Wallbox Pulsar Max Review – One For Your Wall?
Wallbox was one of the originals when it entered the EV charging and energy management space in 2015, all the way from sunny Barcelona. Since then, Wallbox EV chargers have spread far and wide, with Wallbox’s feet firmly planted in 177 countries.
In fact, Wallbox’s first electric car charger, the Wallbox Pulsar Plus, sold over 400k units worldwide. And the global EV charging point company even developed one of the first bidirectional EV chargers to market.
But what about their next-gen home EV charger – the Wallbox Pulsar Max? Is it one for your wall?
Today, in our Wallbox Pulsar Max review, we deconstruct the home EV charger, reviewing the ups and downs of the Pulsar Max chargers, before giving you our honest, transparent opinion on whether it’s right for you.
Wallbox Pulsar Max: Brief Overview
At its core, the wall-mounted Wallbox Pulsar Max is a sleek, matte black home charger compatible with all electric vehicles and hybrids. For charging power, the Pulsar Max can charge your EV up to 22kW so long as you have a three-phase electricity supply. Otherwise, you’ll be charging at the regular rate of 7kW – the standard for any UK home with a single-phase electricity supply. Plus, you get a choice of either a tethered or untethered unit, which is handy.
As with all home electric car chargers, the Wallbox charger comes with its very own app. The mywallbox app. Schedule charging, view real-time charging analytics and more – all with a few taps. Connect your EV charger, your Wallbox app, and your phone through either a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection.
The Pulsar Max is also compliant with all smart charging regulations and offers easier installation with no earth rod.
Wallbox Pulsar Max Pros:
1. Compact and clean design
Neat and discreet at roughly the size of an A4 piece of paper (198 x 201 x 99mm), the Wallbox Pulsar Max is the ideal size to be squeezed on a small drive, to go incognito on a wall, or to fit seamlessly into a jam-packed garage.
Despite its small stance and plastic build, the Pulsar Max’s finish is robust and scratch-resistant. On top of this, the integrated cable holder adds a nice touch to create a more stylish tethered charger.
Forget the flashlight, too. Light up your way. Early mornings or busy nights, the Wallbox Pulsar Max’s integrated LED charging status lights allow you safe passage to your charger in low visibility.
What’s more, your Wallbox Pulsar Max keeps you in the know, every step of your charge. Specifically, each colour of the LED ring shows its current status.
Red mode = bad. Full green mode = good. Dark blue mode = charging. You get the picture.
2. Dynamic Load Management
Never overload your electricity supply. The Pulsar Max dynamic load management automatically manages your electricity, reducing the amount of power if there’s strain on your supply.
No matter if your washing machine is rumbling, your TV is flaring, or your dishwasher is sloshing, Wallbox’s dynamic load management watches, waits and protects.
Don’t waste your energy worrying about energy.
3. Sunny side up with solar integration
Another in-built energy management feature – solar charging. Harness the energy from the beaming sun, catch it in your solar panels, and top up your electric car with 100% free, sustainable energy with the Wallbox Pulsar Max’s solar integration.
Clouds out? Need to charge quicker? Blend solar energy and electricity directly from the grid for faster, greener EV charging sessions, too.
4. Limited yet strong EV tariff integration
One of the biggest pros of the Wallbox Pulsar Max is its seamless integration with two of the UK’s leading EV tariffs – the E.ON Next Drive Tariff and the Intelligent Octopus Go.
That’s charging for 6.9p per kWh between 12 am and 7 am for the Next Drive tariff and 7p per kWh for those with Octopus.
While its list of EV tariff partnerships isn’t as extensive as other home chargers, such as the Ohme epod, the ones the Pulsar Max does have pack a cost-saving punch.
5. Voice control
The Wallbox Pulsar Max connects with Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant to bring you effortless charging management with just your vocal chords.
Wallbox Pulsar Max Cons:
1. Reliability woes
It saddens us to say this about any EV charger, but there have been complaints. Many complaints, in fact. Facebook, Reddit, and most commonly, Trustpilot – the reviews are in, and there’s some scrutiny.
From digging deep, the core complaints seem to lie with reliability and functionality. Customers have noted that the Wallbox Pulsar Max works perfectly in the first year, but seems to drop off in a downward spiral afterwards.
Some seem to flat-out break. Some seem to malfunction. Others seem to face severe connection issues, with Wi-Fi connectivity regularly disconnecting. Why is this important? Because it stops any chance of smart EV charging, arguably one of the biggest reasons why you invest in a home EV charger.
After this, EV owners struggle to get these issues resolved with Wallbox’s customer service, stuck with an unusable product, and we quote from a Trustpilot review, ‘the red halo of death’ on their Pulsar Plus’s lights. Users are then finding themselves at a loss, supplementing their charging with expensive public charging points, with no help in sight.
As an unbiased company, we feel this could be due to the individual circumstances. However, from the wave of one-star reviews and a saddening 3.1 stars on Trustpilot, we in good faith want to raise a red flag when looking into the Wallbox Pulsar Max.
Conclusion: Are Wallbox EV chargers good? Is the Wallbox Pulsar Max the one for you?
Small, but not too stylish. Smart, but not too intelligent. The Wallbox Pulsar Max, on the surface, seems like a strong contender in the EV charger fight, but finds itself just pipped in all areas when compared to other EV chargers on the market. For style, it’s competing against Easee and Andersen. For smartness, the Ohme siblings. For cost-effectiveness, the evec.
While the potential for a great charging solution is there, the bottom line, sadly, is that the disarray and disappointment when it comes to reliability and customer service void any possible greatness.
Therefore, we unfortunately can’t recommend the Wallbox Pulsar Max on the basis that reliability and customer satisfaction is key in this market.
Still looking for a home EV charger?
If you’re in the market for a home EV charger, you do have options. Lots of options. Feel free to browse our range of the best EV chargers on the market, or read up on some of our other transparent EV charger reviews:
Alternatively, get your free EV charger quote below, or contact us directly for honest, unbiased advice. Our experts are ready and waiting to take your call.