EV home chargers have a variety of different features, but one that is often talked about is whether the charger is tethered or untethered. In this guide we will break down the difference between these, and why you might pick one over the other.
The difference between these two types of chargers is actually exceedingly simple – tethered chargers have the charging cable hard-wired into the charger so that it is not user-removable; wheras untethered chargers generally have a plug socket on the front that allows you to use a charging cable of your choice. An example of a tethered home charger would be the Wallbox Pulsar Plus – this comes hard-wired with either a Type 1 or Type 2 charging cable.
An example of an untethered home charger would be the EO Mini Pro 2 – this comes with a Type 2 socket on the front which allows you to connect your own charging cable.
Tethered vs untethered – which is better?
There are a few factors to weigh up here. Untethered chargers have the advantage that they can be used with any vehicle with any type of connector (provided you have an appropriate cable). On the other hand, tethered chargers are restricted to one type of connector. If you have multiple different vehicles with different connectors an untethered charger may be a smarter choice – however, Type 2 is rapidly becoming the de-facto standard in the UK, and it is likely that all new vehicles going forward will be equipped with this type of connector. Therefore, a Type 2 tethered charger is likely to be a future-proof investment (the same cannot be said for Type 1 chargers as these are rapidly becoming obsolete).
Untethered chargers are generally considered to be smaller and neater than tethered chargers, however, it is worth considering the fact that you will need to find somewhere to store your cable when it is not in use, and will need to connect it to both your charger and your car whenever you need to charge up – which could become irritating on a daily basis. Many new tethered home chargers have built-in storage for the charging cable which may be neater and more convenient.
Neither type of charger is inherently better than the other – it really just depends on your priorities, and which charger you think will suit your home best. We would only warn against purchasing a tethered Type 1 home charger as Type 1 chargers are rapidly falling out of use.
If you have any other questions about what the best charger is for you, please feel free to get in touch and one of our friendly charging experts will be happy to help you out.