myenergi Zappi GLO vs CTEK Chargestorm Connected 3

£599 against £1,086 — and the question nobody asks

These two chargers occupy the same product category in the way a hatchback and a flatbed lorry both count as motor vehicles. The myenergi Zappi GLO costs £599, diverts solar surplus, and talks to your energy tariff through its own app. The CTEK Chargestorm Connected 3 costs £1,086, weighs up to 24 kg, carries a MID-approved meter, and speaks OCPP 2.0.1 to whatever back-end you point it at.

The £487 gap is not a quality premium. It is the distance between a home charger designed for a driveway and a piece of commercial-grade infrastructure that happens to fit on a domestic wall.

• Zappi GLO — solar diversion in three modes, myenergi ecosystem, £599. A home charger.
• CTEK Chargestorm Connected 3 — three-phase native, MID metering, OCPP management, £1,086. A car-park unit with domestic ambitions.

What the CTEK's extra £487 buys — and who needs it

The Chargestorm Connected 3 includes a built-in Type B MRCD (saving roughly £100 on a separate RCD at the consumer unit), a MID-approved energy meter with Eichrecht compliance, and dual Ethernet ports alongside Wi-Fi. Its IK10 impact rating means it will survive a knock from a bumper or a shopping trolley. These are specifications written for multi-unit installations, workplace car parks, and landlords who need auditable billing.

On a single-phase supply — which covers the vast majority of UK homes — the CTEK delivers around 7.4 kW. The Zappi GLO delivers 7 kW. That 0.4 kW difference adds roughly six minutes to a typical overnight charge. Nobody will notice.

The CTEK's three-phase 22 kW mode is its structural advantage, but fewer than 5% of UK homes have three-phase power, and upgrading costs thousands. If you already have three-phase, and you want open-protocol management via Monta or another OCPP platform, the CTEK is a credible option — though the Zaptec Go 2 at £638 covers much of the same ground for considerably less.

The Zappi GLO's case: solar, tariffs, and a lighter install bill

The Zappi GLO exists to do one thing that the CTEK cannot: divert surplus solar generation into your car. Eco+ mode charges exclusively from rooftop output — zero grid draw, zero cost. Eco mode blends solar with grid power to maintain a minimum charge rate. If you have panels, this is the feature that pays for the charger over time.

On the tariff side, the Zappi GLO handles scheduling through the myenergi app and supports smart tariff integration with providers like Octopus Go. It is not as sharp as the Ohme Home Pro on half-hourly tariffs like Octopus Agile — if variable-rate optimisation matters more to you than solar, the Ohme vs Zappi GLO comparison is the more useful page. But against the CTEK, which has no first-party tariff integration at all and relies entirely on third-party OCPP apps, the Zappi is far more capable out of the box.

Installation costs matter here too. The Zappi GLO typically runs £400–£600 to install. The CTEK, at up to 24 kg and with its more involved wiring requirements, quotes at £900–£1,300. Total outlay for the Zappi: roughly £999–£1,199. Total for the CTEK: £1,986–£2,386. That is not a rounding error.

Warranty and longevity

The CTEK carries a 5-year warranty against the Zappi GLO's 3 years. Two extra years of cover is a legitimate consideration, particularly on a unit costing £1,086. The CTEK's IP54 rating is lower than the Zappi's IP65, though both are adequate for a UK wall. If warranty length is the deciding factor and you do not need solar diversion, the Simpson & Partners Home 7 offers 10 years at £649 — less than either the CTEK's unit price or the Zappi plus a warranty extension.

Which to buy

Buy the myenergi Zappi GLO if:

• You have solar panels — or plan to install them within the next year or two
• You want a charger that schedules off-peak charging through its own app without third-party platforms
• You are on a single-phase supply and want the lowest total installed cost

Buy the CTEK Chargestorm Connected 3 if:

• You have three-phase power and need 22 kW charging at home
• You require MID-approved metering — for example, billing a tenant or reclaiming business mileage
• You run or plan to run an OCPP back-end and want open-protocol flexibility

For a typical single-phase home with solar panels, the Zappi GLO is the right charger. It costs £487 less, installs for less, and does more of what a domestic EV owner actually needs. The CTEK is an impressive piece of engineering — built for a context most homes do not have.