Ohme EV Chargers – A Deep Dive Into the Brand

Ohme brought a fresh spark to the EV charging scene in 2018 with smart chargers designed around real driver needs. While others were stuck on dumb sockets and haberdash apps, Ohme EV chargers brought built-in controls alongside a fantastic software experience. Now, they’ve raced ahead through visionary partnerships with the likes of Polestar and Mercedes to become a premier provider of seamless charging experiences for homes and businesses.

About Ohme

Ohme is a British EV charger manufacturer that makes switching to an electric vehicle simple and convenient. The company engineers clever hardware and software that enables EV owners to save money on charging costs, and reduce their carbon footprint.

At the core of Ohme’s offering are its unique smart chargers designed for domestic and commercial use. These chargers integrate dynamic technology that harnesses live energy data to identify the cheapest and greenest times to charge based on the user’s electricity tariff. This helps maximise savings compared to using a standard socket.

An easy-to-use app allows users full control and visibility over charging behaviour. Energy usage can be monitored in real-time to understand costs. Charging times can also be scheduled around off-peak hours or solar generation.

Ohme positions itself as the ultimate end-to-end EV charging brand. Its focus is on outstanding customer service and creating the best user experience possible – in return, it has received glowing feedback from EV drivers and industry recognition for its technology and service.

Ohme Ownership – Doing Things Differently

David Watson Ohme to help accelerate the transition to electric vehicles and solve the challenges of integrating more renewable energy into the grid. He realised that as more EVs hit the roads, massive spikes in electricity demand could destabilise grids not equipped to handle it. His insight was that smart charging technology could reduce this impact by shifting EV charging to times when renewable energy production peaks.

The Ohme solution is disruptive in two key ways. First, it created the first bottom-up, demand-led system for managing EV charging, using data insights rather than just adding more supply.

Second, through features like their smart charging cable, Ohme is making this complex technology convenient and accessible for regular consumers. By optimising charging times and rates for individuals, Ohme helps drivers slash charging costs, incentivising EV adoption.

In an interview with Medium, Watson notes that positive disruption solves intractable problems like climate change. While disruption always creates winners and losers, innovations tackling environmental sustainability outweigh the downsides. He aims to scale Ohme’s affordable, easy-to-use platform to drive the EV transition and accelerate renewable energy growth.

Key lessons he shares are: measuring twice before big decisions, accepting reality before changing it, and finding positives in every situation. David believes broad experience, rather than narrow specialisation, enables solving problems across sectors, as his varied background helped him identify Ohme’s market gap. Watson is driven by his passion for environmental progress and the belief that with commitment and perseverance, entrepreneurs can make the world better. Now that’s something we can get behind.

Ohme EV Chargers

Right then, onto Ohme’s charger offerings.

Ohme has two EV chargers – the Home Pro and the ePod, both of which make our list of the best EV chargers. Their smart charging technology optimises charging sessions by using live data to determine the lowest-cost, lowest-demand times to charge your vehicle.

The Home Pro is Ohme’s tethered EV charger. It has an in-built display and buttons to control charging sessions at the source. The ePod is Ohme’s untethered/socketed charger – it lacks a display but still has control buttons.

We have reviewed both EV chargers. You can read them by clicking the buttons below:

If you’d rather stick to this page, here’s what you need to know:

Ohme Home Pro

Price: Around £999 with installation. This price is for a standard installation.

In terms of aesthetics, the Ohme Home Pro looks fantastic. Its curved black casing and tidy cable management system blend nicely into modern home environments. Build quality is superb as well, with a sturdy ABS plastic shell that should hold up well over years of use.

The pièce de résistance is the bright 3” LCD panel on the front. This full-colour touchscreen display lets you control and monitor charging directly from the unit, unlike chargers that rely solely on a smartphone app. The panel is crisp, responsive, and easy to navigate between settings and charging status data. Ohme nailed the hardware on this model.

Home Pro Charger Specs

• Charging rate: 7.4kW (32A, Single phase)
• Range per hour: Up to 28-miles.
• Connector type: Tethered.
• Cable type: Type 2
• Cable length: 5m or 8m.
• In-built PEN fault device.
• In-built load management set through the unit.
• RCD Type A with 6mA DC.
• Overcurrent protection Not fitted – to be fitted separately.
• Connectivity: GSM (Sim card built-in, 4G network).
• Wagos, CT Clamp and cable holster included.
• Weather rating: IP55.
• Dimensions: H170 x W200 x D100mm.
• Warranty: 3 Years.

