Sync EV Charger Review: BG’s Wall Charger 2 Tested
Sync EV — sold as BG Sync EV — is the British-owned budget smart charger with a trick up its sleeve: solar surplus charging included at half the price of the big names.
The short answer
The Sync EV Wall Charger 2 (branded BG Sync EV — same product, same company) is one of the best-value smart chargers in the UK in 2026: around £300–£400 for the unit, £700–£1,000 installed, for a 7.4kW charger with solar surplus charging included, tariff scheduling, no-earth-rod installation and full weatherproofing. It’s made by Sync Energy, part of UK-listed Luceco plc.
The compromises: TariffSense handles fixed-window cheap tariffs but can’t follow half-hourly Agile pricing, and WiFi reliability gets mixed reports — check signal strength at the mounting spot. For solar homes on a standard smart tariff, it’s arguably the best pound-for-pound charger you can buy.
What this review covers
If you’ve asked an electrician to quote a home charger recently, there’s a fair chance they suggested “the BG one” — the Sync EV Wall Charger 2 has become a trade favourite because it’s cheap, quick to fit and rarely comes back with problems. But trade favourite doesn’t automatically mean right for you, and the branding confusion alone (Sync EV? Sync Energy? BG?) puts plenty of buyers off researching it properly.
This review untangles all of it — what the charger actually does, the solar feature that makes it especially interesting for readers of this site, the tariff limitation that matters, and the status-light mysteries that fill owner forums. If you’re weighing up chargers alongside a solar install, that combination is exactly where this unit shines.
Sync EV, Sync Energy or BG Sync EV — who makes this thing?
One product line, three names. Sync Energy was founded in 2009 by two British entrepreneurs and moved into EV charging in 2015 — early enough to once claim the world’s smallest EV charger. The company became part of Luceco plc, the UK-listed group behind BG Electrical and Masterplug, and its chargers are now sold under the BG Sync EV brand through electrical wholesalers nationwide.
That parentage matters in a market full of venture-funded charger startups: Luceco is a profitable listed British group with 80+ years of electrical heritage, wide spare-parts distribution, and no survival questions hanging over the warranty. After watching brands wobble across the solar and EV space — GivEnergy’s administration being 2026’s cautionary tale — manufacturer stability deserves a line in every review we write.
What you get for the money
- 7.4kW single-phase charging — the standard full-speed home rate, roughly 25–30 miles of range per hour.
- Tethered or socketed — tethered comes with a generous 7.5m lead (longer than a Tesla Wall Connector’s); the socketed version takes any Type 2 cable and auto-locks it.
- SolarCharge included — surplus-solar diversion via a CT clamp, covered in its own section below.
- TariffSense scheduling — set your cheap-rate window and charging runs inside it.
- PEN fault protection built in — no separate earth rod needed, which keeps installs quicker and cheaper.
- Dynamic load balancing — throttles the charger if your home’s total demand approaches your main fuse limit.
- IP65 weatherproofing and IK10 impact rating — happily lives outdoors.
- OCPP 1.6J support — the open standard that keeps the door open to third-party energy platforms.
- Nine swappable fascia colours — trivial, but if the charger sits by your front door, not nothing.
The honest gap in the spec sheet: WiFi reliability gets mixed reports. Before ordering, check your signal strength at the intended mounting position — or spec the 4G-equipped variant if the wall is a dead zone. A charger that drops offline still charges, but you lose scheduling and stats until it reconnects.
SolarCharge: the reason solar homes should shortlist it
Here’s the feature that earns this review its place on a solar site. A CT clamp on your meter tail watches what your home is exporting, and SolarCharge diverts that surplus into your car instead of selling it to the grid. The maths is compelling: exported solar earns you maybe 12–15p/kWh on a typical SEG rate, while every kWh you put in the car instead displaces public charging or petrol worth several times that.
