EVNex EV Charger Reviews

About EVNex

Evnex is a New Zealand company that designs and manufactures EV chargers in the land of the long white cloud. 

Australian Contact Information

Address: Greenhouse Tech Hub, Salesforce Tower, Level 3, 180 George Street Sydney NSW 2000 
Telephone: 1800 959 377
Email: [email protected]
Website

Company Info

New Zealand's Evnex has been in the charging game since 2014, inspired by founder Ed Harvey's conversion of his 1997 Honda Accord to electric. The company is reportedly New Zealand's largest manufacturer of EV chargers and software, and expanded into Australia in 2023.

The good news is their chargers are specifically designed for Australian and New Zealand conditions, while the bad news is… well, there is no bad news. Everybody loves New Zealand.

Evnex E2 Plus And Core

Evnex make both single-phase and three-phase EV chargers. I'll just provide information on their single-phase focused residential chargers - the E2 Plus (which supersedes the original E2) and E2 Core, which were launched late February 2025. 

Power Output

The Evnex E2 Plus and Core can supply up to 7.4kW to an EV, which is the maximum for a single-phase EV charger under normal conditions. There are always some losses when charging an EV, but even including them, 7.4kW is enough to fully charge a 50kWh battery pack from empty to full in around 8 hours. For most electric vehicles it will provide over 40km of range per hour of charging.

Most homes only have single-phase power and so can only install a single-phase EV charger. A three-phase EV charger can provide up to 22kW, but few EVs can accept that much. For this reason, it’s not unusual for single-phase chargers to be installed on properties with three-phase power.

Smart Charging

Evnex E2 units come with CT clamps that, when correctly installed, enable it to tell when your home is exporting solar energy. This allows it to only charge an EV with excess solar energy that would otherwise be sent into the grid for a feed-in tariff. Because feed-in tariffs are often low, this is usually the cheapest way to charge a car.

The Evnex E2 Plus and Core are only capable of solar-only smart charging when a rooftop solar system is sending over 1.5kW of surplus power into the grid. The larger your solar system, the more often this will occur. Requiring this much surplus solar power is normal for single-phase smart EV chargers.

Depending on your electricity plan, charging with solar power can save over 30 cents per kWh compared to using grid electricity. But if your electricity plan has low rates during the day, the savings will be less and plans with low daytime rates are becoming more common. An EV will also have to be parked at home at least some of the time during the day to take advantage of smart charging.

OCPP Support

Both the E2 Core and Plus chargers support Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) - sort of. Evnex says the chargers use OCPP for communication with the cloud, but they aren't compatible with user-chosen third party services at this stage.

Emissions App

Like many things these days, including some toothbrushes, the chargers come with a mobile phone app that provides complete control. One interesting feature is it can estimate CO2 emissions from charging. You can use this to charge when emissions are low. Alternatively, you can intentionally charge when emissions are high - if you happen to be some kind of villain from a children’s cartoon.

LED Indicators

The LEDs on the front of the E2 charger (on the action button) show current status, using a combination of colour and animation.

Charging Cable

The E2 Plus has an 8 metre tethered cable and the E2 Core, a 5m cable - also tethered. Tethered means it’s connected to the charger and can’t be unplugged. While 5m isn’t a bad length for many households, if there’s a car parked in front of the charger, the cable won’t reach a second car parked behind it - not unless the first one is some kind of puny baby car.

Tesla Integration

The E2 Plus can connect to Tesla vehicles in order to read their battery State of Charge (SoC) and provide visibility in the Evnex app. The charger's action button on the front will automatically be configured to open the flap / unlock the cable when tapped. Hold the button for 1 second to activate " Charge Now!" if you wish override your solar smart charging or schedule. 

The Tesla integration feature is not available for the E2 Core.

Temperature Range

Both chargers have an operating temperature range from -25ºC to +55ºC. This makes them suitable for the coldest New Zealand location and the hottest Australian location. Or at least the hottest so far. The devices will “derate” and provide less power at higher temperatures, but this is normal for EV chargers.

A Choice Of Colours (E2 Plus)

The E2 Plus charger comes in four different colours - white, tan, grey, and dark grey. But Evnex doesn’t call them that. Instead, they use the fancy marketing words Snow, Sand, Stone, and Volcanic. While these may sound cool, they don’t look nearly as good as the names suggest, so they would have been better off sticking with the more straightforward terms I used, as they wouldn't make people fell let down.

The E2 Core is available in any colour you wish as long as it's Volcanic.

Cost

Evnex says the E2 Plus charger starts at $1,295 before installation. With installation, they say it starts at $2,229. For the Core,  the price is $999 before installation; or from $1,999 installed.

Installation adds a considerable amount and part of it is because the E2 devices can smart charge, which requires extra installation labour to set up.

While Evnex have their own installers, it’s not necessary to use one of theirs. But rather than buying an EV charger and then paying someone to install it, I strongly recommend purchasing the charger from the installer who puts it in. That way, they will be responsible for both the installation and its operation. If it’s done separately and there’s a problem, the manufacturer or installer may deny responsibility and blame the other.

Warranty

The warranty for the original E2 was 3 years, but for the E2 Plus and Core, it's 4 years. Many other EV chargers only have a 2 or 3 year warranty, so it’s excellent compared to much of the competition. 

As the company has an Australian presence, that makes them responsible for both their warranty and their obligations under Australian consumer law. But the first port of call for warranty issues should be your installer.

Recommendation

The Evnex E2 has a good operating temperature range for Australia and is competitively priced for an EV charger that's able to smart charge. As its four-year warranty is longer than some of the competition, I think it’s worth considering if you’re in the market for a smart charger; but bear in mind the lack of full OCPP support.

If you've had an E2, E2 Plus or E2 Core installed at your place, let us know your thoughts by leaving a review and/or rating.