Installers pick EV charger suppliers the way their own customers pick installers: on what happens when something goes wrong. Unit price matters, but the suppliers installers reorder from are the ones with a complete documentation pack, a technical line that answers, and a warranty process that does not leave the installer carrying the cost. These are the checks they run before a brand goes on the van.
Key Takeaways
- Documentation first: no pack for the exact model, no first order.
- Support route, warranty split and spares decide reorders; unit price only starts the conversation.
- Score the first order like an audit, then scale on evidence.
- Get every promise that matters in writing before the brand goes on the van.
Start With the Documentation Pack
Before price, ask for the pack that stands behind the exact model you would fit: the declaration and test reports for the configuration on offer, the installation manual, and a photograph of the rating label as shipped. Our guide to rating labels and required markings shows what that label has to carry, and EV charger certifications explained sets out the families behind it. An installer who cannot produce the file when a customer or an insurer asks owns the problem personally. Alongside the pack, confirm two model questions against the official texts rather than a sales summary: whether the unit sits inside the smart charge points rules, and what current installation practice expects — the IET Code of Practice in the sources below is the installer’s reference for the second.
The Six Checks Behind the Choice
| What you are checking | What good looks like | The question that reveals it |
|---|---|---|
| Technical support route | A named route to people who know the product | When a unit faults on site, who do I call, and what will they ask for? |
| Warranty handling | A written returns route with the cost split stated | Who pays carriage on a failed unit, and who credits whom? |
| Stock reliability | Delivery promises in writing, with buffer stock you can point to | What happens to my order when your warehouse is empty? |
| Training and familiarisation | Product training, or support through the first installs | How do my fitters learn this unit before the first paid job? |
| Spares availability | Cables, covers and boards listed as separately orderable parts | Which parts can I buy on their own, and at what lead time? |
| Documentation updates | Manual revisions and product changes notified, not discovered | How do I hear about a manual revision or a running change? |
Let the First Order Be the Test
Promises are marketing until the first failure tests them. Make the first order small and score it: delivery accuracy, condition on arrival, the support route’s response to a real query, and how a dead-on-arrival unit is handled. The mechanics behind two of the table’s rows are covered in our guides to the spare parts and RMA process for distributors and the warranty and after-sales checklist. An installer who logs the first order’s evidence has a factual basis for the second; one who scales on a brochure has a hope.
Putting These Questions to EVDANCE
EVDANCE supplies installers and distributors from its Shenzhen factory: founded in 2011, exports to more than 30 countries, private label from 100 units and a standard 3-year warranty. The questions in the table are the ones to put to us before a first order: request the documentation pack for the exact model — for example the EV-ACS3210E, a 32A Type 2 portable, single-phase at about 7 kW, IP66 — plus the spare-parts route and the written warranty handling for your market. The full range is on the products page; trade enquiries start via the reseller and distributor programme or contact us.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should an installer buy on unit price alone?
No. One failed unit’s return visit and credited labour outweigh a small unit-price gap quickly. The six checks price the risk the unit price hides; a cheap charger with no support route is the expensive option on the second visit.
What paperwork should exist before a new brand’s first delivery?
The declaration and test reports for the exact model and configuration, the installation manual in the form your fitters will use, and the rating label as it will ship. Get them before the delivery lands; a pack assembled after you ask is a pack that did not exist when the product was sold to you.
Who should handle a warranty claim?
Whoever the written terms say — and your customer will call you first either way. That is why the returns route, the carriage split and the credit path belong in writing before you stock the brand, not in an email thread after the first failure.
Related Reading
- Smart vs Non-Smart EV Chargers: What Installers Actually Want
- EV Charger Spare Parts and RMA Process for Distributors
- EV Charger Warranty and After-Sales Terms: A Distributor’s Checklist
- How to Find EV Charger Distributors and Installers to Sell To