Surplus-solar charging is the headline act of the premium myenergi Zappi — and here it’s included on a unit costing roughly half as much. The Zappi’s implementation is more sophisticated (finer-grained eco modes, deeper myenergi ecosystem integration), but for most solar households the Sync EV version does the job that matters: sunny afternoon, car on the drive, free miles. A 4kW solar system generating 15–20kWh on a good summer day can put genuinely useful range into an EV — and if you’re weighing a home battery against using the car as your “battery on wheels”, our solar batteries guide walks through that trade-off honestly.
Fitting solar and an EV charger? Do them together
The CT clamp, the consumer-unit work and the electrician’s day rate are shared costs when a charger goes in alongside a solar install — and the system can be designed as one (panel count sized for driving miles, not just household usage). Installers routinely knock meaningful money off the combined job versus two separate visits. It’s worth getting combined quotes even if the EV is six months away.
Prices in 2026 — and the £350 grant
| Item | Typical price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wall Charger 2 — tethered (7.5m) | from ~£300 | Cheapest full-feature tethered charger around |
| Wall Charger 2 — socketed | ~£400 | Type 2 socket with auto-lock |
| Installation | £300–£600 | No earth rod needed keeps this at the low end |
| Typical installed total | £700–£1,000 | vs £1,100–£1,400 for premium rivals installed |
On grants: the old universal homeowner grant is gone, but the EV chargepoint grant still pays up to £350 for people in flats and rental properties, and separate schemes cover landlords and homes without off-street parking via cross-pavement solutions. If you qualify, the Sync EV’s low base price means the grant covers a bigger slice of the total than it would on a premium unit.
Tariffs: what it can and can’t do
TariffSense in the Sync Energy app handles the tariff pattern most EV owners actually use: fixed cheap windows. On something like Octopus Go, you set the window and the charger fills the car at the cheap rate, with a target-kWh option and a boost button for top-ups outside the window.
What it can’t do is follow half-hourly dynamic pricing — Agile-style tariffs where the cheap slots move every day. There’s no native price-following intelligence, so committed Agile users are better served by an Ohme. And for Intelligent Octopus Go, smart control typically runs through your car’s own integration rather than the charger, which works fine with the Sync EV but means the clever bits live in Octopus’s app, not Sync’s. It’s the same tariff-ecosystem lesson we keep hitting across this site — from batteries to inverters, the hardware’s tariff compatibility quietly decides your running costs, so match the charger to the tariff you’ll actually be on.
Status lights, “randomised delay” and other owner mysteries
Owner searches for this charger are full of flashing lights and unexplained pauses, so let’s decode the categories (exact patterns vary slightly by firmware — the app’s live status and your manual are definitive for your unit):
- The mysterious pause before charging starts — this is the randomised delay, and it confuses every new smart-charger owner in Britain. UK Smart Charge Point Regulations require chargers to add a random delay of up to ~10 minutes when charging begins, so a million cars don’t hit the grid in the same second when cheap rates start. It is not a fault, and you can turn it off in the app settings if you prefer instant starts.
- Steady light, car plugged in, nothing happening — usually a schedule doing its job: the charger is waiting for your cheap-rate window. Check TariffSense settings before assuming a problem, especially after a tariff switch.
- Pulsing/flashing during a session — normal active-charging behaviour, including the ramp-up and the load-balancer throttling around your home’s other demand.
- Red light — the genuine fault category: power supply, earth/PEN protection tripping, or an internal error. First steps: open the app and read the actual error, power-cycle at the breaker, and try a different charging session. Persistent red goes to your installer — the unit carries a 3-year warranty, and PEN-related trips can indicate a supply issue worth investigating anyway.
- “Charger offline” — the WiFi story again: the charger still works at the wall, the app just can’t see it. Re-pair to your router; consider the 4G variant if it’s chronic.
