Installed by very capable contractor a week before car arrived in March 2019. When car arrived would not work properly in my charge point, but did work in my neighbours earlier version Rolec. Worked in my local Jaguar dealers outlet. Contractor came back 3 times and then we decided to to have the tethered model, BUT before changing the unit, the electrician said “ Let’s try a Rolec lead and voila it worked.

Only problem was an extra £200 which I paid because I just wanted to move on.

After some contemplation l felt a bit aggrieved that having bought a very expensive car, that I should pay extra. Called Rolec but they should re-title their service department, The Mupit department

Went to my local Jaguar dealer and explained my point of view. They paid me the £200 so now after 21 months without any problems “ as happy as a pig in sh1t”

I like the look of the Rolec Wallpod: EV Home Smart chargers and the choice of colours.

I decided to go for a tethered charger because I didn’t want the faff of getting a cable out and plugging in both ends. However, I prefer to reverse-park my car on the driveway. The charging-port on a VW Passat GTE is at the front which meant I would need a 7m tether. This requirement struck off 7 brands which had 5m tethers. Rolec had a 10m option and they are a British firm – brilliant.

I had the charger fitted a week before the car arrived and the installer, Grant Store Limited did all the necessary checks with the ‘Rolec Test Metre’. However, when I got the car, it wouldn’t charge from the Rolec. Neither could it charge a friend’s car. It wasn’t a fault with the car – I could charge from a range of other chargers. I contacted GSL and they re-checked the installation. Rolec were also contacted and ev.energy (the third-party company who make the app) were also thrown into the mix and I had a toxic triangle with no-one taking any decisive action. I couldn’t fault the installer, Grant Store Limited, who, after Rolec’s inaction offered to swap it out for a PodPoint with a separate 10m cable. I was fed up with the lack of support the installer was getting from the manufacturer, so I posted this video on YouTube to help with the diagnosis: https://youtu.be/EKAkEiiNU_I

This spurred Rolec into sending out a replacement 32A Controller. I was assured it was being sent urgently but after I did more chasing did the installer finally get his hands on the charger. They offered to fit on a Saturday which was over and above what was expected of them.

Once the controller was replaced – whoo hoo – I could charge my car at home without hanging the 10A granny lead out of the window!

The Rolec has been charging my car for the past month now. However, this is not the end of the nightmare. Since the 32A Controller was replaced, the ev.energy app refuses to connect with the Rolec charger. I’m back in that toxic triangle of inaction between installer, manufacturer and app provider……………

Rolec have suggested the problem “can only really lead to a few scenarios, either the replacement mode 3 controller was not programmed correctly in the factory (ie programmed for the wrong number, a typo perhaps) or the mode 3 controller was not wired up correctly and/or loose connections have played a part in the unit not making a proper connection to the modem.”

10 months on and my problems still hasn’t been resolved.

Don’t buy a Rolec:

Poor QC at factory

Poor contractor support

Poor links with the provider of the app for their ‘smart’ charger

Poor communication

Poor customer service

I have had nothing but trouble from this, when you call the support team you get bounced around between Rolec and EV.Energy, shocking customer service. One thing I can say work is when they give my electrician the wrong part, guess what it worked but not attached to EV.Enegry so a basic plug. So they replaced the part again and it stopped working. So like others I have replaced it with a better charger, waste of money and there is no way to get that back.

We havent had a problem with this EVC since its installation about 3 months ago (the only ball-ache was that the grounding rod we bought with it wasn’t required but a Matt:e was. We got the 16/32A switchable version as we have friends that have electric cars that can only take 16a. At present we havent had any issues with software or charging but I will certainly be monitoring the charging unit over the coming months, based on a few of the reviews here… So far, so good.

Basic 7kw charger with tethered lead.

Fitted around 3.5 years ago (March 2017) by AeroCharge and used every day.

After a while we noticed that charging would randomly stop and restart, even after the car was fully charged.

We noticed it because every time it started or stopped the contactor made a loud clunk, audible inside the house.

