ADAC Wallbox Test: The Cheapest is Also the Best

The ADAC has once again tested wall boxes and found them to be more or less good. It turned out that the technology for important home charging of electric cars does not have to be expensive to be functional. Ten of the twelve devices were rated "good," and functionality can be relied upon for most. Considering the sluggish expansion of public charging infrastructure, experts view home and workplace charging as a key factor in the ramp-up of electromobility.

To check the functionality and safety of the wall boxes, more than 400 charging cycles were conducted, according to the automobile club. Test vehicles included an Opel Ampera-e, a Renault Zoe, a Tesla Model Y, a VW e-up, and a VW ID.3. Function and safety were the most important criteria in the test, alongside features, delivery/installation, and – if available – the app. Customers now expect more from a good wall box than just solid and safe charging, says the ADAC.

"Many want to be able to control and manage the charging process via smartphone from anywhere. This requires connecting the wall box to the Internet," say the ADAC testers.

The installation point of the wall box is also of great importance for customers when making a decision. It makes a difference whether the electric car to be charged is in the garage on one's own property, in a more or less accessible carport, or in the underground garage of a rental apartment building. If unauthorized persons could also plug in their electric car, the charging process should be protected by an authorization function, the club advocates. A wall box without this feature would then be less suitable, according to the testers.

Tested systems:

ABB Terra AC | ABL eMH2 | Alfen Eve Single | Easee Home | go-eCharger HOMEfix | Heidelberg Energy Control | Innogy eBox | Keba x-series | LRT Home | Mennekes Amtron | PC Electric GLB | Wallbox Commander

Top and Flop Wallboxes:

• 1st place: go-eCharger HOMEfix 11 kW Test Winner: Surprisingly, the cheapest wall box in the test is also the best. The HOMEfix from go-eCharger shines with a safe and reliable charging function as well as a very good app. If desired, the charging process can be manually started and stopped via the app. This feature is advantageous if, for example, the user wants to control ad hoc whether solar power from the house's roof should be fed into the car's battery instead of the grid. Scheduled charging is also possible: It is useful when charging should take place during the night at a lower night-time electricity rate. The go-eCharger does not have a permanently attached charging cable because it was originally intended for mobile use. Those who want a permanently attached cable can lock it in the charging socket. This way, the cable cannot be stolen. Authorization is possible via app and RFID card. A practical button on the wall box allows pre-setting the charging current.
• 2nd place: Wallbox Chargers Commander 2. Technically equivalent but almost twice as expensive as the Go-e. The Commander 2 from Wallbox Chargers is just as convincing as the go-eCharger but is almost twice as expensive. Advantage: As the only model in the test, it is equipped with a touchscreen, which, thanks to its 7-inch diagonal, is easy to operate and automatically switches off when not in use. This reduces the otherwise incurred standby current. The very good app also offers a monthly overview of consumption – including costs if an electricity price is stored. Authorization of the box is possible via app, PIN code, or RFID card. The charging cable is permanently attached and has a holder for the plug when it is coiled up.
• 3rd place: ABB Terra AC W11-G5-R-0: A solid third place. The wall box Terra AC W11-G5-R-0 for 1090 euros from ABB convinces not only in terms of functional safety and lands in third place. The cable cannot be stolen because it is permanently attached (with connector garage). Authorization options are available via app or RFID card. The box earns special praise for its extensive features and intuitive app. Unfortunately, despite built-in WiFi, the app only communicates with the wall box via Bluetooth, limiting interaction to the immediate vicinity and not remotely.
• 4th place: Easee Home 10103. Affordable price, top app. Also in third place with a score of 1.9, the Home wall box from Easee costs just 850 euros and impresses with its simple handling and safe charging. The associated app is intuitive and offers convenience functions like timed charging. The wall box is delivered without a permanently installed charging cable but keeps the car's charging cable locked even when no power is flowing. Curiously, there was a charging interruption during numerous charging attempts, but the error was not reproducible and can be seen as a one-time failure. A minor drawback: The charging indicator is very narrow and therefore not easily visible. Authorization is possible via app or RFID card. Another plus point of the Easee Home: After a power failure in the house or in the local grid, the wall box automatically resumes charging, which, except for the go-eCharger, is only the case with disabled authorization. This ensures that EV drivers are protected from an uncharged or only partially charged battery after a temporary power failure that they may not have noticed during the night. For commuters, this can be a crucial factor.
• 11th place: Alfen Eve Single S-line 90446058. The wall box from Alfen with a permanently installed 5-meter cable fails the safety test. In the DC fault current protection measurement, the wall box triggers too late and receives an "unsatisfactory" overall rating. A pity, because otherwise, the Alfen convinces with simple handling, authorization via RFID card, and accurate MID energy meter. The absence of an app might be tolerable given the price of 720 euros.
• 12th place: PC Electric Wallbox GLB 353419P. The quite expensive wall box from PC Electric also fails the safety test and is therefore downgraded to "unsatisfactory." The integrated DC fault current protection does not trigger at various current levels or triggers too late. Apart from this, the PC Electric, with its fixed cable, can't fully convince: The features are very sparse given the price, lacking both authorization and an energy meter, and there is no app either.