Ohme Home Pro vs Rolec EVO

£183 and a different philosophy

The Ohme Home Pro costs £539. The Rolec EVO costs £356. That £183 gap is wide enough to matter and narrow enough to tempt — which makes it worth understanding what each charger actually does with the money.

• Ohme Home Pro — £539, tethered, direct API to Octopus and British Gas. The charger that thinks about your tariff so you don't have to.
• Rolec EVO — £356, untethered, built-in RCD, PME detection, and surge protection. The charger that saves you money before you plug anything in.

Where the Rolec EVO's price advantage gets even wider

The headline gap is £183, but installed cost tells a different story. The Rolec EVO ships with built-in Type A RCD, 6 mA DC protection, surge protection, and PME fault detection. On most domestic boards, that eliminates the need for a separate PEN fault device and dedicated RCD — components an electrician would otherwise supply and fit. Realistic saving: £100–£250 off the install bill.

Run the arithmetic generously and the Rolec's total fitted cost can land £280–£430 below the Ohme's. That is a second charger's worth of difference, or — for a renter or flat owner eligible for the £500 OZEV grant — a setup where the grant covers the unit outright and chips into the install too.

The Rolec also carries a five-year warranty, two years longer than the Ohme's three. For a charger bolted to an outside wall in a British climate, that matters.

When the Ohme Home Pro earns its premium back

The Ohme's edge is narrow but decisive: direct API integration with Octopus Energy and British Gas. On Octopus Intelligent Go, the charger talks to the grid operator, accepts surplus slots at 8p/kWh outside the core 23:30–05:30 window, and finishes by your departure time — all without you setting a schedule. On Octopus Agile, it chases the cheapest half-hours automatically, which no manual timer can replicate.

The Rolec EVO has app-based scheduling, and that is perfectly adequate on a fixed-window tariff like Octopus Go — set it to charge during the 00:30–05:30 slot at 8.5p/kWh and forget about it. But it cannot respond to half-hourly price signals. On Agile, you would need to set a new schedule every evening, which nobody does for long.

If you are on Intelligent Go or Agile — or plan to be — the Ohme pays for its £183 premium through lower per-kWh costs over time. A Tesla driver covering average mileage might save 3–5p/kWh on Agile versus a fixed schedule. Over a year, that is roughly £50–£90, so the gap closes inside two to three years. Not instant, but real.

On a flat-rate deal, or on a tariff with a single off-peak window, the Ohme's API does nothing a basic timer cannot. The premium buys you a colour display and a 4G SIM — nice, not £183 nice.

Solar: both capable, different routes

Both chargers offer solar diverting. The Ohme Home Pro has it built in. The Rolec EVO ships with a CT clamp in the box and runs Eco and Eco+ modes — the latter charges only on surplus generation. For households with panels and a straightforward goal of using excess solar, either charger handles the job. Solar-heavy buyers comparing the Rolec against a dedicated solar charger will find more detail in the Zappi GLO vs Rolec EVO comparison.

Tethered versus untethered

The Ohme is tethered with a 5-metre cable (8-metre available at extra cost). The Rolec is untethered only — no tethered variant exists. If you want a cable permanently attached, the Rolec is ruled out. If you share a charger between two cars with different cable lengths, or prefer to lock your cable in the boot, untethered suits you. This is a preference, not a flaw, but it is binary — check which camp you fall into before comparing anything else. Budget £50–£120 for a decent Type 2 cable if you go with the Rolec.

The verdict

Buy the Ohme Home Pro if:

• You are on Octopus Intelligent Go or Octopus Agile and want hands-off rate optimisation
• You prefer a tethered cable permanently attached to the wall
• You need 4G cellular connectivity because Wi-Fi does not reach your drive

Buy the Rolec EVO if:

• You are on a flat-rate tariff or a fixed off-peak window like Octopus Go
• You want the lowest total installed cost — built-in protection saves £100–£250 on labour
• A five-year warranty and an untethered socket suit your setup

For most Tesla owners on a standard tariff, the Rolec EVO is the stronger recommendation. It costs less to buy, less to install, and lasts longer under warranty. The Ohme Home Pro is the right charger for a specific buyer — someone on a variable tariff who will use the API every night. If that is you, the £183 is well spent. If it is not, keep the money.