We install every major brand and don't sell hardware at a markup, so here's the version we'd give a mate: the right charger depends almost entirely on whether you have solar, and how many kilometres you actually drive.
If you have solar: myenergi Zappi
The Zappi's headline feature is solar diversion, it monitors what your panels are exporting and pushes surplus into the car instead of sending it to the grid for a few cents. On a sunny day that's effectively free kilometres.
Good: genuinely clever solar integration, three charging modes, well proven in Australia, works with any solar brand.
Watch: costs more than a basic unit ($1,400–$1,800), and needs a CT clamp installed at the meter. Simple during install, fiddlier as a retrofit.
Get it if: you have solar, or you're getting solar within a year or two.
If you drive a Tesla: Tesla Wall Connector
Clean design, reliable, and integrates with the car's own scheduling and app. Handles other makes fine with the right cable, though the seamless bits are Tesla-to-Tesla.
Good: sharp price ($850–$1,100), tidy on the wall, excellent Tesla integration, straightforward install.
Watch: no native solar diversion, you can schedule charging for daylight but it won't chase surplus dynamically.
Get it if: you drive a Tesla and don't have solar (or don't mind scheduling manually).
The smart all-rounder: Evnex E2 Flex
New Zealand designed, strong app, and good load management. It can throttle charging when the house is drawing heavily, which sometimes avoids a supply upgrade entirely.
Good: excellent load management, solid app, well supported locally, handles tight switchboards better than most.
Watch: mid-range pricing, solar features less sophisticated than Zappi's.
Get it if: your supply is tight, or you want good app control without the Zappi premium.
If you already have solar from a big brand: match it
Sigenergy, GoodWe, Fox ESS and SolarEdge all make chargers that integrate with their own inverters. The advantage is one app for solar, battery and car rather than three. Genuinely nicer to live with.
Get it if: your inverter is one of those brands and you value a single system.
Single phase or three phase?
Single phase (about 7kW) adds roughly 40km of range per hour. Overnight that's 300–400km, more than enough for almost everyone. Three phase (up to 22kW) is around three times faster and worth it if you're doing serious daily kilometres or run two EVs.
Important: check whether you already have three-phase supply before paying to add it. Plenty of larger Peninsula homes do and don't realise. Adding it where it doesn't exist is a distributor job costing thousands.
What about the cheap ones?
There are $500 units online. Some are fine; many have no local support, no app, and no warranty path when something fails in three years. The install cost is identical either way, so saving $400 on hardware you'll use daily for a decade is usually false economy. We'll install what you buy, but we'll tell you honestly what we think of it.
Our actual advice
Have solar or getting it? Zappi. Tesla with no solar? Wall Connector. Tight switchboard? Evnex. Big-brand inverter already? Match it. Beyond that it's budget and taste, they all charge the car.
Send us a photo of your switchboard and tell us the car, and we'll recommend based on your setup rather than what's on our shelf.
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