We stopped using it overnight because it would wake us up, but with solar PV panels we try to charge during the

day anyway.

The installer was helpful at first and replaced the charging cable, but the problem returned quickly.

The installer became less and less responsive and I eventually discovered that they had disappeared without trace.

I then insisted that Rolec took over responsibility. They seemed helpful at first, but insisted that the fault lay with the

car (a new Golf GTE). VW checked the car twice and insisted that the fault lay with the charger.

Rolec became increasingly less helpful, usually not even returning my calls. I was left to post on various EV forums in

an effort to find the cause of the problem. Identifying faults should definitely not be job of the customer, but with little help

from Rolec and an installer who had gone out of business, it seemed that I had little choice.

This situation dragged on for months until I contacted the OLEC and decided to take legal action against Rolec This finally

prompted them into a positive response. Eventually they sent an engineer from Boston with enough spares to replace every component

inside the charger. The engineer was pleasant and helpful, and within 90 minutes had replaced all the parts not previously replaced,

including a new, much quieter contactor.

That was just over 6 months ago and it seems to have been working properly ever since.

I bought the Rolec 7KW charger based on other reviews, but my experience with their home chargers and work based chargers have left me unimpressed.

I had a number of issues, which I had to push very hard to get fixed, both hardware and software based, I had the signal to the box dropping out and spurious KWH usages on the app, one weekend it said the car had consumed over 300KWH charging. Rolec blamed the software developers and vice versa, the communication from both companies was very poor. I don’t even know if my problems have been fixed, no one has told me and I’ve just given up. I use it to charge and don’t bother with the smart functions.

Their work based coin operated chargers are no better, they just stop charging, you have to constantly check your phone to see if the machine has stopped. It’s a real pain.

Based on my experience I would advise people to look else where, they are expensive and unreliable

The smart part of the Rolec charger never worked from installation. Technical support and guarantee from Rolec ONLY was for a repair from new not a replacement so you would be left with no charger ….after a month of discussion and various visits by API engineers for this issue not to be resolved and work, we decided to pay extra and get a product that worked from new . We have had the Rolec removed and replaced by the Zappi which was installed quickly and worked fully immediately. Alas we have been greatly inconvenienced and had to pay more with bad customer service.

Don’t pay more than this, it’s just a socket.

Make sure you get the tethered version, you don’t want to mess with a separate cable at home.

Had my Rolec installed a week ago. Issues with smart charging and failed to charge overnight. Rolec just want to pass the problem onto app supplier ev.energy who are difficult to contact, requesting details by email. Charger is functioning but currently not as a smart charger. Awaiting a resolution so unhappy at the moment and would not recommend due to the complex relationship between Rolec, their approved installers and the app provider. Any problems are bound to be passed from one to the other with no ownership of issues.

My Rolec wallpod has been installed for about 15 months. It is a basic charger that just does what it was designed to do; however, I do have some ongoing concerns. From time-to-time, I get a flashing blue LED. Turning off the charger does not always achieve a LED re-set and I am advised that I am probably looking at having to fit a replacement communications module. This module is not covered by warranty as this was a non OLEV installation.

Had for a year. Not a great deal of use as free vend rapid installed nearby. Worked flawlessly.

Had this fitted a month or so back as one of the first “smart” chargers they sold/fit.

After a delay in actually sending the item due to “software issues”,the item was fitted almost a week or so late.

The unit looks smart although a little on the large size. The flashing Blue “ready” light is slightly strange as it attracts the eye at night when the light level is low. Whilst not an issue for most, as mine is fitted on front of the house, its a little obtrusive and could attract unwanted further investigations by passers by.

When the unit was originally fitted the box would not communicate with the “App” and we could not get the box to charge the car. After the fitter spent a good hour or so on the phone to get “technical help” (service is VERY slow!) he was informed the “Smart” feature had not yet been implemented due to “software Issues” and the unit was just “plug and play”! Which it basically wasnt until approx 20 mins later when there was a !Clunk! from the unit and it miraculously started to charge the car.

