Wallbox Pulsar Max vs Rolec EVO

£157 apart — and further than that on install day

The Wallbox Pulsar Max costs £513. The Rolec EVO costs £356. That £157 gap on paper widens once you factor in what each charger asks of your electrician — and what it brings in the box.

• Wallbox Pulsar Max — compact tethered charger with a 5-metre cable, three-phase option, and a five-year warranty. Needs external RCD and, in most cases, a PEN fault device at install.
• Rolec EVO — untethered, UK-built, with built-in Type A RCD, surge protection, and PME fault detection. CT clamp included. Same five-year warranty. You supply your own cable.

Where the Rolec saves you more than £157

The Rolec EVO's built-in PME fault detection means your installer can skip the separate PEN fault device or earth rod that most other chargers — the Wallbox Pulsar Max included — require. That alone saves £100–£250 depending on the property. Add the integrated Type A RCD and surge protection, and the Rolec's total installed cost can land £250–£400 below the Wallbox's, not just the £157 unit difference.

For a standard single-phase home where the install estimate sits in the typical £400–£600 range, the Rolec's built-in protection compresses that window. The Wallbox, needing the extra components, tends to push towards the upper end or beyond it.

Both chargers are OZEV-approved. For eligible renters and flat owners, the £500 grant covers the Rolec EVO's £356 unit price outright and contributes to install costs too. Applied to the Wallbox at £513, it still leaves £13 on the unit before install.

The tethered question

This is the Wallbox's clearest advantage. A tethered charger with a Type 2 cable permanently attached means you walk to the wall, grab, plug in, walk away. The Rolec EVO is untethered only — you carry your own cable each time, or leave one coiled by the socket.

For a garage installation where a cable can hang permanently from a hook beside the charger, the inconvenience is minor. On an exposed driveway, hauling a cable from the boot in the rain is a different proposition. If tethered matters to you, the Wallbox answers that; the Rolec cannot.

Worth noting: the Wallbox's cable is 5 metres with no longer option. If your parking spot sits further from the wall, that tethered advantage evaporates. The Sync Energy Wall Charger 2 offers a tethered option at £400 for buyers who want a cable without the Wallbox's premium.

Solar integration — Rolec includes the hardware

Both chargers offer solar surplus modes. The difference is kit. The Rolec EVO ships with a CT clamp and runs Eco or Eco+ modes out of the box — Eco+ diverts only surplus solar to the car, Eco blends grid and solar. The Wallbox Pulsar Max's Eco-Smart feature requires a separate Wallbox Power Meter, bought and installed extra. That is another cost the spec sheet does not surface.

For households with solar panels already fitted, the Rolec is the more complete package at purchase. If solar diversion is a priority and budget allows more, the myenergi Zappi GLO at £599 remains the specialist — but the Rolec gets surprisingly close for £243 less.

Smart tariffs: a draw, mostly

Neither charger tracks half-hourly pricing. Both support scheduled charging through their respective apps, which is all you need for fixed-window tariffs like Octopus Go (8.5p/kWh, 00:30–05:30) or EDF GoElectric (6.99p/kWh, 23:00–06:00). Set the window once, forget it.

If you want a charger that chases Octopus Agile rates slot by slot, neither of these is the right tool. The Ohme Home Pro at £539 exists for that job. For everyone else on a fixed off-peak window, the Wallbox and Rolec perform identically — which makes the Rolec's lower price harder to argue against.

The Wallbox Pulsar Max's remaining card: three-phase

Fewer than 5% of UK homes have a three-phase supply, but if yours does, the Wallbox Pulsar Max can deliver 22kW. The Rolec EVO is single-phase only, capped at 7.4kW. For the small number of buyers with three-phase and a car that can accept 22kW AC, the Wallbox is one of the more affordable routes to full-speed charging. Everyone else — the vast majority — gains nothing from this capability.

Which to buy

Buy the Rolec EVO if:

• You want the lowest total installed cost, including the savings from built-in RCD and PME detection
• You have solar panels and want surplus diversion without buying extra hardware
• You are comfortable with an untethered socket and supplying your own cable

Buy the Wallbox Pulsar Max if:

• You want a tethered cable attached to the wall, ready to grab
• Your wall space is tight — at 198 × 201 × 99mm, it is one of the smallest chargers available
• You have a three-phase supply and want 22kW charging

For a typical single-phase home without strong feelings about tethered versus untethered, the Rolec EVO is the more considered buy. It costs £157 less at the unit, saves a further £100–£250 on install, includes a CT clamp for solar, and carries the same five-year warranty. The app is newer and still being polished — that is the trade-off. The hardware and the economics are not close.