Pod Point Solo 3S vs Ohme ePod

One phone call vs one smarter charger

The Pod Point Solo 3S costs £999 and that figure includes standard installation — hardware, labour, certificate, done. The Ohme ePod costs £499 for the unit alone, and you will need to add a Type 2 cable (£100–£200) and an independent installer (£300–£600). On paper the gap between them could be narrow. In practice, what each pound buys you is different enough to matter.

• Pod Point Solo 3S — a turnkey package. One call, one price, one company responsible. No tariff intelligence.
• Ohme ePod — the smallest smart charger on the market, with direct supplier-API integration and solar modes. You arrange the install yourself.

What £999 installed actually means

Pod Point sells no hardware-only SKU. You cannot buy the Solo 3S from a shelf and hand it to your own electrician. The £999 covers the charger, a standard install, and a five-year warranty — the longest warranty of any installed package on the site. Pod Point assigns the contractor; you do not pick them.

That is the trade. You get certainty: a fixed price, a single point of contact, a known timeline. You lose control: no shopping around for a cheaper install, no choosing a sparky you already trust. If your consumer board needs upgrading or your cable run is long, extras may push the bill higher — and you are negotiating with Pod Point, not a local firm.

For eligible renters and flat owners, the £500 OZEV grant brings the installed price down to £499. At that figure the convenience argument becomes hard to argue with — you are paying roughly what you would for the Ohme ePod's unit alone, and the install is included. Grant-eligible buyers should weight this heavily.

The Ohme ePod's tariff advantage

The Pod Point Solo 3S can schedule charging via its app. Set a window, the charger obeys. That is the extent of it. There is no direct link to your energy supplier, no half-hourly rate chasing, no price-cap logic.

The Ohme ePod runs the same tariff-integration software as the Ohme Home Pro. It talks directly to Octopus and British Gas, which means on Octopus Intelligent Go it can access the 8p/kWh off-peak rate across a 23:30–05:30 window — and slot extra cheap half-hours outside that window when the grid allows. On Octopus Agile, where rates shift every 30 minutes, the ePod follows them down automatically. The Pod Point, set to a fixed schedule, cannot.

Over a year of typical home charging — roughly 2,500 kWh — the difference between a dumb schedule and active rate-chasing on Agile can amount to £40–£80. Not transformative, but it compounds, and it costs you nothing beyond the initial buy.

The ePod also supports Solar Boost and Solar Only modes via a CT clamp. If you have panels and want surplus generation routed to the car before it hits the grid, the Ohme does it natively. The Pod Point is listed as solar-compatible but lacks the same granular diversion controls. Buyers with solar panels will find a fuller comparison in our best EV charger for solar guide.

Size, connectivity, and the cable question

At 1.48 kg, the Ohme ePod is comically small — about the size of a hardback novel. It mounts where larger chargers physically cannot: narrow garages, pillars, tight alley walls. The Pod Point Solo 3S, at 6 kg in tethered form, is a conventional-sized unit.

The ePod connects via a built-in 3G/4G SIM. No Wi-Fi. That is a strength if your router signal dies before it reaches the drive, and a risk if mobile coverage at your mounting spot is poor. Check before you order — there is no Wi-Fi fallback.

Being untethered, the ePod requires a separate Type 2 cable. Budget £100–£200 for a decent 5-metre one. That cable lives in your boot or hangs on a hook; it does not retract into the unit. Some owners prefer this — the cable doubles for destination charging. Others find it a minor daily irritation. The Pod Point Solo 3S is available tethered (5-metre cable attached) or untethered, so you can choose.

Which to buy

Buy the Pod Point Solo 3S if:

• You are OZEV-grant eligible and want the simplest possible path from order to charging — £499 installed after the grant, no installer to find
• You prefer a single company accountable for hardware and installation
• You do not use a variable tariff and a basic schedule is enough

Buy the Ohme ePod if:

• You want direct tariff integration with Octopus Go, Intelligent Go, Agile, or British Gas EV Power
• You have solar panels and want automated surplus diversion
• Wall space is tight, or your Wi-Fi does not reach the charger location

For the majority of buyers — those paying full price, on a smart tariff, and comfortable arranging their own electrician — the Ohme ePod is the stronger buy. It does more with your energy bill every night than the Pod Point will across its entire warranty. If the thought of sourcing an installer is the thing stopping you, the Pod Point Solo 3S removes that obstacle entirely, and at a grant-reduced £499 it removes it cheaply. That is a fair deal — just not a smarter one.

Buyers who want the Ohme's tariff brain with a built-in cable and a display should look at the Ohme Home Pro at £539 — same software, tidier package, and covered in detail in the Ohme Home Pro vs Pod Point Solo 3S comparison.