evec VEC01 (vecGO 2.0) review

evec is a Manchester charger brand built on price. Its fully installed package is the lowest published fitted price of any charger in our data, and it sells the unit on monthly finance. In 2026 the original VEC01 gave way to the vecGO 2.0 range. The VEC01-N is the 7.4kW untethered model, the VEC03-N the tethered one, and 22kW three-phase versions exist. The low price comes with caveats: reports of unreliable scheduling and slow support, and a pricing page that disagrees with itself.

Price and the pay-monthly deal

The charger alone is £320 for the VEC01-N, with delivery extra. The tethered VEC03-N costs more. evec’s fully installed package starts at £748, and ElectroFix Group and Charge EV North West quote similar fitted prices for the same range. Treat that headline with care. The page title says £749.99, the heading says £747.99 and the FAQ text says £799.99, and the page names the VEC01 and VEC03, not the “-N” models. Ask evec which charger and which price you are being quoted before you order.

Standard installation covers up to 10m of cable including a data cable for load limiting, drilled through an external wall and clipped to the charger, plus surge protection, a double-pole Type A RCD and MCB, testing and notifying the network operator. The charger has to be within reach of your Wi-Fi. It excludes groundworks, supply upgrades, lofts, floorboards and work above 2m. A premium installation adds £99.99 and promises a fit within a week. evec aims for two to three weeks otherwise.

“Pay monthly” means two things here. On the installed package evec offers Klarna’s pay in 3, which is three payments of £249.33 on the £747.99 headline. On the charger alone, Novuna finance runs from 12 to 60 months at a representative 14.9% APR, with credit from Mitsubishi HC Capital UK and evec acting as a credit broker. The VEC01-N page shows £6.70 a month for 60 months. evec’s footnote assumes a 10% deposit of £31.99, so 60 payments plus the deposit come to about £434. That is about £114 more than the cash price, by our arithmetic. Our EV charger finance guide compares the options.

evec also says its vecFLEX rewards, a £20 sign-up bonus then £10 a month, can cover the payment. Axle Energy pays them by a Stripe link every 30 days, and balances must be withdrawn within a year. You need a smart meter sending half-hourly readings and no other grid-services scheme, and evec says charging may be paused for 30 to 60 minutes during grid events. evec states the rewards are “subject to meter eligibility, usage and market conditions”, so do not count on them to cover the finance.

Where to buy (prices seen on 10 October 2026, and they can change). evec’s own page is a partner link; see how we make money.

• evec direct: From £747.99 fully installed (VEC01); charger only from £319.99 (VEC01-N) or £364.99 (VEC03-N); Klarna pay in 3 and Novuna finance
• ElectroFix Group: £742 inc VAT with standard installation and surge protection (May 2026)
• Charge EV North West: vecGO 2.0 untethered from £720 fitted, VAT basis not stated (Manchester, Bolton, Preston)

Smart features and tariffs

The evec app handles schedules and monitoring over Wi-Fi, and the charger also takes RFID cards (two are included) or plug-and-charge mode. It supports OCPP 1.6J, the open standard that lets a charger work with other providers’ apps, with back-office partners including Monta, tap, connekt and Fuuse. The older VEC01 needed a 2.4GHz network and its Ethernet port was for OCPP only. There is no 4G.

On tariffs, Octopus’s public list shows an evec 7.4kW charger as live but in testing for Intelligent Octopus Go (IOG), with no model named. OVO’s October 2026 list for Charge Anytime includes evec, although one Trustpilot reviewer had trouble getting a VEC03 working with OVO’s app. Our OVO EV tariff guide covers the add-on. vecFLEX does not work with IOG.

Solar is an ECO mode in the app that charges from surplus power. It, and load balancing, need a CT clamp, a sensor that clamps round your incoming supply cable. evec lists the clamp as an add-on, and its shop sells a load-balancing kit for home chargers for £49.99. Our CT clamp guide explains what it does.

Installation and safety

evec lists O-PEN protection, so an earth rod is not normally needed (our PEN fault and earthing guide explains why), plus 30mA AC and 6mA DC residual current protection, over-voltage and over-current protection. The untethered VEC01-N is rated IP55 and IK10, weighs 2.6kg and has a universal socket for Type 1 and Type 2 plugs. The tethered VEC03-N has a 5m cable and is listed at IP65. Covers come in five colours, with black as standard.

The warranty is three years on parts and labour, provided you register within 30 days, with a 48-hour engineer callout service. Two more years are sold as an add-on. evec’s site gives company number 10860406, which Companies House lists as Coolmed Limited. Its filing history shows a first Gazette notice for compulsory strike-off on 10 December 2024, discontinued the next day, and accounts to December 2024 filed on 30 September 2025. We draw no conclusion about the reasons, but it is worth knowing when you rely on a three-year warranty. evec says it has installed over 8,000 chargers in a year.

What owners report

evec is not one of the 11 brands in the What Car? owner survey, so there is no independent fault-rate data. Trustpilot’s score is 3.8 out of 5 from 276 reviews in a February 2026 snapshot. Reviewers praise quick installs and good value, but the complaints repeat: scheduled charging not working, the charger dropping Wi-Fi, a confusing app and slow or no replies from support.

On Speak EV, a December 2024 firmware update gave several owners a “level 2 fault” until they reset the breaker. An older VEC01 would not charge a Tesla until its Ethernet cable was unplugged. A 22kW commercial unit bought through an installer failed within nine months, and its owner says the warranty claim went unanswered for weeks, although that was a business purchase. These are individual reports, and we found no independent hands-on review.

How it compares

The Easee One is the nearest like-for-like: untethered, OCPP, IP54 and a three-year warranty, though it costs more fitted and IOG is also only in testing. The Ohme ePod costs more but is the safer choice for Intelligent Octopus Go. Our installation cost guide shows what typical fitted prices look like.

Our verdict

We score the evec VEC01 6.5 out of 10. It earns 8.6 for price, 9.5 for safety and 9.0 for flexibility, but only 5.5 for smart features, 4.6 for reliability and 4.3 for warranty and support. It suits a buyer who wants the lowest fitted price, will check the quote in writing, and is happy to use the car’s own timer if the app disappoints. If you rely on a tariff schedule, an Ohme or a Hypervolt is safer. The best home EV chargers roundup shows how they rank, and the full scoring is on how we research.