Portable EV charger or home charge point: which suits you?

Choose a portable charger if a 3-pin socket covers your driving, and a home charge point if you want extras such as load management or solar charging. Power follows the socket: on a 32 A commando socket a portable charger delivers the same 7.4 kW as a 7 kW charge point, while a 3-pin socket gives 2.8 kW at 13 A. Slow charging also wastes more energy, an average of 16% at 2.3 kW against 10% at 4.1 kW in a German test by ADAC (August 2026).

Published 10/11/2026 · By Voldt® product team

7.4 kW

from a 32 A commando socket, the same as a 7 kW charge point

A home charge point, or wallbox, and a portable charger both tell the car how much current it may draw and cut the power on a fault. A charge point does this from the wall, on its own circuit (Mode 3). A portable charger does it from a control box on the cable, plugged into a socket (Mode 2). Voldt® portable chargers add residual current protection of 30 mA AC plus 6 mA DC and a temperature sensor in the plug that lowers the current when the plug warms up.

The wiring regulations give every charging point its own circuit (BS 7671, Section 722). A 3-pin socket usually shares a ring circuit with the rest of the house, so have it checked before you charge at 13 A every night, and use 10 A on older wiring. A blue commando socket on its own circuit sits in between: the electrician fits a socket instead of a charge point, and the portable charger stays yours.

A 3-pin socket on a sound circuit gives 2.8 kW at 13 A, the setting the Voldt® 3-pin charger is built for and over a fifth more than the 2.3 kW of 10 A. Keep 10 A for older wiring. A blue commando socket gives 3.7 kW at 16 A and 7.4 kW at 32 A. A home charge point on the same 32 A circuit gives exactly the same, which is why chargers sold as 7 kW deliver 7.4 kW at most on a single-phase supply.

Most UK homes have a single-phase supply, so the 11 and 22 kW ratings on many charge points need a three-phase connection that few houses have. Your car sets a second limit through its onboard charger. In practice, ten hours at 3.7 kW put about 33 kWh into the battery after losses, enough for around 110 miles at the 304 Wh per mile that EV Database lists as the real-world average.

Voldt® portable chargers start at £158 with a 3-pin plug and £188 with a 32 A commando plug. A commando socket adds the electrician’s work for a new circuit, which a charge point needs too, and a charge point adds the unit itself. Renters and flat owners with off-street parking can claim up to £500 per socket towards a charge point, while owners of a house with a driveway pay the full price.

Slow charging also costs a little more per mile, because the car’s electronics stay awake for every hour it charges. In a test of five current EVs by ADAC, Germany’s motoring club (August 2026), a 2.3 kW socket lost 12.7 to 24.2% of the energy drawn from the meter, and charging held to 4.1 kW lost 8.0 to 12.8%. At 8,000 miles a year that gap is about 190 kWh, around £51 at the October 2026 price cap of 26.32p per kWh (Ofgem). At 13 A the Voldt® 3-pin charger draws 2.8 kW, between the first two pie charts, and a 7 kW charge point or a 32 A commando socket loses less again.

Renters and flat owners face two questions: who pays for the electricity, and who agrees to new wiring. A socket on your own meter answers the first. A commando socket or a charge point needs the landlord’s consent and, in a block, the freeholder’s or managing agent’s, because tenants have no general right to one in UK law.

The government’s chargepoint grant for renters and flat owners rose to £500 per socket on 1 April 2026 and runs until 31 March 2027, provided you have private off-street parking (OZEV). If you park on the street, a separate grant helps pay for a cross-pavement solution, since a cable trailing across the pavement needs your council’s permission.

Every charge point sold for home use in Great Britain since 30 June 2022 must be smart: it can be scheduled and comes set to avoid peak hours (Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations 2021). Charge points can also offer load management, which lowers the current when the oven and kettle run so the main fuse holds, and solar charging, which follows the surplus from your panels.

Voldt® portable chargers cover the everyday controls in the Voldt® app: set the current, schedule a start time for an overnight EV tariff and follow the energy of each session. They do not balance load with the house or follow solar output, so if you need either, a charge point is the better choice.