Sync EV vs Zappi & rivals: where it wins and loses
| If you want… | Best pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Best value with solar charging | Sync EV | SolarCharge included at £300–£400 — half a Zappi |
| The deepest solar/eco ecosystem | myenergi Zappi | Finer eco modes, eddi/libbi integration |
| Agile price-following | Ohme Home Pro | Reads half-hourly prices natively |
| Design-led kerb appeal | Andersen / Hypervolt | Premium looks at premium prices |
| British-owned, listed-company backing | Sync EV | Luceco plc — no startup survival risk |
| Cheapest route to a smart 7.4kW charger | Sync EV | £700–£1,000 installed, no earth rod |
Sync EV Wall Charger 2: pros & cons
✓ Pros
- Outstanding value — £700–£1,000 installed
- Solar surplus charging included (CT clamp in the box)
- No earth rod needed — cheaper, tidier installs
- 7.5m tethered lead — longest in its class
- British-owned via listed Luceco plc, 3-year warranty
- IP65/IK10 — fully outdoor-proof
✗ Cons
- No Agile-style dynamic price following
- WiFi reliability gets mixed reports (4G variant exists)
- App is functional rather than polished
- Solar modes simpler than the Zappi’s
- Brand naming (Sync/BG/Sync Energy) confuses buyers
Frequently asked questions
Is the Sync EV charger any good?
Yes — for the money it’s one of the best smart chargers in the UK: 7.4kW, solar surplus charging included, tariff scheduling, no-earth-rod install and full weatherproofing at £700–£1,000 fitted. It’s made by Sync Energy, part of UK-listed Luceco plc.
Are Sync EV and BG Sync EV the same thing?
Yes — one product line, three names. Sync Energy (founded 2009) became part of the Luceco plc group alongside BG Electrical and Masterplug, so the chargers are sold as BG Sync EV. Sync EV, Sync Energy and BG Sync EV all mean the same charger.
How much does a Sync EV charger cost installed?
Roughly £300–£400 for the unit (tethered or socketed) plus £300–£600 installation — £700–£1,000 all-in for most homes. Flat owners and renters can claim up to £350 via the EV chargepoint grant.
Can it charge my car from solar panels?
Yes — SolarCharge is included. A CT clamp monitors your export and diverts surplus generation into the car instead of the grid. Free miles from a sunny afternoon, and the feature premium brands charge heavily for. See how much surplus a typical 4kW system produces to gauge what that’s worth for your mileage.
Why does my Sync EV charger wait before starting?
That’s the randomised delay — a UK smart-charging regulation that staggers charger start times by up to ~10 minutes to protect the grid. It’s not a fault and can be disabled in the app. A charger that waits hours, not minutes, is usually following your cheap-rate schedule.
What does the red light mean?
Red is the fault category — power supply, earth/PEN protection or an internal error. Read the specific error in the app, power-cycle at the breaker, and if it persists call your installer under the 3-year warranty. Flashing patterns during charging and amber-style waiting states are normal behaviour, not faults.
The best-value charger for solar homes
The bottom line: For a solar household on a standard smart tariff, the Sync EV Wall Charger 2 is the smart-money pick — Zappi’s party trick at half the price, from a British listed company. Agile devotees and app perfectionists should pay more elsewhere; everyone else keeps £400 in their pocket.
Get my free quotes →The verdict
The charger market splits into design objects, tariff computers and workhorses — and the Sync EV Wall Charger 2 is the workhorse that stole the premium tier’s best feature. Solar surplus charging, sensible scheduling, cheap clean installs and real corporate backing, at a price that leaves room in the budget for the panels themselves.
Buy it if your tariff has a fixed cheap window and your roof makes surplus worth harvesting. Skip it for Agile. And whichever way you go, spec the charger as part of the whole system — panels, battery, charger and tariff working together is where the real savings live.
Important
Going Solar UK is an introduction service, not an installer. We don’t design, supply, or fit solar systems or EV chargers ourselves, and we have no commercial relationship with Sync Energy, Luceco plc or BG. Specifications, prices, grant rules and warranty terms in this review are indicative 2026 market details and change over time — always confirm current details with your installer and the manufacturer. Status-light behaviour varies by firmware; your manual and app are definitive. Brand names and trademarks belong to their respective owners.
We may receive a commission when we introduce you to an installer, at no cost to you. Any contract for work is directly between you and the installer.