Pod Point Solo 3S vs CTEK Chargestorm Connected 3

£999 installed vs £1,086 before the electrician arrives

These two chargers sit close on price yet occupy different planets in practice. The Pod Point Solo 3S costs £999 — and that figure includes a standard installation by Pod Point's own contractor network. The CTEK Chargestorm Connected 3 costs £1,086 for the unit alone, with typical install adding £900–£1,300 on top. That is the single most important fact in this comparison, and everything else follows from it.

• Pod Point Solo 3S — £999 installed. 7.4kW single-phase, five-year warranty, minimal admin. The charger for people who want the process over.
• CTEK Chargestorm Connected 3 — £1,086 before install. Three-phase 22kW native, OCPP 2.0.1, MID-approved meter, built-in Type B RCD. The charger for people building infrastructure.

The price gap is wider than it looks

On paper the CTEK is £87 more. In reality the gap is closer to £900–£1,300 more, because Pod Point's figure already has the sparks covered. A CTEK owner on single-phase, once the install is done, could be looking at a total outlay north of £2,000 — for a charger delivering the same 7.4kW the Pod Point manages for half the money.

That arithmetic only changes if three-phase power is in the picture. On a three-phase supply the CTEK delivers up to 22kW, roughly tripling charge speed. A 60kWh battery goes from empty to full in under three hours rather than eight. For anyone with a three-phase board already fitted — some rural properties, some new-builds, some home workshops — the CTEK's total cost starts to make sense. For everyone else, it does not.

Smart tariffs: neither charger excels

If you plan to run an EV tariff like Octopus Intelligent Go or OVO Charge Anytime, be aware that neither of these chargers integrates directly with those platforms. The Pod Point Solo 3S offers scheduled charging through its own app — set a window, the charger obeys — but there is no live tariff API pulling half-hourly rates. The CTEK goes further on protocol support (OCPP 1.6-J and 2.0.1, ISO 15118), yet its scheduling depends on third-party back-ends like Monta rather than any first-party supplier link.

For a fixed-window tariff such as Octopus Go at 8.5p/kWh between 00:30 and 05:30, either charger's manual schedule does the job. For half-hourly optimisation on Octopus Agile, neither is the right tool. Buyers who want that level of automation should look at the Ohme Home Pro at £539 — less than a third of the CTEK's all-in cost and purpose-built for tariff chasing. The comparison between Pod Point and Ohme is covered in detail on the Ohme Home Pro vs Pod Point Solo 3S page.

What the CTEK does that nothing else at this price does

Strip away the domestic context and the Chargestorm Connected 3 is an impressive piece of kit. A built-in MRCD Type B means no external DC fault protection board in the consumer unit — a component that typically costs an installer £150–£250 in parts alone. The MID-approved energy meter is Eichrecht-compliant, which matters if you ever need auditable billing (workplace recharging, company car claims, landlord-tenant recharges). The IK10 impact rating is car-park grade. And OCPP 2.0.1 with ISO 15118 plug-and-charge readiness puts it ahead of most residential chargers on future-proofing.

The closest rival on three-phase capability at a similar price is the Zaptec Go 2 at £638, though the Zaptec lacks the built-in Type B RCD and MID meter. The Wallbox Pulsar Max also offers a 22kW three-phase variant at £513. Both are worth considering if three-phase is the draw but the CTEK's total cost gives pause.

The verdict

Buy the Pod Point Solo 3S if:

• You have a single-phase supply — which is almost certainly the case
• You want one phone call, one price, one appointment, done
• Tariff optimisation beyond a simple timer is not a priority

Buy the CTEK Chargestorm Connected 3 if:

• You have, or are installing, a three-phase supply and want 22kW at home
• You need MID-approved metering for expense claims or billing
• You are comfortable sourcing your own installer and managing scheduling through Monta or another OCPP platform

For the vast majority of UK homes — single-phase, one car, a straightforward driveway — the Pod Point Solo 3S is the obvious pick. £999, installed, five-year warranty, nothing else to arrange. The CTEK is a more capable machine in absolute terms, but capability you cannot use is not worth paying for. If three-phase power is not part of your present or your plan, the decision is already made.