To cut a further long story short after numerous conversations with “Technical help” the App started to sort of work using “smart” however lots of parts of the App were either not operating or working sporadically.

The information given for the App and the charger is very basic and doesnt explain that certain parts of the App etc. is “not for general use” or only for use with “Tesla” vehicles but not yet available!

Most of which Technical admitted that was misleading and the instructions were inadequate at this moment in time “but will improve!”

We have managed to find many “work arounds” on the App by ourselves and to get the vehicle charged when we plug it in we have to “Boost” the charger (why a simple on/off feature isnt installed in the App I will never know!!) to get it to start charging the car before the scheduled charge start time or reduce the time for when the car should be fully charged.

The only issue with this is that the car sometimes fails to fully charge as the App curtails the charge due to reducing the “Carbon impact” all well and good but I need to charge the car when I want it charged, not always when the App sets it as enviromentally friendly to do so!

Hope this hasnt bored too many people however I’m of the thought that if someone is selling something into the market that needs to comply with new laws (Smart Charging etc) and given they had ample time to design and implement the changes BEFORE they get them into the market WORKING. Albeit with a few minor glitches and not using customers to field test them with many many glitches and non working/ App features my marks may well have been higher.

I still dont know if things are working better or as they should with the newer units/upgrades and they may well have sorted some issues out by now however I am still having problems with the App connecting with the charger, telling it when to charge and also the stats as to what costs are etc.

As a charger when it works its fine…but its getting it to work thats the issue!

Nice, simple, yet seemingly robust charger. Great service and fitting from API. The installer did a nice, neat job with a rather awkward positioning. Thanks.

Had a 32A Rolec tethered wallpod installed by API back in March ’17 for my new Leaf. Installation was straightforward and tidy, the engineer arrived as scheduled and left no mess. It’s been used almost every day since (62 mile commute) and had only one issue with the charger, it started tripping the built-in RCB. I informed API and they sent an engineer to look at it while I was at work – no issues since.

Been in use for more than a year. I have a tethered charge lead and this makes it very easy to use – no getting leads out which I do at work. Getting it installed was easy and efficient. I have about a 3 meter lead and you have to uncoil it now and again and it gets in the way of the garage door sometimes. My grandson likes to put the lead onto the car, he is 6 and if he can do it then anybody can.

We have Rolec charge points at work and they are very poor and when they trip, which they do often, they have to be disassembled to reset, they need a redesign. Also it would be good if they had several connection points and controlled charging as our supply is limited and we often swap leads after the 2 hr charge period to get every car charged – with this method we can get 3 cars charged per day.

API installed a Rolec type2 32amp untethered Terracotta EV charger which works great.

Chose this one because it allows us to connect to type1 and 2 cars using 2 leads.

The terracotta blends in with the bricks.

The API engineer was excellent and travelled far to fit it.

This is the best thing i have ever had put on the outside of the house, this firm was so helpful in the way they answered My enquiry for an outdoor charger, telling me who to get in touch with to upgrade the electrical system which was free to actually fitting the system and to the house, it is the best thing ever to charge your car, so much quicker than on the 13 amp plug and cheaper , of you are interested in having one fitted then these are the best firm from fitting to after support, top class…

API installed a Rolec charge point about 6 months ago now. It was a straight forward process – very efficient and good value. Opted for tethered unit so that the cars separate cable can live in the boot for use out-and-about, and less time is spent in the rain fishing it out to connect up at home…

Rolec charger is attractively designed and continues to work well without a problem, i had the tethered type fitted but with hindsight, i would have been better with untethered so it could have been used at chargers that don’t have a cable.

Some places have free chargers but you need your own cable.

API installed my Rolex charger in June 2019 and their service was seamless, efficient and friendly, from beginning to end. I remember thinking “Why can’t all companies be like this.” Thank you and keep it up. No problems at all with the charger. I went with untethered, as it wasn’t a big deal to me to hook up my car’s cable whenever I want to charge.

I had a rolec charger installed by API Electrical some 18 months ago, superb customer service, happy with charger, no issues to date, went without tethered just in case we change the car