTEK's built-in MID meter and Type B RCD.

The verdict

Buy the NexBlue Point 2 if:

• You have a single-phase home and want tariff automation, solar surplus, and V2G readiness for £530
• You are on or considering Octopus Agile or Intelligent Go and want the charger to handle scheduling itself
• You prefer the lightest, smallest possible wall unit and are comfortable with a newer brand backed by a five-year warranty

Buy the CTEK Chargestorm Connected 3 if:

• You have three-phase supply and want 22kW home charging now
• You need MID-approved metering — for business use, landlord billing, or fleet compliance
• You are content managing scheduling through Monta or another OCPP platform and do not need native tariff integration

For the overwhelming majority of UK Tesla owners on a standard single-phase supply, the NexBlue Point 2 is the better charger at less than half the price. The CTEK is a fine piece of engineering aimed at a narrow audience. If you are in that audience, you already know it.