Charging Experience

In daily use, the Ohme Home Pro proves its worth as an intelligent charger. It optimises charging based on your energy tariff, automatically topping up your EV battery during the cheapest off-peak hours. The schedules and modes are highly customisable, while special features like price capping ensures you get affordable charging every time.

We also love being able to override to a Max Charge setting from the unit’s screen when needed. 7.4kW charging provides up to 30 miles of range per hour to compatible EVs. Smart safety features such as randomised start delays and internal earthing further increase our confidence in the Ohme Home Pro.

App & Connectivity

Connecting our test unit was simple with the QR code scanning method. Ohme’s smartphone app neatly centralises data like usage stats and scheduled charging times. Minor gripes are that solar integration is missing and the API compatibility could still use some work to link with more vehicle makes/models.

Overall, it’s impossible not to be charmed by the Ohme Home Pro. Between the gorgeous hardware, intuitive controls, dynamic smart features, and great customer service, Ohme checked all the right boxes for a thoroughly modern EV charging experience. Competitively priced as well, we can easily recommend the Home Pro as one of the best options currently available.

Ohme ePod

Price: Around £899 with installation. This price is for a standard installation.

After extensively testing the Ohme ePod home EV charger, it’s easy to see why this unit is Top Charger’s highest rated model. Despite its compact, low-profile design, the ePod delivers speedy, intelligent charging thanks to Ohme’s excellent smart technology integration.

On the hardware side, Ohme checks the boxes for safety and future-proofing. The included load balancing sensor prevents electrical overloads while automatic firmware updates ensure the ePod improves over time.

ePod Charger Specs

• Charging rate: 7.4kW (32A, Single phase)
• Range per hour: Up to 28-miles.
• Connector type: Untethered.
• Cable type: Type 2.
• In-built PEN fault device.
• In-built load management set through the unit.
• RCD Type A with 6mA DC.
• Overcurrent protection Not fitted – to be fitted separately.
• Connectivity: GSM (Sim card built-in, 4G network).
• Wagos, CT Clamp and cable holster included.
• Weather rating: IP55.
• Dimensions: 230mm (H) x 140mm (W) x 100 mm (D).
• Warranty: 3 Years.

With dynamic charging capabilities, integrated earth fault protection, and rugged outdoor rating, the ePod proves itself as an advanced yet hassle-free charging solution.

Straight out of the box, the ePod makes an impression with its slim yet robust construction. Measuring just 230mm x 140mm x 100mm, the charger blends seamlessly into any wall or mounting surface. The sleek curved casing looks sharp in any setting from home garages to office car parks. Build quality feels solid and the interactive control buttons add a high-end touch.

Charging Experience

Being an untethered “socket” style charger, the ePod works with any compatible EV cable. This provides more flexibility compared to fixed-cable chargers. Owners can use cables up to 8m in length, allowing convenient mounting placement. Despite its petite dimensions, the ePod supports charging at up to 7kW (32A). This adds a useful 20+ miles of driving range per hour.

App & Connectivity

Smart functionality sets the ePod apart. It links directly to Ohme’s excellent smartphone app for monitoring usage and costs. Drivers can also schedule charging sessions to align with off-peak energy rates on supported tariffs, saving substantially on electricity bills in the process. Additional features like price capping gives further control over charging expenses.

Could the ePod be even better? Solar integration would make an already environmentally friendly product even greener. An option to connect the charger to home solar panels seems inevitable given Ohme’s forward-thinking roadmap.

But even in its current form, the ePod delivers on convenience, intelligence and value in a petite, plug-and-play package. It earns our strong recommendation for smart home EV charging done right.

Ohme EV Chargers Standard Installation

An Ohme standard installation includes the key components needed to safely and effectively install an Ohme electric vehicle charger. First, the customer and installation engineer will agree on the cable route from the power source to the mounting location. The charger unit is then securely installed on an exterior wall structure. Up to 15 meters of cable is run from the consumer unit to the charger, using existing infrastructure and taking the shortest path possible. If the cable must pass through walls, a single hole up to 50cm thick can be drilled.

The standard installation also includes connecting the necessary electrical safety components provided with the Ohme charger, such as the current transformer, circuit breaker or RCBO, and optional surge protection device. Finally, the installation is completed by electrically testing and certifying the charging circuit to confirm safe and compliant operation.

