This EV charger upgrade from Humax has made my life so much easier

Now might be the best time to buy an electric car, or EV, in the UK. Increasing oil prices are affecting petrol at the pump; there are updated government grants for EV purchases; and the considerably lower emissions tax rates than fuel equivalents adds incentive.

I've long been driving electric cars, having followed the development for more than 12 years as part of my job, and have been an EV owner for several years now. The option of at-home charging only further sweetens the deal.

Unless, that is, you have a sub-par charger installed. And after I experienced a unit blowout, Humax came to the rescue with its all-new MX7 charger – installed by 24/7 Electrical Croydon – and it's made my life oh-so-much easier.

Not only does the Humax MX7 look a treat, it's also got oodles of features on board – from its smart app with vehicle ID and RFID activation option, to smart tariff sync and even solar energy integration – which I'll break down below.

Installation

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As a previous EV charger existed on the side of my home (RIP Rolec – thanks for not returning my calls), I assumed a replacement would be a quick-and-easy straight swap – because I already had the capacity for a 7.4kW charger (if you don't, you may require more considerable electrical work).

That wasn't precisely the case, however, as government regulation changes in 2022 added a requirement for smart functionality – and my original install was from 2020. Further regulation changes in 2025 mean you won't require any planning permission to install a private charger.

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What did that mean in reality for my particular install? Fundamentally that a new cable was required to comply with the updated communications aspect of the regulation.

That meant some drilling and internal trunking to hide any cable visibility within the house. However, I worked with Steve from 24/7 Electrical (sourced via ChargedEV network) – who was fitting my unit – to find the path with minimal disruption. If qualified, you could fit the unit yourself.

Three hours in and everything was all installed, tested and operational. The Humax MX7 is so much easier on the eyes than many chargers I've seen, too. It features a built-in status light ring, which changes colour depending on activity (which can be dimmed using the associated app).

Smart Tariffs

A major benefit to the MX7 is the Humax Charge app – available for Google Android and Apple iOS – allows you to select between charging modes.

There's Instant for immediate charging; Schedule, where you can set allowable charging hours (daily across a week); and Intelligent, where the system aligns with your provider's Smart Tariff for automatic charging activation.

I had eyed-up the MX7 in the hope that the last of those would be the perfect solution for me, as Octopus Energy (my provider) does offer this compatibility. However, changing to Intelligent Octopus Go, as the provider calls it, would have ramped up my during-the-day energy costs.

I called Octopus, we did some calculations and, ultimately, as someone who works at home and is utilising energy throughout the day, this tariff didn't fit my personal needs. If, however, your work and driving patterns would benefit, it could save you lots of money – which is one of the MX7's biggest potential perks.

Typically such tariffs will assign hours when the grid has lesser demand, such as after 1am and before 6am, and offer cheaper energy per kW at these times. Octopus does sometimes assign 'bonus hours' into a calendar, however, so an intelligent system would instigate charging if the car was plugged in during such times, too.

Vehicle ID

The Humax MX7 comes in two forms: untethered, where you provide your own cable from box to car; or tethered, where a fixed cable from the unit can be plugged into your vehicle.

I elected for the untethered for a few reasons: the tethered version costs more; cable theft in the UK has spiked, as there's worth in the material components within, so I didn't want to run that risk; and if you choose a tethered cable then a change in vehicle to something with a different connection type (unlikely, yet plausible), wouldn't then be able to plug in and charge.

The chances of someone pulling onto your driveway, plugging in their EV and nicking your electricity is unlikely – but wouldn't have been impossible with my old charger (save for flicking the RCD down on the inside commercial unit to deactivate each time – I don't think so!).

With the Humax MX7 the system won't automatically charge when an unrecognised vehicle is connected – the app will prompt you and you determine whether you permit it or not. As this is a smart system, you can register your vehicles in the app to be recognised – a 'handshake' will see that remembered, after which manual prompts won't be required.

Furthermore, if you prefer, the MX7 comes with two RFID tags. One of these Radio Frequency Identification nubs could sit on a keyring, for example, and a press-and-hold against the charging unit will activate charging – in the event you wish to override settings or don't have app access at that time.

The one 'bug' I have with the app is that it can only register with one unit – and that to one email address. If you're going to have multiple family members using the app, I'd advise setting up a new email address to which all users have access. As you can't sign in using multiple email addresses to gain app access, which seems like a major shortcoming to me.

Solar Energy

In addition to your EV drawing from your mains system, the MX7 is V2H and V2G compliant – that's Vehicle to Home and Vehicle to Grid – meaning it can, in the future, potentially put energy back into your system. Note: the certification process for these are still underway, so it's not yet available.

You might wonder why you'd ever want those options, but there are circumstances. An extended power cut, for example, would give you the ability to run (at up to 7kW) to provide a backup. I like the concept of that idea.

The other use is with solar. While my home doesn't permit solar panel installations (yet, as the licence agreement would mean it's feasible in four years' time), if you did have a bank of panels, then these could also charge your EV.

For some, that will be a major perk. And, in the event of your vehicle's charge sitting at 100%, V2G could mean in the future that you'd be able, for example, to pull that solar energy back into your system and 'sell' it back to the grid – further reducing your energy costs.

Conclusion

The Humax MX7 is set up to save you money in the long term. It's smart, it's future-proof, it's great to look at and, save for the single sign-in for the app, it's great to use.

It's made my life easier – and, should tariffs and solar options change in the future, could make it even better, too.

Pricing for the MX7 is around £649 in the UK, with installation from £499 (including VAT), with Humax's preferred partner being the ChargedEV network – which you can find here.