Wallbox Pulsar Max vs GivEnergy EV Charger

One charger for tight walls, another for home batteries

These two sit £69 apart — the GivEnergy EV Charger at £444, the Wallbox Pulsar Max at £513 — yet they address different problems. The Wallbox is the charger you buy because your mounting space is awkward or you want the longest warranty at this price. The GivEnergy is the charger you buy because you have a home battery and want to move stored energy into your car.

• Wallbox Pulsar Max — compact body (198 × 201 × 99 mm), five-year warranty, three-phase option if your supply supports it. A solid generalist.
• GivEnergy EV Charger — battery-to-EV charging, solar divert, IP65 weatherproofing. A specialist that earns its keep only in the right setup.

Does the GivEnergy's battery trick justify the price?

The GivEnergy's defining feature is that it can pull energy from a compatible home battery — GivEnergy's own or certain third-party units — and push it into your car. Most chargers, including the Wallbox, can only use live solar or grid power. The GivEnergy lets you fill the battery on a cheap overnight tariff like Octopus Go at 8.5p/kWh, then drip that stored energy into the car whenever you need it, even if the sun has long gone.

If you already own a GivEnergy battery system, this is not a close call. The charger slots into the same monitoring portal, the data is unified, and you avoid paying peak rates to charge the car on short-notice trips. The £444 price is reasonable for what amounts to a home-energy integration tool.

Without a battery, though, the GivEnergy is an ordinary 7kW charger with a basic app and schedule-only tariff control. No live supplier API, no half-hourly rate chasing. At that point you are paying £444 for something the Rolec EVO does at £356 with an equivalent five-year warranty, or the VCHRGD Seven Pro does at £430 with a richer feature set.

Where the Wallbox Pulsar Max fits

The Wallbox's pitch is physical: it is one of the smallest home chargers on the market. At under 200 mm on each side, it mounts in places where a full-sized unit would look absurd — narrow garages, pillar walls, tight driveways. The IK10 impact rating adds some reassurance if the car parks close.

Five years of warranty coverage is strong at £513. Only the Andersen A3 (seven years, £900) and the Rolec EVO (five years, £356) match or beat it in this catalogue. The GivEnergy's three years feels short by comparison, particularly for a charger that relies on integration with a battery system — the kind of setup where you want long-term support.

The Wallbox also offers a 22kW three-phase option. Fewer than 5% of UK homes have three-phase supply, but if yours does — or you are installing one — it is worth knowing the GivEnergy maxes out at 7kW single-phase with no upgrade path.

On the software side, neither charger is exceptional. The Wallbox supports Octopus Intelligent Go for automated off-peak charging at 8p/kWh, but beyond that, every tariff is a schedule you set yourself. The GivEnergy is the same — manual schedules, no live rate tracking. If tariff intelligence is what you need, the Ohme Home Pro at £539 is the obvious alternative; it talks directly to suppliers and chases half-hourly prices on Octopus Agile.

Weatherproofing and the small details

The GivEnergy carries an IP65 rating — fully sealed against dust and water jets. The Wallbox is IP54, the joint-lowest in our selection alongside the Tesla Wall Connector. Both will survive a British winter without incident, but if the charger sits on a fully exposed wall with no overhang, the GivEnergy's rating offers a margin the Wallbox does not.

Both chargers use 5-metre tethered cables. Neither offers a longer option. Both connect over Wi-Fi only — no 4G fallback. The Wallbox adds Bluetooth and voice control via Alexa and Google Assistant; the GivEnergy counters with RFID card access, useful if you share a driveway or want to restrict use.

Which to buy

Buy the GivEnergy EV Charger if:

• You have a GivEnergy or compatible home battery and want to charge the car from stored energy
• You already use the GivEnergy monitoring portal and want a single dashboard for the whole house
• You want IP65 weatherproofing on a fully exposed wall

Buy the Wallbox Pulsar Max if:

• You need the smallest possible charger for a tight mounting spot
• You value a five-year warranty over a three-year one
• You have — or plan to install — a three-phase supply

For most buyers without a home battery, the Wallbox is the more sensible £513. Its size and warranty justify the £69 premium, and its Intelligent Go compatibility covers the most popular EV tariff. The GivEnergy earns its place only in battery-equipped homes — but in those homes, nothing else in this price range does what it does. If you are weighing the GivEnergy against a dedicated solar charger instead, the Zappi GLO vs GivEnergy comparison is the more useful page.