The goal of the Ohme standard installation is to simplify the process for customers by defining what is included versus additional chargeable services, while ensuring an accessible, neat and professional installation job. Please let me know if you need any clarification or have additional questions!

The Ohme App

When you research and look at smart EV chargers, it’s crucial not to fixate too much on the hardware, because you will use the app to control it most of the time – this makes the app/software a crucial ingredient to a fantastic EV charger.

The Ohme app (available on Google Play, iOS) is one of the best EV charging apps out there. Here’s what it can do:

Charging Management

• Set charging preferences like daily commute and weekend trip ranges.
• View charging costs per mile and savings compared to “dumb” charging.
• See charger status and send reboot commands if needed.

EV Integration

• Check current state of charge and range estimates.
• Start/stop climate control on supported models.
• View detailed specs like battery capacity and charging rates.

Track Energy Usage

• Select optimum cheap charging times based on energy tariff.
• Track green mileage score and CO2 consumption metrics.
• Upload utility bills for accurate cost tracking.
• Set kWh price caps to ensure you pay the lowest energy rates – this is ideal if you have an EV tariff.

The Ohme app provides robust tools for monitoring charging sessions, scheduling charging, integrating with the EV, and optimising based on power rates. Recent updates have focused on surfacing more analytics about charging behaviour and costs.

Charging with API Support

Ohme integrates with some electric vehicle manufacturers’ APIs (application programming interfaces) to enable more precise smart charging schedules.

If your electric vehicle brand provides an API that Ohme supports, you can connect your account by logging into your manufacturer’s app within the Ohme app. This allows Ohme to access data on your vehicle’s current battery state of charge.

With this data, Ohme can create customised charging schedules to efficiently charge your EV based on your driving needs, electricity rates, and more. Key benefits include:

• Accurately hitting your desired state of charge target since Ohme knows your exact starting point.
• Optimising charging speed and times based on your vehicle’s needs.
• Reducing charging costs by timing sessions to off-peak electricity rates.

Ohme currently provides API integration and precise charging for BMW, Hyundai, Jaguar, Land Rover, Kia, Nissan, Renault, Tesla, and MINI vehicles. Support for additional manufacturers is coming soon.

If API access changes or becomes unavailable for any reason, Ohme will automatically adjust to use the standard “add charge” scheduling described next.

Charging without API Support

If your electric vehicle does not have an API available or you prefer not to connect accounts, you can still charge without API support.

Without API access, Ohme allows you to create schedules to add a set percentage of charge to your vehicle’s current level. For example, if you typically arrive home with 30% charge remaining, you can create a schedule to add 50% more charge. This will instruct Ohme to charge your vehicle up to 80% by the scheduled time.

The key difference from API-connected charging is that Ohme does not know your exact starting state of charge. But smart scheduling can still optimise charging rates and times to reduce costs. If you request more charge than your battery can hold, Ohme may send an alert that charging did not meet expectations. This is just a notice that the requested charge level exceeded 100% – there is no issue.

Ohme is continuously expanding API connections and improving precision charging capabilities as part of Ohme Labs. Please contact Customer Care with any issues or for support customising your charging schedule.

Ohme EV Chargers Unique Features

Dynamic Charging

Ohme chargers dynamically start and stop charging based on live data about energy demand and prices. This aligns charging with periods when energy demand is lower and electricity prices are cheaper. It reliably reaches your desired state of charge while balancing supply and demand on the grid.

Energy Tariff Integration

Ohme is the only EV charging provider that integrates with all energy tariffs, including intelligent/time-of-use tariffs like Octopus and OVO. The charger determines the greenest and cheapest times to charge within your tariff so you get optimal savings.

Seamless Linking

Connecting your Ohme charger to your energy tariff is straightforward. In the Ohme app, select your energy supplier and tariff to link them. Ohme handles optimisation automatically.

Next Generation Features

Integration with EV & Time-of-Use Tariffs

Ohme chargers are ready to integrate with any energy tariff, including specialised EV and time-of-use tariffs as they become available. This ensures you can always take advantage of the most affordable charging rates.

Solar Charging

Ohme is developing chargers that can utilise solar power generated from home solar panel systems. Any excess solar electricity production will be intelligently directed to your EV, allowing you to power your vehicle with clean, renewable energy.

Enhanced Grid Connectivity

Future Ohme chargers are likely to have two-way communication with the electric grid to modulate charging speed and times to optimise demand response based on real-time grid conditions. This will facilitates greater adoption of renewable energy and distributed energy resources on the grid.

