myenergi Zappi GLO vs Ohme ePod: solar diverter or pocket brain?

Two chargers, two entirely different jobs

This is not a close call dressed up as one. The myenergi Zappi GLO at £750 is a solar diverter that happens to charge cars. The Ohme ePod at £409 is a tariff-following smart charger that happens to be tiny. £341 separates them, and the decision rests on a single question: do you have solar panels on the roof?

• myenergi Zappi GLO — buy it for Eco+ and the myenergi ecosystem. Pointless without panels.
• Ohme ePod — buy it for API-level tariff control and a wall footprint the size of a paperback.

When the Zappi GLO earns its £750

Eco+ is the reason the Zappi exists. It watches what your panels are exporting and diverts that surplus into the car, so the electrons going into the battery are the ones you'd otherwise be selling back to the grid for pennies. Eco blends grid and solar; Eco+ waits for pure surplus. If you own panels — and especially if you own an eddi for hot water or a libbi for battery storage — the Zappi GLO slots into a system that's already paying you back.

Three-phase homes get a 22kW option, though fewer than 5% of UK properties can use it. The tethered 6.5-metre cable is long enough for most driveways, and IP65 means it doesn't mind weather. What it won't do — and this matters — is track a half-hourly tariff the way Ohme does. myenergi's tariff integration is manual; you set windows and hope the supplier doesn't move them. On Octopus Intelligent Go or Agile, that's a real disadvantage.

If solar is the whole point, the deeper read lives in the Ohme Home Pro vs Zappi GLO comparison — same argument, with the Ohme that has a cable attached.

When the ePod is the smarter buy

The Ohme ePod is the cheapest way into Ohme's tariff brain. It talks directly to Octopus Intelligent Go, OVO Charge Anytime and British Gas Electric Drivers through a proper API, not a scheduled approximation. You set a departure time and a price cap; it does the rest. On Intelligent Go's 7p/kWh window, that's the difference between optimised charging and manual guesswork.

It's also comically small — 1.48 kg, 230 × 140 × 100 mm. If your meter cupboard is tight or your Wi-Fi dies at the front door, the ePod's size and built-in 4G SIM solve problems the Zappi doesn't even attempt. The caveats are honest: it's untethered (budget £100–£200 for a Type 2 cable), it has no display, and IP54 means a sheltered mount rather than a fully exposed wall.

Solar isn't off the table either. Solar Boost and Solar Only modes via a CT clamp give the ePod a credible diverter — not quite the Zappi's three-mode sophistication, but enough for many households whose panels are a bonus rather than the centrepiece.

Which to buy

Buy the myenergi Zappi GLO if:

• You have solar panels and want Eco+ diverting surplus into the car
• You're already in the myenergi ecosystem (eddi, libbi) or plan to be
• A shared driveway needs RFID access for multiple users

Buy the Ohme ePod if:

• You're on a smart tariff and want API-level control, not manual scheduling
• Wall space or Wi-Fi range is a real constraint
• You'd rather keep £341 and buy a Type 2 cable with it

The honest verdict: most UK drivers should buy the ePod. It does the thing a home charger is actually for — charging overnight, as cheaply as possible, without you thinking about it — better than the Zappi does, and for £341 less. The Zappi GLO is excellent at what it's designed for, but what it's designed for is solar. If you don't have panels, the £750 is a solar computer you'll never plug in. If you do, buy it without hesitation and don't look back.

One alternative worth naming: if you want the Ohme brain with a cable attached and a proper display, the Ohme Home Pro at £535 is the tidier middle ground. That's covered in the Home Pro vs ePod page.