Rolec EVO vs EVEC VEC03

£7 and a question of trajectory

The Rolec EVO costs £356. The EVEC VEC03 costs £349. Seven pounds separates them. On paper, this is one of the tightest pairings in the budget tier — both 7.4kW single-phase, both OZEV-approved, both packing built-in RCD and PEN fault protection so your installer doesn't need to add a separate earth rod or consumer-unit device.

The difference is not in the price. It is in where each product sits in its own life cycle. The Rolec EVO is a current model from a Lincolnshire manufacturer with a decade of commercial charging behind it, receiving OTA firmware updates and backed by a five-year warranty. The EVEC VEC03 has been superseded by EVEC's own vecGO 2.0 — what remains is run-out stock, with a three-year warranty and an app that has drawn consistent complaints about reliability.

• Rolec EVO — £356, untethered, five-year warranty, solar Eco+ modes, CT clamp included. The one still being built.
• EVEC VEC03 — £349, tethered with a 5-metre cable, three-year warranty. End-of-line stock from a product EVEC itself has moved on from.

Tethered versus untethered — the only spec advantage the VEC03 holds

The VEC03 arrives with a cable permanently attached. Plug in, charge, done. The Rolec EVO is untethered: a Type 2 socket, bring your own cable. For some buyers this is the deciding factor, and it is a fair one. Carrying a cable from the boot to the wall on a wet Tuesday evening is a minor inconvenience that compounds over years.

But 5 metres is the shortest tethered length in the market. If your parking spot sits more than a couple of metres from the charger, reach becomes tight. And the EVO's untethered design means you can pick a 7-metre or 10-metre cable to suit your drive, and swap it if you change car. Neither approach is wrong — but the VEC03's tethered advantage is narrower than it first appears.

Software and solar: where the Rolec EVO earns its £7

Both chargers offer scheduling through their respective apps. Both support OCPP 1.6J, so neither locks you to a single cloud back-end. Neither has a direct smart-tariff API — if you want half-hourly optimisation on Octopus Agile, you need an Ohme Home Pro or similar. On a fixed off-peak tariff like Octopus Go or EDF GoElectric, a manual schedule does the same job.

The gap opens on solar. The Rolec EVO includes Eco and Eco+ surplus-diversion modes and ships with a CT clamp in the box. The VEC03 supports solar integration too, but the CT clamp is sold separately. For anyone with panels already on the roof, the EVO is ready from day one. If solar diversion is the primary concern and budget allows, the myenergi Zappi GLO at £599 remains the specialist — but the EVO's Eco+ mode at £356 is a credible entry point. Our solar charger guide covers the full field.

Then there is app quality. The Rolec EVO's consumer app is newer and still maturing — not a finished article. But it is being finished, through active development and OTA updates over Wi-Fi 6. The VEC03's app, by contrast, has a longer track record of customer complaints about intermittent scheduling, and EVEC's development attention has moved to the replacement model. Buying a discontinued product whose software was already the weakest link is a bet that what you have today will be enough for the life of the charger.

Install savings are a wash

Both chargers include Type A RCD with 6mA DC protection and PEN fault detection. Both save your installer the labour and parts cost of fitting those separately — typically £100–£250. Installation estimates overlap: £400–£600 for the EVO, £350–£550 for the VEC03. The VEC03's slightly lower install estimate reflects its lighter spec sheet rather than any meaningful wiring difference. In practice, the total installed cost for either will land within a few tens of pounds of each other.

For grant-eligible buyers — renters and flat owners — the £500 OZEV grant covers either unit's price outright and chips into the installation bill as well. At these prices, the grant makes the effective out-of-pocket cost almost entirely about labour.

The verdict

Buy the Rolec EVO if:

• You want a five-year warranty from a manufacturer that is actively developing the product
• You have solar panels and want Eco+ surplus diversion with the CT clamp included
• You prefer to choose your own cable length rather than live with 5 metres

Buy the EVEC VEC03 if:

• You want a tethered cable and the convenience of not carrying one from the boot
• You are on a flat-rate tariff, need a cheap OZEV-approved unit, and accept end-of-line risk
• The price — £349 — is the hard ceiling and £7 matters

For £7 more, the Rolec EVO is the stronger long-term position. It is the product its maker is still investing in, with a longer warranty and better solar credentials. The VEC03 is not a bad charger, but it is a finished one — in both senses. If the tethered cable is non-negotiable and the budget is immovable, the VEC03 will charge your car. For everyone else, the EVO is the obvious pick. And if you find you want smart-tariff integration down the line, the VCHRGD Seven Pro at £430 or the Ohme Home Pro at £539 are the next steps up — both covered in our best smart charger guide.