Ohme’s Partnerships

Ohme has partnerships with Polestar (see our coverage here), Cupra, Mercedes, Audi, Volkswagen, and Vauxhall – the former two as official EV charger partners.

Ohme EV chargers are also widely recommended by energy suppliers, with an official partnership with Octopus Energy.

Ohme and Octopus

Octopus Energy has partnered with Ohme to allow smart charging directly through Ohme’s EV chargers. This provides cheaper and greener charging by enabling Octopus Energy’s Intelligent Octopus Go tariff to optimise charging times.

What You Need

• Be an Octopus Energy customer.
• Have a SMETS2 smart meter.
• Have an Ohme EV charger.

How It Works

• You’ll switch to Octopus Energy’s Intelligent Octopus Go tariff.
• This tariff provides 6 hours of cheap nighttime charging from 11:30pm to 5:30am.
• Ohme chargers will enable Octopus to provide smart charging during other times at the cheap off-peak rate.
• You’ll need to use the Ohme app to set a charging schedule for when you need your EV charged by, ideally between 4am-11am.
• The Ohme app should have price capping disabled to enable the cheap off-peak rate.

Controlling Your Charging

• Use the Ohme app to set a single charging schedule for when you need your car charged by.
• Octopus Energy handles optimising the charging in the background to use cheap rates.
• You can override the schedule by setting the Ohme app to max charging, but this may cost more.

Billing and Charging Rates

• Octopus Energy handles all billing like your normal home charging.
• The Ohme app charge cost estimate may not be fully accurate yet.
• Check your Octopus Energy bills for exact charging spend.

This integration provides cheaper and optimised EV charging by leveraging Octopus Energy’s intelligent tariff and Ohme’s smart chargers.

Ohme Customer Service & Reviews

Ohme has over 1,600 reviews on Trustpilot with a 4.5/5 score overall. Most Ohme customers are very satisfied, with 81% leaving 5-star reviews praising the efficient installation process, smart charging capabilities that significantly reduce costs, easy-to-use app controls, and excellent customer service. A few customers did have issues getting responses from customer support to resolve technical problems. Critical reviews centre on lack of responsiveness and delays resolving malfunctions. While a small minority had negative experiences, most describe their Ohme EV charger as a high-quality, reliable product.

Ohme’s Google reviews are less forgiving than those on Trustpilot, with a 3.1/5 score on Google – although it should be said that Google reviews are not verified. Most negative reviews (stars or less) are relatively recent from 2023, with customers noting that the customer service levels have dipped since 2022.

Top Charger’s experience of Ohme is, however, overwhelmingly positive – Ohme always picks up the phone, and our Ohme Home Pro and Ohme ePod reviews rank those EV chargers as some of the best money can buy.

You can contact Ohme customer service here. Ohme also has a help centre full of articles, guides, and videos for new and existing customers. Technical support can be found here.

Are Ohme EV Chargers Worth It? Should You Buy One?

We were blown away by the software/app experience with the Ohme ePod and Ohme Home Pro during our reviews – it is night and day better than something like the Pod Point app. The ePod and Home Pro also have integrated buttons for controlling charging at the source, but the real value comes from smart tariff integration – you can effectively set your Ohme EV charger to automatically tap into cheap rates as they become available.

Pros:

• Cleverly designed hardware with impressive build quality, intuitive controls, and useful features like dynamic charging optimisation.
• Smart charging capabilities save money by timing charging to off-peak electricity rates.
• Easy set-up and integration with select EV manufacturers’ APIs enables customised charging schedules and battery status information.
• User-friendly app provides robust tools for monitoring usage, costs, range estimates and more – it’s one of the best apps out there.
• Most customers are very satisfied with Ohme’s performance, savings, and customer service – and the same goes for our reviewers.

Cons:

• Lacks solar integration currently.
• Some users experienced drops in customer service responsiveness recently.
• API compatibility could still expand to more EV makes/models.

In conclusion, Ohme scores very well for its modern hardware, intelligent charging technology, and competitive pricing. With most users reporting excellent experiences and substantial cost savings, Ohme EV chargers deliver significant benefits for most EV owners. Shortcomings like solar capabilities are on the product roadmap, while customer service issues seem limited to a small subset of users. Considering the overall value proposition, ease-of-use and functionality, Ohme EV chargers are worth recommending.